[ClieOS]

   
I am interested in purchasing a portable DAC for the following reasons:
1) Improve the audio/sound quality of my music without replacing the OEM audio system.
2) Remove the use of the audio cable and have my phone connect wireless-ly via Bluetooth to the portable DAC.
 

Here are a few things that I can think of:
 
Scenario 1 - that means using an external USB DAC. The first issue will be - it will take up the microUSB port on your SGS2, meaning you won't be able to charge your SGS2 when playing music (though if you are using E5's AOA, then it might be possible to charge and play at the same time) . The second issue is, the best way to improve SQ is to use the line-out signal from the external DAC, but you car audio system might not capable of accepting that high a voltage. In that case, you will have to settle for double amping.
 
Scenario 2 - SGS2, as far as I know, doesn't support aptX. This means the bluetooth connection will not sound as good as it can be.
 
Also, li-ion battery and heat don't play well together. I really won't recommend leaving any li-ion battery powered device in the car all the time, unless you live in a cold region of the world.

 

[Kodhifi]

  Hi all,
 
I need your advice.
 
I currently have a Samsung Galaxy SII which doesn't have a good DAC as far as I know. I use it in my car (Honda Accord 2008 EX-L) to listen to music (mainly rock music). I almost always have my phone in the car being charged via USB and connected to the AUX In of the car via the 3.5 mm male-to-male audio cable.
 
I am interested in purchasing a portable DAC for the following reasons:
1) Improve the audio/sound quality of my music without replacing the OEM audio system.
2) Remove the use of the audio cable and have my phone connect wireless-ly via Bluetooth to the portable DAC.
 
The use of this portable DAC will be almost strictly in the car (engine noise, road noise, etc.) so I guess that I am looking to improve the audio quality but I'm not trying to create a recording studio out of the inside of my car. I also am not into rigging my car so that people in the next state can hear what I hear... maybe just the car right next to me.
 
I would like to leave the DAC in the car 24/7, always connected to both AUX IN and USB charger so that it never runs out of battery and always ready to connect to my smartphone (via BT) and play music when I start the car.
 
With all the above said, I have the following questions/comments:
1) Should I be getting the E5 or is the E3 more than sufficient for the setting/scenario above? I feel like the E5 might be overkill because it has so many features that I won't be using. E1 is out of the question because it doesn't have BT. In other words, would I hear any difference between the two in a running, moving car. Use of headphones with this DAC will be very minimal. Also, I don't have any high-end headphones.
2) Does the E3/E5 sleep when it's powered on for a while but no music is playing? If yes, does it wake up if it receives electrical or audio signal? Or both? Or do I actually need to turn it off and on. I just want to see whether I can start the car and start moving or I need to press a button here or there before I drive.
3) I noticed that the E5 has two outputs for audio--headphone and line-level out, but the E3 has a headphone output. Does it matter which of these I use when I connect it to the AUX In of my car? I assume that in this scenario I would be using the amp in the car itself?
4) I noticed that the E5 supports aptX Low Latency but E3 through supports just aptX. I have a feeling that for my use case, standard aptX would work just fine (and of course assuming I upgrade my phone to an aptX-compatible one).
 
Finally, based on my needs above, can you think of another portable DAC that's better than the E3/E5 that is around this price range (between $100 and $200)?
 
Your input/advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

The 5 is a bit big and expensive. Like twice as expensive as buying a Pioneer bluetooth enabled head unit for your car. But hey it's your money. Running it off a car USB is no different than running off a PC USB. It will keep it's internal battery topped off and otherwise work like any other DAC. Yes you could use it 24x7, however I worry about heat. I have 2 cell phones, one of which almost never leaves my car and when I leave work at the end of the day, even with a window shade it will often say "too hot to charge battery". I can only imagine how the huge lipo pack inside the E5 will react to that.
 
The E3 does almost the same thing and will still do the bluetooth as well.
 
Honestly though, buy a bluetooth head unit. It will be cheaper, and it will work a lot better, not to mention you can take and place calls while driving and the stereo will play the call through your speakers, lower the volume etc. It's enormously helpful to have calls ring through to your car stereo while driving. A lot safer too and most of the Pioneers support stuff like aptx for better blutooth audio quality.
 
I put a pioneer deck in my wifes car, replacing an Alpine Ipod head unit, it was less than $100 and other than the flashy flashy color LED modes, it was a suprisingly feature packed deck. Cheapest car stereo I've ever bought by a far margin, but pretty damned good for the price. It showed track names on the unit, something my last Ford Sync system wouldn't even do.

 

[Sam21]

So can I use a gaming headset with the E5 to use with PS4/Xbone ? I already know that you can output two channel pcm to the E5 through the optical out of the consoles, how about microphones ? If I connect a microphone to the E5 and then connect the E5 to the consoles through USB, will the microphone work ? it says on the E5's box that the device is compatible with PS4/Xbone ... but is it really ?

 

[dashrendar]

 
Yes you could use it 24x7, however I worry about heat. I have 2 cell phones, one of which almost never leaves my car and when I leave work at the end of the day, even with a window shade it will often say "too hot to charge battery". I can only imagine how the huge lipo pack inside the E5 will react to that.

 
 

   
Also, li-ion battery and heat don't play well together. I really won't recommend leaving any li-ion battery powered device in the car all the time, unless you live in a cold region of the world.

 
Thanks for the responses. Regarding leaving the DAC in the car 24/7, what is the main concern about heat and Li-Ion not playing well together? Is it the fact that the battery will not charge/hold change in an optimal fashion or is it that it could blow up on me? If it's the former, maybe I am not too worried since it will be connected to USB for charging (my use will be via Bluetooth).
 
I checked the E5's manual and here is what it says:

Operating Temperature range: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F)

 
I am planning on leaving it inside the center armrest/console. I would think in there it wouldn't get as hot as the rest of the car if it's under direct sunlight. I live in Ohio by the way, so it's really cold in the winter but it can get in the 80's-90's during the couple months of summer.
 
Do you guys think it's still an issue?

 

[dashrendar]

Thanks for your response.
 
Quote:

  Here are a few things that I can think of:
 
Scenario 1 - that means using an external USB DAC. The first issue will be - it will take up the microUSB port on your SGS2, meaning you won't be able to charge your SGS2 when playing music (though if you are using E5's AOA, then it might be possible to charge and play at the same time) . The second issue is, the best way to improve SQ is to use the line-out signal from the external DAC, but you car audio system might not capable of accepting that high a voltage. In that case, you will have to settle for double amping.

 
Since my main use will be via Bluetooth streaming, being able to charge the phone should not be a problem.
 

  Scenario 2 - SGS2, as far as I know, doesn't support aptX. This means the bluetooth connection will not sound as good as it can be.

 
You are right, but I'm planning on purchasing a new phone in the next couple of months (waiting to see what flagships Microsoft will be offering and if not most likely an Android phone). Either one must have aptX support. I'll live with SBC until then.
 
Finally, ClieOS... For car use, do you still think E5 will make a difference over the E3? If you had to rate, on a scale 1-10, the expected audio quality between SGS2, E3 and E5, what would they be? I just want to see if E3 is much more significant than SGS2 (and other high end smartphones) and if it's very close to the E5 in a noisy environment like the car.

 

[dashrendar]

 
The 5 is a bit big and expensive. Like twice as expensive as buying a Pioneer bluetooth enabled head unit for your car. But hey it's your money. Running it off a car USB is no different than running off a PC USB. It will keep it's internal battery topped off and otherwise work like any other DAC. Yes you could use it 24x7, however I worry about heat. I have 2 cell phones, one of which almost never leaves my car and when I leave work at the end of the day, even with a window shade it will often say "too hot to charge battery". I can only imagine how the huge lipo pack inside the E5 will react to that.
 
The E3 does almost the same thing and will still do the bluetooth as well.
 
Honestly though, buy a bluetooth head unit. It will be cheaper, and it will work a lot better, not to mention you can take and place calls while driving and the stereo will play the call through your speakers, lower the volume etc. It's enormously helpful to have calls ring through to your car stereo while driving. A lot safer too and most of the Pioneers support stuff like aptx for better blutooth audio quality.
 
I put a pioneer deck in my wifes car, replacing an Alpine Ipod head unit, it was less than $100 and other than the flashy flashy color LED modes, it was a suprisingly feature packed deck. Cheapest car stereo I've ever bought by a far margin, but pretty damned good for the price. It showed track names on the unit, something my last Ford Sync system wouldn't even do.

 
The problem is my car has an audio system with navigation, HandsFreeLink, 6-disc changer, and steering wheel controls. I like the fact that it has HandsFreeLink and steering wheel controls. My concern is I don't know what functionality I lose if I replace the factory unit with an aftermarket one.
 
My approach with the external DAC is the least intrusive if it can work smoothly and conveniently.
 
Also currently, I am able to receive calls on my phone and stopping/starting the music automatically before/after the call. My phone is connected to the HandsFreeLink for phone calls. With the E3/E5, it would be connected to both at the same time and my phone will control the music/call audio behavior.

 

[ClieOS]

   
Thanks for the responses. Regarding leaving the DAC in the car 24/7, what is the main concern about heat and Li-Ion not playing well together? Is it the fact that the battery will not charge/hold change in an optimal fashion or is it that it could blow up on me? If it's the former, maybe I am not too worried since it will be connected to USB for charging (my use will be via Bluetooth).

 
Heat can cause Li-ion battery to fail early. In a good case, it just dies and nothing happens. If you replace the battery, you will have a working E5 again In a slightly bad case, it might balloon up and cause internal damage to the PCB due to pressure, render E5 useless and beyond repair. In rare but really bad case, the battery cell will balloon up and rupture, which will generate an excessive amount of heat in the process and quite possibly set itself on fire as well. It doesn't happen often but it is a concern.

 

[ClieOS]

   
Finally, ClieOS... For car use, do you still think E5 will make a difference over the E3? If you had to rate, on a scale 1-10, the expected audio quality between SGS2, E3 and E5, what would they be? I just want to see if E3 is much more significant than SGS2 (and other high end smartphones) and if it's very close to the E5 in a noisy environment like the car.

 
Don't own a SGS2 to rate about its SQ. But between E3 and E5, I'll say E3 is a 7~8 if we take E5 as a 10, relatively speaking. It might seems E5 doesn't improve the SQ that much over E3, but remember SQ improvement is not linear but more like log scale. That is, the higher you go, the harder it is to improve.

 

[dashrendar]

Thanks ClieOS and everyone...
 
The battery thing kind of freaked me out a bit, so I started looking at small, somewhat portable solutions that didn't include a battery.
 
I apologize as I don't mean to hijack this thread, but for some reason I cannot start a new thread (maybe because I'm a still n00b here).
 
Anyway, I stumbled upon the Audioengine B1 which does not have a rechargeable Li-Ion battery. It is strictly a DAC (AKM AK4396) with RCA output. It also has a miniUSB port for power and supports aptX.
 
I have two questions:
- How would the Audioengine B1 fare against the E3 and E5 on that same 1-10 scale? Anyone tried the B1? Strangely I couldn't find any threads about the B1. If you don't think the B1 is decent enough, would you be able to recommend similiar/better solutions with similar size and without a rechargeable battery?
- Would I be able to connect the B1 to my car factory AUX IN using a RCA-to-3.5 adapter and get decent volume level without an external Amp?
 
Thanks again!

 

[Kodhifi]

   
 
 
Thanks for the responses. Regarding leaving the DAC in the car 24/7, what is the main concern about heat and Li-Ion not playing well together? Is it the fact that the battery will not charge/hold change in an optimal fashion or is it that it could blow up on me? If it's the former, maybe I am not too worried since it will be connected to USB for charging (my use will be via Bluetooth).
 
I checked the E5's manual and here is what it says:
 
I am planning on leaving it inside the center armrest/console. I would think in there it wouldn't get as hot as the rest of the car if it's under direct sunlight. I live in Ohio by the way, so it's really cold in the winter but it can get in the 80's-90's during the couple months of summer.
 
Do you guys think it's still an issue?

On a 90 degree sunny day, the interior temperature of an automobile can approach 140f. Even left on a table outside in direct sunlight, 104 would easily be exceeded even with air temperature well below that. So no, I don't think that will work for you.
 
If you just want bluetooth, there are inexpensive bluetooth receivers you can buy with no battery that can take the heat.
 
 
And it sounds like you're describing a Ford Sync system, does it not have blu-tooth? If it's a factory system with something like a 1/8" headphone input you can buy an inexpensive (and battery free) blu-tooth terminator for about $30. This one supports APTX lossless blu-tooth audio and uses cigarette lighter adapter for power.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Kinivo-BTC450-Bluetooth-Hands-Free-Input/dp/B009NLTW60/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432923297&sr=8-1&keywords=blue-tooth+receiver+aptx

 

[zzffnn]

dashrendar,

If you plan to leave your bluetooth DAC/receiver inside your car most of the time, I will just get something like a Creative E1/E3 without battery. I personally would just take kodhifi's suggestion and buy a cheap and cheerful blutooth receiver.

IMHO, Creative E5 is overkill for a noisy car. I actually think even in a Lexus L or Mercedes C class, as long as it is driving, you would hardly be able to tell Crrative E3 from E1, not to mention telling E5 from E3.

 

[jincuteguy]

So I just bought the E5 and one of the biggest issue or biggest flaw for this device is that it can't charge or doesn't seem to charge at all while listening music on my pc (I use the micro usb to hook it up to my pc).
So is there anyways I can charge and use listen to music at the same time? Cause I was listening to music and then the E5 powered off by itself cause it ran out of battery while the USB cable is connected to my PC.
 
Oh btw, I was using the Hi Gain power, so maybe it was that use up a lot of power?

 

[Arata]

  So I just bought the E5 and one of the biggest issue or biggest flaw for this device is that it can't charge or doesn't seem to charge at all while listening music on my pc (I use the micro usb to hook it up to my pc).
So is there anyways I can charge and use listen to music at the same time? Cause I was listening to music and then the E5 powered off by itself cause it ran out of battery while the USB cable is connected to my PC.
 
Oh btw, I was using the Hi Gain power, so maybe it was that use up a lot of power?

Sorry can't test high gain; I am using low gain, plugged into my G710's direct through cable to back of PC usb port, and charges just fine. 
 
What kind of motherboard and PSU does your PC have?

 

[jincuteguy]

  Sorry can't test high gain; I am using low gain, plugged into my G710's direct through cable to back of PC usb port, and charges just fine. 
 
What kind of motherboard and PSU does your PC have?

I have the Asus X99-A motherboard that I just bought  couple months ago, and my PSU is an Enermax 850W.

 

[Arata]

  I have the Asus X99-A motherboard that I just bought  couple months ago, and my PSU is an Enermax 850W.

Ok, that's all high quality stuff, so ought to be good.
 
Can you verify if the E5 is charging if you just leave it plugged in at low amplification perhaps? 
Try a different USB port? (Shouldn't have to do it, as the X99-A is very good ... but doesn't hurt to try).
 
Also, have you updated to the latest E5 firmware that just was released?