[ipaddy]

Found this unit going through some things.

Did a quick listen in my SR15 and Focal Clear setup.

Did not sound terrible, but based on the specs, can this fairly ancient and cheap amplifier still play in the same ball park as today's FIIO Q5s and IFI xdsd league?

 

[megabigeye]

The E12A is an amplifier only, while the Q5S and xDSD both have built-in DACs, so it's not exactly a one-to-one comparison.
To my ear, the E12A is pretty much audibly transparent, which is to say it'll sound exactly like any other audibly transparent amp no matter the cost or specs. The only reason I'd consider moving on from this amp is if the battery goes bad or if I need more power. In high gain it's more than enough for the HD 650 or DT 1990, so it should have enough power for most headphones.

 

[Julius Decimus]

I have still, for about 4 years now. Its fine and good amp. Not the most detailed, and mids are more forward than the rest of frequencies, but if you have DAP or some kind of DAC giving it signal, its completely OK. Depends on the recordings. if they are well made its ok. Generally something from the 70-80-90s will sound great. Above 2-3 o clock gives distortion to the higher frequencies and the mids, they become more than the bass and its uneven. But overall its ok, you can connect it to PC or laptop to the 3.5mm jack, it gives you more power than the motherboard outputs. And its more powerful than the Q5 as an amp. Bass boost is clean and more around the 20-60hz, doesnt go into the mids, one of the very few amps i heard that has this right way.

Can confirm, more than enough for the HD650 and the like.

 

[ipaddy]

Thank you both for your thoughts.

 

[h1a8]

So the bass boost for e12a peaks at which frequency? And what frequency does it start to rise?

 

[Julius Decimus]

So the bass boost for e12a peaks at which frequency? And what frequency does it start to rise?

Looks like this:

Peak is 4db at low frequency, 40-50hz somewhere there. Only E12a has 4db bass boost, E12 and A5 are with more, 5-6db and the boost goes deeper into the mids.

 

[h1a8]

Excellent. No wonder it makes my k371 and he4xx sound a lot better