[Ratzilla]

I just got my fiio E7 today and I charged the thing to completion and plugged it into my phone (nexus one) and my sansa clip+.  I noticed improvements in sound quality from both sources and of course, it made my phone (which normally sounds terrible) into something that sounds half decent.  However, my problem is the volume.
 
I set my source to 50% volume and I tried to match the E7 so that the volume would be the same through the E7/mp3 player as through just the mp3 player.  The volume setting on the E7 was around 45-50/60 when I achieved this.  I ear-balled this little experiment with my sennheiser HD-580s.
 
I read online that a lot of people will only run 40/60 on high impedance headphones and while I am fine with that, I am not fine with the fact that I need to run my E7 at 80% max volume just to MATCH my mp3 player.
 
Is this normal? Or do I have a defective E7?  Is there something I overlooked?  Thanks
 
 
 

 

[JamesFiiO]

The volume setting depend on two factor,
 
the level of the input. the load .
 
small input, easy drive load:    low volume setting. 
 
small input, hard drive load: mid volume setting.
 
high input, easy drive load: mid volume setting
 
small input, hard drive load: high volume setting.
 
As I know, most headphone out from a mobile phone or MP3 have limited signal output level, so it is not strange that you need to set the volume to higher than other, also it also depend on the sound level that you need.
 

 

[Ratzilla]

I understand what you are saying but I don't see how that is relevant because what I did was compare the unamped mp3 player with the mp3 player amped with the fiio.  In other words, the I am only comparing the input with the output and the output is more quiet than the input if I set the volume on the fiio E7 to be less than 45-50ish

 

[JamesFiiO]

I know what you means, yes, when you set the volume below 45, the gain of E7 is less than 0dB, that means the output will less than input, this is normal

 

[Ratzilla]

Okay, i just thought it was strange but thanks for clarifying.  I do love the sound that the E7 produces.  Thanks again!

 

[ClieOS]

If you are not using a line-level signal (i.e. line-out), the best thing to do is to set the volume of your source to really high (but not distorted). Preferably >90% and use the amp to control the volume. It improves the dynamic range of the source in this configuration.

 

[kingpage]

Like ClieOS said, set your source to be at max or near max so the E7 can work its magic, why would you want to amplify a weaker signal anyway when a stronger version is available?
 
In other words, 50% volume from your source is the problem. I understand you want to compare apples with apples, but this doesn't work this way. Your DAP has the luxury of a line-level signal whereas E7 gets only 50% of the headphone out? I would call this unfair.

 

[Ratzilla]

I only set it to 50% so I can hear the difference in the gain.  I want to reiterate that I was only asking about the gain of the amp.  Not anything else.  In other words, the volume that I set my source at is irrelevant when talking about the gain.

 

[kingpage]

No worries. E7 only has a 5dB gain.
 
 
Quote:

I read online that a lot of people will only run 40/60 on high impedance headphones and while I am fine with that, I am not fine with the fact that I need to run my E7 at 80% max volume just to MATCH my mp3 player.

 
These same people also maxed out (or nearly) their source or have a good LOD. What I said was do to do with this statement. Remember sound level is not linear but logarithmic, since a 5dB increase is not even double the perceived volume (6-10dB for most individuals) and the fact that E7 has very fine volume increments, it would be safe to assume the real gain is after 45 or 50.