[KBerube80]

Question:  Am I able to connect my E17 to my Cambridge Audio Azur 840C CDP via SPDIF, bypass the E17's DAC, and just utilize the amp section?
 

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

Question:  Am I able to connect my E17 to my Cambridge Audio Azur 840C CDP via SPDIF, bypass the E17's DAC, and just utilize the amp section?
 

No.
 
S/PDIF is digital. Meaning you would be bypassing the DAC of the Cambridge (if there was one) and using another DAC unit.
 
If you just want to use E17's amp section. You use AUX in. 

 

[kalbee]

Quote:

Hmm. I've read about dts encoding issues that's why i wanted to ask, my main goal is using  optical/coax for the sound, fiio seems perfect for this matter.
 
If i plug my headphone through E17 and toslink to my tv ( which has an internal media player for movies) will i have dts encoding issues, or will i have toslink quality sound ( whether dts or pcm actually, since i'm using a headphone and it's not surround, i don't think there'll be a difference. )
 
Thanks for the help.

Hm... considering my home setup, whether for TV or computer, is rather modest, I don't have first hand experience to share with you in regards to that. I was simply commenting on a usability/versatility/convenience point of view. Also never looking into that much technical details regarding different codecs and such.
 
My only optical source is a PS3. I just turn the audio system to Stereo (not that I had ANY 2.1 or more complex systems to begin with, so it was simple). If you meant whether Alpen does a good job at decoding SPDIF signal, I have no prior base for comparison but it hasn't proved me any trouble or artifacts thus far. So... if I am understanding right, I guess my answer would be no DTS encoding issues as far as PS3 is concerned, used in Stereo audio output.

 

[AgentXXL]

Quote:

 
 
Arrgghh!
 
I still have Windows XP! Yes, it's true!
Looks like I can't change to 96 kHz with Windows XP?
 
Signed,
Mr. "not very good with computers"

 
Windows XP handles audio differently in that it by default will send audio bit for bit, i.e. no sample rate conversion. This actually provides the best sounding audio as your 96/24 audio files will play at that rate/bit depth and your 44.1/16 audio will play at its rate/bit depth. Some programs (like Foobar2000) allow you to lock the output to a higher sample rate/bit depth (i.e. upsampling), but this can cause all sorts of issues. On a system with well written drivers, upsampling won't hurt the audio, but leaving XP configured to automatically adjust playback rate/bit depth is preferred. XP natively only handles up to 96/24 so anything above that will either be downsampled or not play at all, depending on the player software you use. See this article on the Benchmark wiki about XP's handling of sample rate and bit depth:
 
http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/wiki/index.php/Windows_XP_Audio_Playback_-_Setup_Guide
 
If you have some audio at various bit rates, try playing them back in a player like VLC and you'll see the sample rate/bit depth automatically change on your E17 to match the format of the audio file you are playing. If you don't have any 96/24 audio, go to HDTracks.com and sign up to download a hires music sampler. Here's the link:
 
https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=landing
 
Hope that helps! And my hopefully my comment about sarcasm wasn't taken too seriously... it's often difficult to understand what people write and what they actually mean. Enjoy!!
 
Dale

 

[Chris J]

Windows XP handles audio differently in that it by default will send audio bit for bit, i.e. no sample rate conversion. This actually provides the best sounding audio as your 96/24 audio files will play at that rate/bit depth and your 44.1/16 audio will play at its rate/bit depth. Some programs (like Foobar2000) allow you to lock the output to a higher sample rate/bit depth (i.e. upsampling), but this can cause all sorts of issues. On a system with well written drivers, upsampling won't hurt the audio, but leaving XP configured to automatically adjust playback rate/bit depth is preferred. XP natively only handles up to 96/24 so anything above that will either be downsampled or not play at all, depending on the player software you use. See this article on the Benchmark wiki about XP's handling of sample rate and bit depth:

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/wiki/index.php/Windows_XP_Audio_Playback_-_Setup_Guide

If you have some audio at various bit rates, try playing them back in a player like VLC and you'll see the sample rate/bit depth automatically change on your E17 to match the format of the audio file you are playing. If you don't have any 96/24 audio, go to HDTracks.com and sign up to download a hires music sampler. Here's the link:

https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=landing

Hope that helps! And my hopefully my comment about sarcasm wasn't taken too seriously... it's often difficult to understand what people write and what they actually mean. Enjoy!!

Dale

Thanks for the help, and the links, Dale.
In hindsight, my question was very ambiguous.
I was actually trying sound embarrassed.
I guess it didn't read that way! LOL

Chris

 

[AgentXXL]

Quote:

Hm... considering my home setup, whether for TV or computer, is rather modest, I don't have first hand experience to share with you in regards to that. I was simply commenting on a usability/versatility/convenience point of view. Also never looking into that much technical details regarding different codecs and such.
 
My only optical source is a PS3. I just turn the audio system to Stereo (not that I had ANY 2.1 or more complex systems to begin with, so it was simple). If you meant whether Alpen does a good job at decoding SPDIF signal, I have no prior base for comparison but it hasn't proved me any trouble or artifacts thus far. So... if I am understanding right, I guess my answer would be no DTS encoding issues as far as PS3 is concerned, used in Stereo audio output.

 
Jacobi/Kalbee,
 
The info provided so far is correct but I'll just try and add a little. The SPDIF input on the E17 handles only up to 2 channel digital audio. The E17 has no codec support for Dolby Digital or DTS. If you are trying to simulate a surround field in your headphones, the E17 isn't necessarily the best option out there. If your source offers Dolby Headphone or similar processing, the E17 should be able to accept that audio stream digitally and do a pretty good job of surround field recreation. That said, I've never been happy with Dolby Headphone or similar processing algorithms.
 
If you really want to listen to surround DTS or Dolby Digital audio, you'll need to look for something like the Astro Gaming Mixamp or Mixamp Pro (Dolby Digital only) or if you really want something unique, the new DTS Headphone X solution looks to be a winner at CES 2013. Apparently DTS Headphone X will simulate up to 11.1 channels on devices that support the DTS Headphone X technology. Alas we'll have to wait until 2nd quarter 2013 for devices to start appearing with DTS Headphone X technology - it's not likely going to be backwards compatible via a software codec, but we'll have to wait and see. And the nice thing is that it uses whatever headphones you want to use, anything from earbuds/IEMs to flagship headphones like the Sennheiser HD800.
 
Dale

 

[DemonFox]

With the new improvements to the e07k is the e17 still the better option??

 

[MrTissues]

I own Audeo PFE Golds (bought before they were labeled gold, I guess they are the same), and Grado SR80s  
 
There is a really good price on this DAC/Amp from this site: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_44985_FiiO-E17-Alpen-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier-DAC.html
 
Would I see much benefit in sound quality when using it from a Macbook Pro?

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

With the new improvements to the e07k is the e17 still the better option??

 
Really the biggest difference between the two is that the E17 has two extra digital input modes in SPDIF coaxial and Toslink.
 
Personally, I like the extra versatility of the E17 digital inputs.

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

With the new improvements to the e07k is the e17 still the better option??

The E07K has almost the same amount of power as the E17. Has same battery life, same features (EQ and Line out) and same size. However the quality of the E17's amp and it's various extra input methods do warrant the extra $40-$50 for many.

 

[Chris J]

Is there an echo in here?

 

[kalbee]

------ an echo in here?

 

[bowei006]

   Is there an echo in hereeeee?

 

[jacobi]

Thanks a lot @kalbee, @agentxxl. Let's just simplify this issue a bit. What happens when you plug your E17 to your computer SPDIF, and try to watch a dts/dolby encoded film ? Is the movie performance satisfactory ?

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

Thanks a lot @kalbee, @agentxxl. Let's just simplify this issue a bit. What happens when you plug your E17 to your computer SPDIF, and try to watch a dts/dolby encoded film ? Is the movie performance satisfactory ?

Depends on what you mean. There is Dolby/DTS laced PCM that is multi channel. Those won't work. E17 only supports Stereo PCM
 
But ones who uses a software to add the special effect into the stereo stream (be it stereo or multi channel) will work.Those aren't too high quality though and have very fake sounding spaceyess