I own a
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and am researching portable self-powered AMP+DAC units that, first and foremost, will provide the highest quality wired connection. Form factor and price are my secondary considerations, and lastly the bonus features. As I plan to purchase a Schiit AMP+DAC stack for home use, I just want a small form factor in the $50-$200 range that will deliver at least 24/94 quality. I am not interested in a DAP as I plan to use my Note 4 with a 200GB SanDisk.
I want to fully understand the max quality I can squeeze out of the E3 compared to the other options before I make my purchase, because I don't really understand the quality implications and previous replies have raised my concern about feasibility and usability... For example, Has the trade off in battery drain vs volume, as outlined in the comments of the E3 Review thread, been solved ?
I am referencing this reply (quoted below): http://www.head-fi.org/t/735438/creative-labs-sound-blaster-e3-review#post_11111558
Try reversing the supplied cables direction. It does make a difference which direction they are connected. My Galaxy S5 & Galaxy note 4 would only work properly if the red cable was connected to the source device.
When connected as an USB DAC the E3 will also act as a USB charger to the phone or tablet, this will deplete the E3's battery in short order unless the source device is fully charged. If the cord is plugged in the other direction the E3 will be charged if not already fully charged but will output low volume. It is still acting as an USB DAC but with very limited volume. This connection will deplete the source device battery if the E3 is not fully charged.
My recommendation it to use the Bluetooth option as that does not compromise battery life of either device & if you go into Bluetooth settings for the E3 & turn off phone audio your music will not be interrupted by the phones system notifications however you will not be able to answer the phone through the E3's Bluetooth connection.
Do such battery drain issues exist with
ALL of the battery-powered AMP+DAC options that I've been considering?
Such as:
TOPPING NX2 Ultra Slim Portable Audio Amplifier Headphone Earphone Amplifier ($51)
http://amzn.com/B00T5I60QQ
FiiO Q1 ($70)
http://amzn.com/B0157DKAU4
FiiO E18 KUNLUN ($137)
http://amzn.com/B00GCDJBMM
BeyerDynamic A200P ($160)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BeyerDynamic-A200P-High-end-Portable-DAC-Headphone-Amplifier-716715-By-Astel-/311477670640?hash=item48858412f0:g:cQcAAOSwlV9WSoUT
ONKYO ($195)
http://www.amazon.com/portable-headphone-amplifier-equipped-DAC-HA200/dp/B00L5H6B3C
Here are some of my most general E-series questions:
- What quality can be achieved over bluetooth?
- What quality can be achieved over micro USB?
- Which method achieves the best quality (f.ex: 16/44.1, 24/96, etc)?
- Can the other brand affordable portable units do better?
I found some hope regarding the power/volume issue in an earlier reply to this thread, that mentions an
update turning the micro USB port of the E5 into a DAC port, instead of just a dumb AOA (Android Open Accessory) port:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/732171/creative-sound-blaster-e5-headphone-amp-usb-dac-with-otg-toslink-aptx-recording-more/840#post_11757867
- Does this update require purchase of the unique micro-to-micro USB OTG cable?
- Does this update circumvent the proposed 16/44.1 quality restriction on Android?
- Does this update translate to the E3 as well, or is the E3 bottlenecked when connected via micro USB?
To be honest I have no problem using the E3 over bluetooth, but I would like to be able to plug it in for better quality if possible. If the E3 cannot do this, but the E5 can, I would consider upgrading to the E5. I would also consider ditching the E-series if other units can operate at a higher quality over USB with an app like USB Audio Player PRO. It's just not clear to me what are the limitations of the individual devices and, from what I've read, many manufacturers have proprietary implementations of things like AOA. Thanks for any light anyone can shed on this for me!