[bowei006]

Umm no. Head fi had problems it isnt entering my posts correctly.

Quote them and you will see!

 

[akiroz]

^ LOL empty post.

 

[firev1]

Pfff screw NFB, why don't you wait for the $400-$500 mark? That is where the party is at for DAC/amp combos, you will have lots of great choices at that price point. Or just pair a O2 or some other desktop amp with your E17 for a decent enough to you get there combo.

 

[bowei006]

I am looking at a cheap O2 atm

Anyway. I know what you mean but I will never at this point in my life get up to $500 amp and dac paired with a $500+ headphone

 

[akiroz]

Quote:

I am looking at a cheap O2 atm

Anyway. I know what you mean but I will never at this point in my life get up to $500 amp and dac paired with a $500+ headphone

Haha, In no point in my life will I anything more than my $25 Obj2 unless I somehow got myself tangled in the stat-amp mess. 

 

[bowei006]

So if i send you a pcb how much will it cost you to build and buy parts and ship back?

 

[hbkmog]

Me too, I suggest ODAC + O2 amp. I can't DIY them myself but even for the given price of assembled unit, it's the best bang for the buck for that price range or even quite above.

 

[firev1]

Quote:

Haha, In no point in my life will I anything more than my $25 Obj2 unless I somehow got myself tangled in the stat-amp mess. 

damn man, how do you get them parts so darn cheap? School? My school has none of that stuff that I can get without a lecturer's approval

 

[akiroz]

Quote:

Quote:

Haha, In no point in my life will I anything more than my $25 Obj2 unless I somehow got myself tangled in the stat-amp mess. 

damn man, how do you get them parts so darn cheap? School? My school has none of that stuff that I can get without a lecturer's approval

me = highschool student
 
From RS components, If your university / college has membership at RS components its free shipping to your school and 15% off.
And I used a Prefboard instead of a PCB (because I find them a pain in the @$$ to make and $$$$ to buy)

 

[firev1]

Quote:

me = highschool student
 
From RS components, If your university / college has membership at RS components its free shipping to your school and 15% off.
And I used a Prefboard instead of a PCB (because I find them a pain in the @$$ to make and $$$$ to buy)

Sadly, they seem to have strict control on buying parts with mine, need a lecturer's approval(and a valid reason) before purchase :I

 

[mikeaj]

Quote:

I was in a sense trying to make a point of FiiO. They release a few products every year. All in all from the believed start time of the E17 to finish, it was only what? Half a year and then another quarter to manufactur? Having no stock and getting sold out half a year after launch does make it a popular device and for $140 MSRP(selling for $200 in U.S and almost $300 USD in europe) it aint snake oil.

 
It's been demonstrated that FiiO's sometimes a bit loose in their listed specs, and they often don't seem to get close to the performance possible out of the chips they're using (more time spent on the designs could improve this).  Like I said, I don't think snake oil is the right term anyway.  Despite the fact that they have had manufacturing and availability issues, as well as somewhat subpar designs compared to what should be possible, FiiO puts out very decent products and reasonable prices, compared to the competition.
 
Anyway, product release schedule was just one of the points.  Like I said, it's a combination of factors.  You don't see FiiO promoting an ACSS, talking about no-feedback, declaring that they don't use op amps, etc.
 
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by bowei006 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

So most products not designed by nwavguy and under $400 are snake oil now due to lack of measurements which at best mean the company belittles the consumer?
FiiO is snake oil for lack of graphs and measurements and short R&D.
I dont see graphs for the majority of sub $400 amps and dacs or combos

 
There are graphs for some more DIY designs, also for Leckerton Audio under $400 and maybe some others I don't recall.  CEntrance DACport lists some (though the more reassuring thing is the "design philosophy" page, which requires a few less leaps of faith to read, not to mention the Stereophile review).  That's still not many, so I'm agreeing with you that these are in the minority.
 
However, though more information would be better to have, I wouldn't say that I would expect a full page of graphs from anybody, since many potential buyers aren't interested in seeing them.  Having a few more useful specs, without graphs for all of them, would be a good balance.  Granted, it could be disadvantageous to list real-world operating distortion figures driving headphones (the most relevant spec of any device containing a headphone amp), since everybody else just wants to list best-case-scenario results.
 
 
In my opinion, no given specs and measurements just means less accountability.  It's not a reliable indicator of quality, in of itself.

 

[giedrys]

I'm searching for the same thing too. The only thing I'd like to get feature wise is USB support for 24/88.2 files. That takes NFB off the list, right?

 

[Tilpo]

I'm searching for the same thing too. The only thing I'd like to get feature wise is USB support for 24/88.2 files. That takes NFB off the list, right?

88.2? That's a bit of a rare sample rate.
How come you specifically need support for that, if I may ask?

 

[akiroz]

Quote:

Quote:

I'm searching for the same thing too. The only thing I'd like to get feature wise is USB support for 24/88.2 files. That takes NFB off the list, right?

88.2? That's a bit of a rare sample rate.
How come you specifically need support for that, if I may ask?

Not really, Its one of the standard sample rates.
The weirdest one I seen is 100kHz 24bit from a C-Pop CD in HMV.
(and the CD is 24k gold plated....)

 

[firev1]

Quote:

Not really, Its one of the standard sample rates.
The weirdest one I seen is 100kHz 24bit from a C-Pop CD in HMV.
(and the CD is 24k gold plated....)

You don't need to look for a 88.2khz sampling rate dac as the only conversion from 88.2 to 44.1khz  is a divide by 2 so any software sample rate conversion will do a fine job at it. For me, choosing a DAC at the lower price points these days involve looking at the design philosophies and internal circuit. If a certain manufacturer list FOTM parts and stuff like that in their design intro.