[TDB Jaster]

Hey there!
As you can most likely tell from the title, I am currently looking for a portable amp to go with my Fischer Audio FA-003 and Cowon C2 (which is still in the mail).
I previously used my FiiO E11 amp which I really enjoyed, but I'm thinking I may want to try something new!
I realise that a lot may say that the FA-003 is a headphone that doesn't really need amping, but i respectfully disagree; I noticed the difference pretty much immediately after using my E11. I was quite surprised, in fact.
 
As for musical taste, it ranges from dubstep, to house, to metal, to death metal, to jazz, to classical - Also known as, pretty darn varied; the amp has to be a jack of all trades I guess you could say.
 
The preferred price range would be somewhere around the same as the FiiO E11, although I can at a stretch go to £100 (about 160$), granted this will require me to make some cuts in my every day life for a good month or so.
 
I noticed, when browsing around on the Head Gear section of this site under the portable amps, there is a 60$ amp at the top which seems pretty good (don't recall the name, but it's the top one) but does anyone know how it compares to the E11 I'm used to? is it better/worse/different?
 
Cheers!
-Jaster

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

As you can most likely tell from the title, I am currently looking for a portable amp to go with my Fischer Audio FA-003 and Cowon C2 (which is still in the mail).
I previously used my FiiO E11 amp which I really enjoyed, but I'm thinking I may want to try something new!
I realise that a lot may say that the FA-003 is a headphone that doesn't really need amping, but i respectfully disagree; I noticed the difference pretty much immediately after using my E11. I was quite surprised, in fact.
As for musical taste, it ranges from dubstep, to house, to metal, to death metal, to jazz, to classical - Also known as, pretty darn varied; the amp has to be a jack of all trades I guess you could say.
The preferred price range would be somewhere around the same as the FiiO E11, although I can at a stretch go to £100 (about 160$), granted this will require me to make some cuts in my every day life for a good month or so.
I noticed, when browsing around on the Head Gear section of this site under the portable amps, there is a 60$ amp at the top which seems pretty good (don't recall the name, but it's the top one) but does anyone know how it compares to the E11 I'm used to? is it better/worse/different?

I'm guessing you were looking at the cmoy amplifiers.
Personally, I can't see good reason to replace the Fiio E11.
I'm guessing the Cowon C2 will work fairly well with the FA-003, even without an add-on headphone amplifier.

 

[TDB Jaster]

Quote:

I'm guessing you were looking at the cmoy amplifiers.
Personally, I can't see good reason to replace the Fiio E11.
I'm guessing the Cowon C2 will work fairly well with the FA-003, even without an add-on headphone amplifier.

The reason I have for replacing the E11 is that it broke (I was being careless at the time). So I either need to buy a new E11 or something else.
I kinda prefer to have an amp - the C2 has quite a bit of sound modification and juice in itself, but I feel that an amp is going to be the cherry on top (I will of course evaluate further on that after I listen to the C2+FA-003 together for a longer amount of time)
So what do you think? If I HAD to get an amp; Go for the E11 again, or something different? Is there even really a better amp within the price range?
 
EDIT: Previously I used my Sansa Clip+ (rockboxed) as source, and that sounded just so.. boring/flat/lifeless without an amp, no matter how I EQ'd it.
 
So many questions.
Cheers!
-Jaster

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

The reason I have for replacing the E11 is that it broke (I was being careless at the time). So I either need to buy a new E11 or something else.
I kinda prefer to have an amp - the C2 has quite a bit of sound modification and juice in itself, but I feel that an amp is going to be the cherry on top (I will of course evaluate further on that after I listen to the C2+FA-003 together for a longer amount of time)
So what do you think? If I HAD to get an amp; Go for the E11 again, or something different? Is there even really a better amp within the price range?
 
So many questions.
Cheers!
-Jaster

I am biased for Fiio stuff, some prefer the cmoy to the Fiio E11.
With the Fiio E11 you can get a few spare batteries (BL-5B) and a simple battery charger, sometimes as a package deal (Micca).
If your broken E11 still has a working battery, then you already have a spare for use with a new E11.

 

[ostewart]

Stretch your budget and get a JDS Labs C421

 

[TDB Jaster]

Quote:

I am biased for Fiio stuff, some prefer the cmoy to the Fiio E11.
With the Fiio E11 you can get a few spare batteries (BL-5B) and a simple battery charger, sometimes as a package deal (Micca).
If your broken E11 still has a working battery, then you already have a spare for use with a new E11.

 
Hmm, that's a good point. An extra spare battery does add some security with thoughts on durability.
NOTE: I just realised, it wasn't a cmoy - I was referring to Electric Avenues PA2V2  costs $60 and is apparently handcrafted and quite good, although no bass setting.
 
Quote:

Stretch your budget and get a JDS Labs C421

 
Any argument as to why? stretching the budget is really rather difficult for me, so I need a reeeeally good reason. Thanks for the suggestion though!
 
-----------------------------------------------
 
Any other ideas?

 

[ostewart]

No hiss like the E11, better SQ, cleaner more detailed sound, the best customer service I've ever come across, and the build quality is astonishing.

 

[TDB Jaster]

I've never actually experienced the infamous hiss that people talk about with the FiiO amps - Well, i have noticed it, but only very rarely, and definitely not while music was playing.
Is it really worth the extra cash though? it's really quite a stretch for me (I'm a student with a £30 income per week)

 

[ostewart]

I think it's worth it. If you were happy with the E11, then more power to you, I sold my E11 after I got the C421, the C421 is a one off buy, the E11 looks and feels a bit more disposable

 

[ArmAndHammer]

I'm very happy with my JDS Labs cMoyBB v2.03 paired with my FA-002W's. The cMoy really pushes the headphones to the max and the bass boost helps bring up the bottom end. It is a warm sound, not sure how that does with your musical tastes, but I am really diggin' my setup at the moment. If nothing else, I'll mirror what was said about JDS Labs being top notch.

 

[H20Fidelity]

I've tried both owning E11 and JDS Cmoy BB. If you've tried an E11 it might be time for a JDS imo.

The Cmoy is definitely a cleaner sounding amp in my opinion. E11 while having great features and reasonably good bass boost / battery life shows flaws in sound quality. E11 veils highs and mid range slightly so what you end up with is loss in clarity and detail, it's not a major concern though for serious listeners a big deal.

( I am talking about compared to the paired DAP alone)

No matter which settings you use or power modes you cannot get rid of the slight smothering due to the amps transparency and power requirements I was a fan in my earlier days though have seen the light with Fiio amps. They're great for extra power and provide that task very well, though there's that trade off I mentioned. I tried changing LOD's / DAP's though could never solve the problem. My E10 works fine powered by my laptop, so I'm guessing it's something to do with Fiio amps running on battery power because another few members notice the same with their E17's using only the amp section but not the DAC when plugged in to USB

You can test this yourself. What ever DAP you're using to pair E11 switch between amp and DAP headphone jack, you will hear a light blanket thrown over when using the amp.

The JDS was clean and natural, possibly a little brighter than E11 though there wasn't any veil over the signal. If you do decide on the JDS be sure to explain your requirments when ordering because they adjjust a few features such as gain to suit your headphones.

Goodluck.