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FiiO E17 "ALPEN" - First Impression + Final Thought - Page 354

post #5296 of 5793
1/14/13 at 4:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by catspaw View Post


Also, one thing i discovered:

When you first turn the Fiio E17 into a laptop, it will by default go to 16 bit quality/44khz.
I did not even know that you have to change it to 24 bit/96k manually in the windows settings.
It improved my sound quite drasticly i have to say.

Oh.............ummmmm, how do you do this?
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post #5297 of 5793
1/14/13 at 10:04am

Hello! Excuse my long post!

 

I have a few questions regarding the functionality of the E17 + L7 coupled with a speakers + amp + computer.

 

I have a set of Dali Zensor 7 speakers with a NAD C316BEE amplifier connected to the 3.5mm on the back of my computer (which has ASUS P7P55D-E PRO as motherboard).

 

I do not have any decent headphones yet, but have been lurking Head-Fi and other forums, and will be buying a (mid-fi?) can; to give you an idea which range I've been looking at I've tried/am interested in (in no particular order): Sennheiser Momentum, Sony MDR-1R, V-MODA M-100 (haven't been able to try these) and looking into more. Portable, circumaural and closed-back ~€200-300.

 

I'm interested in buying the Fiio E17 with the L7 adapter for two reasons:

 

  • To use as a portable headphone amp & DAC coupled with my HTC One X as I believe it might be rubbish when it comes to audio. HTC One X phone (Spotify 320 kbps) --> Fiio E17 --> Headphones.
  • To use as a DAC for my Dali speakers as I believe (please do correct me if I'm wrong!) it would be an improvement over the motherboard. If I understand it correctly it would connect like: Computer (Spotify 320 kbps) --> Fiio E17 (via L7 adapter) --> NAD speaker amp --> Dali speakers.

 

 

My questions:

  • Have I understood how this works/connects correctly?
  • Will the E17 work well as a DAC for my stationary setup if I use the L7? I understand a stationary DAC might be better - but with the (cost-)efficiency of having one device that can be docked for stationary or pulled out for mobile use this might be a better solution?
  • Will it improve the sound although it's still a 3.5mm going out from the L7 to the amp?
  • My computer (/motherboard) has S/PDIF (slots? sockets? ...line outs?), but not the amplifier - can the E17 help me utilize the S/PDIF for my speakers? (This feels like a no-brainer, but.. in case there's something I've missed..)
  • Is there another alternative I should look at instead?

 

The E17's performance has been praised by many people from different sources whilst not being very expensive. Also, with my stationary setup and the L7 adapter it could prove to be a very flexible and cost-effective way for me to improve the sound of both my stationary and (near-future) mobile setup.

 

If you've read this far - whether or not you have any advice - thank you for your time!

 

/billiek, fledgling.

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post #5298 of 5793
1/14/13 at 11:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by billiek View Post
  • My computer (/motherboard) has S/PDIF (slots? sockets? ...line outs?), but not the amplifier - can the E17 help me utilize the S/PDIF for my speakers? (This feels like a no-brainer, but.. in case there's something I've missed..)

 

 

Hi, I'll answer that one: Yes, the E17 has Optical IN, so you can put it between the computer and the amplifier.

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post #5299 of 5793
1/14/13 at 6:40pm

Could anybody help me?

 

My e17 just stopped responding and when plugged into a source of power, does not emit the light under the power button.

There is a sound notification when I plug it into my computer however there is no indication of the e17 turned on as the screen and power button light is off. I tried using different usb ports, different usb cables..

 

I noticed there was a very faint red coming from the power button, I'm suspecting that the power of the e17 is the problem. I got this e17 last summer, but I don't think any problems should arise from such a short period of time.. 

 

EDIT: ahahah, nevermind, I thought I had tried resetting the unit before however I wasn't making any contact with the reset button with my flimsy pair of toothpicks. Just retried it a few times with my lead pencil. Worked like a charm. ^^;;


Edited by PhrozenLife - 1/14/13 at 6:43pm
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post #5300 of 5793
1/14/13 at 6:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhrozenLife View Post

Could anybody help me?

 

My e17 just stopped responding and when plugged into a source of power, does not emit the light under the power button.

There is a sound notification when I plug it into my computer however there is no indication of the e17 turned on as the screen and power button light is off. I tried using different usb ports, different usb cables..

 

I noticed there was a very faint red coming from the power button, I'm suspecting that the power of the e17 is the problem. I got this e17 last summer, but I don't think any problems should arise from such a short period of time.. 

 

EDIT: ahahah, nevermind, I thought I had tried resetting the unit before however I wasn't making any contact with the reset button with my flimsy pair of toothpicks. Just retried it a few times with my lead pencil. Worked like a charm. ^^;;

Problem solving steps. L3000.gif These are what I like to see. People going through the steps step by step to get the answer. The majority of these problems are simple fixes.

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post #5301 of 5793
1/14/13 at 9:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris J View Post


Oh.............ummmmm, how do you do this?

 

I assume some sarcasm here about the mis-phrasing of 'turning your E17 into a laptop' and not how you configure the E17 to lock at 96KHz 24 bit for playback? But just in case you weren't being sarcastic and really wanted to know how to lock the E17 at 96KHz for playback, here's how you do it:

 

On a Mac you go into Applications - Utilities - Audio Midi Setup, choose the Fiio E17 from the list of playback devices and then set the output format as 96.000KHz and 2 ch - 24 bit integer.

 

 

 

On a Windows 7 box, open Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, Sound, choose the Playback tab, highlight the Fiio E17 USB DAC device and choose Properties at the bottom of the window. When the Properties dialog open, deselect everything except 96KHz and click Apply and OK. Then when you playback with the Fiio E17 as the selected output device, the E17 should display 96KHz and 24 bit as the sample rate/bit depth on its screen. 

 

 

 

 

Dale

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post #5302 of 5793
1/14/13 at 11:09pm

I have the E17 for quite some time. I'm not sure what the next step is.

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post #5303 of 5793
1/15/13 at 4:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AgentXXL View Post

I assume some sarcasm here about the mis-phrasing of 'turning your E17 into a laptop' and not how you configure the E17 to lock at 96KHz 24 bit for playback? But just in case you weren't being sarcastic and really wanted to know how to lock the E17 at 96KHz for playback, here's how you do it:

On a Mac you go into Applications - Utilities - Audio Midi Setup, choose the Fiio E17 from the list of playback devices and then set the output format as 96.000KHz and 2 ch - 24 bit integer.





On a Windows 7 box, open Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, Sound, choose the Playback tab, highlight the Fiio E17 USB DAC device and choose Properties at the bottom of the window. When the Properties dialog open, deselect everything except 96KHz and click Apply and OK. Then when you playback with the Fiio E17 as the selected output device, the E17 should display 96KHz and 24 bit as the sample rate/bit depth on its screen. 



 



Dale

No sarcasm intended! redface.gif
I really don't know how to set up my computer for 96 k!
Thanks for the help, I'll have to try this out tonight!
biggrin.gif
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post #5304 of 5793
1/15/13 at 4:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris J View Post


Oh.............ummmmm, how do you do this?

 

Oh nvm, XXL guy already answered this much better :D.


Edited by catspaw - 1/15/13 at 4:52am
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post #5305 of 5793
1/15/13 at 9:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AgentXXL View Post

 

I assume some sarcasm here about the mis-phrasing of 'turning your E17 into a laptop' and not how you configure the E17 to lock at 96KHz 24 bit for playback? But just in case you weren't being sarcastic and really wanted to know how to lock the E17 at 96KHz for playback, here's how you do it:

 

On a Mac you go into Applications - Utilities - Audio Midi Setup, choose the Fiio E17 from the list of playback devices and then set the output format as 96.000KHz and 2 ch - 24 bit integer.

 

On a Windows 7 box, open Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, Sound, choose the Playback tab, highlight the Fiio E17 USB DAC device and choose Properties at the bottom of the window. When the Properties dialog open, deselect everything except 96KHz and click Apply and OK. Then when you playback with the Fiio E17 as the selected output device, the E17 should display 96KHz and 24 bit as the sample rate/bit depth on its screen.  

 

Dale

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by catspaw View Post

 

Oh nvm, XXL guy already answered this much better :D.

 

Arrgghh!

 

I still have Windows XP! Yes, it's true!

Looks like I can't change to 96 kHz with Windows XP?

 

Signed,

Mr. "not very good with computers"

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post #5306 of 5793
1/15/13 at 11:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kalbee View Post


If TV and computer aren't very far apart and you can connect both at once without the need of moving the DAC/AMP, then a desktop model (or w/o internal batteries) would be better suited for you IMO.

But of course, if you enjoy the fact that these can be used as part of a portable rig, then yes, it would certainly be practical.

Mine is connected to computer & PS3 (share the same monitor) and I take it out as portable amp once in a while. Much less now in winter though, cold aluminum is... well, cold. And I don't bring out the harder to drive headphones in winter.

Hmm. I've read about dts encoding issues that's why i wanted to ask, my main goal is using  optical/coax for the sound, fiio seems perfect for this matter.

 

If i plug my headphone through E17 and toslink to my tv ( which has an internal media player for movies) will i have dts encoding issues, or will i have toslink quality sound ( whether dts or pcm actually, since i'm using a headphone and it's not surround, i don't think there'll be a difference. )

 

Thanks for the help.

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post #5307 of 5793
1/15/13 at 3:58pm

Since this is a E17 thread, why would you suggest this over the E07K?

I'm using AKG K601, from a laptop or from a galaxy s3. And I think to complete the E09K in the near future...


Edited by marcookie - 1/15/13 at 4:01pm
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post #5308 of 5793
1/15/13 at 3:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by marcookie View Post

Since this is a E17 thread, why would you suggest this over the E17?

I'm using AKG K601, from a laptop or from a galaxy s3. And I think to complete the E09K in the near future...

I don't know why I would suggest an E17 over an E17. 

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post #5309 of 5793
1/15/13 at 4:01pm

This was actually fun for me... sorry for the distraction.

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post #5310 of 5793
1/15/13 at 4:04pm
I just got my e17 , looking forward to the commute tomorrow 😊
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