[Rockwell75]

I will take your word for it. Just ordered n6ii e02. I have N8 and N6ii E02 coming on Tuesday. Will find out..

Do you have the E01? The "mini N8" thought came into my mind as well when I heard the E01 the first time.

 

[dhc0329]

Do you have the E01? The "mini N8" thought came into my mind as well when I heard the E01 the first time.

Sorry I've never had N6ii myself but only had N8 for over a year before I sold it. Now I am getting it back but if E02 can provide the similar level
of sound quality in a smaller package, that would be a great success.

 

[leaky74]

Do what I do... don't worry about it. My use (as I am pretty sure its yours too) is almost entirely IEMs, so no need for the extra power the E02 brings. Given that E02 is class AB only and has a lesser dac (though honestly Im sure differences are extremely minimal), it seems to me from what I have read that the only real reasons to spring for the E02 would be that you need more power than the E01 can deliver (which for IEMs doesnt seem likely) or that you have a need for balanced.

However, I too am interested in hearing some direct comparisons even though I already know it doesnt meet my needs. Its kind of hard to put a ton of faith in impressions when they all so far seem to be saying "its the best thing I have ever heard".

Granted, you can ignore my impressions because it is the best thing I have ever heard.To qualify that, the N6ii is the best/highest tier DAP I’ve owned and/or auditioned (to be fair, I’m in the U.K. so buying pretty much = audition).

I am though surprised by anyone that only hears a sideways step from E01. If anyone wants to put faith in that opinion and doesn’t already have an E01, I have one for sale!

Finally, @gazzington has got to be worth listening to? He’s got a handful of flagship DAPs, the bulk of which he’s now happy to get rid of.

 

[Rockwell75]

Granted, you can ignore my impressions because it is the best thing I have ever heard.To qualify that, the N6ii is the best/highest tier DAP I’ve owned and/or auditioned (to be fair, I’m in the U.K. so buying pretty much = audition).

I am though surprised by anyone that only hears a sideways step from E01. If anyone wants to put faith in that opinion and doesn’t already have an E01, I have one for sale!

Finally, @gazzington has got to be worth listening to? He’s got a handful of flagship DAPs, the bulk of which he’s now happy to get rid of.

How is it different than the E01, soundwise?

 

[mashuto]

Granted, you can ignore my impressions because it is the best thing I have ever heard.To qualify that, the N6ii is the best/highest tier DAP I’ve owned and/or auditioned (to be fair, I’m in the U.K. so buying pretty much = audition).

I am though surprised by anyone that only hears a sideways step from E01. If anyone wants to put faith in that opinion and doesn’t already have an E01, I have one for sale!

Finally, @gazzington has got to be worth listening to? He’s got a handful of flagship DAPs, the bulk of which he’s now happy to get rid of.

It just seems like with a similar dac from the same manufacturer and the same amplification mode (not even accounting for class a on the e01), the main difference here is balanced output and more power. For me, my main use is iems, and for low power iems I just don't really believe that balanced by itself offers benefits, and the extra power available is likely also unnecessary. I'm also of the belief here that at this level, changes are always much smaller than most impressions would have you believe (for instance between a01 and e01 I find it's much more of a tweak than a large easily audible change). Not to mention how difficult it is to volume match. Especially on this device where the swapping process is not that quick.

I'm not trying to say it's bad, far from it, I'm sure it's great. But without more detailed impressions other than it's like a mini n8 (which I believe was thrown around for the e01 too), it's hard to evaluate what if any true differences between this and the e0q there might actually be.

 

[leaky74]

How is it different than the E01, soundwise?

Tonally, I find them much of a muchness. On technicalities though, and it’s probably a cliche and a limitation of my ability to describe these things but I find the E02 to be like the E01 on steroids. I don’t mean that it’s the same but has more power, I mean that to me, it does everything the E01 does well but better.

I find the E02 edges the E01 on detail retrieval, staging/imaging in terms of width, depth and separation; I find it holographic in a way that the E01 isn’t. Even though I find it ‘bigger & better’/dynamic, it doesn’t sound boosted or exaggerated, the opposite in fact; I find it more natural sounding than the E01 - note decay sounds more accurate.

Put simply, I reckon if you like the E01, you’ll like the E02. More!

 

[leaky74]

It just seems like with a similar dac from the same manufacturer and the same amplification mode (not even accounting for class a on the e01), the main difference here is balanced output and more power. For me, my main use is iems, and for low power iems I just don't really believe that balanced by itself offers benefits, and the extra power available is likely also unnecessary. I'm also of the belief here that at this level, changes are always much smaller than most impressions would have you believe (for instance between a01 and e01 I find it's much more of a tweak than a large easily audible change). Not to mention how difficult it is to volume match. Especially on this device where the swapping process is not that quick.

I'm not trying to say it's bad, far from it, I'm sure it's great. But without more detailed impressions other than it's like a mini n8 (which I believe was thrown around for the e01 too), it's hard to evaluate what if any true differences between this and the e0q there might actually be.

I 100% get that, based on specs alone, you’d think the E02 is essentially a juiced up E01. It kind of is (see my previous post), but I think that’s understating the differences.

I guess the scale of the differences isn’t in measurements but the ear of the listener so, bearing in mind what you say about differences being overstated.... I’d say in this case they’re a higher level of noticeable. Of course, some people won’t notice those differences, just as some people can’t differentiate between DAC filter settings. To me though, the E02 is definitely an upgrade over the E01.

 

[dhc0329]

Tonally, I find them much of a muchness. On technicalities though, and it’s probably a cliche and a limitation of my ability to describe these things but I find the E02 to be like the E01 on steroids. I don’t mean that it’s the same but has more power, I mean that to me, it does everything the E01 does well but better.

I find the E02 edges the E01 on detail retrieval, staging/imaging in terms of width, depth and separation; I find it holographic in a way that the E01 isn’t. Even though I find it ‘bigger & better’/dynamic, it doesn’t sound boosted or exaggerated, the opposite in fact; I find it more natural sounding than the E01 - note decay sounds more accurate.

Put simply, I reckon if you like the E01, you’ll like the E02. More!

This sounds quite positive that got me excited already about E02. Have you also had a chance to hear N8? If not, fine but if yes, would you mind sharing your view
on differences?

 

[leaky74]

This sounds quite positive that got me excited already about E02. Have you also had a chance to hear N8? If not, fine but if yes, would you mind sharing your view
on differences?

Afraid not, as I say the N6ii is as far up the DAP hierarchy I’ve climbed.

 

[Rockwell75]

Do what I do... don't worry about it. My use (as I am pretty sure its yours too) is almost entirely IEMs, so no need for the extra power the E02 brings. Given that E02 is class AB only and has a lesser dac (though honestly Im sure differences are extremely minimal), it seems to me from what I have read that the only real reasons to spring for the E02 would be that you need more power than the E01 can deliver (which for IEMs doesnt seem likely) or that you have a need for balanced.

However, I too am interested in hearing some direct comparisons even though I already know it doesnt meet my needs. Its kind of hard to put a ton of faith in impressions when they all so far seem to be saying "its the best thing I have ever heard".

Lots of wisdom here. The funny thing about this situation is that I've been on both sides of the fence here many times-- both as the guy gushing over how the piece of gear he just got is the greatest thing ever and also as the guy who jumped to buy something after it was touted as the greatest thing ever only to find that it's at most only marginally different-- or even inferior-- to what I've already got. While I do believe there are total game changing pieces of gear out there, the vast majority of time-- often due to sheer enthusiasm-- we tend to greatly exaggerate differences between different IEMs, DAPs etc. So while I'm open to the possibility that the E02 is game changing, I'm content to hold off for a bit at first until some more reports role in. It helps that I happen to be totally satisfied with the E01 right now so I'm not exactly itching to try anything new. Beyond that, if I do wind up succumbing to the charms of the E02 I'll have to look in to a 4.4mm cable for my LX.

 

[greyforest]

ok after about 90hours with e02 i did some comparison with e01 yesterday.

First let’s talk about e02 on it’s own, after burn in e02 start to warm up a bit, sounds to me like a01 but with improved separation and resolution.

However the sound is still not as holographic as t01, not to mention e01 in class a mode. And I generally don’t even consider t01 holographic...

I use my friends’s hybrid multi driver iem for the comparison, it’s much easier to drive than my a8000. With the same song(and same software:neutron), e01(class a)’s soundstage have much better frontal depth and it just have this holographic feeling to the sound(Not like a lot but enough for a mobile setup).without a hefty load e02 start to sound less impressive than before....the soundstage is very wide with much reduced frontal depth. Separation is better than e01 but that’s unnecessary, with a very horizontal sound stage it just not fun and very tiresome for your attention To constantly shifting from left to right. Transparency wise they are about the same level, e02 is slightly more transparent due to improved separation.

N6ii have very limited space for what they called ‘audio motherboard’ truth is it’s a mini-soundcard connected through pci with n6ii. The limited space is responsible for dac&amp Structure which is impossible to do any of those part to a very good level. But for a mid-fi dap n6ii is doing great, All of the Replaceable soundcard sounds relatively good on their own And they all stay in the same league. But amongst all those sound card i think e01 is the most unique and technologically complicated one. Implementing a full size 9038 pro is not an easy task, and you can hear the difference between 9038 pro and 9038 q2m after some quick ab test, 9038 is ultimately bit more revealing on micro details. I would very love to see an e03 with two 9038 pro and only line-out Output in the future.

E02’s advantage is it’s transparency and driving power also the line-out. And that’s it, if you don’t have a demanding headphone you don’t need e02. Just Go with e01

 

[Taz777]

Thanks @greyforest. This is the kind of comparison that I was interested in.

 

[Visveswaran Umashankar]

ok after about 90hours with e02 i did some comparison with e01 yesterday.

First let’s talk about e02 on it’s own, after burn in e02 start to warm up a bit, sounds to me like a01 but with improved separation and resolution.

However the sound is still not as holographic as t01, not to mention e01 in class a mode. And I generally don’t even consider t01 holographic...

I use my friends’s hybrid multi driver iem for the comparison, it’s much easier to drive than my a8000. With the same song(and same software:neutron), e01(class a)’s soundstage have much better frontal depth and it just have this holographic feeling to the sound(Not like a lot but enough for a mobile setup).without a hefty load e02 start to sound less impressive than before....the soundstage is very wide with much reduced frontal depth. Separation is better than e01 but that’s unnecessary, with a very horizontal sound stage it just not fun and very tiresome for your attention To constantly shifting from left to right. Transparency wise they are about the same level, e02 is slightly more transparent due to improved separation.

N6ii have very limited space for what they called ‘audio motherboard’ truth is it’s a mini-soundcard connected through pci with n6ii. The limited space is responsible for dac&amp Structure which is impossible to do any of those part to a very good level. But for a mid-fi dap n6ii is doing great, All of the Replaceable soundcard sounds relatively good on their own And they all stay in the same league. But amongst all those sound card i think e01 is the most unique and technologically complicated one. Implementing a full size 9038 pro is not an easy task, and you can hear the difference between 9038 pro and 9038 q2m after some quick ab test, 9038 is ultimately bit more revealing on micro details. I would very love to see an e03 with two 9038 pro and only line-out Output in the future.

E02’s advantage is it’s transparency and driving power also the line-out. And that’s it, if you don’t have a demanding headphone you don’t need e02. Just Go with e01

Thanks a tonne brother! You saved my money, for now!!

I just hope these observations are confirmed by at least a couple of others!

Cheers,
Vishy

 

[glassmonkey]

It just seems like with a similar dac from the same manufacturer and the same amplification mode (not even accounting for class a on the e01), the main difference here is balanced output and more power. For me, my main use is iems, and for low power iems I just don't really believe that balanced by itself offers benefits, and the extra power available is likely also unnecessary. I'm also of the belief here that at this level, changes are always much smaller than most impressions would have you believe (for instance between a01 and e01 I find it's much more of a tweak than a large easily audible change). Not to mention how difficult it is to volume match. Especially on this device where the swapping process is not that quick.

I'm not trying to say it's bad, far from it, I'm sure it's great. But without more detailed impressions other than it's like a mini n8 (which I believe was thrown around for the e01 too), it's hard to evaluate what if any true differences between this and the e0q there might actually be.

Dude, the amplification isn't the same. It's got more components, and no pure class A mode. It's going to be different. Also, DAC from same manufacturer doesn't mean sounds the same. There are very diverse ESS9018 tunings that I've heard and very diverse AKM tunings on all their models (I've heard a lot of 4490 implementations and a few 4493 implementations). You very may well be right about power needs defining what you should do if you already have the E01, but I'd wager that it sounds different at the same volume for the reasons I've stated. Alas, I don't have an E01 module to test and without having two units, if they are similar sounding as you hypothesise, the switching time will be too long to reliably identify differences.

 

[leaky74]

Thanks a tonne brother! You saved my money, for now!!

I just hope these observations are confirmed by at least a couple of others!

Cheers,
Vishy

If you’re looking to validate not making a purchase you’re on the fence about, it makes sense to cherry pick opinions that suggest it’s not worthwhile

If (long shot), you happen to be near NW U.K. and once social distancing has died down, I’d be happy to meet up so you can make an informed decision.