Can a sub 100.00 amp compete with big boys?

Quote:

Originally Posted by chef8489 

At first glance it seems companies Like fiio with their 25 to 100.00 amps are targeting people that don't really need an amp. It seems the cool thing to do now. But my question is do these actually provide enough power and sound quality and can compete with RSS or headlamp, or ate these just gimmicks. I need people than have high end amps as well as these to comment.
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Fiio punch well above their weight, but you have to be realistic. I dont own 'high end' amps, but if you want something that the designer *does* claim will outperform amps costing 3-4 times as much, check out nwavguy's Objective2.

The FiiO amps punch well above their weight. But they aren't going to sound like a $400 amp.

I happen to indeed have a P51 and an E7.  The P51 is without a doubt better than the E7. It also happens to cost 4x as much. It is not 4x better. I wouldn't even say it's 2x better. Personally I think the E7 sounds like a $150 amp and is an incredible steal especially when you consider its DAC capabilities (line out with L7) and dual HP output. The Mustang is about a $250 amp and frankly is way overpriced -- but is great at a 2nd Hand used price point of around $250ish or so.

The E11 is junk, though.  But the E7 is an honest to goodness great DAC/Amp considering its price. 

I should also like to note that the FiiO E9 is easily a better amp than the RSA P51 Mustang, for whatever that is worth.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mochan 

I should also like to note that the FiiO E9 is easily a better amp than the RSA P51 Mustang, for whatever that is worth.

 

Thanks mochan - I believe that many who turn their noses down at the E9 would be genuinely shocked by a DBT with some of the more expensive amps in the 300-400 dollar range, but given that I dont own enough of those amps its difficult to make that call !
 

Where does the E6 sit in the grand scheme of things? I recall someone even paired his JH13 with them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chef8489 

Anyone else? Someone with say a p51 and fill e7 or e11
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I have heard a few RSA in my life and none of them are particularly impressive for their price. Headamp offers good amp but I don't like the warmness they have. Meier Audio is really what I like and use current (3MOVE and Stepdance). As far as how good sub $100 amp these days are, I'll say a few of them can easily compete with many amps that are around $150 or less, $200 is possible if we are talking about the older generation of amp. But as good as they are, they are not going to beat most of the >$200 amp IMO. That will be too much as a wishful thing.

Oh, I current own most of the popular sub$100 portable amp, including E6, E7, E11, BitHead (same amp section as AirHead), PA2V2, cmoyBB, and ZO.

I have used a fair share of budget amps and while they are good, they simply cannot compete with a more expensive amplifier. I have an Audio GD Compass and that can drive everything I throw at it including inefficient orthodynamics.

However the same headphones and source sound noticeably better on a $600 EHHA amplifier. Now the EHHA is not a very high end amplifier but it sound better in every aspect - bass, treble, mids and soundstage. This is noticeable even on easy to drive headphones like a Denon D5000.

Not everyone might be able to hear the differences but for those that can reasonably differentiate between a mid tier headphone and a high end headphone will definitely appreciate what a better amp can bring to the table.

Even portable amps have differences in SQ as you move up the food chain. However I couldn't reasonably tell the difference between a $200 Ibasso P3+ and a $500 RSA Protector so maybe the differences in portable audio isn't that great though the Protector had balanced outputs and enough power to drive my 300 ohm Sennheiser HD650 reasonably well while the Ibasso couldn't do that same.

However if I used the Ibasso P4 (replacement of P3+) I would wager the differences would be even lesser as the P4 has substantially more power than the P3+.