[hojomojo96]

Will it produce better sound quality if I turn the volume up on my itouch all  the way, and keep the volume all the way down on my E5? Or if I turn it up on the E5 and down on the itouch? One thing I have noticed is that if used the first way, there is no hissing at all.

 

[Nuwidol]

When amped the iPod should remove the option to change the volume altogether...
 
How are you connecting the amp? To get any benefit at all you should be using a LOD (line out dock) that will draw the unaltered signal from the iPod before it goes through the internal amp & pass that signal on to the Fiio.
 
The cable should be similar to this: 

 

[hojomojo96]

That explains a lot, I'm using a cable that connects from the ipod's headphohne jack to the Fiio.

 

[mootookang]

The gain on amps also matters a lot, if your IEM is more efficient, get an amp with lower gain. A gain too high would create a lot of sibilance and it could potentially burn out your drivers if it is used continuously.

 

[hojomojo96]

Well, all I have is my E5, which I got free, so I'm not planning on getting anything new anytime soon.

 

[ElcomeSoft]

Quote:

When amped the iPod should remove the option to change the volume altogether...
 
How are you connecting the amp? To get any benefit at all you should be using a LOD (line out dock) that will draw the unaltered signal from the iPod before it goes through the internal amp & pass that signal on to the Fiio.
 
The cable should be similar to this: 

Thank you for that explanation. I've heard of an LOD but haven't figured out what one really does until now.
 
I guess I now need to find one for my HTC HD2, if one exists.