[Skolar311]

Excellent! This is exactly what I envisioned!

 
Great I love the clean look and ease of use. Those rubber bands are too obtrusive (IMO).

 

[Sushiglobster]

So, when is this E18 due out?

 

[JamesFiiO]

  James:
  Looking at the image you posted for the E18, I noticed that the Drive Ability (recommended) Impedance is 16-150 Ohms. What happens to those of us that have 250 Ohm HP's like a Sennheiser HD600, etc.? Can you also give us  the voltage, current and power limits for the output at the common impedances, including 250 Ohms?
Recently I've picked up an E12 amp and am very pleased with it.

 
 
About the drive ability, there are not standard about how manufacturer should describe it.  when we developed our first amp E3, the user manual said it can drive up to 300ohms headphones, yes, we did it before. cause some high impedance headphones has very high sensitivity and sound quite good with
 
E3. but now we used new standard to described the drive ability of our Amps/DACs/DAPs, and for 300mW output, we think it will be more safe to say it can drive up to 150ohms headphones. below is some specification of E18
 
Max output Voltage: 8.4 Vp-p @32ohms and @250ohms
Max output Volateg: 3.0 Vrms @32ohms and @250ohms
Max output current:  250mA (peak), 93mA@32ohms, 12mA@250ohms
Max output power : 280mW@32ohms, 36mW@250ohms
 
BTW, I will suggest you have a look at this article Tips on how to choose a suitable amplifier for your beloved headphone

 ​

 

[StanD]

   
 
About the drive ability, there are not standard about how manufacturer should describe it.  when we developed our first amp E3, the user manual said it can drive up to 300ohms headphones, yes, we did it before. cause some high impedance headphones has very high sensitivity and sound quite good with
 
E3. but now we used new standard to described the drive ability of our Amps/DACs/DAPs, and for 300mW output, we think it will be more safe to say it can drive up to 150ohms headphones. below is some specification of E18
 
Max output Voltage: 8.4 Vp-p @32ohms and @250ohms
Max output Volateg: 3.0 Vrms @32ohms and @250ohms
Max output current:  250mA (peak), 93mA@32ohms, 12mA@250ohms
Max output power : 280mW@32ohms, 36mW@250ohms
 
BTW, I will suggest you have a look at this article Tips on how to choose a suitable amplifier for your beloved headphone

 ​

 
Thanks James. I messed up on the impedance, it's 300 Ohms, not 250 Ohms. Do you have the specs at 300 Ohms.
I also have an E12 and would appreciate the same information for that amp. The specs on the web page for Max Output Vp-p and Max  Current do not specify at what impedance.
Again, thanks for your help.

 

[Sushiglobster]

Just curious, it looks like the E18 was expect out in July (reading through early posts in this thread) and here we are in October now. If this product is delayed again or doesn't come out for another few months...are there any good alternatives to look at? From other companies and stuff? 

 

[Ashade]

At the price it is going to come out... I would say Fiio E07K and E17. I don't think you will find anything at that price in other company, or at least I don't know it.

EDIT: you can check something from iBasso as well.

 

[JamesFiiO]

sorry, there are some very small bugs so we need to fix the bugs first ( something relate to charge feature ) but it should launch market in the coming soon.

 

[NightAngelz]

  sorry, there are some very small bugs so we need to fix the bugs first ( something relate to charge feature ) but it should launch market in the coming soon.

 
What about E19?

 

[Ashade]

What about E19?

Apparently is completely frozen.

Guys, no company gives as much information about the new products before being released as Fiio does and it is because of the people getting disappointed or excessively excited etc. I really appreciate them having this information even if in the end the projects are delayed or cancelled. Let's try to understand that this things happen and appreciate them to share that much information with us. I would love to see this keep happening in the future. Let's try to be patient with them.

 

[Skolar311]

Apparently is completely frozen.

Guys, no company gives as much information about the new products before being released as Fiio does and it is because of the people getting disappointed or excessively excited etc. I really appreciate them having this information even if in the end the projects are delayed or cancelled. Let's try to understand that this things happen and appreciate them to share that much information with us. I would love to see this keep happening in the future. Let's try to be patient with them.

 
 
Perfectly said.
 
FiiO, take all the time you need to get it right! And thanks for keeping us constantly informed!
In the end, I'd rather have a reliable product which I've come to expect from FiiO!

 

[Sushiglobster]

So, I'm using an LG G2 as my DAP. The E18 looks promising, but I started thinking about it. How do I know if I need an amp/DAC? My LG G2 features a Wolfson DAC capable of 24/192..... However the only time audio gets that is when I'm playing .wav or other lossless files. All of my music is streaming at 320kbps via Google Music. I'm not sure I'll ever get to hear 24/192 come from my phone with Google Music unless the Android community comes up with a way to force 24/192 playback.

So my question, does an external amp/DAC benefit my situation? Or would an external amplifier suffice? I'm on the fence the more I think about it.

 

[StanD]

So, I'm using an LG G2 as my DAP. The E18 looks promising, but I started thinking about it. How do I know if I need an amp/DAC? My LG G2 features a Wolfson DAC capable of 24/192..... However the only time audio gets that is when I'm playing .wav or other lossless files. All of my music is streaming at 320kbps via Google Music. I'm not sure I'll ever get to hear 24/192 come from my phone with Google Music unless the Android community comes up with a way to force 24/192 playback.

So my question, does an external amp/DAC benefit my situation? Or would an external amplifier suffice? I'm on the fence the more I think about it.

Depending on your cans, an amp can make a big difference. In fact right now I'm listening to my Google Music streaming subscription from my Galaxy S3, through a FiiO E12 amp on to my Sennheiser HD600 cans. These cans are 300 Ohms and require an amp, the sound is delightful. I like the bass boost on the E12 as it doesn't mess up the mid bass. This setup provides plenty of low end without using the dismal EQ on the Google Music Player. In fact I use this amp for it's sound profile with cans or IEMs that the phone can actually drive as I prefer the results. The E18 might provide a step up from the DAC in the US version of the Galaxy S3 and bypass the phone's amp altogether. So I might go through the E18 and then onto the E12 if the E18's amp doesn't appeal to me. I think FiiO provides a good balance of price and performance.
What do you use for cans or IEM's?

 

[Sushiglobster]

I just purchased some Westone W4r IEMs. I've been using them for about 3 days now and they sound great, but I really think my G2 is having some difficulty making them sing.

 

[StanD]

I just purchased some Westone W4r IEMs. I've been using them for about 3 days now and they sound great, but I really think my G2 is having some difficulty making them sing.

With the below specs I would think that they must be loud enough. What is it about the sound that makes you think that they need to be driven harder? Is there something that you feel needs a tweak by EQ?

1. Sensitivity: 118 dB SPL @ 1Mw
2. Impedance: 31 ohms @ 1kHz

 
I have a pair of Sony XBA-3 BA IEMs which from the below you can see is not as sensitive as the Westones and has an impedance low enough that might get close to challenging some phones or DAPs. Amping them helps a little but they can get along without being amped on my phone. My HD600's are 300 Ohm so the phone just can't get the voltage swing necessary to drive them.

1. Impedance : 12 ohms at 1 kHz
2. Sensitivity (db) : 108 dB/mW

 

[Change is Good]

I just purchased some Westone W4r IEMs. I've been using them for about 3 days now and they sound great, but I really think my G2 is having some difficulty making them sing.

I have the 4r paired with my F806 and E12. Boy do they sing!!!