[Solrighal]

Hello everyone. I just bought my very first headphone amp, a Fiio E5. I know this is as basic as it gets but I wanted to test the waters before shelling out major money. Frankly, I'm amazed at how it's helping out my Shure SRH840's. The Shure's themselves are only a recent (last week) purchase and I've only just got 100hrs on them. Strangely, during burn-in (with pink noise) at around 80 hrs the bass pretty much disappeared! I was shocked and at first thought something had broken. However I read that this can sometimes happen and to persevere with the burn-in and the bass would come back. Well sure enough it did. In spades. More of it and far better defined and more punchy to boot. No more one-note bass. Fantastic!

Anyway, to my questions.

Firstly, is it better to run my source (Cowon D2) at full volume and use the Fiio to attenuate the level or should I be reducing the volume on the D2 and increasing the Fiio volume to the desired level? I've read that the Fiio can produce hiss at full volume but I've yet to put that to the test.

Secondly, what would be the next level of portable amp to use and what further benefits (if any) might I expect to hear?

Thirdly, is the Cowon D2 still considered to be a good portable source? I only ever play FLAC files and have no need for video playback but it seems increasingly difficult to find an audio player which doesn't have video capabilities already built-in.

Thank for taking the time to read this post and I look forward to hearing any and all replies.

Gordon

 

[wantmyf1]

Yes, you should run your Cowon between 75% and 100% volume and let the Fiio handle the volume. If you get hiss or some other unwanted audio artifact then you may have to go back to depending on the Cowon but the high volume out of the Cowon is the closest you'll get to an LOD sound without the LOD.

I don't know what the next "step up" would be. All I can say is that I have the Ibasso D10 and think it's a great little amp for the price though not exactly portable like the E5. The Ibasso D2 and other Ibasso products have garnered some praise here but I haven't heard them so you'd have to do some checking for yourself.

I know nothing about the D2 so I'll leave that to others.

 

[Deep Funk]

1. I usually burn in at higher sound volumes except when I'm listening longer than half an hour. Today I took my new Pioneers to the outdoors and kept it on normal volume on my DAP without Fiio E5. Now the pioneer is on laptop power playing music through Mediamonkey at a higher sound volume, burn in. The Pioneer is almost done burning in while producing music under a piece of bed cloth of some sorts.

2. From what I've read the cMoy V2.02 with bass boost is the next logical step, I'm certainly tempted. I'm still reading in on it for Minibox, iBasso and Nuforce are still options.

3. I asked myself the same question and bought the Clip +. If the D2 works for you and has a micro SD card slot you shouldn't worry yet about a new DAP. My Clip + has been around for two weeks or so and I've only 96 mb left. 16 gb here I come...

 

[tjumper78]

since you got your foot into head-fi already, you're going to spend more money very soon and very fast.

i always discourage people from buying E5 because it really is not that good at all. i have one myself (bundled with sansa clip) but i rarely use it because it only adds a little bit of volume while degrading the sound.
if you're that amazed with E5, wait till you try better (more expensive obviously) amps. i almost peed my pants when i upgraded from pa2v2 to headamp pico.
i have cowon d2 and i like it a lot more than a bunch of mp3 players including a few ipods. i love its size (not too big, not too small) and the sound is strong and transparent. i set the d2 volume at 50(max) and control the volume with the amp.

 

[feverfive]

^^ Yeah, that's why I've avoided going the route of the E5, tbh. I was looking at the NuForce Icon Mobile or the iBasso T3d, but now I'm thinking "just screw it" and going for the Pico Slim. I have typically spent more $$ by trying to upgrade in small steps than if I would've just gone "higher end" right away. Once I hear impressions of the Slim, especially how they may help/not help my set-up (iPod Classic>ATH-ESW9), I'll make a decision. I'll miss out on the intro pricing, but I'd rather have a bit more peace of mind than potentially waste $350 today.

 

[Solrighal]

Thanks for the input so far folks. I understand what you're getting at as regards the quality of the E5 but it honestly has improved the sound of the Shures, at least to my ears. I was looking at the iBasso D10 and also have been hearing good things about the Pico Slim but over here in Third World Scotland headphones are pretty rare. I've no idea where I'd source some of them. The NuForce on the other hand is available and pretty reasonably priced too at £115 (Audio Affair | Hi-fi, Home Cinema, Multi Room & Custom Install - NuForce Icon Mobile Headphone Amplifier). I'll try the E5 tonight with the D2 at full blast and see how it sounds. I'll be taking John Martyn to bed tonight so we'll see how it goes.

Gordon.

 

[Solrighal]

I'm definitely getting a kick out of the E5. Now I'm definitely looking to upgrade but I have another angle - is the D2 up to it or should I be looking to upgrade my source first (garbage in, garbage out and all that)?

 

[Aimless1]

One of the members over at iaudiophile ran tests on the volume setting/line out on the D2. Seems to me the sweet spot was between 35 & 40. I keep mine at 35 when running to an amp.

 

[Solrighal]

Thanks for the heads-up mate, I'll be sure to try that out tonight. Are you generally satisfied with the output from your D2? I think it sounds great but I have never heard any of the competition. Having said that there really isn't much copmpetition to the D2 features-wise, even now, two years after I bought it.

 

[Aimless1]

Although portables drew me into the hobby, I don't spend much time listening to them. I have heard others including products by Zune, Apple and Sansa. I still prefer the D2.

No longer use an amp. Prefer to tote less these days and for my purposes the D2 sounds just fine alone. But if I was stationary, such as a long flight, then I would prefer to use a portable amp.

Nice player that delivers incredible sound.

 

[adam12nyc]

Thats interesting because I always thought the rule of thumb was to always run the source at 100% & let the amp control the volume....YMMV of course.

 

[Solrighal]

I tried it last night and to be honest I can't say I noticed much difference. If anything there was a touch more hiss which I'd put down to the amp running nearer to it's max. I can't be sure though.

 

[Solrighal]

Would I be correct in assuming I'll get better SQ when using my laptop as source out via USB to a dedicated DAC/Amp combo than I currently get out of my Cowon D2/E5? If so, how much improvement can I hope for. I'm thinking of taking the plunge and getting one of the iBasso models (which one?). I'd really like one of those Emmeline amps but I don't think they're available in the UK.

 

[Aimless1]

Found this thread on the other site which should answer your questions.

 

[Solrighal]

Thanks mate. I've read through that thread and am just tightening the noose right now, lol. My God, I just want to know what might sound better, not how to measure the sound. About the only thing I've found that helped the sound is setting the EQ to a flat response.

I just got paid today and there's a hole burning in my pocket but I just can't decide what to do in order to achieve an appreciable increase in SQ. To make matters worse I now need a new set of speakers for my laptop (which is used as a desktop). This is drawing me towards the NuForce Icon which would seem to be the best of both worlds. Trouble is I read conflicting reports as to the quality of the headphone ouput on that particular amp.