[maxkolonko123]

Is it safe to charge e17 from wall socket? to speed up charging time or its better to charge from pc usb ?? cheers

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

LOL

Thanks guys.. I ended up just using dual lock directly on the E 17.

That is an old post of mine
Quote:

Is it safe to charge e17 from wall socket? to speed up charging time or its better to charge from pc usb ?? cheers

 
 
 

Correct Panda Battery Procedure:
When the device is in use, do not use USB charge. Turn it off. When the E17/E07K is on it's final bar of battery, turn USB charge(or the USB cable) on and charge it to full. And then unplug or turn off USB charge and use until you are on your last bar of battery left. When you see the bars reduce to one, it would be best to start charging(sometimes you are out, and you can't, that's understandable, a few times won't hurt). Li-ion batteries like the one's found the in the FiiO E17 Alpen's don't react well to a full cycle of charge and FULLY de charge until the battery is dead. This has been proven to be actually bad to the life of li-ioin batteries. HOWEVER., you should do a full cycle where you fully charge up the device and use it all the way until the device automatically turns off ONCE every month or two as that has been shown to actually be good for the battery WHETHER you use it constantly or not. Do not fear my friend, even if USB charge is turned off when the device "dies" it will still charge after it runs out of power naturally as the E17/E07K's firmware will reset!
 
Li-ION batteris on general will last effectively 1000 complete charges before battery drops below about ~70% of the original storage. This is still acceptable by most consumers standards.
 
20 hours full battery life * 1000 effective uses =20,000 hours / 24 hours a day = 833 days theoretically before the E07K under theoretical conditions will decrease to 70% of its original storage life and this is with a full depletion and then charge cycle. And that is 24 hour usage as well.
 
FiiO currently reports that they will send replacement parts for a very low price. The battery is not that hard to user replace(but not under warranty). 
 
Partial charges for Li-ION's are better but of course constantly doing partial ones has also been reported to have an effect on the device as well which is why I recommend to charge before all power is gone and to charge till full.
 
The last point to make is that you can't use a device if you keep on babying it. Using a device and enjoying it is part of that batteries intent and life cycle. Honeslty, ANYTHING you do to it will have an effect on battery life. The majority of the time, it is a minute effect to something like an audio device. (This advice does not hold for Power Wheels, those buggers need proper battery handling). Enjoy the device, theoretically it will hold up well for many years.
 
 
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/battery_performance_as_a_function_of_cycling
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
 
Disclaimer: I am not an expert on batteries. I am self taught. Please correct me if something is wrong. But use sources and not just something your papa or person told you to always do.
 
 
Keep in mind that the quality of that charger can be important. FiiO usually says to use your legit(not fake) Apple chargers if you have them or a computer but most of those wall chargers shouldn't have any problem.
 
Some of those wall chargers charge fast. Not a problem but theoretically, a faster charge will lead to a shorter battery life in the long run. But hey, if you baby your device, you will never use it.

 

[jasonb]

Where do you get this "low Profile" dual lock? I would possibly like to use some between my iPhone and E17. 
Quote:

LOL

Thanks guys.. I ended up just using dual lock directly on the E 17.

 

[jelloj]

Is it normal for the 3.5mm output jack on these to be less tight and clicky than the AUX input? I got mine from Pavillion Electronics, an Amazon.com seller (fulfilled by Amazon), on Monday and it works perfectly but the output jack feels a lot different than any 3.5mm jack I've ever encountered. It's the exact width that my headphones' plug is and the plug will slide in but there's very little resistance and I don't get that familiar "click" at the end that keeps the plug from coming out without a small tug. It's really not a huge deal because the plug won't come out too easily but it's just different than anything I've ever encountered (I've never used an amp before) so I was wondering if it was normal on this unit or if I have a faulty plug, especially since the AUX input on the other side has more of the feel that I'm used to.

 

[jasonb]

I am willing to bet you actually dont have the headphones plugged in all the way. There should be a very tight click when fully inserted.

 

[Stoney]

Some very good advice in the last few pages I just read.  
 
To add my experience, some confirming, some perhaps new: 
 
- Mine did not function until I let it charge.  It would turn off if I turned it on.  
 
- I have to make sure to re-set the output device on my Mac should I have turned the amp off for example. That is my most common reason for no sound. 
 
- I am now using an inexpensive (under $10) optical cable.  When I turn on the E17, it doesn't recognize the OPT input.  What I do is to cycle through the inputs until I come back to OPT - if I have any sound playing into it, then it briefly says "LOCK".  This is often needed and, of course, the Mac must be set to the correct output. 
 
- The correct output is "Built-in Output" because, when the optical cable is inserted, it disables and replaces the 3.5mm output.  
 
- The OPT input sound slightly better (esp. cleaner treble) than when using USB input, at least if I remove the USB input (serving purely as charger at that point).  I assume this is related to 2 factors. The jitter would be different between the two inputs.  Also, I expect lots of RFI from the PC being piped in, including the charging circuit itself.  So I charge between uses.  (This is all independent of the battery care tips last page). 
 
- I find the E17 much better and less bright than the E7, but I still need to turn down treble by one tick to make it match my Arrow amp and my sense of accuracy (with iPad 3 and HD650 with mods that make it much clearer). I sure wish the first couple of ticks were 1dB in size -- when applied over a broad frequency range, 1dB is quite audible. I also find it to damage some audiophile-type sense of reality, that 3D "in perspective" that makes instruments eerily realistic rather than merely well-defined. This is in comparison to the Arrow.  I will order the L7 line out dock and try the Arrow with only the E17 DAC to isolate where the problem is... I bet it is the amp stage.  PS: the FiiO "marketing team" (no name given) answered that, yes, the L7 is fine with the E17 (website not updated to indicate this yet).  
 
- PS: replacing my HD650 cable with Cardas Clear Light was a huge improvement.  Break-in was quite obvious and made the difference between unacceptly bright and hard, without "flesh," to virtually ideal.  I previously had a longer and older Cardas cable, which seemed to disperse the treble and remove definition and accuracy.  
 
Anyone else have experiences as above with optical input?  

 

[Stoney]

Highly recommended (instead of an L7, for example) is this L11 adapter.  
I combine it with the cable that arrived with the amp (one straight, one right angle).
It allows one to continue listening or at least not to remove the dock cable when
syncing or charging the iDevice.  Fewer make/break cycles is better.
Also the fac that the cable can rotate is useful to avoid strain.  
OTOH, it adds one connector to the signal path: 
 

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-L11-Connector-Charge-iPhone/dp/B008EKON56
 
I use an iPad, and what I consider to be a big improvement over most cases: 
A strap that makes holding the iPad comfortable at all angles of rotation and of gravity. 
 

 
 
http://www.amazon.com/The-Pad-Strap-iPad-Classic/dp/B004TVGTLK
 
I strap my amp to the strap using an elastic band, slide it to the dock connector, 
then use the FiiO adapter and cable to connect it.  Extremely convenient. 
 
PS: the black bands below on the amp are for use when combined with the iPhone. 
 
 

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

Highly recommended (instead of an L7, for example) is this L11 adapter.  
I combine it with the cable that arrived with the amp (one straight, one right angle).
It allows one to continue listening or at least not to remove the dock cable when
syncing or charging the iDevice.  Fewer make/break cycles is better.
Also the fac that the cable can rotate is useful to avoid strain.  
OTOH, it adds one connector to the signal path: 
 

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-L11-Connector-Charge-iPhone/dp/B008EKON56
 
I use an iPad, and what I consider to be a big improvement over most cases: 
A strap that makes holding the iPad comfortable at all angles of rotation and of gravity. 
 

 
 
http://www.amazon.com/The-Pad-Strap-iPad-Classic/dp/B004TVGTLK
 
I strap my amp to the strap using an elastic band, slide it to the dock connector, 
then use the FiiO adapter and cable to connect it.  Extremely convenient. 
 
PS: the black bands below on the amp are for use when combined with the iPhone. 
 
 

That little thing isn't for everyone.
 
For iPhone/iPod users with FiiO units, the L9 is still recommended in my opinion. It features an easy L shaped jack using HPC-22W wire from Oyaide Japan. Very minimal and what not. The L11 allows you to use whatever interconnect cable you want and charge it which is nice but it may not have as much minimal low key design as the more specialized ones.

 

[Stoney]

Each setup is different.  Just putting it out there. 
 
But I have not heard any degradation by using the L11 30-pin iDevice with 2 connections compared with the L7 adapter.  If anything, it seemed a bit better.  
 
Both are from FiiO and both are good value.  I've seen an item like the L11 that was about $25 instead of $10 from FiiO (Amazon prices).  
 
Of course, the L7 gives you both the 30-pin and the 3.5mm cable for $10.  The L11 + a cable is nearly twice.  

 

[jelloj]

Quote:

I am willing to bet you actually dont have the headphones plugged in all the way. There should be a very tight click when fully inserted.

That was it, thanks. It still has a different feel but at least it clicks in place.

 

[kalbee]

Quote:

Each setup is different.  Just putting it out there. 
 
But I have not heard any degradation by using the L11 30-pin iDevice with 2 connections compared with the L7 adapter.  If anything, it seemed a bit better.  
 
Both are from FiiO and both are good value.  I've seen an item like the L11 that was about $25 instead of $10 from FiiO (Amazon prices).  
 
Of course, the L7 gives you both the 30-pin and the 3.5mm cable for $10.  The L11 + a cable is nearly twice.  

I personally use the L11 since my L9 died on me within a week or two.
While a great little accessory, one must know that it
1) takes more space (sticks out more) than cabled LODs
2) has a larger cross-section area than cabled LODs so those using cases need even larger openings to fit the L11.
 
I just enlarge my case's 30-pin port by drilling it.
The USB-mini port on the L11 on the other hand is a bit on the looser side, so syncing with computer might not be as successful for long transfers and such.
 
Also, L11 + the patch cable included with the E17 means you don't need to spend extra on cable.

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

Also, L11 + the patch cable included with the E17 means you don't need to spend extra on cable.

But then how ever was I supposed to convince myself to buy the $300 Monster cable. It's their new Awesome-o series claiming 100Gb/s up and down stream with 300 Audifo fibers per square milimeter in it. It sounds great.

 

[kalbee]

Quote:

But then how ever was I supposed to convince myself to buy the $300 Monster cable. It's their new Awesome-o series claiming 100Gb/s up and down stream with 300 Audifo fibers per square milimeter in it. It sounds great.

I only said you don't need to spend extra on cables. 

And you can't use those anyway with a L9 

If you use interconnects then you're still limiting Awesome-o cables with the HPC-22W.

 

[Stoney]

Quote:

L11 ...
While a great little accessory, one must know that it
1) takes more space (sticks out more) than cabled LODs
2) has a larger cross-section area than cabled LODs so those using cases need even larger openings to fit the L11.
 
The USB-mini port on the L11 on the other hand is a bit on the looser side, so syncing with computer might not be as successful for long transfers and such.

 
I hadn't noticed the larger size, but that's important on an iPhone.  I'm using an iPad so I missed that.  But, smaller means less torque on the iPad connector when it gets bumped, so smaller is safer. 
 
In my case, I have not noticed a loose fit on the USB mini cable.  Perhaps cables vary, or L11s vary.  
 
I'll do more study tomorrow.  And try a pricey cable.  

 

[Godot]

Can anyone tell me how would E17 compare to ELE DAC + CMoy combo? I'm new when it comes to headphone amps and external DACs and I was considering buying something like ATH-M50 or DT 990 Pro + cheap DAC like ELE and cheap amp like CMoy; but I was wondering if E17, which among other things has a much nicer form factor, might be a better solution. I guess my question is: is E17 worth more than twice the price of ELE+Cmoy?
 
Thank you.