[ClieOS]

  It is said that the Lollipop OS can output 24-bit/96khz, is the E5 compatible with lollipop ? can it handle 24-bit/96khz coming from a lollipop device ?

 
Nope. Android 5 Lollipop only outputs up to 48kHz.

 

[weissglut]

I've received an used E5 yesterday and I have a question:
When the unit is lying next to me on the couch it get's quite warm on the bottom. It easily reaches 40°C while playing music. Is this the usual behaviour? I imagine the battery won't last some hours when the unit is heating that much.

 

[KritiKal]

I've received an used E5 yesterday and I have a question:
When the unit is lying next to me on the couch it get's quite warm on the bottom. It easily reaches 40°C while playing music. Is this the usual behaviour? I imagine the battery won't last some hours when the unit is heating that much.

Are you using it via USB to a mobile device (and thus charging your mobile device)?

Mine gets a little warm, when using bluetooth, but gets about 10-15 degrees warmer when using USB.

 

[weissglut]

I was using bluetooth when it heated up.
 
PS: I just tested USB at the end of my listening session for a few minutes and the iPhone did not show any charging symbol. Does the E5 only charge Android phones (actually I think charging is a bug, not a feature)?

 

[ClieOS]

  I was using bluetooth when it heated up.
 
PS: I just tested USB at the end of my listening session for a few minutes and the iPhone did not show any charging symbol. Does the E5 only charge Android phones (actually I think charging is a bug, not a feature)?

 
Not a bug, but a requirement for the AOA (*Android Open Accessory) protocol that E5 is designed to work with

 

[weissglut]

 
Not a bug, but a requirement for the AOA (*Android Open Accessory) protocol that E5 is designed to work with

Well, for me it does not make sense to use this AOA with USB host mode for a DAC. Why not use the DAC as an usual client device like everywhere else? Maybe this is for controlling the DSP?

 

[ClieOS]

  Well, for me it does not make sense to use this AOA with USB host mode for a DAC. Why not use the DAC as an usual client device like everywhere else? Maybe this is for controlling the DSP?

 
Only Creative knows the reason, but I'll guess they pick AOA mode for greater compatibility among different Android smartphone. As AOA is almost guaranteed to work Android smartphone from 3.2 and above, but USB Host mode (which is what most others are using) strongly depends on whether the smartphone manufacturer has correctly implemented UAC (USB Audio Class) driver on each individual model or not.

 

[Sam21]

Can you hear hissing/noise when you put this on high gain mode and turn the volume knob all the way up while no music is playing ?

 

[KritiKal]

I was using bluetooth when it heated up.

PS: I just tested USB at the end of my listening session for a few minutes and the iPhone did not show any charging symbol. Does the E5 only charge Android phones (actually I think charging is a bug, not a feature)?

40°C sounds about right though-for mine too, at least-give or take a few degrees of course.

Can you hear hissing/noise when you put this on high gain mode and turn the volume knob all the way up while no music is playing ?

Yes, I can even hear it on low gain with the volume at about 80%. I do use IEM's exclusively though.

 

[Kodhifi]

  This can be achieved by muting all the monitoring sources: Mic, Bluetooth, Line-In, S/PDIF etc. Since mixing is done in digital domain, muting them will result a pure stream from USB.

Muting the other sources doesn't remove the digital mixer from the audio pipeline though. These guys are looking for bit perfect audio streams to the DAC like what you would get with WASPI. Most hifi DAC's do not have the digital mixer permanently turned on and it's possible to get bit accurate audio.
 
It doesn't sound bad, and any changes in the bit stream at that level would be mostly imperceptible but you wouldn't be able to call it 'direct' or 'bit accurate' as the serial data stream entering the DAC is not identical to the one being sent from WASPI, the windows volume control for instance still works, where as in true direct mode, it completely bypasses WDM model including windows volume control, WDM enhancements, etc.

 

[Kodhifi]

  Can you hear hissing/noise when you put this on high gain mode and turn the volume knob all the way up while no music is playing ?

I don't use IED's but on HE400's, DT990's, HD650's and my highly sensitive Custom One Pro's there is no hiss. The gain from the DAC stage to the AMP stage is very clean.

 

[Sam21]

Nice, I am pulling the trigger on this one...thanks

 

[weissglut]

  I've received an used E5 yesterday and I have a question:
When the unit is lying next to me on the couch it get's quite warm on the bottom. It easily reaches 40°C while playing music. Is this the usual behaviour? I imagine the battery won't last some hours when the unit is heating that much.

BTW: even with my unit heating up to 40-50°C while playing music, the battery runtime seems to be valid. It's a few hours. I did not measure it, but it's probably 5-6 hours.

 

[tegelad]

Just thought I would post a hack/workaround with regards to the AOA feature.   I have found I have been able to keep the batteries of both a phone and the E5 up by using a wireless charger with the Android phone while leaving the E5 plugged into a power source....
 
This thread was a fantastic read about the amp I picked up to work with SE846's .... I didn't think I would have another Ear-gasm like I did when migrating from the SE535's to 846's .... but this amp is a nice little portable one.
 
+-ADT

 

[AUserName501]

I got a Xonar U3 for £10 used today. It supports Optical Out (16/48Khz only though) and Dolby Headphone 7.1 with DH1, 2 and 3. It also has the capability to appear as a 7.1 Speaker Setup under Playback Devices in Windows as any product that sells virtual surround sound should. The Creative E1/3/5 don't support this when a cheap Xonar U3 does is just awful. An absolute embarassment that their headphone DAC/Amp products do not support such basic functionality as 7.1 virtual surround sound.
 

 
Also Creative still don't specify important information such as Output Impedance for the Creative E1 and E3. At least they now specify the output impedance of the E5 is 2.2Ω.
 
Has there also been any progress on selling the Creative SBX Pro Studio 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound purely as software like Razer Virtual Surround Sound?