[lokiboi686]

Well after an hour of waiting for my fiio e17 to turn on they have not so i went back on amazon and ordered audio engine d1 premium 24 bit DAC. they arrive saturday so ill keep my fiio until then. Just to be clear i absolutely loved the way this amp made my headphones sound and loved the way i could fine tune my listening experience. I think it is truly a shame I have to send them back but after two tries I have had enough. I will reply back on the quality of the audioengine just in case anyone who is also having problems with their fiio needs an alternative.

 

[lokiboi686]

Just listened to audio engine amp and decided to return it immediately. That amp is nowhere on the same level as the Fiio e17. It basically sounds the same as listening to music directly out of my computer. I'm going to reorder the fiio e17 for a third time and cross my fingers.

 

[Roers]

I've had 2 break on me and one came DOA.

 

[JamesFiiO]

Quote:

Just listened to audio engine amp and decided to return it immediately. That amp is nowhere on the same level as the Fiio e17. It basically sounds the same as listening to music directly out of my computer. I'm going to reorder the fiio e17 for a third time and cross my fingers.

 
very sorry for the trouble, if you have the trouble again we will send you a free one .

 

[lokiboi686]

Thank you for the offer. I received my third Fiio E17 three days ago and so far so good. Its a shame it has this problem because it truly is a great amp. I appreciated the quality of this amp that much more after I listened to music out of the audioengine amp and found it nowhere near as good as the Fiio. I just hope that I have no more issues with this third one and can listen to my music when i want to.

 

[JamesFiiO]

Quote:

Thank you for the offer. I received my third Fiio E17 three days ago and so far so good. Its a shame it has this problem because it truly is a great amp. I appreciated the quality of this amp that much more after I listened to music out of the audioengine amp and found it nowhere near as good as the Fiio. I just hope that I have no more issues with this third one and can listen to my music when i want to.

 
thanks, it is not a common situation I believed. anyway, we will try our best to improve the quality control step but step.  

 

[zzffnn]

Dear James,

Please kindly let me know: how many weeks would you expect E17's battery to last, without any usage, from a full charge?

I have E17 and E11 and likes their sound a lot. But E17's battery does not seem to hold a charge very well. Even if I don't use E17 at all (power off and hold button on), it's battery will die after about 2 weeks (E17 won't turn on unless I charge it again for a while). Do you think that is normal?

My E11's battery holds a charge very well.

My E17 is an authentic one (I have checked the "scratch query" number at Fiio's web site).

Thank you!

 

[reddragon]

the one i had (now given to my brother), had no issue at all. i was one of the earlier ones to get the dac/amp, as a matter of fact, i preordered it. 

 

[fearwhat]

Quote:

Dear James,

Please kindly let me know: how many weeks would you expect E17's battery to last, without any usage, from a full charge?

I have E17 and E11 and likes their sound a lot. But E17's battery does not seem to hold a charge very well. Even if I don't use E17 at all (power off and hold button on), it's battery will die after about 2 weeks (E17 won't turn on unless I charge it again for a while). Do you think that is normal?

My E11's battery holds a charge very well.

My E17 is an authentic one (I have checked the "scratch query" number at Fiio's web site).

Thank you!

Kind have the same question here, looking forward to the answer. Although I usually charge it everyday so that's not a big deal for me.

 

[MightyChimp]

Originally Posted by Whitetriton /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I, too, have a Fiio E17 (originally bought in June 2012) that does not work and was already fixed/replaced by the online retailer shortly after purchase.  My issue appears to be with the L7 line out connector causing problems for the E17.  On two separate occasions, with two separate, L7 cables, the E17 has lost functionality.  Currently, the unit will charge, but will not power on.  The reset button does nothing. 
 
I contacted Fiio about a replacement under warranty.  They were responsive and provided information on a replacement/fix.  However, that involved sending the unit to China, at my expense, and sending a photograph of my ID to Fiio. I did not wish to do either and decided not to pour more money (shipping) or time in to this product.
 
When it worked, I liked the E17 and thought it was worth the money I spent on it.  If I had it to do over gain though, I would not purchase the item.  I also doubt I will purchase another Fiio product in the future. 
 
Has anybody else experienced issues with the E17/L7 combination?

 
I had this happen today to mine. If you put the L7 on backwards (which is easy enough to do if you don't carefully look at the connector), the battery breaks. 

 

[zzffnn]

I had this happen today to mine. If you put the L7 on backwards (which is easy enough to do if you don't carefully look at the connector), the battery breaks. 

Please let me know what you meant by "battery breaks". I was thinking about buying L7, but I don't want L7 to brick my E17.

 

[BluePhase]

After reading all the posts in this thread, I think I'll reconsider buying an E17 or E07K. I tend to have bad luck with these sort of things and a defect rate of 1% is simply too high for my taste.

@JamesFiiO
I appreciate your honesty when it comes to this issue. Many businesses could learn something from this.
Have you considered using changeable LiPo batteries in future portable amps (much like in the E11)? This would allow customers to simply order a new battery without sending the whole unit back to the retailer or to China.

 

[MightyChimp]

Quote:

Please let me know what you meant by "battery breaks". I was thinking about buying L7, but I don't want L7 to brick my E17.

My E17 is now bricked. If you buy it be very careful. Fiio uses it's own adapter and it is possible to stick it in backwards without much resistance. 

By "bricked" I mean I can't get it to turn on. If I plug in power an LED lights up, and my computer actually recognizes it when plugged in by USB, but I can't get the device to actually do anything / output sound, nor can I get the screen to turn on. I tried resetting / charging to no avail. 

I got a fair amount of use out of it so I don't really care, I'll probably buy another one because I have the E09K too and this setup works great with my Senn HD650s as a backup when my LCDs are uncomfortable. 

The L7 is useful because it lets you bypass the built in amp and use it strictly as a DAC, I would still recommend it.. just be careful.

 

[respin45]

I just purchased the E17 and I must say it works very nicely. But like so many others, the one I got won't charge either.  What resolution do we have other than returning the product and buying another product from a different company?  I understand the problem is with the battery running down to zero.  Is there any way to replace the battery?  Or should I just return it and purchase something else? 

 

[koiloco]

Quote:

I just purchased the E17 and I must say it works very nicely. But like so many others, the one I got won't charge either.  What resolution do we have other than returning the product and buying another product from a different company?  I understand the problem is with the battery running down to zero.  Is there any way to replace the battery?  Or should I just return it and purchase something else? 

@respin45,  You are not alone, my E17 came from Amazon yesterday(EMusic Enterprise is the seller). It worked great plugged in thru USB but wouldnot charge or hold charge.  Red LED was flickering fast instead of staying solid red like another E17 owner told me.  My unit also did not have an authenticity sticker so I emailed Fiio just to make sure the unit is not fake (serial check).  They got back to me right away which is great customer service/communication.  What they said was the unit I got was an old batch made before Sept. 2012 therefore it wouldn't have the sticker.  This also confirmed why the battery is dead.  It's been sitting in amazon warehouse since last year.  The battery got so low that it won't take charge. 
I like the E17 and the way it sounds with my Q701 so I gave it another try by ordering from a different vendor.  It's coming tomorrow.  If I receive another old stock again and encounter the same problem, I will of course return it and call it quit for the Fiio brand.  As a manufacturer, they should communicate with their vendors and fix this old stock issue and at the same time alter their battery design or have the protection circuit kick in a lot sooner to prevent battery from discharge to a risky level.  This is to me design 101 for battery operated devices.
These issues are giving Fiio a very bad reputation because it's causing current customers and potential customers huge anxiety and inconvenience.  I know $150 is not very expensive but not a small amount either.  I spend $$$ to $$$$$ for my japanese koi fish but the $$$ and even $$ ones don't arrive half dead

 
I'll repost here tmr after receiving my 2nd unit.