[xxhaxx]

Quote:

The adapter for the Little Dot MKIII? Or you're talking for the computer. 

Cause I want that amp and that would be great!

No I meant for the E17+ L7 for line out into mkiii
 

 

[bowei006]

E17 can be used with L7. it will bypass the E17's internal amplifier allowing you to use the E17 as a standalone DAC.
 
depending on the user and ripping of the source files. some can hear the diff of 192/320 from lossless while some can't. rips that were downloaded even if they were 320kbps i can tell were either done wrong or up converted. rips i done myself into 320 are absolutley flawless. i recently did an ABX test
 
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.1.11
2012/02/17 14:29:49
 
File A: K:\A.wav
File B: K:\B.wav
 
14:29:49 : Test started.
14:31:31 : 01/01  50.0%
14:32:00 : 01/02  75.0%
14:32:14 : 02/03  50.0%
14:32:37 : 03/04  31.3%
14:32:48 : 04/05  18.8%
14:33:13 : 05/06  10.9%
14:33:44 : 05/07  22.7%
14:34:02 : 06/08  14.5%
14:36:21 : 07/09  9.0%
14:37:05 : 08/10  5.5%
14:37:35 : 09/11  3.3%
14:37:46 : 10/12  1.9%
14:38:53 : 11/13  1.1%
14:39:33 : 11/14  2.9%
14:39:47 : 12/15  1.8%
14:40:03 : 13/16  1.1%
14:40:45 : Test finished.
 
 ---------- 
Total: 13/16 (1.1%)
 
so yeah. i would say i can tell the diff from 320 to lossless

 

[hyogen]

Quote:

Quote:

no, i didn't get it yet of course (dunno when mp4nation will ship)...  but now that i have such a great improvement than what i had before using the galaxy s (with wolfson + voodoo) and my maybe 100 hour burned in DT880 250s.......  I'm not expecting a huge improvement with the E17... i'm pretty sure I want something that'll improve a TON on what I already have now.....   if the E17 can KINDA drive the HD650.........well, I think I want something that can REALLY DRIVE the hd650 and dt880. 
 
not gonna cancel my order yet though..   I'm thinking a used little dot MKIII will be my next acquisition

 
Pairing E17 with little dot mkiii sounds not a good idea, because E17 is not a pure dac. You should really consider E9, imo.

i know.  i'm thinking of getting the mkiii instead of getting the E17  I'm not particularly TOO excited about getting the E17 anymore...  I'm sure it'll really improve my laptop/ipad 2 sound, but not so much with my phone.i do most of my listening on my phone for some reason.  Consider the E9 for just amp and the setup I have now (phone + dt880?)  over getting a mkIII? 
 
So, E17 will give me a little improvement of the sound i have on my phone now...... but I want another HUGE improvement, like I just experienced
 
 

 

[duyu]

Quote:

i know.  i'm thinking of getting the mkiii instead of getting the E17  I'm not particularly TOO excited about getting the E17 anymore...  I'm sure it'll really improve my laptop/ipad 2 sound, but not so much with my phone.i do most of my listening on my phone for some reason.  Consider the E9 for just amp and the setup I have now (phone + dt880?)  over getting a mkIII? 
 
So, E17 will give me a little improvement of the sound i have on my phone now...... but I want another HUGE improvement, like I just experienced
 
 

xxhaxx has corrected my mistake, you can add L7 and change E17 into pure dac. I didn't know this before, I thought E9 is the only option. E17 is really versatile....
 

 

[RoadKam]

@bowie006 - if he's using a phone to play files on, I doubt he's using lossless. For 192-320 bitrate, which I'm assuming he'll be using from his phone, would going digital out from the phone to a DAC/AMP like the E17 improve the sound much? (He likes the DAC on his phone, and plans to use an amp for the analog out from DAC.)

 

[hyogen]

yeah, i'm not using lossless.   Sounds freakin amazing to me, though.  Most of you have probably experienced a DAC that sounds as good as the wolfson

 

[hyogen]

Quote:

(Samsung Nexus S is a phone)
 
@hyogen - What are you playing on your Nexus? i.e. mp3 or 'phone format' files right? If you like the sound of the DAC in there, but want more drive to your headphones, then an amp is what you're looking for. If you want it portable, that would be a consideration - although you wanna consider that you'll need batteries for the amp if you want to stay mobile. If you allow the E17 to ship and deliver, before selling it I would try to get digital out on the phone if it supports it and compare the DAC on the E17 to that of your phone.
 
Back to source files - if they're mp3 with moderate bit rate (192 to 320) then adding hardware wouldn't make them sound much better, as I understand it. Anyone back me up on that?

thanks.  Hmm...I see.  So, an added amp (even something pretty good like the MKIII for around $200) wno't really make it sound much better? 
 
and yes, i'm using mp3 files. 
 

 

[RoadKam]

Quote:

thanks.  Hmm...I see.  So, an added amp (even something pretty good like the MKIII for around $200) wno't really make it sound much better? 
 
and yes, i'm using mp3 files. 
 

That's my theory. I'm trying to get someone more experienced to give an opinion... if your headphones are being driven adequately by the phone, then an amp won't add much besides volume as I understand it. In that case, making sure your headphones ARE being driven well by your phone would be where you'd want to focus.
 
 

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

@bowie006 - if he's using a phone to play files on, I doubt he's using lossless. For 192-320 bitrate, which I'm assuming he'll be using from his phone, would going digital out from the phone to a DAC/AMP like the E17 improve the sound much? (He likes the DAC on his phone, and plans to use an amp for the analog out from DAC.)

i have lossless files on my ipod and phone well anyway. first..most phone's..if not i don't know any current mass marketed phones other than some itsy details on nokia's going digital out. when used with a phone. only the amp of teh E17 will be engaged. the DAC will not and can not. even if ICS update comes out, the phone won't be able to supply enough power to use DAC just like the ipad...without an extra powered usb hub (thanks to agent xxl for this)
 
"improve sound" everyone wants to know this. it is entirely dependant on a person. how well they can hear. if he is happy with his files righ tnow and not really an audiophile, other than differences from EQ and louder volume he might not be able to tell the difference .
 
again. as of right now no way to bypass android devices amp or DAC, and even with ICS update..not enough power to use E17 as DAC with(portably)..if the update does come out ..he can do it probably..but he won't be moving as ...you need a powered usb hub. again.
 
i need more specfici questions to go into detail it kinda seemed like there was mass misconception and stuff around the whole place
 
anyway. ask away roadKAM i know your new to this. just ask all your sound science and what not questions and i can go more into depth
 
@duyu
yeah...the more you know haha that's why so many buy it. considering how many people have said that the differncce from E17's WM8740 and other almost thousand dollar DAC's WM8740's is very very small...the L7 and the entire versatility of teh E17..is amazing

 

[RoadKam]

(Dupe post, sorry)

 

[bowei006]

At this time i believe it would be better for hyogen to maybe instead of spending a couple hundred on amps and DAC's to just upgrade to a higher level easy to drive headphones. teh AHD 2000s are on the top of my lips. but hey it could be anything
 
i don't know if you saw it roadkam but i answered ur question

 

[Bill-P]

I'm just reposting this, I guess, but again, advancedmp3players seems to have stock of the E17.
 
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/Gadgets.4/FiiO.406/E17/FiiO_E17_Portable_Headphone_Amplifier_with_USB_Digital_Audio_Convertor__DAC_.13679.html
 
It's a bit pricier, but they can ship international, too.

 

[RoadKam]

Quote:

...
i don't know if you saw it roadkam but i answered ur question

I saw, and thank you. (I'm on the road and my internet connection here is not so good... my 'submit' failed and I did it again, but it seems the first one went through after all.
 
 

 

[hyogen]

Quote:

Quote:

thanks.  Hmm...I see.  So, an added amp (even something pretty good like the MKIII for around $200) wno't really make it sound much better? 
 
and yes, i'm using mp3 files. 
 

That's my theory. I'm trying to get someone more experienced to give an opinion... if your headphones are being driven adequately by the phone, then an amp won't add much besides volume as I understand it. In that case, making sure your headphones ARE being driven well by your phone would be where you'd want to focus.
 
 

 
I agree.  I'm not sure if they ARE being driven to the max.  I'm almost positive they aren't....I mean it's a 250ohm headphone.    comparable HD650 is just adequately driven by the E17....but again most likely not fully driven.  that's what I want....fulllllly driven
 


Quote:

At this time i believe it would be better for hyogen to maybe instead of spending a couple hundred on amps and DAC's to just upgrade to a higher level easy to drive headphones. teh AHD 2000s are on the top of my lips. but hey it could be anything
 
i don't know if you saw it roadkam but i answered ur question

these DT880 250ohm aren't high level enough?  I think they are...    I don't think I've heard these fully driven yet.  I've only heard from my phone/wolfson/voodoo control and 5db amp/ 
 
It's not about volume at all.  I'm getting plenty of volume.  like i said above, I just want to FULLY drive these.  What you're saying is to get a more expensive headphone that's like 32ohm, right? 
 

 

[AgentXXL]

Quote:

 
I agree.  I'm not sure if they ARE being driven to the max.  I'm almost positive they aren't....I mean it's a 250ohm headphone.    comparable HD650 is just adequately driven by the E17....but again most likely not fully driven.  that's what I want....fulllllly driven
 

these DT880 250ohm aren't high level enough?  I think they are...    I don't think I've heard these fully driven yet.  I've only heard from my phone/wolfson/voodoo control and 5db amp/ 
 
It's not about volume at all.  I'm getting plenty of volume.  like i said above, I just want to FULLY drive these.  What you're saying is to get a more expensive headphone that's like 32ohm, right? 
 

What you mean is that you want to enjoy the detail and clarity as well as having enough volume. I wouldn't necessarily be looking at easier to drive headphones, but instead something that has a wide soundstage and plenty of clarity/detail. Beyer T1. Senn HD800, Audeze LCD-2 or -3, maybe even a Stax electrostatic setup. All of these of course are even harder to drive so they may/will require even more powerful amps.
 
While you have just taken a leap forward by moving to a phone/media player with a better DAC, your next step is probably to start with better encoded files. If you can, start with some lossless files in FLAC or ALAC format. With your new phone though, you're limited to dual amping via the headphone output as I don't believe it has a line out and it won't support digital out unless you load a modded Android kernel. That's not to say that dual-amping out of your phone won't improve the audio, but almost guaranteed you won't see as big of an improvement as you have by changing player hardware (with the Wolfson DAC).
 
That said, using Poweramp to play FLAC lossless files on your new phone may yet reveal another layer of detail and clarity. It really depends on the quality of the FLAC encoding though, so as with anything, it will require experimentation. I'd definitely give your E17 a try when you receive it - if it doesn't provide the boost you're looking for, you can probably sell it with little difficulty, being that it's so new. Good luck!