Drag0n
Headphoneus Supremus
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Great that you seem to be satisfied without having to break the bank and spend more money on another amp. Now listen to the music!!!
Clueless... UPDATE: The Fiio E-5 has arrived!
- Thread starter hardRAWKR
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hardRAWKR
100+ Head-Fier
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Oh trust me this is only a temporary fix. In fact I already have my eyes on an expensive amp.
But this will be plenty until I'm able to finish upgrading my library to flac and get the Cowon S9.
Probably won't have more impressions until tommorow or late tonight, as I plan to watch the episodes of House and 24 that I missed last night. XD I never watch anything live anymore thanks to Tivo. I don't even know what time my favorite shows are on.
(Scratch that, just 24. I guess there wasn't a new House last night. I probably will have more tonight.)
UPDATE...
Impressions with the AD-700.
So I went about trying the E-5 with the AD-700's pretty much the same way I did with the MS-1's. I listened to a short EP first ("Fogdiver" by The Ocean) and then I listened to a full-length album ("Wake/Lift" by Rosetta).
Just like the first time, on the first track of Fogdiver I listened without the amp to get a good comparison. Then with the second song I added in the E-5.
Once again I noticed an increase in clarity immediately. However one thing that it did to the AD-700's that it didn't with the MS-1's, was it added precision to the soundstage (of course it didn't have anything to work with in the MS-1's). Before listening to the AD-700's with the E-5, I had thought that the wide soundstage was lacking in control, and the instrument placement was a little sloppy, however when I added the E-5 the placement seemed to improve. Not drastically, but there did seem to be a difference. The most significant difference, however, was an increase in bass response. A welcome change indeed. There did seem to be a slight background hiss that I hadn't notice when using the E-5 with my MS-1's, though, but by turning down the amp and turning up my iPod, I was able to significantly reduce it, and when I started playing music it was completely covered up.
Then, I tried adding in the bass boost. Unlike with the MS-1, the AD-700 responded very well. The sound got significantly warmer and the sound overall seemed to have more depth. I had no doubts about whether or not to keep the bass boost on this time, and I left it on.
I hate to exaggerate, but the addition of an amp and some extra bass boosting did wonders for my AD-700. No more is the weak bass, and the extra clarity really helped clean up the sometimes-sloppy sound of the 700's.
Overall, I think the AD-700's improved much more drastically when paired with the E-5 as compared to the MS-1's. I am very pleased with what this tiny little amp has done for my headphones.
I will try the E-5 out with my AI-M6's tomorrow at school, and give my impressions when I get home. I think I'll also be able to get a better feel for the actual device by carrying it around for a day or so.
So far, I'm very happy with the E-5, and I think it will keep me very satisfied until I am able to purchase a better amp. Fiio seems to make a good product.
But this will be plenty until I'm able to finish upgrading my library to flac and get the Cowon S9.
Probably won't have more impressions until tommorow or late tonight, as I plan to watch the episodes of House and 24 that I missed last night. XD I never watch anything live anymore thanks to Tivo. I don't even know what time my favorite shows are on.
(Scratch that, just 24. I guess there wasn't a new House last night. I probably will have more tonight.)
UPDATE...
Impressions with the AD-700.
So I went about trying the E-5 with the AD-700's pretty much the same way I did with the MS-1's. I listened to a short EP first ("Fogdiver" by The Ocean) and then I listened to a full-length album ("Wake/Lift" by Rosetta).
Just like the first time, on the first track of Fogdiver I listened without the amp to get a good comparison. Then with the second song I added in the E-5.
Once again I noticed an increase in clarity immediately. However one thing that it did to the AD-700's that it didn't with the MS-1's, was it added precision to the soundstage (of course it didn't have anything to work with in the MS-1's). Before listening to the AD-700's with the E-5, I had thought that the wide soundstage was lacking in control, and the instrument placement was a little sloppy, however when I added the E-5 the placement seemed to improve. Not drastically, but there did seem to be a difference. The most significant difference, however, was an increase in bass response. A welcome change indeed. There did seem to be a slight background hiss that I hadn't notice when using the E-5 with my MS-1's, though, but by turning down the amp and turning up my iPod, I was able to significantly reduce it, and when I started playing music it was completely covered up.
Then, I tried adding in the bass boost. Unlike with the MS-1, the AD-700 responded very well. The sound got significantly warmer and the sound overall seemed to have more depth. I had no doubts about whether or not to keep the bass boost on this time, and I left it on.
I hate to exaggerate, but the addition of an amp and some extra bass boosting did wonders for my AD-700. No more is the weak bass, and the extra clarity really helped clean up the sometimes-sloppy sound of the 700's.
Overall, I think the AD-700's improved much more drastically when paired with the E-5 as compared to the MS-1's. I am very pleased with what this tiny little amp has done for my headphones.
I will try the E-5 out with my AI-M6's tomorrow at school, and give my impressions when I get home. I think I'll also be able to get a better feel for the actual device by carrying it around for a day or so.
So far, I'm very happy with the E-5, and I think it will keep me very satisfied until I am able to purchase a better amp. Fiio seems to make a good product.
Drag0n
Headphoneus Supremus
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I see the 3move is on your list...................its also one of the amps i want and one of the best buys out there. Great amp!!!
hardRAWKR
100+ Head-Fier
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Quote:
Yeah I've heard great things about it, so when I decide to get a serious (portable) amp it will be a big contender.
And now, my thoughts after a day of use at school with my AI-M6's.
To begin, I followed the same method I used with my other two phones, starting with a short album, "Organic Hallucinosis" by Decapitated, the first track without the E-5, and then adding the amp in, and from there I listened to full length albums. Throughout the day I listened to (in no specific order) "Lateralus" by Tool, "Obscura" by Gorguts, "The Ruiner" by Made Out of Babies, "What We All Come To Need" by Pelican, and "Year Zero" by Nine Inch Nails.
With the AI-M6, the hiss was more noticable than with either of the other headphones I had used, but it was easily covered up by the music once I started playing something. Once again, I noticed the increase in clarity, which is always welcome. The thing that seemed to improve most significantly was the bass. Without the E-5 the bass on the AI-M6 seemed somewhat sloppy, lacking any serious amount of control. The E-5 really cleaned up the sound and made the bass a lot snappier, almost as tight as my MS-1's without the E-5. I was pretty impressed by the improvement.
I tried briefly turning on the bass boost, although the result wasn't very pretty (which I wasn't surprised about), and I left the bass boost off for the rest of the day. All of the bass clarity that the amp provided was gone and what was left was a boomy, muddy, mess. It doesn't really bother me though, I'm no basshead, and the AI-M6 already has an ample amount of quality bass.
So, for the rest of the day I happily listened, "Lateralus" sounded especially good with the cleaner bass. Nothing else too exciting popped out at me.
So about halfway through "What We All Come To Need", the E-5 died, so I ended up listening to the rest of the album and all of "Year Zero" without the amp. It definitely helped me get some perspective on the improvement. The transition back to just using my iPod was actually a lot less striking than adding the E-5 in was. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to see my iPod still fully charged, which I had not noticed before. It appears that the E-5 actually bypasses the iPod's power and runs the iPod on it's own power. This is nice, so that I only have to worry about one device dying, and I will have to charge my iPod a lot less often.
A few things I noticed after switching back were the muddiness of the sound compared to with the amp, and at quieter volumes the sound seemed veiled. I also realized after the amp died that the E-5 seemed to take the edge off of the sound at louder volumes, whereas with the iPod alone when I turned it up to get better sound, it could sound harsh. The iPod alone did seem to have a more forward sound at higher volumes, but I prefer the controlled tone of the E-5.
When I got home, I began charging the E-5 and decided to try and play through my computer. The result wasn't very good. At first there was a low frequency buzzing noise, which I figured out was because the device was charging through the computer and running off of the computer soundboard, creating some feedback, so I unplugged the charger for a moment just to listen. The hiss was very loud, because both the hiss from my computer and the E-5 were coming through the signal. As far as actual sound quality, it wasn't bad, a bit of distortion though. Overall I wouldn't use the E-5 with my computer, it is definitely intended for portable devices only.
I haven't commented very much on the actual physical device or it's accessories yet, so I'll take a minute to comment on that now.
First of all, the three cords:
The USB charging cord is fine. Nothing special really. It serves its purpose. It is pretty short though, which means that you're limited to where you can put it while it's charging. It is a standard cable, which means if I need to it will be very easy to replace.
The short connection cord is...very short. It isn't very good for home use, because wherever your device is, the E-5 is pretty much attached at the hip, making it inconvenient if you actually want to hold your player in your hand while you are using the E-5. However it is perfect for portable use because one end is an L-shaped plug, and it is just the perfect length for you to clip the E-5 to your pocket and stick your mp3 player in your pocket, and just use the E-5 to switch bass boost on and off and change the volume.
The long cord is better for home use. It allow quite a bit more freedom of motion without getting in the way. Not really good for portable use though. I guess it would work, but you'd have a lot of extra cord to keep track of.
The device itself is nice. It has a blue LED light that comes on when it is running, and a red light when it is charging. It would be nice if there was another light indicating when the battery is running low, because it really doesn't give any warning when it dies. I don't want to make any judgments about battery life yet, because even though it did die on me, I don't know how much charge it had when I got it, and I didn't actually charge it before I first used it. The clip, though is very nice, as it allows the E-5 to be easily accessible to turn on/off, change volume, and switch to bass boost.
As far as the switches go, they are a little small, so for big hands they would probably be a hassle. One thing I did notice is that with headphones plugged in the volume down button is backed right up again the headphone plug, so I had a little bit of difficulty hitting the volume down button. Otherwise, though, I had no issues.
I did find myself forgetting that the E-5 was on and leaving it running while nothing was playing, but usually I realized after a little while and turned it off. I wish that there was some sort of "sleep mode" that goes on after like 2 minutes without anything playing to preserve power. Oh well, it's not a huge problem.
Overall, for such a small device, this thing really is a beast. I have no regrets about this purchase.
That's about it, unless I think of something else. I hope that this has been helpful for anyone considering the E-5. It was pretty interesting for me to pick out all the little things I heard and write about them.
I know that this probably all sounds like a rave review, perhaps overstating small differences, but this is my first amp, and this is my impression of it. Forgive me if I'm a little to excited.
Please feel free to comment, ask questions, anything. I'll do my best to answer.
Really long post...oops
| Originally Posted by Drag0n /img/forum/go_quote.gif I see the 3move is on your list...................its also one of the amps i want and one of the best buys out there. Great amp!!! |
Yeah I've heard great things about it, so when I decide to get a serious (portable) amp it will be a big contender.
And now, my thoughts after a day of use at school with my AI-M6's.
To begin, I followed the same method I used with my other two phones, starting with a short album, "Organic Hallucinosis" by Decapitated, the first track without the E-5, and then adding the amp in, and from there I listened to full length albums. Throughout the day I listened to (in no specific order) "Lateralus" by Tool, "Obscura" by Gorguts, "The Ruiner" by Made Out of Babies, "What We All Come To Need" by Pelican, and "Year Zero" by Nine Inch Nails.
With the AI-M6, the hiss was more noticable than with either of the other headphones I had used, but it was easily covered up by the music once I started playing something. Once again, I noticed the increase in clarity, which is always welcome. The thing that seemed to improve most significantly was the bass. Without the E-5 the bass on the AI-M6 seemed somewhat sloppy, lacking any serious amount of control. The E-5 really cleaned up the sound and made the bass a lot snappier, almost as tight as my MS-1's without the E-5. I was pretty impressed by the improvement.
I tried briefly turning on the bass boost, although the result wasn't very pretty (which I wasn't surprised about), and I left the bass boost off for the rest of the day. All of the bass clarity that the amp provided was gone and what was left was a boomy, muddy, mess. It doesn't really bother me though, I'm no basshead, and the AI-M6 already has an ample amount of quality bass.
So, for the rest of the day I happily listened, "Lateralus" sounded especially good with the cleaner bass. Nothing else too exciting popped out at me.
So about halfway through "What We All Come To Need", the E-5 died, so I ended up listening to the rest of the album and all of "Year Zero" without the amp. It definitely helped me get some perspective on the improvement. The transition back to just using my iPod was actually a lot less striking than adding the E-5 in was. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to see my iPod still fully charged, which I had not noticed before. It appears that the E-5 actually bypasses the iPod's power and runs the iPod on it's own power. This is nice, so that I only have to worry about one device dying, and I will have to charge my iPod a lot less often.
A few things I noticed after switching back were the muddiness of the sound compared to with the amp, and at quieter volumes the sound seemed veiled. I also realized after the amp died that the E-5 seemed to take the edge off of the sound at louder volumes, whereas with the iPod alone when I turned it up to get better sound, it could sound harsh. The iPod alone did seem to have a more forward sound at higher volumes, but I prefer the controlled tone of the E-5.
When I got home, I began charging the E-5 and decided to try and play through my computer. The result wasn't very good. At first there was a low frequency buzzing noise, which I figured out was because the device was charging through the computer and running off of the computer soundboard, creating some feedback, so I unplugged the charger for a moment just to listen. The hiss was very loud, because both the hiss from my computer and the E-5 were coming through the signal. As far as actual sound quality, it wasn't bad, a bit of distortion though. Overall I wouldn't use the E-5 with my computer, it is definitely intended for portable devices only.
I haven't commented very much on the actual physical device or it's accessories yet, so I'll take a minute to comment on that now.
First of all, the three cords:
The USB charging cord is fine. Nothing special really. It serves its purpose. It is pretty short though, which means that you're limited to where you can put it while it's charging. It is a standard cable, which means if I need to it will be very easy to replace.
The short connection cord is...very short. It isn't very good for home use, because wherever your device is, the E-5 is pretty much attached at the hip, making it inconvenient if you actually want to hold your player in your hand while you are using the E-5. However it is perfect for portable use because one end is an L-shaped plug, and it is just the perfect length for you to clip the E-5 to your pocket and stick your mp3 player in your pocket, and just use the E-5 to switch bass boost on and off and change the volume.
The long cord is better for home use. It allow quite a bit more freedom of motion without getting in the way. Not really good for portable use though. I guess it would work, but you'd have a lot of extra cord to keep track of.
The device itself is nice. It has a blue LED light that comes on when it is running, and a red light when it is charging. It would be nice if there was another light indicating when the battery is running low, because it really doesn't give any warning when it dies. I don't want to make any judgments about battery life yet, because even though it did die on me, I don't know how much charge it had when I got it, and I didn't actually charge it before I first used it. The clip, though is very nice, as it allows the E-5 to be easily accessible to turn on/off, change volume, and switch to bass boost.
As far as the switches go, they are a little small, so for big hands they would probably be a hassle. One thing I did notice is that with headphones plugged in the volume down button is backed right up again the headphone plug, so I had a little bit of difficulty hitting the volume down button. Otherwise, though, I had no issues.
I did find myself forgetting that the E-5 was on and leaving it running while nothing was playing, but usually I realized after a little while and turned it off. I wish that there was some sort of "sleep mode" that goes on after like 2 minutes without anything playing to preserve power. Oh well, it's not a huge problem.
Overall, for such a small device, this thing really is a beast. I have no regrets about this purchase.
That's about it, unless I think of something else. I hope that this has been helpful for anyone considering the E-5. It was pretty interesting for me to pick out all the little things I heard and write about them.
I know that this probably all sounds like a rave review, perhaps overstating small differences, but this is my first amp, and this is my impression of it. Forgive me if I'm a little to excited.
Please feel free to comment, ask questions, anything. I'll do my best to answer.
Really long post...oops
newzild
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I liked my E5 too - until it stopped working after just three months' very light use. I think I'll upgrade a little with my next amp purchase, but unfortunately there's a huge gulf in price to the next-cheapest amp.
hardRAWKR
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Well the clip on mine just broke off a few days ago. It probably wouldn't be too tough to fix, but I'm not going to bother. I just strapped it onto my iPod case with a rubber band.
It actually is a pretty good fix.
I plan to get the Corda 3Move for my next upgrade, but that probably won't be for a while. I'm hoping to just skip the $100-200 range in amps and save money on upgrades.
I plan to get the Corda 3Move for my next upgrade, but that probably won't be for a while. I'm hoping to just skip the $100-200 range in amps and save money on upgrades.
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