[Wyd4]

Hi All,

I am brand spanking new here.
I am far from an audiophile but I love good audio... Always have.
I have a pair of Sennheiser Momentums, a pair of V-Moda LP2's, a pair of UE In ears and a pair of Sennheiser 212Pro's that died of old age (bought them when i moved out of home so... 9ish years ago, so not a bad innings.
I have always used closed back headphones as I primarily use them for commuting on a train and as such, all of the above is also fairly low impedance due to being run from a phone.
 
I listen to just about every genre you can think of apart from country.  I think my father listened to too much of it when I was growing up.
 
My question is, I am after a DAC/Amp that I can use in conjunction with my phone as well as my PC.  
Re: the PC, my PC is locked away on the far side of the room in a cabinet, so I wish to run USB audio out of the PC rather than trying to maintain a decent signal on a long headphone cable.
 
My 2nd question is, given I will be using audio out headphone jack on the phone, would I expect to see any improvement to audio?
I would think not given my headphones are 18ohm and the damage would have been done to the audio by the phones DAC.
 
I was thinking along the lines of 
http://fiio.com.cn/products/index.aspx?ID=100000014895351&MenuID=105026002
but I am open to criticism/alternatives.
 
Also what is the actual advantage of using the below in conjunction with the above?
http://fiio.com.cn/products/index.aspx?ID=100000017625376&MenuID=105026003
Apart from having the dac skidding around on your desk of course.  Especially given again, I will not need any more power than the e17 can deliver to power any of my headphones.
 
Any advice would be greatly appreciated to assist this noob.
 
Have a great one!!!

Scott

 

[PurpleAngel]

So you would run a USB cable from your PC to the USB input on the Fiio E17.
And run a 3.5mm m/m cable from the phones headphone output jack to the line-input jack on the E17.
 
Would the E17 make your headphones sound better, then plugging the headphones straight into the phone? (might depend on the headphone used).
 
Any digital audio signal sent from the PC, running thru the E17's DAC and head amp.
I would think it would have a chance of sounding better then the phones, as an audio source.
 
Wonder if it might be better just to buy a really nice portable music audio player.

 

[Wyd4]

Quote:

So you would run a USB cable from your PC to the USB input on the Fiio E17.
And run a 3.5mm m/m cable from the phones headphone output jack to the line-input jack on the E17.
 
Would the E17 make your headphones sound better, then plugging the headphones straight into the phone? (might depend on the headphone used).
 
Any digital audio signal sent from the PC, running thru the E17's DAC and head amp.
I would think it would have a chance of sounding better then the phones, as an audio source.
 
Wonder if it might be better just to buy a really nice portable music audio player.

Hi there,
 
I had considered the option of a good portable music player, however I guess the beauty of the E17 (if it can fulfil my needs) is that I kill 2 birds with one stone.
I can use it as a portable dac/amp and I can use it to solve my audio routing issues at home on the PC as well as potentially see an improvement in sound.
 
As I said, I am certain I dont "Need" an amp to power my headphones, however I was curious as to whether I may see an improvement regardless in audio quality.
 
Thankyou for your response.  Much appreciated

Scott

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

Quote:

So you would run a USB cable from your PC to the USB input on the Fiio E17.
And run a 3.5mm m/m cable from the phones headphone output jack to the line-input jack on the E17.
 
Would the E17 make your headphones sound better, then plugging the headphones straight into the phone? (might depend on the headphone used).
 
Any digital audio signal sent from the PC, running thru the E17's DAC and head amp.
I would think it would have a chance of sounding better then the phones, as an audio source.
 
Wonder if it might be better just to buy a really nice portable music audio player.

I'd just get the E17 to start with, and make sure you music is in good quality 256MP3 or higher, that will make more of a difference than the amp. The E17 will work as an amp with the phone and as an amp/DAC with the computer.
 
Is it just the Samgung galaxy that can transmit USB audio or can all android phones?
 
http://www.headfonia.com/e7e9-reloaded-andes-and-qogir/
http://www.headfonia.com/the-upgrade-fiio-e17-alpen/

 

[DrSheep]

Get a Sony PHA-1, or a V-MODA VERZA instead.  This way you can have an all digital connection with no double amping by using the phone's headphone out.

 

[Wyd4]

Quote:

I'd just get the E17 to start with, and make sure you music is in good quality 256MP3 or higher, that will make more of a difference than the amp. The E17 will work as an amp with the phone and as an amp/DAC with the computer.
 
Is it just the Samgung galaxy that can transmit USB audio or can all android phones?
 
http://www.headfonia.com/e7e9-reloaded-andes-and-qogir/
http://www.headfonia.com/the-upgrade-fiio-e17-alpen/

 
Hey,

My e17 showed up today in the post, havent had a chance to play with it yet.
Will know more soon.
Yeah all of my music is either Flac or 320.  Generally in favour of 320 on my phone for obvious reasons.
 
I am yet to see a mod that allows the use of USB audio for my HTC, however I have been looking for this somewhat constantly.
I am also thinking about buying the HE 400's however I use my headphones a lot for commuting, but I like the idea of the planar and sound char's of the HE400.
I am not overly attached to the people I commute with however they may throw me out of the train if I use the He's... HMn