[imackler]

Quote:

If it turns out to be as good as say a C421, at $100 is a great deal. The same for the C&C BH. I don't know if you guys have heard about that one already. Mine will arrive tomorrow, but I will test the E12 too as soon as it is available in the uk.

 
If you're using headphones that need more power vs. less demanding iems, the E12 demolishes the C421. IMO. 

 

[gavinfabl]

Somewhere I read a question about how this compares to the E11. My personal opinion is that the E11 is obviously smaller, the bass is not as discreet or as dramatic, and. I found the sound to be too dark. It was a good little device.

The E12 is far more natural and realistic in its sound signature. The bass boost is impressive. It only adds it when the music has it. I'm listening to Titanic , the sound track, Hard to Starboard , and the depth of the sub bass leading to the sinking in the music is punchy , dramatic and wonderful.

I was very excited when I first got this amp, and I still amp. It needs only a small burn in too.

And as a reminder on page 38 are the first reviews and over the next few pages.

The other aspect of this amp is the scale of its power. For classical that can go from quiet to loud and louder and louder still the E12 just keeps going and going.

 

[bowei006]

The E11 is comming to me as a lent unit from a friend.
 
I'll have it in my E12 review. But impressions will be up.
 
I have a huge amount of testing this week. At the end of this week, I'll be heading for a United Nations assembly lasting all weekend. I'll be able to post more on the E11 and E12 by mid next week. 
 
I'll be able to compare those with the entire Heir Audio IEM(not C) collection and the Rendition 1 later on this month when I receive them. Look forward to it for those that do 

 

[Evshrug]

I got my E12 in the mail yesterday and spent the evening listening to my LCD-2.  At first I wasn't super impressed, the sound seemed a little thin and bland.  After an hour of listening, things really seemed to fill out.  I really like the bass boost implementation, and think it made the low end rich and full without bleeding into the miss.  Subtle, but perfect for my listening preferences.  On a few occasions I noticed the highs sound a little tinny, but not on my usual test tracks so it may have been the recording rather than the amp.  I listened on 0 gain and didn't need to turn the amp to 50% for "too loud for my taste" volume.  With my Westone UM3Xs there was no problem with the noise floor and they really seemed to sing.  Seemed like a nice step up from my E17.  The feel of this amp  (fit & finish) is fantastic as well.  Without qualifiers this seems to be an impressive little amp, but when you take cost into account I am blown away!  Thanks FiiO, I can't wait to get to know the E12 a little bit better.

You thought the amp filled out after listening a bit, too? That was my impression too, and I think GavinFabio and boweii006 felt the same. This surprises me, because I'd expect to attribute that to the listener adjusting to the sound, but it's not like I wasn't using high powered desktop amps before.

I also don't want to risk my hearing beyond 50% on low gain, this guy is quite powerful!

 

[bowei006]

I thought the same to that. But I didn't know if it was brain EQ in me getting used to it or something else.
 
Whatever it is, it disappeared in 40 minutes for me.
 
Edit:
Thinking back on it, I suspect it is just the brain getting used to the amp and especially a new amp with the headphone.
 
Why? FiiO has shown/told us that they burn these in for testing and quality check extensively. 
 
But who knows.

 

[Apo0th3karY]

Perhaps it's a 'warm up' period?

 

[JamesFiiO]

About the Size of Mont Blanc, if someone will like to go through the whole thread, he will find that it spend lots of our time to decide how to make it as slim as we can, and to be honest, 
 
the design will be more simple to us if we used 2 9V battery like SR71 and some other headphone amplifier, and sell in very cheap price. but it is not our style to make products.  I know
 
it is very good suggestion to make it even smaller, and we will try to make our best in the Mont Blanc II. 
 
Anyway, below is some innovative features in Mont Blanc,
 
1, The most slim and small portable amp with plenty of power output, you can compare it with JDS C421, O2, SR-71 and some other amp, do remember Mont Blanc can output 850mW.
 
    and it is powered by +/- 11V. actually , it should compare with lots of headphone amp which use 2 9V battery.
 
2, The only amp which can be charged by USB power , any kind of USB power. you will see other amps will need a special charger.
 
3, The few or maybe the only amp which includes a tiny Relay ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relay ) to reduce the Pop noise when turn on/off the power to protect your expensive headphone
 
    and to improve your experience.
 
About the burn in , we believe a 20 - 40 hours burn in will help to get the best sound quality because the WIMA capacitor 

 

[bowei006]

How many hours does FiiO "burn in" or plug into your systems to test? 
 
If you guys only do it to test that its output is correct, then yeah, I guess I can see the burn in.
 
Would you be interested in doing a Q and A session?
 
Headroom's new CEO did a great new Question and Answer session here on Head-Fi and then on REddit. As the CEO of FiiO and one of headphone audio's most recognized brands today. I think there will be a huge amount of fans that would want to ask questions about your company, your outlook, your philosophy, and new products. 
 
Would you be interested? 

 

[JamesFiiO]

Quote:

How many hours does FiiO "burn in" or plug into your systems to test? 
 
If you guys only do it to test that its output is correct, then yeah, I guess I can see the burn in.
 
Would you be interested in doing a Q and A session?
 
Headroom's new CEO did a great new Question and Answer session here on Head-Fi and then on REddit. As the CEO of FiiO and one of headphone audio's most recognized brands today. I think there will be a huge amount of fans that would want to ask questions about your company, your outlook, your philosophy, and new products. 
 
Would you be interested? 

 
 
Yes, why not!

 

[Evshrug]

About the Size of Mont Blanc, if someone will like to go through the whole thread, he will find that it spend lots of our time to decide how to make it as slim as we can, and to be honest, the design will be more simple to us if we used 2 9V battery like SR71 and some other headphone amplifier, and sell in very cheap price. but it is not our style to make products.  I know it is very good suggestion to make it even smaller, and we will try to make our best in the Mont Blanc II. 


Anyway, below is some innovative features in Mont Blanc,

1, The most slim and small portable amp with plenty of power output, you can compare it with JDS C421, O2, SR-71 and some other amp, do remember Mont Blanc can output 850mW. and it is powered by +/- 11V. Actually, it should compare with lots of headphone amp which use 2 9V battery.

2, The only amp which can be charged by USB power , any kind of USB power. you will see other amps will need a special charger.

3, The few or maybe the only amp which includes a tiny Relay ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relay ) to reduce the Pop noise when turn on/off the power to protect your expensive headphone and to improve your experience.

About the burn in , we believe a 20 - 40 hours burn in will help to get the best sound quality because the WIMA capacitor 

Wow, I didn't actually think it could burn-in, but yeah I noticed an improvement after 2-3 hours. If it continues improving I'll just be really surprised!

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

 
 
Yes, why not!

Excellent. Is there any place you would be interested in doing it?
 
Headroom did it in the Sponsors announcement section, but I felt that that didn't get many views as most don't check that part of the forums?
 
Maybe announce it on Facebook and Head-Fi and what not? 
 
Reddit /r/headphones
http://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/
is also a good place to do this. This thread has over 8K subscribers and Headroom and SkullCandy did a Ask Me Anything(Q and A )session here.
http://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/172cc2/i_am_jamey_warren_ceo_of_headroom_ask_me_anything/
http://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/13vvga/we_are_the_rd_division_of_skullcandy_ask_us/
 
Maybe even bring in your audio engineer and other teams? 

 
Just an idea to see if you would be interested in doing.

 

[JamesFiiO]

Quote:

Excellent. Is there any place you would be interested in doing it?
 
Headroom did it in the Sponsors announcement section, but I felt that that didn't get many views as most don't check that part of the forums?
 
Maybe announce it on Facebook and Head-Fi and what not? 
 
Reddit /r/headphones
http://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/
is also a good place to do this. This thread has over 8K subscribers and Headroom and SkullCandy did a Ask Me Anything(Q and A )session here.
http://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/172cc2/i_am_jamey_warren_ceo_of_headroom_ask_me_anything/
http://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/13vvga/we_are_the_rd_division_of_skullcandy_ask_us/
 
Maybe even bring in your audio engineer and other teams? 

 
Just an idea to see if you would be interested in doing.

 
Not a big problem but I should take some time to learn how to start first

 

[bowei006]

Not a big problem but I should take some time to learn how to start first

On Reddit? Well you need to make a general account. Then you answer people by clicking "reply" to their post. It follows a tree pattern so that each reply is slightly to the tight more than the first responce.

For head fi q and a if you want to do multiple ones to reach a larger group. You already know how to use head fi

I asked headrooms ceo a lot of questions. Hope you bear with us

Thank you

 

[cheuh]

Subscribed. Looking forward to see how this amp compares to the Objective 2 amp.

 

[Evshrug]

Feiao,
I don't mean to bug you, but have you thought more about my PM?