[darkfireblade25]

 

I noticed that the sound quality of my E7 hooked to my desktop is better than the sound quality hooked up to my laptop. I looked around for why and found that the power output of the desktop is higher than the laptop and so it can handle the signal better. I am wondering if this can be solved if I had a better DAC/amp or is the signal from the computer going to affect the output signal even if i had a better DAC/amp?
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[NA Blur]

How you power the Fiio E7 will always affect the sound.  Clean sound and good power supplies are hard to come by these days.  I do not think it is about "handling the signal better".  It is probably a sheer power issue.  The Fiio needs a certain amount of clean power to achieve peak performance and your desktop, as you mentioned, delivers.
 
The $2 option
First try an AC to USB power device so you can use a wall plug to power the Fiio E7.  This should cure the problem altogether as the wall will be supplying the power rather than your laptop.  You can find these at a local electronics store or the link below.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A2BLEC/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000HGKF34&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0N0K4RYV49QYJH4RNZPV
 
The $114 Option
The Fiio E9 will charge your E7 and can be externally powered.  It may be an inexpensive option for you.
 
The $150 option and last resort
My last suggestion would be to try a Total Bithead and see if you like it better.  Headphone.com sells them and has a 30 day return policy so if you do not like it or do not find that it solves this issue then you can just return it.  I would really recommend that you need an externally powered amp/DAC.  This will take the power consumption away from the computer and solely depend upon where you are plugging it in.  This will probably increase the cost of your setup though because you will now need a different amp / DAC.
 
Perhaps someone else will chime in here and let you know if the Fiio E9 is worth it.  In the end I would ask yourself weather or not the audible change is worth spending more money?  Most of us aim for improvement so I feel you there, but if the difference is only noticeable when you A/B compare the two then perhaps you will never notice while you listen to your laptop.
 
Best of luck.

 

[darkfireblade25]

Are you sure it is not the signal from the computer that is causing it? I mean, it has a battery in itself so power shouldn't be a problem... and if I go with the $2 option, how am I going to use the thing as a DAC?

 

[Head Injury]

Are you using the same media player, with the same settings, between computers? Do you have anyone who would be willing to help you with a blind test between the two, to see if it's just placebo?
 
If the E7 is powered by USB, and the laptop has a seriously weak USB, it might reduce overall gain. I'm not sure. Does it sound just as loud at the same volume setting between computers?

 

[darkfireblade25]

I don't know if gain is a problem or not but I did a test where I memorized a 1 second section of a song where it transitioned into an electric guitar from no sound and did a comparison (all things same except the computer). The section on my desktop has a noticeably smoother transition and it was clear and the section on my laptop was rough and sounded little more grating like it was from the jack of my laptop with more instrumental separation. 
 
EDIT: although I do remember the desktop had more volume although I do not have the time to confirm right now because it is not available.

 

[holden4th]

Quote:

Are you using the same media player, with the same settings, between computers? Do you have anyone who would be willing to help you with a blind test between the two, to see if it's just placebo?
 
If the E7 is powered by USB, and the laptop has a seriously weak USB, it might reduce overall gain. I'm not sure. Does it sound just as loud at the same volume setting between computers?

This is great advice regarding the media players and you also could look at their settings. So what media players are you using?
 

 

[nagual]

            In your laptop:
 
- Run  from the battery
 
- Set,  in Control Panel/ Power Options,  "Allways on" (or any other option that disables power saving)
 
- Still in Control Panel,  disable, in Audio,  all imputs and outputs you are not using,  and slide all the way to right the  volume settings.
 
   It may not work, but it wont cost you anything, either...
 
 
 
 

 

[darkfireblade25]

Quote:

This is great advice regarding the media players and you also could look at their settings. So what media players are you using?
 

I am going this off of a test with a streamed song online using a chinese website. I did not use a media player for my test. Although, normally I use foobar2000 for my media player.