[Pianist]

I just received the E11 yesterday. I am using it mostly with my Sony NWZ-A816 DAP and Fiio E5 LOD. I have a variety of different, great headphones now with different impedances and sound sigantures to test with the amp: Hifiman RE0, RE272, JVC FX700, Denon D2000, Shure SRH840 and Beyer DT800/600. So far, I have mixed impressions of the amp. I will post more later on, maybe in a separate thread, but for now I gotta say that I am not impressed with the treble, although the mids and bass sound very nice. The highs on the E11 strike me as somewhat attenuated, soft, perhaps a tad grainy and compressed. High frequency extension is fine, but with headphones that are especially revealing the high frequencies like the RE0 and DT880, the Fiio E11 sounds a tad weak up there. For treble, I actually prefer listening to even the DT880 600 Ohm straight out of my Sony's headphone jack or straight out of my Sansa Clip. The mids and bass are a different story though. The E11 seems to have rich, textured, well separated and generally highly resolving mid and low frequencies for the price. Certainly a good bit better than the built in amps on my consumer grade DAPs. Vocals sound powerful and all the emotions seem to be portrayed very well. Soundstage seems OK - quite 3 dimensional with a good sense of space, weight and good portrayal of spacial cues, but I think my Audigy 2 ZS with kxProject drivers wins in this regard - it provides better, cleaner stereo separation, whereas E11 sounds a tad congested by comparison. Actually, I think my Audigy 2 ZS with kxProject drivers sounds better than the E11. Not sure where that puts the E11, but I don't really care because I can't take my Audigy 2 ZS with me to listen on the go anyway. What matters is that E11 is a sizeable upgrade over regular, consumer grade DAPs, especially in the mids and lows. The highs are questionable to my ears, but at least they are clean, well separated and do carry a good amount of detail. The E11 is also powerful - VERY powerful. I almost killed my poor ears once when I turned the volume on the amp to high by accident when listening through my SRH840s. So be careful!
 
 

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

...So far, I have mixed impressions of the amp...
 

I am not surprised. From my impression of most of your posts, I would think you would rather enjoy a richer, brighter tones most of the time. One thing about E11 is it tends to dampen headphone really well, so bass becomes quicker and harder hitting. This is what I believe why some perceive E11 as being darker sounding while it has a flat FR curve. Regardless, I would think you might prefer cmoyBB or very likely FSM-01 over E11.

 

[R-Audiohead]

How does this amp run with high impedance cans?
 
I have a headphone I really want to turn into a portable but unfortunately it is a 300ohmer (seems crazy, but remember this IS head-fi 

)
 
I'm sure the mileage varies, I'm just wondering if anyone's subjective experiences with the e11 and a high impedance 'phone has been favorable or not...
 
I'm leaning closer to the e17 when it comes out, but I understand the amplifier section on the e17's is indeed the e11's.

 

[Brooko]

Quote:

How does this amp run with high impedance cans?
 
I have a headphone I really want to turn into a portable but unfortunately it is a 300ohmer (seems crazy, but remember this IS head-fi 

)
 
I'm sure the mileage varies, I'm just wondering if anyone's subjective experiences with the e11 and a high impedance 'phone has been favorable or not...
 
I'm leaning closer to the e17 when it comes out, but I understand the amplifier section on the e17's is indeed the e11's.

I occasionally use my E11 with my HD600 (300 ohm) when I can't be bothered getting the PortaTube out - and it handles the HD600 with no issues whatsoever.  It doesn't sound as good as the PortaTube - but for it's price, it works wonderfully well
 

 

[ilmenaglar]

Why dont i read anyone using this with the monster coppers or MD? Has anyone combined these? Is there any difference?
 
Thanks guys

 

[ClieOS]

I have MTPC. It is  quite efficient that I don't use it with amp at all.

 

[ilmenaglar]

Quote:

I have MTPC. It is  quite efficient that I don't use it with amp at all.

So its really not necessary then? No big difference? I miss the bass punch of the vanillas.

 

[ClieOS]

There is already a lot of bass on MTPC, don't really see a point of adding just a little more.

 

[ilmenaglar]

Quote:

There is already a lot of bass on MTPC, don't really see a point of adding just a little more.

Cool, if its not that much then i guess its better to leave it as it is. Thanks for the advice =)

 

[milosolo]

I just ordered the E11 to use with my v-moda m80 as portable amp with ipod and USB to my office workstation. The naked ipod doesn't drive the m80 enough for my tastes. I hope I didn't make a mistake. Most reviews are kinda meh. For the money it seems like a no-brainer when compared to other amps in its class.I just can't justify spending $200+ for this application.

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

I just ordered the E11 to use with my v-moda m80 as portable amp with ipod and USB to my office workstation. The naked ipod doesn't drive the m80 enough for my tastes. I hope I didn't make a mistake. Most reviews are kinda meh. For the money it seems like a no-brainer when compared to other amps in its class.I just can't justify spending $200+ for this application.

This won't work. You need an USB DAC for that and E11 doesn't have one built-in.
 

 

[milosolo]

Ah, it figures I didn't catch this. I was considering the E7 then opted for the E11 because of the more powerful amp. I guess I'll exchange the E11 for the E7 now. Then eventually replace the Audinst HUD MX-1 in my home office system with the E9.

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

Ah, it figures I didn't catch this. I was considering the E7 then opted for the E11 because of the more powerful amp. I guess I'll exchange the E11 for the E7 now. Then eventually replace the Audinst HUD MX-1 in my home office system with the E9.

I assume that you are aware of the potential issues with the E9 ? A lot of it comes down to the cans you plan to use with the amp, but its good to go in with both eyes open.
 

 

[kanuka]

any comparison between the E11 and mini3 and pa2v2? i get the idea the e11 is on par of the t3/d, but have no idea about the other 2

 

[ClieOS]

Don't know about mini3, but PA2V2 isn't really a competitor of E11. It has very noticeable bass roll off when used with low impedance headphonce and not nearly as powerful as E11, slightly on the lush sounding side but not quite as good as cmoyBB. Either E11 or cmoyBB are both better choice than PA2V2. I would consider E6 a much closer competitor of PA2V2 and I personally prefer E6.