FiiO E17 + E09k Gain vs. Volume Question

[Desjani]

I am currently using a pair of Sennheiser HD650 headphones with a FiiO E17 DAC +E09K Amp combo. It sounds awesome but I have a few questions:
 

• There are two places I can define Gain, a switch on the back of the E09k, and a software setting on the E17 itself. Should I use both? one? the other?
• What should I set the E17's volume and Max volume to in order to have accurate volume control using the E09K's Pot?

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

I am currently using a pair of Sennheiser HD650 headphones with a FiiO E17 DAC +E09K Amp combo. It sounds awesome but I have a few questions:
 

• There are two places I can define Gain, a switch on the back of the E09k, and a software setting on the E17 itself. Should I use both? one? the other?
• What should I set the E17's volume and Max volume to in order to have accurate volume control using the E09K's Pot?

 
 
Set the E17 to LO Bypass on the side of the E17, the volume control and gain on the E17 will no longer affect the output of the E09K.
But you can still affect volume out of the E17 headphone jack.
 
I usually leave the gain on the rear of the E09K on it's quietest setting, even with my 600 Ohm DT880s.

 

[Desjani]

Quote:

 
 
Set the E17 to LO Bypass on the side of the E17, the volume control and gain on the E17 will no longer affect the output of the E09K.
But you can still affect volume out of the E17 headphone jack.
 
I usually leave the gain on the rear of the E09K on it's quietest setting, even with my 600 Ohm DT880s

 
Tried this this morning. Much better! nice jump in Quality due to less noise. Thanks!
 
Follow up question: What volume should I set it to in windows? 100%? 50%?

 

[Chris J]

I set Windows volume to 100%.

Apparently lower levels suffer from bit truncation.

 

[ubikutz]

Hi,
 
I also have the E09K + Fiio E17 driving a pair of lower impedance Sennheiser HD598.
 
Using LO Bypass on the E17 i find that the volume with the E09K at 9 o'clock is a bit too loud for my taste and if I go lower, the E09K start suffering from channel imbalance.
 
If i turn LO Bypass off, and turn down the volume on the Fiio E17 down to 20-25 so that I have more usable range from the E09K volume knob and I can go lower without the imbalance issues, am I impacting the quality of the sound?
 
Thanks!

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

Hi,
 
I also have the E09K + Fiio E17 driving a pair of lower impedance Sennheiser HD598.
 
Using LO Bypass on the E17 i find that the volume with the E09K at 9 o'clock is a bit too loud for my taste and if I go lower, the E09K start suffering from channel imbalance.
 
If i turn LO Bypass off, and turn down the volume on the Fiio E17 down to 20-25 so that I have more usable range from the E09K volume knob and I can go lower without the imbalance issues, am I impacting the quality of the sound?
 
Thanks!

 
Answer, probably not!
You could argue that the potential for a slight loss in sound quality is balanced by the fact that channel imbalance is gone!
 
Also, make sure you have the gain on the rear of the E09K set to low.

 

[avens]

Does the e17 still work as a dac when using lo bypass? How about treble/bass settings? Power increase, decrease or none of the above?
 
Sounds weird that it could be a magic improvement switch, when paired with the e09k.

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

Does the e17 still work as a dac when using lo bypass? How about treble/bass settings? Power increase, decrease or none of the above?
 
Sounds weird that it could be a magic improvement switch, when paired with the e09k.

If E17 is docked into an E09K:
Yes the E17 still works as a DAC when using lo bypass, but bass, trebel and volume are bypassed.
No power increase, all headphone jack power is provided by the E09K.
I don't know what else may be bypassed. 

 

[snowshoe]

FWW, coming to this thread a tad late (thanks Google!), I find the sound to be much better with this combo (well, actually an E17 and an E9) if LO BYPASS is off (the switch is up so you can control volume etc with the E17), gain on the E9 is on (switch up), and volume on the E17 up to around 30 and 9 o'clock on the the E9. I actually have all effects on the E17 set to neutral, so no additional sound coloration.

By "better" I mean that the sound space is dimensionalized and engaging, mids are clearer, bass is better defined, and highs are more pleasant and less prone to aliasing. I am currently using my ATH-A900x's. This set up really brings out their strengths.

 

[mrickar5]

FWW, coming to this thread a tad late (thanks Google!), I find the sound to be much better with this combo (well, actually an E17 and an E9) if LO BYPASS is off (the switch is up so you can control volume etc with the E17), gain on the E9 is on (switch up), and volume on the E17 up to around 30 and 9 o'clock on the the E9. I actually have all effects on the E17 set to neutral, so no additional sound coloration.

By "better" I mean that the sound space is dimensionalized and engaging, mids are clearer, bass is better defined, and highs are more pleasant and less prone to aliasing. I am currently using my ATH-A900x's. This set up really brings out their strengths.

I too have an E17 and E9 and I found some similar observations:

However, to my ears, the gain switch on low is better, but leaving LO Bypass off does provide an overall more neutral experience. The E17 with bypass off and with no EQ sounds thinner than E9, (a tiny bit weaker in bass, a little flatter in treble), but does have more mid presence and a little better separation/soundstage width. I flipped the lo bypass switch back and forth 50 some odd times on equal volumes to make my observation.