Guys I am wondering what to buy. E17s are still selling. Without optical i am afraid that noise will leak to my cans... . Any side by side comparison among E17, E17k and E18 available? Chipsets etc. Will i will benefit from the USB upgrades of the E17k ? I mostly play Mp3s and .flac
Forget the old E17, FiiO has moved on, we've all moved on, i've moved on, the world has moved on, the E17 is history. I can say to you that noise on the new E17K is not an issue without optical! Actually, there is no noise, this thing is dead silent!
If you don't need optical for specialized reasons and/or alternative purposes, then i say get the new E17K, you will not regret it, i've done the tests, the new E17K is much better than both the older E17 and even the E12 Mont Blanc, and from what i hear going by the reviews of the new E18, the E17K is also better than the E18.
If you hear what this E17K does you will not be sorry, i promise you, it's off the charts good, real good, damn good, f_cking good! It's that good!!! Are you hearing me? No joke bro, just buy it and smile with bliss. But really i hope you have the right headphones, the best amp in the world wont do any good without a pair of headphones to do it justice. Just remember to turn the gain on the E17K to 12.
I can tell you my setup if you want me to, the sound is so close to perfection it's ridiculous, but only because i have superbly accurate headphones.
I have not heard the E18 myself, but going by the 'pro' reviews it is a bit of a let-down. And going by what i hear from the E17K you can't go wrong, I AM NOT JOKING, I AM DEADLY SERIOUS, THIS THING IS THE BIZZ!
And yes, to answer your question, the E17K is plug and play, i just did it now for you to confirm; plugged the USB cable into the computer, just like any USB stick, drivers loaded automatically, just like any USB stick, and bang, we're in business; insane audio quality, i'm not joking man, insane!
Up till now, i've been using the E17K only with the line-in, sending the audio from my smartphone, thus the E17K was amping the DAC and Amp flavours from my smartphone, and yet it still sounds great, but hearing it from the computer is better again, i promise, because the computer is sending the audio out 'digitally' and the DAC on the E17K is converting it, and then amping it, and wow! The DAC on this thing is in the major league! If your budget conscious i would say forget the E18, the E17K is the real deal. I simply cannot overstate how good the E17K is. Dual role, multiple purpose, and pumping audiophile candy direct into your ears.
If that hasn't convinced you, then sorry bro, nothing more i can say.
Note, the only thing is, when i took the E17K out of the box for the very first time, it needed roughly an hour of playing to break it in, if you dig me; don't know why, but yeah, one hour just to get it churning over and settled in after the very first switch-on, then bang!
You want me to describe the performance? Just for your sake...
1: Very clean
2: Beautiful transparent midrange
3: Accurate treble all the way
4: Nice tight bass without adding or taking away from song
5: Lovely wide soundstage
6: Excellent detail and instrument separation throughout
7: Neutral and accurate right across the audio spectrum
Feel me?
Hope that helps.
James, if you're reading this, please answer me two questions.
1: If we switch off USB charging in the E17K, does that mean it will still function normally but wont draw power from the music player when we attempt OTG, or does the E17K always need to draw power?
2: When we use the E17K with the computer, are ASIO drivers automatically installed, or do we need to download those separately? Cheers.