Received new FiiO E7 today from Micca in Fairfax, Va (hi ex-neighbor - used to live in Arlington.)
Did much reading on this forum and other reviews and truly appreciate the candid and (sometimes) brutal thoughts of recent purchasers. After just a few hours experience, can only share my first impressions - all of which are positive.
Unpacked, reviewed instruction sheet, plugged in USB connector to a Sony notebook running W7. The Sony found the E7 and loaded its driver, all on its own. Then, put in classical CD and connected my recentlly acquired Senn HD 650's. Results: Wow Wow and Wow! Maybe a $1000 amp could sound better, but to my older (74) ears, the sound was the best I've ever heard through earphones.
The E7 is very intuitive and just needed the pictorial on which hole to plug each device into to get it up and working. Was a little confused at first - each time I powered up, it immediately came on then powered down. Then, needed to read the instruction sheet: just touch the switch to turn on; touch and hold for a second or two to turn it off! So easy a caveman could do it (if they read the instructions, that is!)
Played around with the bass setting and have found setting #1 and #2 sound best with CD's - #1 for Pop and #2 for classical. The HD 650's had great presence and I'm hearing sounds that never came out of my modest AV setup with some older Infinity speakers. Also, tried direct connection to a Sirius Stiletto. The Stiiletto drives the 650's good - with the E7 it drives the 650's noticeably better!
Only complaint and it's minor: when unwrapping (and it was packed beautifully by Micca, noticed a few scratches on the plastic cover over the display. Nothing I can't live with, but am wondering what it will look like after several road trips. But, bought the E7 to listen to, not to look at so no big deal. At first thought perhaps the plastic was a temporary protector but it appears to be glued in place and not readily removable.
Another not-quite-sure finding: Does the E7 charge via USB when the computer - but not the E7 - is turned on? I turned off the E7 to have some lounch and when I checked it out an hour later, the charge had not increased. Right now, am charging with the E7 turned on and will 'discover' whether this was a solution or not.
An earlier post of some time ago was apparently never answered: how does the E7 work with the Senn HD 650's? My answer: Great! If I'm ever in a high-end store will try out my 650's with a $1K amp to see what improvement $900 more can make. In the meantime, I'm quite happy.,
My thanks again to the posters in this forum whose comments led me to order and receive the E7. And, to Jack of Micca who often contributes to this forum and shipped it packed so well. BTW Jack, do not believe the E7 package had been opened since leaving the factory, so the scratches were probably done with a chopstick!
Regards to all and Thank You.
Tom T
North Augusta, SC
Correction (the day after): My dumb error - a kind person sent me a private message suggesting check whether or not a protective film is on the display. Took me a minute or two to confirm that there IS a protective film in place; thus NO scratch. My apologies for not recognizing the film and thanks for the kind info. Will leave the film in place until a proper screen protector is available.
Did much reading on this forum and other reviews and truly appreciate the candid and (sometimes) brutal thoughts of recent purchasers. After just a few hours experience, can only share my first impressions - all of which are positive.
Unpacked, reviewed instruction sheet, plugged in USB connector to a Sony notebook running W7. The Sony found the E7 and loaded its driver, all on its own. Then, put in classical CD and connected my recentlly acquired Senn HD 650's. Results: Wow Wow and Wow! Maybe a $1000 amp could sound better, but to my older (74) ears, the sound was the best I've ever heard through earphones.
The E7 is very intuitive and just needed the pictorial on which hole to plug each device into to get it up and working. Was a little confused at first - each time I powered up, it immediately came on then powered down. Then, needed to read the instruction sheet: just touch the switch to turn on; touch and hold for a second or two to turn it off! So easy a caveman could do it (if they read the instructions, that is!)
Played around with the bass setting and have found setting #1 and #2 sound best with CD's - #1 for Pop and #2 for classical. The HD 650's had great presence and I'm hearing sounds that never came out of my modest AV setup with some older Infinity speakers. Also, tried direct connection to a Sirius Stiletto. The Stiiletto drives the 650's good - with the E7 it drives the 650's noticeably better!
Only complaint and it's minor: when unwrapping (and it was packed beautifully by Micca, noticed a few scratches on the plastic cover over the display. Nothing I can't live with, but am wondering what it will look like after several road trips. But, bought the E7 to listen to, not to look at so no big deal. At first thought perhaps the plastic was a temporary protector but it appears to be glued in place and not readily removable.
Another not-quite-sure finding: Does the E7 charge via USB when the computer - but not the E7 - is turned on? I turned off the E7 to have some lounch and when I checked it out an hour later, the charge had not increased. Right now, am charging with the E7 turned on and will 'discover' whether this was a solution or not.
An earlier post of some time ago was apparently never answered: how does the E7 work with the Senn HD 650's? My answer: Great! If I'm ever in a high-end store will try out my 650's with a $1K amp to see what improvement $900 more can make. In the meantime, I'm quite happy.,
My thanks again to the posters in this forum whose comments led me to order and receive the E7. And, to Jack of Micca who often contributes to this forum and shipped it packed so well. BTW Jack, do not believe the E7 package had been opened since leaving the factory, so the scratches were probably done with a chopstick!
Regards to all and Thank You.
Tom T
North Augusta, SC
Correction (the day after): My dumb error - a kind person sent me a private message suggesting check whether or not a protective film is on the display. Took me a minute or two to confirm that there IS a protective film in place; thus NO scratch. My apologies for not recognizing the film and thanks for the kind info. Will leave the film in place until a proper screen protector is available.
