[klam]

I picked up the E07k to use with my Galaxy S3 (I747M North American version) on Jelly Bean 4.1.2 and it works just fine.
 
However, I am finding that the sound quality is not as good as I was expecting? The sound is thin and muddy and not too much of an upgrade from the straight headphone out. When I use my E07k (or even E17) as a USB DAC/headphone amp for my laptop it sounds fantastic with either of my headphones. I would think that it is just digital audio data being sent out directly to the DAC, and the E07k is doing DAC and amp it would sound as good as it does going from my laptop? Maybe someone knows why this is the case?

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

I picked up the E07k to use with my Galaxy S3 (I747M North American version) on Jelly Bean 4.1.2 and it works just fine.
 
However, I am finding that the sound quality is not as good as I was expecting? The sound is thin and muddy and not too much of an upgrade from the straight headphone out. When I use my E07k (or even E17) as a USB DAC/headphone amp for my laptop it sounds fantastic with either of my headphones. I would think that it is just digital audio data being sent out directly to the DAC, and the E07k is doing DAC and amp it would sound as good as it does going from my laptop? Maybe someone knows why this is the case?

What are you plugging into E07K? USB or AUX in?
 
It may be placebo/situation. While on the go, I find that moving around a lot and focusing on other things around me will make my music sound worse and more fatiguing than at my desktop setup.

 

[kingdbox]

Everything you need will come with the E11.
I do suggest upgrading your interconnect though.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/280973034324?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

you guys have been really helpful. My question is answered for the sansa. would it work on my android (htc wildfire s 2.3.4), if so just to be safe would I need extra cables for that ? also the headphone jack on the phone is jammed With something I cant take so would the fiio function through the usb port on My phone....thanks again, I'm a novice

 

[klam]

It's plugged into USB. It just doesn't sound anywhere near as good as if I plug it into my laptop?
 
Quote:

What are you plugging into E07K? USB or AUX in?
 
It may be placebo/situation. While on the go, I find that moving around a lot and focusing on other things around me will make my music sound worse and more fatiguing than at my desktop setup.

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

I picked up the E07k to use with my Galaxy S3 (I747M North American version) on Jelly Bean 4.1.2 and it works just fine.
 
However, I am finding that the sound quality is not as good as I was expecting? The sound is thin and muddy and not too much of an upgrade from the straight headphone out. When I use my E07k (or even E17) as a USB DAC/headphone amp for my laptop it sounds fantastic with either of my headphones. I would think that it is just digital audio data being sent out directly to the DAC, and the E07k is doing DAC and amp it would sound as good as it does going from my laptop? Maybe someone knows why this is the case?

 
Go to Google Play and download the Neutron music player demo to try it out.

 

[chrdxn]

Quote:

It's plugged into USB. It just doesn't sound anywhere near as good as if I plug it into my laptop?
 

 
There are only two reasons why it would sound different if you are using the digital USB output on both: 1) different source material or 2) different transport behavior. 
 
For #1 (source material): are you listening to the exact same tracks with the same encoding on the same headphones when comparing the two? I had a similar issue when first testing the E07K on my PC and iPad using Spotify tracks. The PC sounded worse. Since I knew that shouldn't be the case, I checked my settings and sure enough, the PC's Spotify app had reverted back to a lower streaming bit rate (ie. different source material even though the track was the same).
 
For #2 (transport behavior): do you have the volume set up to max on both the phone and the laptop? If not, there is a chance that the devices could be changing the stream to account for the volume attenuation. The only other behavior that could change the quality is jitter or some type of lost data in the transport. This is the least likely cause, and likely wouldn't result in the "thin and muddy" sound that you described.
 
Bottom line... if you have the volume set to max on both the phone and the laptop, and you are using the exact same source material, the sound quality would be identical. The one time that I was able to get the E07K to work on my GS3, it sounded exactly the same as when it was connected via USB to my PC or iPad - same amp, same DAC. Only the device transferring the bits is different.

 

[Benthegrate]

I’ve been following this thread with anticipation as I was awaiting the delivery of my Fiio e07k. I received it two days ago and was very pleased with its performance when connected with the 30 pin doc cable in my iDevices. The sound is laid back, with a nice tight deep bass and a vastly improved top end definition. Nice nuance details with cymbals and bells. The sound field, although not as broad as I would like, still seems balanced and very pleasant to listen to.  I’m very  pleased with this unit.
 
Today I thought I’d try using the camera connector with my iPad.  This experience was not as gratifying. Not the same sound field at all. That nice smooth top end was basically the same is when simply plugged into the headphone jack of the iPad. I’m not sure what’s at play here. Is it the Fiio’s DAC, or some other technical issue? I’m not sure at this stage.
 
I know some of you are trying to bypass the DAC by connecting your iPods and iPhones. Depending on your forthcoming reported developments, I’ll be interested to see how this evolves.  On my current experience, I’m quite happy with the 30 pin connector, and it gives me an extremely pleasant listening experience. 

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

I’ve been following this thread with anticipation as I was awaiting the delivery of my Fiio e07k. I received it two days ago and was very pleased with its performance when connected with the 30 pin doc cable in my iDevices. The sound is laid back, with a nice tight deep bass and a vastly improved top end definition. Nice nuance details with cymbals and bells. The sound field, although not as broad as I would like, still seems balanced and very pleasant to listen to.  I’m very  pleased with this unit.
 
Today I thought I’d try using the camera connector with my iPad.  This experience was not as gratifying. Not the same sound field at all. That nice smooth top end was basically the same is when simply plugged into the headphone jack of the iPad. I’m not sure what’s at play here. Is it the Fiio’s DAC, or some other technical issue? I’m not sure at this stage.
 
I know some of you are trying to bypass the DAC by connecting your iPods and iPhones. Depending on your forthcoming reported developments, I’ll be interested to see how this evolves.  On my current experience, I’m quite happy with the 30 pin connector, and it gives me an extremely pleasant listening experience. 

You bypass the DAC when usingCCK with iPad.
 
I am not downplaying your "problem/issue" but may I offer some psycho-analysis?
There have been one or two others that have posted the same thing here so therefore it may be a bandwagon effect started from the aesthetical and look of the device. There are many studies shown that if you show people a $10,000(very expenisve) piece of equipment in their face and then play music (hidden) with hundred dollar equipment, they will say it sounds good. And then when you show people a very poor setup but with actual hidden but very expensive equipment, they will say it sounds bad.
 
The usage and behavior of how one listens to music is generally slightly different. On my desktop, one is generally more focused and actually listening to the music as opposed to more on the go. This lack of focus ON GENERAL, may lead to a more metalic or cold sounding nature. Lastly there is also the aesthetics, with desktop usage, we generally see the DAC unit attached to a computer using an audio player and it looks nice but with a smaller device its lack of size may develop a placebo within the user.
 
These are just some objservations I am not down playing anything you are saying.
Every peice of info and impression is important of course and I hope to hear your further thoughts. The only problem is that most just lurk these days and will get the wrong idea if the whole thread is filled with issues people have. This is another problem as if you think about it, most come and ask when they have a problem. This creates a higher problem unit issue than there actually is to the viewer.

 

[maxkolonko123]

For everybody who is looking LOD for Sansa check here http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/fiio-l6-line-out-cable-for-sandisk-sansa-media-players-prodid-3805.html

 

[Matiascalle]

You bypass the DAC when usingCCK with iPad.

I am not downplaying your "problem/issue" but may I offer some psycho-analysis?
There have been one or two others that have posted the same thing here so therefore it may be a bandwagon effect started from the aesthetical and look of the device. There are many studies shown that if you show people a $10,000(very expenisve) piece of equipment in their face and then play music (hidden) with hundred dollar equipment, they will say it sounds good. And then when you show people a very poor setup but with actual hidden but very expensive equipment, they will say it sounds bad.

The usage and behavior of how one listens to music is generally slightly different. On my desktop, one is generally more focused and actually listening to the music as opposed to more on the go. This lack of focus ON GENERAL, may lead to a more metalic or cold sounding nature. Lastly there is also the aesthetics, with desktop usage, we generally see the DAC unit attached to a computer using an audio player and it looks nice but with a smaller device its lack of size may develop a placebo within the user.

These are just some objservations I am not down playing anything you are saying.
Every peice of info and impression is important of course and I hope to hear your further thoughts. The only problem is that most just lurk these days and will get the wrong idea if the whole thread is filled with issues people have. This is another problem as if you think about it, most come and ask when they have a problem. This creates a higher problem unit issue than there actually is to the viewer.

I partially agree with you Panda. My sensations are getting better the more I listen using my combo ipad, CCK, Andes, headphones, instead of doing tests.
The other thing that influenced my being disappointed is the high expectations before having the Andes, and reading reviews and threads.
Very happy with it!
Matias

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

I partially agree with you Panda. My sensations are getting better the more I listen using my combo ipad, CCK, Andes, headphones, instead of doing tests.
The other thing that influenced my being disappointed is the high expectations before having the Andes, and reading reviews and threads.
Very happy with it!
Matias

The sonic improvement for most isn't night and day but a huge guarantee of quality.

 

[klam]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm using the exact same files copied over from my laptop to the Galaxy S3. I've tried the default Samsung player, PowerAmp, and Neutron. Neutron did offer better clarity but still did not sound identical to my laptop when playing through the E07k. I made sure volumes on both devices were maxed out and that there were no EQ settings used in the players. The sound still sounds closer to the straight headphone out to me than the E07k as a USB DAC on my laptop. I'm wondering if there is an internal mixer acting on things the same way that the Windows Kernel Mixer resamples stuff on Windows, unless you use ASIO/WASAPI.
 
Quote:

 
There are only two reasons why it would sound different if you are using the digital USB output on both: 1) different source material or 2) different transport behavior. 
 

 

[pandemic787]

Quote:

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm using the exact same files copied over from my laptop to the Galaxy S3. I've tried the default Samsung player, PowerAmp, and Neutron. Neutron did offer better clarity but still did not sound identical to my laptop when playing through the E07k. I made sure volumes on both devices were maxed out and that there were no EQ settings used in the players. The sound still sounds closer to the straight headphone out to me than the E07k as a USB DAC on my laptop. I'm wondering if there is an internal mixer acting on things the same way that the Windows Kernel Mixer resamples stuff on Windows, unless you use ASIO/WASAPI.
 

 
so i've had USB audio "enabled" on my telus s3 from day one stock carrier rom.  however, i always wondered if it really was bypassing the s3 dac and amp...
 
my main reason for doubting was why i could still control the volume on the s3 and it would affect the andes volume as well as why if i turned the EQ in google music or any other player on it would affect the music i was listening to
 
long story short, had some time on my hands today so i flashed a custom rom (paranoid android) and low and behold the "plug n play" method didn't work and the new rom didn't recognize the OTG cable and dac like the stock rom did... so then i bought the app everyone was talking about "usb audio recorder pro" which has it's own custom drivers, plugged in my andes and boom, got usb audio SEPERATE from the phone system sounds.  
 
so i'll still get a text message sound through the phone speaker and music through my headphones which again i'm no techie but i now believe it's bypassing everything inside the phone and sending out the most pure unadulterated digital audio signal.
 
bass is definitely more crisp and prominent and sounds (to me anyway) like i have the andes amp at 4 for bass when i have zeros all around (treble 0 gain 0 bass 0) buuut again  i don't have audiophile ears so this is of course, subjective.
 
only downside is that the USB audio recorder app isn't user friendly and you have to load every song you want to hear but i'm sure in future updates that'll be added.
 
hope this helps? 
 

 

[pandemic787]

double post sorry

 

[Matiascalle]

The sonic improvement for most isn't night and day but a huge guarantee of quality.

Panda, if I'm bypassing ipad's DAC using CCK with my Fiio Andes, why the EQ in the music player is still able to change the sound that comes out fom headphones?
Thanks,
Matias