Can a fiio e9/e7(or e17) combo plug into an ipod?

You can get one of the FIIO iPod line-out cables (L9 is most expensive @ $10) and then plug that into the E7/E17. The E17 can drive up to 300ohm headphones (not sure about E7) so as long as you don't have Beyer T1's you should not even need the E9.

Which model headphone? Like I said the E17 should be able to drive anything except the 600ohm Beyers.

 

You could also run the FIIO LOC directly into the E9's Line-in, but then you don't have the E7/17. If you are just looking for amplification (and not DAC) then that's fine.

 

Finally, you could also run the E7/17 headphone out into the E9 Line-in via a patch cable, but then you are double-amping and that's probably going to lead to distortion and/or artifacts, which is why I suggested just the E17.

At 200 bucks? Just get the DT880 250ohm (or DT990 if you want a less-neutral, bass-heavy sound). There's really no point in getting the 600ohm versions unless you have a high-quality dac/amp (I would consider the minimum the CA DACMagic plus around $500).

 

Plus you don't need an wall wart with the E17 only.

If you are looking for a stationary setup, I have a couple suggestions that you can either think about or ignore.  I have 600ohm Beyers and an E7/E9 and it does drive them, not to their potential, but it does drive them.  I have no experience with the E17 so I don't know.  I also have a bottlhead crack.  I remember doing the reseach on it and some guys were plugging their DAPs right into it when they got finished with the build just to make sure it worked and they said it still sounded good.  If you have any DIY skills and are interested, you might consider buying the basic crack and then upgradeing modularly over time.  Or you could go the other way and buy the E7/E9 first like I did.  Once I got the crack i used the E7/E9 as a DAC/Preamp for the Crack.  Just remember that when you aren't hooked up to a computer you aren't using the E7s DAC function at all unless you have the E9, unless something has changed.  Just some things to think about.

 

 

You are on the right track. The Fillo is usb DAC.  Without the computer present it is just an amp.  You can easily plug the ipod into the amp, but it won't be a digital signal and so there is nothing to decode.

No, there are only two DACs that I am aware of that operate off of an ipod.  The Fostex HP-P1 is somewhere in the neighborhood of $650 and the CLAS is around $575.  DACs aren't typically designed to work using a DAP as the source and when you do find them they are more expensive than stand alone units because of the size and narrower market.

I think a wadia transport would also work for what you want to do with the E7/E9.  Look them up on amazon.

 

Get the Pure I10. it'll extract the digital stream from your iPod and spit it out over optical or coaxial digital and it also has a built-in DAC so you can use it to feed your headphone amp directly. I'm using this right now (with an E9) as a secondary rig. Once I get an E17 I'll feed the digital output from the Pure into that and then the E17 can feed my E9.

No need to spend big money on the Wadia (or similar) transport to do what you want.

And FWIW the E9 powers my 600 ohm Beyers fine.
Edited by kfscoll - 3/5/12 at 8:40pm