[chuckf]

Hey,
 
i am rather new to the world of audio and would be glad if you had some advive for me. My equipment consists of an ultrasone 580 and the fiio e17. I am pretty content with what I have, except for the first time I wanted to watch a bluray. When selecting DTS or Dolby as mode I just get a hissing. Uncompressed PCM works.
My first question is, is there any way to get DTS / Dolby running via my e17? I connected it with an optical cable and I googled that the e17 can't decode DTS. IS this a disadvantage for watching movies? From what I know I think uncompressed sounds like the best option anyway, since there is no compression
 
And then I stumpled over the E09k for a similar price as the e17. Would it be better to return the e17 and get the e09k since it's a desktop amp? Or will the mobile solution be as good as or even better? I didnt really find a comparison between these two but most times that people combine both. I don't own an Ipod and yet haven't figured out how to use the USB output from my optimus speed for sound (however I think most times I wouldn't really want / need to bring my amp + headphones when out of house).
 
I hope you can give me some advice and Im sure the forums are a good place to learn about audio.
 
PS: Please excuse my english, its not my motherlanguage but i try hard.

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

Hey,
 
i am rather new to the world of audio and would be glad if you had some advive for me. My equipment consists of an ultrasone 580 and the fiio e17. I am pretty content with what I have, except for the first time I wanted to watch a bluray. When selecting DTS or Dolby as mode I just get a hissing. Uncompressed PCM works.
My first question is, is there any way to get DTS / Dolby running via my e17? I connected it with an optical cable and I googled that the e17 can't decode DTS. IS this a disadvantage for watching movies? From what I know I think uncompressed sounds like the best option anyway, since there is no compression
 
And then I stumpled over the E09k for a similar price as the e17. Would it be better to return the e17 and get the e09k since it's a desktop amp? Or will the mobile solution be as good as or even better? I didnt really find a comparison between these two but most times that people combine both. I don't own an Ipod and yet haven't figured out how to use the USB output from my optimus speed for sound (however I think most times I wouldn't really want / need to bring my amp + headphones when out of house).
 
I hope you can give me some advice and Im sure the forums are a good place to learn about audio.
 
PS: Please excuse my english, its not my motherlanguage but i try hard.

You can not use real DTS or Dolby mode. DTS or Dolby surround sound effects should however as most effects just add onto the stream. The E17 can ONLY process two channels. 2.0 (not anything more than that) It is NOT a home theatre device. IT is a home audio device. 
 
Disadvantage? Depends on how you look at it, 5.1DTS or Dolby won't work or won't work well. IT's hard to tell what happens but sometimes the player will just send two of the main L and R streams instead of all of them so it would work while other times it won't work with stereo DAC's.
 
What Dolby and DTS is and how it works is not static, there are different TYPES of it and how it was added in.
 
I personally don't care if it's in or not.
 
A DAC would be better than having a straight up amp. The HFI 580 isn't too picky but it does get help from a DAC and future headphones will also do well with one.
 
I do not know much about the optimus but the only way for a phone to work and bypass it's own DAC is currently only with select nokia and select Android devices that have USB OTG and have software that support it. This is not yet too stable on Android devices and few Nokia support it. And even if they do, the power draw has to be less than what the sofware of that device has selected. Most of the time it's around 50-100mah depending on device, USB power draw(with USB chg off) on E17 is over 150mah so that won't work even if you get it.

 

[chuckf]

Quote:

Disadvantage? Depends on how you look at it, 5.1DTS or Dolby won't work or won't work well. IT's hard to tell what happens but sometimes the player will just send two of the main L and R streams instead of all of them so it would work while other times it won't work with stereo DAC's.

Any Input how to check and/or fix this?
 
Quote:

A DAC would be better than having a straight up amp. The HFI 580 isn't too picky but it does get help from a DAC and future headphones will also do well with one.

Im not quite sure if i got you right on this one. From what i found out I think the E9 /E09k is just an amp, so I am definitly better off with my DAC/Amp 2in1 device? So an e17 is a good choice even if I dont plan on going mobile (at least for my budget, the e17 was actually above it but worth it)
"Future Headphones" I hope my 580 will be mine for a long while, as long as I don't happen to some "better" setup I think I'll stay quite content, however you never know.
 
Quote:

This is not yet too stable on Android devices and few Nokia support it. And even if they do, the power draw has to be less than what the sofware of that device has selected. Most of the time it's around 50-100mah depending on device, USB power draw(with USB chg off) on E17 is over 150mah so that won't work even if you get it.

The e17 has a battery which should last long enough, however my phones battery would be the limiting factos nevertheless. Im not quite sure, but i think with cyanogen 7 oder 9 it works on samsung devices and therefore MAY work on LG too.
 
Thank you for your response!

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

Any Input how to check and/or fix this?
 
Im not quite sure if i got you right on this one. From what i found out I think the E9 /E09k is just an amp, so I am definitly better off with my DAC/Amp 2in1 device? So an e17 is a good choice even if I dont plan on going mobile (at least for my budget, the e17 was actually above it but worth it)
"Future Headphones" I hope my 580 will be mine for a long while, as long as I don't happen to some "better" setup I think I'll stay quite content, however you never know.
 
The e17 has a battery which should last long enough, however my phones battery would be the limiting factos nevertheless. Im not quite sure, but i think with cyanogen 7 oder 9 it works on samsung devices and therefore MAY work on LG too.
 
Thank you for your response!

You have to look at your output settings and what your disk supports and what overall is trying to be outputted. 
 
IT is best to have an amp and DAC, although you don't have massively expensive equipment.
 
For a desktop choice, the E17 in my opinion is not needed if it's a fully static device. Some want a portable DAC and amp in their house as a desktop dynamic unit where they can use and switch between computers. Otherwise, for $150, there are others.
 
No..it's NOT the battery, it's literally the USB power draw. Think of it this way, your phone can ONLY output such and or enough power from it's USB port IF IT EVEN HAS ONE, and if it has the NEEDED USB OTG ports then it will need to supply power to the external device, but what if that device needs lots of power? To protect the phone you of course need safety on it, most have it set so that any device past 50-100mah will not work.

 

[chuckf]

Quote:

IT is best to have an amp and DAC, although you don't have massively expensive equipment.

I thought so too, since my onboard audio card sounded horrible.
 
Quote:

For a desktop choice, the E17 in my opinion is not needed if it's a fully static device. Some want a portable DAC and amp in their house as a desktop dynamic unit where they can use and switch between computers. Otherwise, for $150, there are others.

Mmh should I go for the 14 days return service or will the difference not be that much? Maybe you could give me 1 or 2 thoughts on alternatives and I'll figure out what's best for me?

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

I thought so too, since my onboard audio card sounded horrible.
 
Mmh should I go for the 14 days return service or will the difference not be that much? Maybe you could give me 1 or 2 thoughts on alternatives and I'll figure out what's best for me?

Most are big, there is the much cheaper E10 which is pretty small but there are also units on ebay from other manufacturers that claim to be relaly good.

 

[chuckf]

Thanks for you fast reply, but this didn't really answer if there is a "need" to go for a static device over a portable. Size doesn't matter for me, im just curious if devices designed for desktop use really sound better since the e17 seems to deliver quite good results for a reasonable price. I hope you see my point. I just want to be sure that  I didn't spend more money on the feature portability when I didn't really need to.
 

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

Thanks for you fast reply, but this didn't really answer if there is a "need" to go for a static device over a portable. Size doesn't matter for me, im just curious if devices designed for desktop use really sound better since the e17 seems to deliver quite good results for a reasonable price. I hope you see my point. I just want to be sure that  I didn't spend more money on the feature portability when I didn't really need to.
 

Yes as the E17's price is mainly on it's features and portability and inputs.
 
For example there are AK4396 dedicated DACs on ebay along with other good DAC units for $60 after shipping of which I would then just build an O2 and voiala.....$160 for a very good desktop unit.

 

[chuckf]

Thank you! That's what  I wanted to know! So I gues I'll return my e17 and get that last extra bit of quality. Your prices refer to used devices? Would you mind to give me a combo of new devices? Since I don't like ebay that much and I would be willing to pay a bit more when I can purchase everything at amazon or something like that, I like the warranty and service better that some private purchase on ebay.
If I converted it the right way, my budget would be around 200$ (shipping included).
 

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

Thank you! That's what  I wanted to know! So I gues I'll return my e17 and get that last extra bit of quality. Your prices refer to used devices? Would you mind to give me a combo of new devices? Since I don't like ebay that much and I would be willing to pay a bit more when I can purchase everything at amazon or something like that, I like the warranty and service better that some private purchase on ebay.
If I converted it the right way, my budget would be around 200$ (shipping included).
 

New. But it involves trail and the courage to try new things, many of these dedicated DAC's are on ebay only from Chinese companies, some are good, others not so much.
 
The O2 is only if you can build one for cheap.
 
There are some combo desktop units at that price, first make athread and ask around and learn