[VinegarBoy]

Can someone tell me the power output of the E5 into an 80 ohm set of cans? Somewhere I read the output into 600 ohms and I don't know if an interpolation would be linear.

Thanks.

 

[arcwindz]

OK. Now I get it, I think. Let's see:

You are running a windows app, which plays your tunes.
That PC connects to your E5.
The E5 runs as a DAC, connects to your amp.
The amp powers your HP's.

So far so good, if I am correct that is.

Thing is that the volume knob of the E5 is hard wired to the windows master volume. BUT. The windows application you are using has its own independent volume slider, knob or whatever.
Good example is iTunes. If you turn the iTunes volume up to 100% sound out is horrible, regardless of all things between that and your ears.

The application volume at 10-15% could allow the master volume to be at 100% without creating distortions. Trial and error is the key.

Even in a simpler setup iTunes starts to be downright awful going over 25% app volume.

HTH.

Cheers.

Oh? Never heard this thing before, what i know is 100% out of an app is always the best since it will not try to compress anything. Enlighten me please?

 

[Madcat207]

So, i am wondering if anyone has encountered this error, and might have an idea of how to fix it...
 
Originally, my E5 was working just fine with my S6, connected micro usb (host) to micro usb.  Then one day, it stopped functioning correctly; now it plays in 2x speed and is nightmarishly distorted. I tried another S6, and a different host cable, to the same effect of super distorted rabid squirrel. Changed settings on the player app and creative control panel.. no bueno.
 
Now, i might assume totally busted E5, expect for one thing - the micro USB port works just fine with my PC (i use it weekly as my gaming soundcard for my laptop), and works fine with all other devices on the line in.  It even works with my Android devices using the full size USB (which would be ok, if i could stop the phone from draining the E5's battery... thanks to Google's stupid spec on that one). I can't help but feel given the specific failure use case, that the E5 is glitching (software or firmware) vs broken, but ill be darned for the life of me if i can figure out how to un dork it...
 
Anyone see an issue like this, and more importantly, find a way to fix it?

 

[FlacFan]

Oh? Never heard this thing before, what i know is 100% out of an app is always the best since it will not try to compress anything. Enlighten me please?

No. It's the worst. All windows applications, like iTunes, MediaMonkey, Pono desktop Player, Amazon Player, Foobar2000 (in standard mode) are the ones I am using and they all have an independent slider for volume. That slider is completely independent from the WINDOWS master volume.
 
If you run any of those apps and your E5 is connected via USB you will notice that those sliders DO NOT move when you turn the knob on the E5.
 
In Win10 you get even a visual confirmation of the value of the master volume, just like you would get with the volume rocker on your keyboard.
 
From those apps I use, only MediaMonkey and Foobar2000 are on 100%, because both allow in the preferences to link audio to WASAPI, which allows me to have the same volume between the two - no matter what.
 
iTunes is downright obnoxious. If I turn it over 20-25% or so - you don't want to hear this, let alone buying anything. It seems to me that this app is not only sending a gain value, but also an EQ pattern, even though I turned all that off. I can't stand this sort of thing at all. Amazon Player is just a tad better in this, but 45% is the threshold for me. The Pono player has a ton of options and I did not have the time nor the nerve to dig it. It's basically a subset of the JRiver player. 
 
In an ideal world all apps (audio and video) should have a little checkbox labeld: LINE OUT
 
This would eliminate double amping, EQ'ing and all the gimmicks some software engineers (myself included) come up every now and then. 
 
 
HTH
 
Cheers.

 

[golfpro]

  So, i am wondering if anyone has encountered this error, and might have an idea of how to fix it...
 
Originally, my E5 was working just fine with my S6, connected micro usb (host) to micro usb.  Then one day, it stopped functioning correctly; now it plays in 2x speed and is nightmarishly distorted. I tried another S6, and a different host cable, to the same effect of super distorted rabid squirrel. Changed settings on the player app and creative control panel.. no bueno.
 
Now, i might assume totally busted E5, expect for one thing - the micro USB port works just fine with my PC (i use it weekly as my gaming soundcard for my laptop), and works fine with all other devices on the line in.  It even works with my Android devices using the full size USB (which would be ok, if i could stop the phone from draining the E5's battery... thanks to Google's stupid spec on that one). I can't help but feel given the specific failure use case, that the E5 is glitching (software or firmware) vs broken, but ill be darned for the life of me if i can figure out how to un dork it...
 
Anyone see an issue like this, and more importantly, find a way to fix it?

You can turn off the charge option by pressing the power button twice. The power light should start blinking if it is turned off.  I am not sure about the S6 problem.  I've always bypassed the E5's DAC and just used the amp and EQ.

 

[wondroushippo]

  No. It's the worst. All windows applications, like iTunes, MediaMonkey, Pono desktop Player, Amazon Player, Foobar2000 (in standard mode) are the ones I am using and they all have an independent slider for volume. That slider is completely independent from the WINDOWS master volume.
 
If you run any of those apps and your E5 is connected via USB you will notice that those sliders DO NOT move when you turn the knob on the E5.
 
In Win10 you get even a visual confirmation of the value of the master volume, just like you would get with the volume rocker on your keyboard.
 
From those apps I use, only MediaMonkey and Foobar2000 are on 100%, because both allow in the preferences to link audio to WASAPI, which allows me to have the same volume between the two - no matter what.
 
iTunes is downright obnoxious. If I turn it over 20-25% or so - you don't want to hear this, let alone buying anything. It seems to me that this app is not only sending a gain value, but also an EQ pattern, even though I turned all that off. I can't stand this sort of thing at all. Amazon Player is just a tad better in this, but 45% is the threshold for me. The Pono player has a ton of options and I did not have the time nor the nerve to dig it. It's basically a subset of the JRiver player. 
 
In an ideal world all apps (audio and video) should have a little checkbox labeld: LINE OUT
 
This would eliminate double amping, EQ'ing and all the gimmicks some software engineers (myself included) come up every now and then. 
 
 
HTH
 
Cheers.

I feel like you're right, but for the wrong reasons? Apps that don't do bit-perfect audio options are running through Windows's DirectSound mixer at least, which can degrade audio quality. WASAPI doesn't turn the Foobar volume into hardware volume, I believe. If it is, then that would be great for my Dragonfly Red on Windows, which is almost too powerful for IEMs and the Nighthawk, where you have very little usable volume range.
 
I don't have my E5 with me right now, but I might mess around with ASIO instead of WASAPI event mode in Foobar, maybe that gets rid of some of the clipping/distortion. But I am pretty confident it's just a very aggressive treble DAC and the O2 is simply revealing that character. I might be the only one using the E5 as a DAC bypassing the amp instead of an amp bypassing the DAC based on what I'm seeing here.

 

[Madcat207]

  You can turn off the charge option by pressing the power button twice. The power light should start blinking if it is turned off.  I am not sure about the S6 problem.  I've always bypassed the E5's DAC and just used the amp and EQ.

Sadly, the double tap doesn't work when using the full size connector.
 
AS it is, having seen so many people say they use it just for the AMP/EQ, i am trying that out with my FIIO x5 - i bought the HS6 stacking kit, and have the E5 stacked with the X5 ( they are virtually the same height and width), and have the X5 driving the E5 through line out.  I think it sounds better than the X5 alone, so i am happy now. Still interested in why it was having the issue, but i can wait on that now..

 

[RojasTKD]

  So, i am wondering if anyone has encountered this error, and might have an idea of how to fix it...
 
Originally, my E5 was working just fine with my S6, connected micro usb (host) to micro usb.  Then one day, it stopped functioning correctly; now it plays in 2x speed and is nightmarishly distorted. I tried another S6, and a different host cable, to the same effect of super distorted rabid squirrel. Changed settings on the player app and creative control panel.. no bueno.
 
Now, i might assume totally busted E5, expect for one thing - the micro USB port works just fine with my PC (i use it weekly as my gaming soundcard for my laptop), and works fine with all other devices on the line in.  It even works with my Android devices using the full size USB (which would be ok, if i could stop the phone from draining the E5's battery... thanks to Google's stupid spec on that one). I can't help but feel given the specific failure use case, that the E5 is glitching (software or firmware) vs broken, but ill be darned for the life of me if i can figure out how to un dork it...
 
Anyone see an issue like this, and more importantly, find a way to fix it?

I don't think it's the E5. I think it an issue with some Samsung devices. My note 3 work fine with the E5 and C5d, however my Note 4 does not usually work (it has a times but usually not). It doesn't work with my Samsung Tablet either (Galaxy Tab S2). I believe it has something to do with the way Samsung implements or doesn't implement the feature.
 
The only way I found that it works is by using something like the Hiby music app where the app provides the necessary processing to output the audio to the DAC/AMP. unfortunately that only works with the music you have on you phone and played through the app, so no Pandora or Spotify.
 
I've always benn a Samsung phone guy but things like this make me think twice, this is the first time I've owned a Android phone not made by Samsung. The G5 to try something different and with a removable battery. The Nexus 6P for a large screen and timely Android updates.
 
I recently got a LG G5 and Nexus 6P and they both work fine with the E5 and C5D, as did my old nexus 7 before it decided to stop booting.

 

[golfpro]

I was in the garage painting RC car bodies the last few days so I decided to listen to my onkyo DP-X1 player unamped with the 2.5mm balanced output.  I have a balanced cable for the 2.5mm trrs output so I might as well use it.  It sounds very good with the ASG 2.5 cranked up to about 50%.  Then I went back to the E5/X1 while on the computer, amazing!  The soundstage is incredible on the E5, and of course the bass is on a level of it's own.  I had to turn the 2.5's back down to almost fully closed.   
 
I think what I like so much about the sound of the E5 is I am so used to hearing in tune live basses and drums, and the E5 is spot on in recreating those notes.  Here's an example, I have been listening to, and playing drums to some songs for 30 years with live musicians.  I am so used to hearing the in tune notes, that when an IEM doesn't produce those notes, it sounds completely wrong to me.  Like hearing your favorite song extremely out of tune.  Another example is I tune my drums to specific notes, C, A, F, C#, A.  When I record my drums and play them back on an IEM, I want to hear those notes.  My 10 inch tom is a 3C, or 131Hz.  After it goes through all the microphone, all the recording equipment, then the source, amp, and IEM's it might not be 131Hz any more.  Some equipment is not capable of producing those notes, and have the right reverb, projection, and sustain.  If the frequency, note, is slightly off when being played back it won't sound right.  I was listening to the Sony EX1000 with other sources and amps and the bass sounded completely wrong.  If you are a bass player or musician you will understand this; It's like plucking an C on the bass, and the reverb or sustain is that of a D.  Or on the drums, my 10 inch C tom will have the sustain of a D.  If my drums are only off by a few Hz, it is noticeable. The average person might not hear this, but it is so strange sounding to me and maybe other musicians too.  Musicians are very picky about their IEM's, maybe that's why.
 
This may be why the E5 sounds so good.  And why having to EQ the heck out of other sources/amps does not sound as good.  You may be changing some of the notes on the scale.

 

[Madcat207]

 
I don't think it's the E5. I think it an issue with some Samsung devices. My note 3 work fine with the E5 and C5d, however my Note 4 does not usually work (it has a times but usually not). It doesn't work with my Samsung Tablet either (Galaxy Tab S2). I believe it has something to do with the way Samsung implements or doesn't implement the feature.
 
The only way I found that it works is by using something like the Hiby music app where the app provides the necessary processing to output the audio to the DAC/AMP. unfortunately that only works with the music you have on you phone and played through the app, so no Pandora or Spotify.
 
I've always benn a Samsung phone guy but things like this make me think twice, this is the first time I've owned a Android phone not made by Samsung. The G5 to try something different and with a removable battery. The Nexus 6P for a large screen and timely Android updates.
 
I recently got a LG G5 and Nexus 6P and they both work fine with the E5 and C5D, as did my old nexus 7 before it decided to stop booting.

The only problem is - one day it was working fine with my S6, the next day it stopped.  No upgrades or anything else, so i can't help but assume a fault in the E5.
 
As it is, i have upgrade to an LG V10, and am rather enjoying it now; the ESS hardware really shine; dare i say, more than the E5 did with my 650's.  I am not getting rid of it, as it is WAYYYYYYYY better than my laptop's built in sound, and shines very well there; it just has been replaced for mobile use..

 

[warrior1975]

The lgv10 is an excellent phone, and the dac/amp section is pretty damn amazing. I prefer the sound of the E5 over the phone itself. But, I don't always care to carry a stack. Lg by itself, is more than adequate.

I still have to suggest watching movies with the E5. It's a completely different experience, in not a good way, but an amazing way. It has the mixer settings for surround sound, which really sounds amazing, even with IEMS. The only thing is that it doesn't give a black back ground. What I do is hook my mojo up, that goes to the E5. I keep the volume down on the E5, and higher on the Mojo. Excellent combo.

 

[golfpro]

I just saw Creative also has the E1 which is the same amp and EQ as the E5 in a tiny potable unit for $50.  I am buying one today!

 

[warrior1975]

Really? Nice. Might be a better option to go portable!! I might grab one as well.

 

[golfpro]

Really? Nice. Might be a better option to go portable!! I might grab one as well.

​Yup, all that bass can clip on my camelback while mountain biking.  It has an external volume control, mic, and phone controls I think.  My local computer shop has 1 left in stock. I'm on my way.

 

[Sound Eq]

 
​Yup, all that bass can clip on my camelback while mountain biking.  It has an external volume control, mic, and phone controls I think.  My local computer shop has 1 left in stock. I'm on my way.

please report back about e1, as its so tiny and i might get one as well