FiiO E17 "ALPEN" - First Impression + Final Thought - Page 7

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS 

Which of what?

 

LMAO.. I was about to ask him to clarify for you. His question is quite vague as it stands...

sorry guys

i mean e17 and e7

thanks

Can the E17 run as a dac/amp combo?

Ideal thanks, mate on another forum wanted to know.

What about running from and xbox/tv using the 3.5mm jacks or spdif, im assuming it's dac only then?

The e17 is an amp/dac combo.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huxley 

Ideal thanks, mate on another forum wanted to know.

 

What about running from and xbox/tv using the 3.5mm jacks or spdif, im assuming it's dac only then?

What kind of connection on the 3.5?  If you connect to it with an analog conenction then 100% of the time with any component it will be an amp.  If you connect to it with a digital connection then 100% of the time with any (amp/dac) component it will be a DAC (and mostly likely amp also - unless using a lineout).

Thanks, wasn't sure so might as well ask eh.

Just to clarify, the E17 can't be used as a DAC/Amp straight out of an iPhone? What exactly is the difference between an E10 and E17?

E17 is portable for one thing, plus you have more options such as balance/bass boost.

And out of an iphone it's an amp, you'll need a digital connection for it work as a dac.

if the iphone had a digital out you could use it as a amp/dac but it doesn't.  There are a few (very few) devices that can get digital out of an iphone - I don't see anyone doing this but you could use an iPure doc to get digital off the iphone then connect to the e17.

Besides portable cd players, does anyone has any recommendation on portable players that has a digital output??

I guess the dac of E17 is better than ipod, am I correct?

There really is no relation between an ipod and the e17.  An ipod is a storage device and a transport (with a DAC and amp) and the e17 is a Dac (or source) with an amp - it can only play what something else gives to it.

But the portable digital out is really the magic question.  An ipod has a digital out only if you combine it with something like the Ipure.  The HM601 and 801 have digital outs but are very high end.  I think there was a zune dock that had digital outs (but the doc makes it unportable).  Yes, some CD players have digital outs.  There are quite a few DAPs now (digital audio players) but most of them dont have it.  I think there is a whole new round of them coming out.  The Fiio X3 was going to be the new standard in portable DAP with digital out but it got put on hold due to external issues.  When I started writing this I had other devices on my mind but I'm suddenly drawing a blank.

While I don't recommend it as my end-all/be-all DAP, I've actually been using my iPad 2 for lossless playback through a DAC. Using the USB adapter that comes with the iPad Camera Connection Kit, you can attach USB DACs. I've been using my iPad 2 with lossless audio files through the USB adapter into my Headamp Pico DAC/Amp. The quality is awesome! I really can't tell the difference listening to the same music from either my MacBook Pro with the Pico attached via USB or the iPad 2 connected the same.

I also have one of the older Apple Universal docks that features a combo 3.5mm stereo jack that also doubles as a SPDIF optical connection. Apple advertised these originally to support digital out from the iPods and early iPhone models. It still works with my iPhone 4 too. I'm really looking forward to the purchase of an E17 and will definitely try feeding the optical output from the old dock into the E17.

Cambridge Audio also makes docks for iDevices that feature digital out, but they are also quite expensive - http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Audio-iD100-Digital-Black/dp/B004KSKYUE

Dale