The Sub-$100 Portable Amps Shootout – 10(+1) amps compared - Page 2

What an EXCELLENT thread.

Pictures, review, ratings - brilliant.

Congratulations on your 10k posts bro!

I really do enjoy reading your reviews

I agree on the point of the E11 and A10.

(although i found the A10 quite EMI susceptible)

I'll get back to you regarding my ZO2 impressions too!

What I'm wondering is how does the E6 compare with the E5

I need to hit up that search bar.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS 


Generally speaking, PFE012 shouldn't need an amp unless you can't get enough volume out of your source. If you are hearing distortion, it is more likely the internal amp on the source is clipping. If that's the case, than an amp will help.

Thank you again for the reply.

I'll test the hearing with/without the Fiio E11, when i can borrow that amp from a friend of mine. ^_^

Quote:

Originally Posted by casanova 

Thank you again for the reply.

I'll test the hearing with/without the Fiio E11, when i can borrow that amp from a friend of mine. ^_^

 

+1 on what he said, depending on how deaf you are though :P
I'm at the stage of deaf, so i use an amp as I need more volume lol

+the PFE's (depending on taste) could do with extra bass - so an amp might be really beneficial. 

I feel even more better with my First batch buy of the E17 now :D woot. :3 

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowei006 

I feel even more better with my First batch buy of the E17 now :D woot. :3 

lol - sounds like fanboynism :P

Quote:

Originally Posted by Totally Dubbed 

lol - sounds like fanboynism :P

 

 

Haters gonna hate :P We Asians going hard on you. but hey. It may be fanboyism but....unless somebody can come along and shut FiiO up..call it what you want. I'll stick with FiiO :D FiiO is for the poorer people in us that want full capabilities with no compromise at a......at TEH most competetive pricing on the audiophile market

Totally dubbed..it's fun having you around man. dude i see you everywhere lolz :D almost my congratualtory 3K :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowei006 

Haters gonna hate :P We Asians going hard on you. but hey. It may be fanboyism but....unless somebody can come along and shut FiiO up..call it what you want. I'll stick with FiiO :D FiiO is for the poorer people in us that want full capabilities with no compromise at a......at TEH most competetive pricing on the audiophile market

 

Totally dubbed..it's fun having you around man. dude i see you everywhere lolz :D almost my congratualtory 3K :D

 

 

haha my man! :D

3K in what 1 day :P? lol

Yes FiiO are very good, i know that.

They are just not for me, well not their higher end amps.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Totally Dubbed 

haha my man! :D

 

3K in what 1 day :P? lol

 

Yes FiiO are very good, i know that.

They are just not for me, well not their higher end amps.
 

 

 

hah yeah man :D

not in one day haha. end of month? :

the positives of the E17 are great. and higher end amps? the E17 is their only higher end amp past the mid range champion E11..and even then it isn't a super duper upgrade. CLIEOS and others don't call it a amp upgrade. but the people from the E17 thread like the EQ options and more power of the E17 and seem to prefer the E17 to E11 so ill just leave it at that :3

anyway ill stop semi derailing the thread. it won't be good for newbies and on lookers to see us members doing such a thing :D

I just wanna add to the E11. After using the amp for roughly the whole day yesterday, I have barely noticed the warm sound caused by the slight bump to the sub bass region. If anything, it clears up the upper frequencies a lot better than my E7. Now I find the E7's amp sounding very muffled compared to E11.

What I found funny was that out of the box, the E11 didn't sound like this. The first 10 hours was an eyebrow-raising experience for me. As I mentioned in another thread, the supplied stock cable made the amp sound very warm and muffled out of the box. In contrast, the cable that came with my Beats Solo sounded a lot more open and cleaner. After about 10 hours of usage, the warm and muffling effect of the stock cable magically vanished, and what was left for me was an extremely open and clean sounding signature.

Also the power of this little amp is insane. I can barely go past level 3, almost to level 4. 4/8 of the E11 is like 50/60 of E7.

Definitely a very good amp for the price point. Thanks for the review again, ClieOS!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill-P 

I just wanna add to the E11. After using the amp for roughly the whole day yesterday, I have barely noticed the warm sound caused by the slight bump to the sub bass region. If anything, it clears up the upper frequencies a lot better than my E7. Now I find the E7's amp sounding very muffled compared to E11.

 

What I found funny was that out of the box, the E11 didn't sound like this. The first 10 hours was an eyebrow-raising experience for me. As I mentioned in another thread, the supplied stock cable made the amp sound very warm and muffled out of the box. In contrast, the cable that came with my Beats Solo sounded a lot more open and cleaner. After about 10 hours of usage, the warm and muffling effect of the stock cable magically vanished, and what was left for me was an extremely open and clean sounding signature.

 

Also the power of this little amp is insane. I can barely go past level 3, almost to level 4. 4/8 of the E11 is like 50/60 of E7.

 

Definitely a very good amp for the price point. Thanks for the review again, ClieOS!

Beats cable? i guess they do have some good qualities to it. i don't kno wht is inside it though..still can't say much abotu them...considering how often they split

haha yeah my E17..wow.  it has more power than E11. my stuff isn't hard to drive but its good knowing i have leeway

Yep. Beats cable. To be honest, I didn't expect much from it. The only reason why I used it initially was so that the E11 wouldn't dangle in midair from my MacBook. But surprisingly, it sounded cleaner than the stock Fiio cable.

But then after 10 hours, something must have "snapped" inside, and now the E11 sounds the same regardless of cable, but it's a lot more open than the E7.

Not sure about the E17, but from ClieOS' other thread, I was under the impression that it wasn't as powerful as the E11 to him. Plus if it's any more bright sounding than this, I'd feel glad I canceled my preorder. E11 is already bordering on sibilant with my M50.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill-P 

Yep. Beats cable. To be honest, I didn't expect much from it. The only reason why I used it initially was so that the E11 wouldn't dangle in midair from my MacBook. But surprisingly, it sounded cleaner than the stock Fiio cable.

 

But then after 10 hours, something must have "snapped" inside, and now the E11 sounds the same regardless of cable, but it's a lot more open than the E7.

 

Not sure about the E17, but from ClieOS' other thread, I was under the impression that it wasn't as powerful as the E11 to him. Plus if it's any more bright sounding than this, I'd feel glad I canceled my preorder. E11 is already bordering on sibilant with my M50.

the E17 has EQ so..bass should be more on E17 if EQ'd and it has more power. yes i know what you mean. i read his stuff many times and know he said that. but really whatever. i got the e17 since i needed a DAC as well. now i wish i had two.

Well, don't get me wrong. Given the chance, I'd grab an E17 right as it appears. There are many things E17 does that I wish I have on the E11... such as the DAC like you said. I was particularly more interested in its capability as an optical/coaxial input DAC for my other devices that support it (including my MacBook), which should make it superior to the E11 in terms of sound quality.

Power is only really a requirement to me if I wanted to drive higher impede cans, but since I don't own any, I don't think it factors in. It's a nice thing in case I decide to upgrade from the M50 to a pair of more open cans, so to say.

In terms of EQ, I tend not to touch them. Especially bass. I like cleaner and more open sounds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill-P 

Well, don't get me wrong. Given the chance, I'd grab an E17 right as it appears. There are many things E17 does that I wish I have on the E11... such as the DAC like you said. I was particularly more interested in its capability as an optical/coaxial input DAC for my other devices that support it (including my MacBook), which should make it superior to the E11 in terms of sound quality.

 

Power is only really a requirement to me if I wanted to drive higher impede cans, but since I don't own any, I don't think it factors in. It's a nice thing in case I decide to upgrade from the M50 to a pair of more open cans, so to say.

 

In terms of EQ, I tend not to touch them. Especially bass. I like cleaner and more open sounds.

we willl have to wait on CLIEOS $200 amp shootout :D

i like my bass muddy...at times
 

Wondering what to buy -- I just care about amp sound quality (and size).  

I have an E7 that I use with Phonak 232 and iPhone 4s as a great, small pocketable portable rig.  

I'm wondering if the E11 might suit that function better.  

I do find the E7 slightly sterile and flat in terms of instrument spatial illusion.  

The E17 is an option, but I rarely use the digital input. I do enjoy the higher-tech interface, though.

It might not be as warm and full soiunding as the E11, but if it is notably better than the E7

and doesn't suffer from phone EMI like the E11, it might be the one for me.