Quote: A little uncalled for.  If you look far back enough in this thread you'll see, upon release, everyone wondered what type of product this would turn out to be.  Some felt that the amp would last a long time because Fiio typically makes good equipment.  My E7 is still running...

After two years or so of ownership my Fiio E9 is starting to break down.  The hiss we all experience while adjusting the volume is now present much of the time the amp is turned on.  Sometimes I can fiddle with the volume pot to make it stop but as of now I am looking for a new headphone amp.  I...

Wow most of my music falls between 3 and 6 on the Dynamic Range scale.  The widest dynamic range of my library comes from Joanna Newsom and Shpongle albums, which are around 10-12 on the scale  

  Quote:   Thank you!  This is exactly what I needed.    What values would qualify as wide dynamic range?  Narrow dynamic range?  How do the values correspond to decibel variation?

Are there any websites that have a special on the M5?  I know there was a place where they could be had for $100.   I need a new pair, my faithful M5s were stolen this weekend after a year and a half of extremely satisfied ownership.   So my first inclination is to buy another pair, I don't...

Foobar has a peak meter that I like to use sometimes.  I am wondering: if the blue bars reach all the way to the limit of the meter, does this imply that some sounds are being dynamically compressed?  Otherwise the bar would extend higher than the limit of the meter?  It is not really possible...

I really appreciate the above advice.  Some of the suggestions were a bit too technical for me, but ultimately I was able to determine that the amp was clipping by playing a "static-y" portion of the song and replaying it with the computer volume at 70%.  At 100% there was static, at 70% no...

The cheapest option I know of is to stream via wifi an iPhone to an apple TV ($100) and run an optical connection out to a dac.   The iStreamer looks cool but is not portable, which is disappointing. 

Quote: I am not sure why you are having trouble with the Aune, I guess not all gear matches perfectly.  I drove my Denons with a Fiio E7 for over a year with a giant smile on my face, again most of the difference came from the dac portion of the e7 than the amp, but the amp is nice too...

Quote: It is difficult finding someone who has purchased both and compared them.  I think a few people have mentioned that the differences are almost unnoticeable, it seemed like going through the thread there were a few 2.1 owners disappointed in the degree of similarity between the two...

Just get a neutral ss amp with low enough distortion across the board and you'll be OK.  In my opinion the denons benefit more from and upgraded dac than an upgraded amp, they are easy to drive.  I drive mine with an E9 and I couldn't be happier.  Some people are happy using portable amplifiers...

. edit: wrong thread  

Can you describe what the clipping sounds like?   For me it is a reproducible static sound that occurs at the same time on the same tracks, regardless of volume.  At first I thought it was because the track was poorly mastered and my new dac was the only gear I had that was resolving enough...

I use the audio-gd nfb 3.1 dac, which has a line output level of 2.5 V, and the 3.1 feeds the Fiio E9, which I hear clips around 2.1 V.  However, I am not quite sure what clipping is.  I have noticed that on certain tracks with large dynamic range there is abrupt static at very loud portions of...

Quote:   I wouldn't feel too bad about the filter options.  Out of my nfb 3.1 I do not think I would hold up to an ABX blind test on filter settings, they all sound the same to me, except for an extremely tiny difference that I am willing to believe is psychological.   I have not...

To be honest I think that the M5 and the Denon 2000s have a very different sound signature.  Granted, my description of desired sound signature fits both the M5s and the D2000s, but owning both I can say that they take entirely different approaches to sound.   Anyway I've stopped looking for...

How many classes of amps are there?

Does anybody know what class-type of amp the E9 is?  Class A, D. . . ?

Chris J, this is all a little over my head but all responses are appreciated. I guess I just want to know which amps are suitable for my headphones. It seems most are if they have enough current. A lot of people advise against tubes for the denons but I want to try it.

For all intents and purposes, the denons are "semi open."  People will hear your music.  It won't be loud but they will hear it.  If this bothers them than the isolation is poor.  If they don't mind I suppose the isolation is adequate.   But if isolation is what you are going for i'd stick...

Quote:   I've been thinking about it, and if you want to upgrade the dac and the amp then the nfb 12.1 might be the way to go.  Which amp were you looking at for the denons?  Because for $250 the nfb 12.1 does give you the features you want and, though I haven't heard it, has received...

I appreciate the above replies, however things have gotten a bit complicated.  What is phase, phase angle, magnitude, etc.?  What is "output coupling C?"   Haha every time I think I understand amps it they turn out to be far more complicated than I had imagined.

Yes, for the above poster with the denons, let me just reiterate that your amping needs are taken care of the by the E9.  The E9 is a great amp for the denons.  If you really want to improve the sound quality you have to start thinking strictly about dacs.    I think if the above poster...

My advice is to do what I did: keep the e9 because it is a fabulous amp and the denons are easy to drive and upgrade the dac. I bought a dedicated dac and thought it was well worth the hundreds of dollars. YMMV.

I do own the E7. The E9 sounds much better. In fact that is what prompted me to start this thread. Damping factor from the e9 is 2.5 compared to roughly 125 from the e7 but the e9 sounds much cleaner, just an improvement in every way from the e7. Edit : spelling