FiiO E09K and E07K

[TripBitShooter]

Just one last question: Can the sansa clip zip use the USB OTG? If you do not know about this model, do you know if sansa DAPs in general are compatible with USB OTG to amps?

 

[cb3723]

I've the Fiio E09K & Fiio E17 combo, and they can drive together or individually all my cans except my HIFIMAN HE-6's (no surprise there), and to a very high quality.

The E17 has bass & treble EQ adjust and different gain settings, which the E07K has also, which is excellent to tweak things to your personal sound preferences, and when used in conjunction with a bass specific can like the SONY MDR-XB1000 with bass EQ maxed out to level 10 - the bass near blows your head clean off - in a fun way of course

Here's a pic of my FOSTEX TH600's getting acquainted to my Fiio brothers with a little +bass EQ tweaked - cos that's just how I roll - but Fiio gear in general gets my highest recommendations as it takes you to where you want to go without breaking the bank unlike a lot of other amp/DAC out there vying for your hard earned monies.

Show me the money? Show me the Fiio's more like

​

 

[benbenkr]

The E09K simply takes the E07K amplifier to the next level with just one drawback; the output impedance. It should be understood that, the E09K have a 10 Ohm output impedance and that it is only suitable for headphone impedance with 80Ohm and above or any headphone with flat impedance vs frequency, but other than that, the E09K is a clear upgrade over the E07K amplifier section. 

 
This is something that irks me a little bit with what otherwise is a decent review.
 
Come on, that 1/8th rule for output impedance has always been over hyped and its importance is much more subdued that what many believe.
There are headphones that are simply not influenced by high output impedance, that's the way it is. Usually they are electrostats or planars, but there are several low-impedance dynamic headphones that don't suffer either.
 
So yeah, the way you worded it... it's like saying DON'T buy the E09k if you don't have a headphone over 80ohms, which shouldn't be the case.

 

[Chris J]

This is something that irks me a little bit with what otherwise is a decent review.

Come on, that 1/8th rule for output impedance has always been over hyped and its importance is much more subdued that what many believe.
There are headphones that are simply not influenced by high output impedance, that's the way it is. Usually they are electrostats or planars, but there are several low-impedance dynamic headphones that don't suffer either.

So yeah, the way you worded it... it's like saying DON'T buy the E09k if you don't have a headphone over 80ohms, which shouldn't be the case.

I used to have an E09K.
It worked just fine with my 62 Ohm AKG Q701.
And it worked just fine with my 42 Ohm Audio Technica ATH-ESW9A 'phones.
I used to go berserk when I saw someone using a high output impedance amp with low impedance cans, but I've turned around to think, hey if it works OK for you, that's fine with me!

Electrostatics need a dedicated headphone amp, BTW.

 

[BillsonChang007]

There are some headphones which dont get affected by the 1/8 damping factor rule like the Grados, ATH-M50, AKG x7xx. They are all below 80Ohm not to mention HE-400 but from what I believe, there are more headphones whose FR gets affected easily by damping factor but sometimes, its not a bad thing either if they sound good.

I can see a lot of people are caring less & less about damping factor but I though it is worth mentioning the high output impedance of E09K.

Sansa does not support USB OTG as far as I know. My best suggestion is to wait for someone to test it with S5

Billson

 

[GeneraI]

Can i ask, can the USB DAC of the E07K be used with a phone, like a samsung? Also which is better, E07K or E11? I want as flat and transparent SQ as possible. I will be using the amp with a sansa clip zip, and any improvement in SQ is welcome, as I can hear even the tiniest differences from one headphone to the next e.g. ATH-M50 vs ATH-M50x. Many people on this head fi forum cannot hear a difference but i can.

You do realize that the difference between the ATH-M50's and the ATH-M50x's are purely aesthetical, and they didn't change one thing about the sound. 

 

[cb3723]

You do realize that the difference between the ATH-M50's and the ATH-M50x's are purely aesthetical, and they didn't change one thing about the sound. 

Yeah, Tyll did a review on the new X version informing that upon opening up the earcups for inspection, nothing appears to have changed - the slight change in sound signature may well be attributed to what appears to be the marginally thicker earpads used over previous model. Only other change is the now removable cable.

[VIDEO]http://youtu.be/usjF3XBR6M8[/VIDEO]​

 

[TripBitShooter]

There is still a sonic difference, General. I know, the pads are different and this should have contributed to SQ difference, but it is still an improvement. The highs are much better. Bass is better too.

 

[benbenkr]

There are some headphones which dont get affected by the 1/8 damping factor rule like the Grados, ATH-M50, AKG x7xx. They are all below 80Ohm not to mention HE-400 but from what I believe, there are more headphones whose FR gets affected easily by damping factor but sometimes, its not a bad thing either if they sound good.

I can see a lot of people are caring less & less about damping factor but I though it is worth mentioning the high output impedance of E09K.

Sansa does not support USB OTG as far as I know. My best suggestion is to wait for someone to test it with S5

Billson

 
Yes indeed.
But the way you worded it is like saying high output impedance is a taboo, which it isn't.
 
Just a minor quirk and I thought that it should be known to everyone that the issue isn't as big as it was blown up to be.
 
 

  You do realize that the difference between the ATH-M50's and the ATH-M50x's are purely aesthetical, and they didn't change one thing about the sound. 

 
Uhm not exactly, I do have the M50x right now and aside from having less clamping pressure out of the box, the trebles are also smoother now. Obviously it will still pierce ears, but there's certainly less fatigue now. The bass is also more controled, a little more body to it.
 
The difference isn't HUGE, but it's noticeable enough.

 

[BillsonChang007]

   
Yes indeed.
But the way you worded it is like saying high output impedance is a taboo, which it isn't.
 
Just a minor quirk and I thought that it should be known to everyone that the issue isn't as big as it was blown up to be.
 
 
 
Uhm not exactly, I do have the M50x right now and aside from having less clamping pressure out of the box, the trebles are also smoother now. Obviously it will still pierce ears, but there's certainly less fatigue now. The bass is also more controled, a little more body to it.
 
The difference isn't HUGE, but it's noticeable enough.

The ATH-M50 isn't awfully piercing either vs other some others... so I would imagine the ATH-M50 to have smoother treble? @.@ 

 

[TripBitShooter]

+1 your post benbenkr. The ATH-M50X sounds so much less fatigueing to me than the ATH-M50. I wonder why many people on head fi cannot hear the difference.

 

[benbenkr]

  The ATH-M50 isn't awfully piercing either vs other some others... so I would imagine the ATH-M50 to have smoother treble? @.@ 

 
Well to me it was. Certainly wasn't as jarring as say the HE-400 or DT990, but the M50 was bright enough that it did get pretty fatiguing. The M50x alleviates that issue a little bit, smoother and slightly rolled off. 
 
 

+1 your post benbenkr. The ATH-M50X sounds so much less fatigueing to me than the ATH-M50. I wonder why many people on head fi cannot hear the difference.

 
Not sure. It's not just on head-fi, pretty much almost anywhere people seem to hear zero difference between the M50x and M50. I'm just glad that the stretch mod isn't really needed anymore out of the box unless you've got a really big noggin'.

 

[TripBitShooter]

I cannot wait to try out the ATH-M50X LE, as it should have an improvement over the normal ATH-M50x, like the previous ATH-M50 LE having an improvement over the ATH-M50.

 

[TripBitShooter]

Btw, another thread had a discussion on FiiO X3 vs Sansa Clip Zip + FiiO E07K. Everyone said that the FiiO X3 was better than the Sansa clip zip plus E07K combo. Also, it was mentioned that the sansa clip zip cannot use the DAC of the E07K. So for those of you out there thinking between FiiO X3 and sansa clip zip plus E07K, go for the X3. FYI, the X3 can act as a standalone DAC for a computer.

 

[BillsonChang007]

I cannot wait to try out the ATH-M50X LE, as it should have an improvement over the normal ATH-M50x, like the previous ATH-M50 LE having an improvement over the ATH-M50.

You can't say it for sure. The ATH-M50 LE is released a few years after ATH-M50 so it's legit to have slighte, minor improvement but the ATH-M50x LE is released together with ATH-M50x which just different colors. Sound wise, there's a high chance of not having any difference but I am not saying it's for sure as I have never tried it yet and it's IMO

Btw, another thread had a discussion on FiiO X3 vs Sansa Clip Zip + FiiO E07K. Everyone said that the FiiO X3 was better than the Sansa clip zip plus E07K combo. Also, it was mentioned that the sansa clip zip cannot use the DAC of the E07K. So for those of you out there thinking between FiiO X3 and sansa clip zip plus E07K, go for the X3. FYI, the X3 can act as a standalone DAC for a computer.

^ thanks for the heads up