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Xonar DG vs Fiio E10?

post #1 of 9
11/30/12 at 1:41pm
Thread Starter 
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?
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post #2 of 9
11/30/12 at 1:54pm

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.

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post #3 of 9
11/30/12 at 1:57pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by chewy4 View Post

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...?
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post #4 of 9
11/30/12 at 2:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chewy4 View Post

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.

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post #5 of 9
11/30/12 at 2:16pm

My apologies, I was confusing the E10 with the E11. E10 doesn't have analog inputs so you can't actually do that...

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post #6 of 9
11/30/12 at 2:19pm
Thread Starter 
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.
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post #7 of 9
11/30/12 at 2:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bboy500 View Post

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.

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post #8 of 9
11/30/12 at 3:40pm
Thread Starter 
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...
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post #9 of 9
11/30/12 at 4:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bboy500 View Post

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.

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