FiiO E17 "ALPEN" - First Impression + Final Thought
Mar 26, 2012 at 6:07 AM Post #2,281 of 6,777
Thanks for the answer. However, it has strong red LED when I first plugged it in to the capdase, then after like 4 hours it became weak. I thought maybe it will become weak when it is soon to be full. It is also strong when I first charged it in my laptop but I didn't watched it going to full batt as I have left it like less than 3 hours. Have you noticed the transition from the charging state to the full batt state? I know my capdase is a good charger I can feel when a charger is cheap and doesn't give good current. I use it on my ipod touch/nano/J3/N2 and the charging time is really normal. Maybe the red LED will become weak before it is actually turned off? I disconnected it though because I'm kinda scared that it may mess up the battery if that isn't normal, I got scared that it's charging 4+ hours and the red LED is still not powered off though weak.. Thanks!


And also this, I only get 48K/16-bit when USB connected to my laptop as DAC. Is that normal? :| Thank you very much bro!


You need to set or change the sampling eate yourself manually in windows sound. Its the one where you choose thr default playback device. All you do then is click on properties for usb e17 and move through the tabs until you find sampling rate and move it to the highest possible. Plz note this could crash your computer. So if setting to 192 crashes then dont do 192 and stick to a lower one
 
Mar 26, 2012 at 1:23 PM Post #2,282 of 6,777


Quote:
You need to set or change the sampling eate yourself manually in windows sound. Its the one where you choose thr default playback device. All you do then is click on properties for usb e17 and move through the tabs until you find sampling rate and move it to the highest possible. Plz note this could crash your computer. So if setting to 192 crashes then dont do 192 and stick to a lower one


In Windows, there shouldn't even be the option above 24/96 via usb.
 
With Vista:
 
Start Menu> Control Panel> Hardware and Sound> Sound> Manage Audio Devices> Choose SPDIF Interface> Click "Advanced" Tab - Choose 2-channel, 24 bit, 96000 Hz (Studio Quality) from the drop-down menu.
 
 
Mar 26, 2012 at 1:31 PM Post #2,283 of 6,777


Quote:
In Windows, there shouldn't even be the option above 24/96 via usb.
 



Windows supports output formats above 24/96 but it requires proprietary drivers as the integrated drivers are only USB Audio Class 1 compliant.
 
Mar 26, 2012 at 2:06 PM Post #2,284 of 6,777
Mar 26, 2012 at 2:37 PM Post #2,285 of 6,777


Quote:
In Windows, there shouldn't even be the option above 24/96 via usb.
 
With Vista:
 
Start Menu> Control Panel> Hardware and Sound> Sound> Manage Audio Devices> Choose SPDIF Interface> Click "Advanced" Tab - Choose 2-channel, 24 bit, 96000 Hz (Studio Quality) from the drop-down menu.
 


GAH! I forgot he was on USB. 
 


Quote:
Windows supports output formats above 24/96 but it requires proprietary drivers as the integrated drivers are only USB Audio Class 1 compliant.


In layman's term's. Update your sound/audio driver.
 


Quote:
Unless you have music there is encoded in 24/192, I really don't see much benefit to use the optical.


True that. I only have one but I use optical just because I don't have too many extra USB ports to spare.
 
 
Mar 26, 2012 at 3:17 PM Post #2,286 of 6,777
My e17 won't turn on. It was working fine yesterday. I got home today, pushed the power button, and nothing happened. It's showing the red light as if it's charging when connected via USB, but holding the power button or even just pressing it quickly does nothing. I've tried unplugging it and turning it on, and then plugging it back in, but nothing has worked. 
 
EDIT: as soon as I made this post, the red light went dark. It turns back on for 30 seconds or so when I unplug and plug the USB back in, but then it goes dark. Help?
 
Mar 26, 2012 at 3:32 PM Post #2,287 of 6,777


Quote:
My e17 won't turn on. It was working fine yesterday. I got home today, pushed the power button, and nothing happened. It's showing the red light as if it's charging when connected via USB, but holding the power button or even just pressing it quickly does nothing. I've tried unplugging it and turning it on, and then plugging it back in, but nothing has worked. 
 
EDIT: as soon as I made this post, the red light went dark. It turns back on for 30 seconds or so when I unplug and plug the USB back in, but then it goes dark. Help?



Reset it. there's a reset switch at the top of the E17 device. See if that helps. and make sure to press the power button firmly..and even more importantly. make sure the lock/hold switch is in the upward position so that the orange is not showing.
 
Mar 26, 2012 at 3:32 PM Post #2,288 of 6,777


Quote:
In layman's term's. Update your sound/audio driver.
 



No. The E17 uses Windows generic drivers which only allow for 24/96. FiiO does not provide drivers of their own to allow access to 24/192. Only S/PDIF supports it.
 
Mar 26, 2012 at 3:35 PM Post #2,289 of 6,777


Quote:
No. The E17 uses Windows generic drivers which only allow for 24/96. FiiO does not provide drivers of their own to allow access to 24/192. Only S/PDIF supports it.



So again you are saying that only S/PDIF allows up to 192KHz due to it's driver support from your audio chip on the computer? I wasn't able to access 192KHz on S/PDIF til after I updated my onboard audio driver
 
Mar 26, 2012 at 3:40 PM Post #2,290 of 6,777


Quote:
So again you are saying that only S/PDIF allows up to 192KHz due to it's driver support from your audio chip on the computer? I wasn't able to access 192KHz on S/PDIF til after I updated my onboard audio driver



I'm saying that without proprietary drivers, there will be no 24/192 output through USB on Windows as the generic drivers only allow for 24/96.
 
But keeping system drivers up to date is a given, and in your case it should've always worked unless you were using a very old driver version.
 
EDIT: Added that I was talking about USB.
 
Mar 26, 2012 at 3:43 PM Post #2,291 of 6,777


Quote:
I'm saying that without proprietary drivers, there will be no 24/192 output through USB on Windows as the generic drivers only allow for 24/96.
 
But keeping system drivers up to date is a given, and in your case it should've always worked unless you were using a very old driver version.
 
EDIT: Added that I was talking about USB.

I was talking about S/PDIF. mis communication
 
I was indeed using a very old driver version. The first initial roll out of it actually. It was stable and I never had any problems so I never cared to update.
 
 
 
Mar 26, 2012 at 3:47 PM Post #2,292 of 6,777


Quote:
I was talking about S/PDIF. mis communication
 
I was indeed using a very old driver version. The first initial roll out of it actually. It was stable and I never had any problems so I never cared to update.
 



Ah ok. Well, while I can understand going with reliable drivers, if there are newer versions that are as reliable and improve on usability and/or bring new features, then that's definitely something to consider.
 
What onboard audio chip do you have?
 
Mar 26, 2012 at 3:49 PM Post #2,293 of 6,777


Quote:
Ah ok. Well, while I can understand going with reliable drivers, if there are newer versions that are as reliable and improve on usability and/or bring new features, then that's definitely something to consider.
 
What onboard audio chip do you have?



VIA® VT1708S
 
It's high spec'd...and performs better than most onboard audio i have heard(except for Mac's) but..compared to audiophile standards? It is trash..best word for it. It's high spec'd but high spec'd doesn't mean it's good.
 
 
specs:
 
 
 
VIA Vinyl HD Audio codecs represent the next generation of sound quality, supporting the high definition HD Audio standard for a whole new immersive surround sound experience. The VIA Vinyl VT1708S is a low-power optimized, high fidelity, 8-channel High Definition audio codec which is compatible with Intel High Definition Audio specification and supports stereo 24-bit resolution and up to 192 kHz sample rate for DACs/ADCs.
The VIA Vinyl VT1708S features four stereo DACs, two stereo ADCs, analog input to analog output mixing, and two independent S/PDIF outputs. It can achieve high performance 100 dB Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) for DACs and 90 dB SNR for ADCs. A high quality analog mixer is used to support A-A path.
The VIA Vinyl VT1708S features eight integrated microphone amplifiers with four sets of adjustable Vref-out pins for microphone bias which can be programmed with 10/20/30-dB boost gain. The stereo ADCs and microphone array can support Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC), Beam Forming (BF), and Noise Suppression (NS) technologies for an unmatched PC audio experience.
The VIA Vinyl VT1708S uses three jack detection pins for presence detection on up to twelve audio jacks allowing software to determine if there is a device plugged into the circuit.
The VIA Vinyl VT1708S is embedded with software utilities such as environment emulation, EQ, extender, and optional sound effects, including support for QSound, DTS Connect, DTS Surround Sensation, Dolby PCEE program, Creative Audio Program and Third Party Microphone Array Technology.
 
 
logo_DOLBY-HT.jpg
logo-QSound.jpg
dts-connect-logo.gif
logo-TruSurround_HD.jpg

Target markets for the VIA HD Audio codecs include audio on motherboard solutions for desktop PCs, laptops and new convergence devices based on the x86 platform.
 

PRODUCT FEATURES

vt1708s_chip.jpg
logo_8channel.jpg

High Definition Codec
  1. Intel High Definition Audio Specification Rev.1.0 Compliant
  2. Exceeds Microsoft Windows Logo Program (WLP) Requirements
  3. High-performance ADCs with 90dB SNR, DACs with 100dB SNR Various Output Format
  4. 4 Stereo DACs Output Pairs supporting 16/20/24-bit, 48/96/192/44.1/88.2 kHz sample rate
  5. 2 Stereo ADCs supporting 16/20/24-bit, 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz sample rate
  6. 2 independent 16/20/24-bit S/PDIF TX Outputs supporting 48K/96K/44.1K/88.2 KHz sample rate
Others
  1. HPF In ADC Path for DC Removal
  2. High performance analog mixer for AA path
  3. Two Jack Detection Pins
Power Supply
  1. Digital: 3.3V
  2. Analog: 5V
  3. Built-in 5V to 4.4V LDO (Low-Dropout) Voltage Regulator
  4. Supports External Amplifier Power Down (EPAD)
  5. Power Management and Enhanced Power Saving Features
Package
  1. Available in 48-Pin LQFP Lead-Free and RoHS compliant package
Applications
  1. Desktop PCs

 
 
Mar 26, 2012 at 3:53 PM Post #2,294 of 6,777


Quote:
VIA® VT1708S
 
It's high spec'd...and performs better than most onboard audio i have heard(except for Mac's) but..compared to audiophile standards? It is trash..best word for it. It's high spec'd but high spec'd doesn't mean it's good.
 


 
I hope you plan on upgrading soon. Onboard audio chips are always terrible, even if some aren't as bad as most. Source quality is one thing you should really improve on. Is that something you might consider doing?
 
Mar 26, 2012 at 4:16 PM Post #2,295 of 6,777

 
Quote:
 
I hope you plan on upgrading soon. Onboard audio chips are always terrible, even if some aren't as bad as most. Source quality is one thing you should really improve on. Is that something you might consider doing?



VT1708S, same as my moBo... and I'm just downloading the most recent drivers :)
 

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