Xonar DG vs Fiio E10?
Nov 30, 2012 at 4:41 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 12

Bboy500

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Which one should I use for my Hifiman He-400's?

I have both but am not sure which one would be better. I'm assuming the E10?
 
Nov 30, 2012 at 4:57 PM Post #3 of 12
Since you have both already, you should use the DG as a DAC and the E10 as an amp.

Both should give you enough power either way.


How would I do that...?
 
Nov 30, 2012 at 5:11 PM Post #4 of 12
Quote:
Since you have both already, you should use the DG as a DAC and the E10 as an amp.
 
Both should give you enough power either way.

The E10s USB input can not be plugged into the Xonar DG, sorry.
 
Nov 30, 2012 at 5:19 PM Post #6 of 12
So which one provides the better sound quality?

That's what I really wanted to know lol. The amps are both good enough for my uses.
 
Nov 30, 2012 at 5:34 PM Post #7 of 12
Quote:
So which one provides the better sound quality?
That's what I really wanted to know lol. The amps are both good enough for my uses.

The E10 headphone amplifier is a little more powerful then the Xonar DG, but the HE-400 is only 38-Ohm, so easy for E10 & DG to drive.
The E10 amplifier is low impedance :), but I understand the HE-400 audio quality is not really affected by impedance.
 
The E10 will only provide 2-channel audio.
The DG comes with Dolby Headphone 5.1 surround sound.
 
The E10 is powered by USB
The DG is powered by the motherboard slot.
 
I guess the best way to find out which is better is to install the Xonar DG into the computer and connect the E10 into the USB connection and compare.
Try using the program Foobar2000 for playing audio.
 
Nov 30, 2012 at 6:40 PM Post #8 of 12
The Xonar seems "Clearer" but wow are the 2 items a huge difference.

Fiio E10 allows me to go to higher volumes, while my Xonar DG needs to be at 100% for what I consider normal volume. Now I have to pick between nice volume and sound...
 
Nov 30, 2012 at 7:08 PM Post #9 of 12
Quote:
The Xonar seems "Clearer" but wow are the 2 items a huge difference.
Fiio E10 allows me to go to higher volumes, while my Xonar DG needs to be at 100% for what I consider normal volume. Now I have to pick between nice volume and sound...

Check all possible computer USB audio setting and the same for the Xonar DG.
Also installing the third party "Unified Xonar Driver" from Brainbit, might help with the DG sound quality.
 
I'm making a guess that the E10 is providing more current then the DG
Technically you can just use both (one or the other), just leave the E10 unplugged when not being used.
Or buy an external headphone amplifier to plug into the Xonar DG.
 
The Fiio E11 portable headphone amplifier ($49.99) is slightly more powerful then the E10.
For $62 you can get the E11 with a spare battery (BL-5B) and a simple battery recharger, on Amazon (Micca package).
 
The O2 (Objective 2) portable headphone amplifier ($155) can drive headphones from 16-Ohm to 600-Ohm
and can function like a regular AC powered desktop amplifier.
 
Feb 22, 2015 at 11:33 AM Post #10 of 12
The Xonar seems "Clearer" but wow are the 2 items a huge difference.

Fiio E10 allows me to go to higher volumes, while my Xonar DG needs to be at 100% for what I consider normal volume. Now I have to pick between nice volume and sound...

hey, sorry to necro an old thread.. but i have the xonar dg. and if i enable headphone exciter mode its bloody loud, did you ever resolve this or give up and go another way?
 
Feb 22, 2015 at 12:16 PM Post #11 of 12
I ultimately figured out that the FiiO E10 was great for my taste of music and used it for exactly that, while the Xonar DG was great at soundstage and used it for Movies + Gaming so I used it for that.
 
I never really had an issue with it past this post really. I listen at low volume as it is now a days :)
 

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