FiiO E10

If you don't have a DAC or Amp, this is a great place to start. I started off my over-ear audio journey with the Sennheiser G4me Zero (150 ohm) I immediately realized by immense lack of bass that they were not being driven correctly. Being the jobless scrub that I was, the only thing I could justify price-wise was this little Fiio E10 I found on Ebay. I do not regret it one bit, and I still use it every day.
 
Sound and such:
 
The product is straight forward with a slight twist. This is better than most* onboard audio in quality terms, and stronger in power terms too. The most noticeable result it that you will likely get a bit more extension, and some bass in less sensitive headphones.
 
What is odd to me is that the audio quality is not always better, usually, but not always. I have a particularly talented motherboard with a rogue set of audio chips that outperform their expectation. They can go to bat against, and even sometimes beat the Fiio on anything under 150 ohm. I also have the LG V20 phone with its quite excellent Quad-Dac, especially for a phone. The V20 is again surprisingly good, and can easily bat with the Fiio E10.
 
The Fiio E10 is a bit colored too. There is a bit of a bass lean, but it is nothing like tubes. The treble is a tad rolled off at the top as well. The result is not a slightly less harsh overall tone, but still tons of detail. I like this characteristic about it. Not only does it have its own character, but it does good things for gamers that play for many hours at a time with a little less fatigue than some solid-state amps, but also has a bass-boost switch which many will also love. The bass-boost does take a bit of the clarity, and adds a some hollowness in the treble.
 
I also find that I still prefer the Fiio E10 with some headphones more than any of my other options, including a $250 Project Polaris. I prefer My HD700 on the Fiio E10. The combo works well together.
 
I suspect that the Fiio E10k has some sonic improvement over the Fiio E10.
 
Features and Such:
 
The Fiio E10 is tiny. In the word of Dacs and Amps, this is Very small. In fact it is small enough that I have used 3M command velcro stuff to mount it to the underside of my desk, where I use it as a dac through the 3.5mm Line-out to my Project Polaris, or the Lepai 2020 Speaker Amp, depending on the day. Since the Line-out is on the back, it looks good, and I can plug headphones straight into the front. Here is a picture:

There is also a Coaxial line out, but I never use that.
 
The power is only through a usb to mini-usb connection, which means less wires than a full size desktop amp. Fantastic! This also makes it easier for laptop use on-the-go, and can be converted to micro-usb if you really want to use it with your Android. I did this a few times to eliminate Computer fan noise while testing Headphones.
Lastly there is a Gain switch on the bottom. This is useful for particularly low impedance things, as the High Gain switch works best for the majority of things I have tried.
 
Song recommendation: Heaven Nor Hell - Volbeat
 
I like song recommendations if anyone wants to throw a couple in the comments!
 
Conclusion: 
 
If you don't have an amp for headphones that are anything above garbage tier, the Fiio e10 will likely make a noticable difference. The Fiio still gets used by me every day as much for the combination of size and features as the sound. I highly recommend this DAC/Amp for a starter into the audio world. Is this as objectively good as O2? no. Can you do better for the money? Not that I have seen. This little Fiio got me started on an audio journey. What else needs to be said?

I'm a music lover and also quite new to the Hi-FI world, and haven't really tried higher end DACs/Amps, although I've been using the FiiO E10 long enough to have an idea of what it is capable of.
 
Starting with the first impressions:
 
This is a pretty small and light Amp/DAC, even lighter than you might think. The first time I held it, I was kind of surprised how light it was, thinking it wouldn't be able to make much difference on the sound produced by my headphones and laptop.
 
 
Build:
 
It is quite well built. I wouldn't say it is an impressive build quality, but it does feel solid and nice with its aluminum outer casing and rubbery feet.
 
It has a headphone output, a bass enhancing switch and the volume knob with a bright blue led on the front.
The back has a USB input (mini USB), a coaxial output (comes covered with a yellow rubber cap) and a line out (to connect to your stereo, bypassing the amp section).
The under side shows the gain switch (which is prone to becoming loose after only a few times being fiddled with).
The upper side has nothing but the FiiO logo and the name of the model (in this case, Olympus).
 
The volume knob turns well, offering some resistance, but it's not a smooth 'oily' turn.
The inputs and outputs are well placed and allow you to connect your source (mainly the USB input), your stereo (through the Line Out) and your set of headphones (through the headphone output).
BRIGHT is what I'd say about the front LED. I mean, it is alright if you're not using your device in the dark, but if you turn off the lights, that little blue LED sends some seriously heavenly rays of light through the darkest of the rooms.
The bass enhancing switch is quite nice. It does enhances the bass, although I don't really like using it, since I prefer neutrality. It enhances the sound across all the spectrum, adding an emphasis in the low frequencies. The bass gets more punch and depth, but becomes a little bit bloated.
There is not much to say about the outputs and inputs on the back, other than that they do their job properly.
 
 
Sound:
 
I cannot compare this to any other amp/dac, since this is still the only one I have and used.
 
In my rookie audiophile opinion, this is a very good entrance into the Hi-Fi world. I've felt a huuuge difference between listening to music straight from the headphone jack from my Macbook Air and listening to music through the FiiO E10, not only using headphones, but also using my stereo (Logitech z623).
 
This small device is able to bring life to your music. It adds depth to the soundstage, strengthens the bass and defines and clarifies the trebles and all the other frequencies. It also eliminated the hiss that I used be able to hear when listening straight from the headphone jack from my laptop, thus, improving the listening experience drastically.
 
As I said before, I prefer neutrality over colourful sound, so I dislike turning the bass enhancing on. It does help to add punch and power to the low end, and, to a lesser extension, to mids and highs, but I feel like the sound gets a little bloated and loses its definition and clarity. I leave it off at all times.
 
The gear I use with the FiiO E10 are, in order of acquisition:
- Logitech z623;
- Superlux HD668B (with 100+ hours of burn-in);
- Shure SRH840;
- AKG K702.
 
The Logitech z623 is not a monitoring set, nor it is considered an audiophile grade set of speakers, but when plugged in the FiiO E10, they did sound better, more defined and with that special touch of clarity that the FiiO E10 adds up to the sound.
Thought the Line Out on the back, the sound changes little, loses very little definition (almost inaudible difference). The only difference would be that the volume will be fixed, and the volume knob in the FiiO E10 won't have any effect. The volume will be controlled using the knobs on the stereo instead.
I prefer always using the headphone out, either for listening with headphones or with the stereo, since it does add that subtle touch to the sound quality (in case of using the stereo).
 
The Superlux HD668B, and also the Shure SRH840, really came alive with the FiiO E10, benefiting in every frequency across the listenable spectrum. The highs got clarified, the bass defined and extended and the mids came forward, but all in a neutral manner, each one staying where it should stay, without invading the other frequencies. There was some improvement to the soundstage, mainly with the Superlux, since it is semi-open and already has a wider soundstage signature than the Shure, but there was also an audible difference with the Shure, and it surprised me how good the soundstage could be in a closed-back set of headphones.
 
At first, I thought the FiiO E10 wouldn't be powerful enough to feed the AKG K702, since I had read in many threads that this set of headphones is power hungry, but I was surprised on how well it did power them, even using the 'low gain' option.
If there was a change with the sound, the AKG K702 is the one which showed it the most. It is quite famous for its sound quality and brightness, but through the FiiO E10, I've heard a very nice improvement, mainly to the soundstage. It felt like I was in the middle of the stage, with the orchestra playing around me. I could hear every single detail in each instrument, even the breath that the players took to blow the air-instruments, and the slightest of touch in the cymbals, as well as the creaking of the chairs.
It might be an exaggeration coming from my rookie audiophile perception, since I am new to this hobby, but I can say that this little FiiO E10 adds quite a resolution to the sound produced by the AKG K702, which became my preferred all around headphones.
If you're a bass head and you, like many others, think that the AKG K702 lacks bass, just turn on the bass enhancing switch or use an EQ to add some punch to the low frequencies.
 
 
Are you on a budget?
Are you, like me, new to the audiophile world?
Have you been looking for a good entrance level amp/DAC?
 
Then, I highly recommend you the FiiO E10.
 
Not that I tried other amps/DACs, but I tried and bought this one and I regret nothing.
 
Hope this helps the fellow audiophile rookies that are considering buying this amp/DAC as their first/second/budget/whatever the reason amp/DAC.

I am using this little dealie for 3 months now.
On my laptop I use it with a pair of Sony Headphones (MDR-MA300, nothing special) and this sounds way, way more open, dynamical and more powerful than through the laptop's own minijack.
The USB connection should have been a USB B instead of a mini USB IMHO, this should make a cable upgrade a little easier.
A nice extra - I found out later - is the Digital Coaxial RCA SPDIF Output. I use the E10 as a USB - SPDIF converter now too.
 
Very handy to record internet streams!
I do this as follows:
Play a stream on laptop 1 ->
Convert from USB to SPDIF with Fiio E10 ->
Convert from SPDIF to Analogue with a Cambridge 740C CD player with digital inputs -> 
Convert from Analogue to USB with an ADL Furutech GT40 Audio Interface ->
Record with Audacity on Laptop 2  
 
I know there are probably more practical ways to do this, but all the stuff was already there..
The chain simply was complete when I added the E10
It enables me to make recordings from the internet of surprisingly good quality without being held back by disabled internal soundcards that sound like crap anyway.
 
So I think the E10 is worth every cent - I use it at home as a headphone Amp and as a Converter - I use it on the road as a great sound enhancer while listening music on my laptop.
IT SOUNDS GREAT!!
 
With Kind Regards, Emiel (Netherlands) 
- feedback welcome!!