[TsukiNick]

  I want to buy a Fiio E18.  Has the Fiio E18 been updated since it was launch?  If yes, how do I know if it is the latest?
 
Will

They made a new E18 revision that can charge device while playing I believe.

 

[fuzzychaos]

I was under the impression that the end could play or charge, but not at the same time.

 

[awayeah]

  HI All,
 
I have the E18 and the HTC One.  I've got the HTC One plugged into the E18 via the USB OTG and the E18 in Phone In mode, however it does not want to play flac files stored on my phone, mp3s are fine.   I've tried the stock player, Google Music and Media Monkey...all say unable to play this file.
 
On my laptop it works fine using media monkey.
 
Am I doing something wrong?
 
Thanks

 

  Maybe you need an app on the phone that can play flac files. Like NeutronMP.
http://neutronmp.com/

I just tried playing FLAC via stock player in HTC One and it works fine (even FLAC 24/96). But when playing it via USB OTG it don't. You should definitely try other players. Neutron or PowerAmp - I read in one of reviews that Neutron has some issues with E18 (I didn't try it myself). I'm using PowerAmp and it works great.

 

[awayeah]

I was under the impression that the end could play or charge, but not at the same time.

There's a E18 Rev.B (sent out after Dec 20th, 2013).
Before you could either use DAC or charge battery without using DAC.
In Rev. B there are 3 options.
Using DAC without charging.
Using DAC and charging (only on computer).
Using E18 as external battery (no DAC).

 

[awayeah]

I also have a Note 3 and am seriously considering ordering an E12 right now. Only thing that worries me is that my European Note 3 I supposed to have an inferior DAC. I should still hear an improvement though. Decisions, decisions.

Ok. Once and for all.
While there are 2 different DACs the differences are negligible.
Just because one uses Wolfson and second uses Qualcomm doesn't mean that one is superior to other.
 
Here is the comparison:
 

Test	Frequency response	Noise level	Dynamic range	THD	IMD + Noise	Stereo crosstalk
Samsung I9500 Galaxy S4 (Wolfson with ext. amp)	+0.03, -0.04	-94.5	93.4	0.0036	0.016	-93.0
Samsung I9500 Galaxy S4 (Wolfson with headphones attached - without ext. amp)	+0.03, -0.02	-93.0	92.9	0.0084	0.062	-77.5
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4 (Qualcomm with ext. amp)	+0.03, -0.08	-95.9	93.2	0.0030	0.0092	-96.4
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4 (Qualcomm with headphones attached - without ext. amp)	+0.03, -0.08	-96.0	93.3	0.0031	0.089	-95.5

from: gsmarena.com
 
As you can see Wolfson is actually slightly worse, especially in stereo crosstalk. Wolfson is however slightly louder.
Note 3 uses the same Wolfson's DAC and the Qualcomm's is slightly altered (higher max. volume while a bit worse crosstalk without ext. amp).
 

Test	Frequency response	Noise level	Dynamic range	THD	IMD + Noise	Stereo crosstalk
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (Qualcomm with ext. amp)	+0.02, -0.07	-96.5	92.8	0.0035	0.0099	-96.3
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (Qualcomm with headphones attached - without ext. amp)	+0.01, -0.09	-96.2	92.7	0.017	0.017	-62.1

 
from: gsmarena.com
Note that the differences between S4 and Note 3 are caused because of Note 3 is lauder. At the same volume level they should perform equally. Tests are done on maximum volume level.
 
 
In the end, no matter what version you have it will perform superbly with external amp.

 

[carpler]

   
I just tried playing FLAC via stock player in HTC One and it works fine (even FLAC 24/96). But when playing it via USB OTG it don't. You should definitely try other players. Neutron or PowerAmp - I read in one of reviews that Neutron has some issues with E18 (I didn't try it myself). I'm using PowerAmp and it works great.

 
There also some other great player on Play Store also free.
Take a look at DeaDBeeF Player on Play Store: is free (with some ads, or without ads with a little fee) and got great features...

 

[StanD]

Originally Posted by StanD 
 
Maybe you need an app on the phone that can play flac files. Like NeutronMP.
http://neutronmp.com/
 
 
Originally Posted by awayeah /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I just tried playing FLAC via stock player in HTC One and it works fine (even FLAC 24/96). But when playing it via USB OTG it don't. You should definitely try other players. Neutron or PowerAmp - I read in one of reviews that Neutron has some issues with E18 (I didn't try it myself). I'm using PowerAmp and it works great.

The issue with Neutron was fixed long ago. Neutron works fine for me using a US GS3 and an E18.

 

[fuzzychaos]

  There's a E18 Rev.B (sent out after Dec 20th, 2013).
Before you could either use DAC or charge battery without using DAC.
In Rev. B there are 3 options.
Using DAC without charging.
Using DAC and charging (only on computer).
Using E18 as external battery (no DAC).

Thanks! That is good to know. The charging ability of the E18 is a cool feature and could be the tipping point for me buying one.

 

[wquiles]

  The charging ability of the E18 is a cool feature and could be the tipping point for me buying one.

+1
 
That was the tipping point for me as well.  I am just now waiting for pay day to order mine.

 

[GavThomson]

Cheers All,
 
PowerAmp does indeed play FLACs over OTG, it's quite odd that the stock and a few others play FLACs but not through OTG......anyway....Solved!
 
Regards

 

[thekash]

I was under the impression that the end could oray or charge, but not at the same time.

Mine does that sometimes if I set it to charge then switch out to dac, never could figure out of that was a glitch or something programed like that. I have however had to restart my note 3 cause it wouldn't recognize the connected charger.

 

[bfielder]

Just ordered my E18 today.  Hoping it's as good as most say it is.  Will be using it with my Galaxy S4 and also with my laptop as well.  Just recently purchased some Etymotic HF2's as my very first IEM so i'm excited for the E18 to show up on Tuesday.

 

[Solrighal]

hi folks. Here's where I am. I'm currently using a Note 3 (on the 3 network in UK) and listening to FLAC files through V-Moda M100 headphones. I love the sound so far and was about to pull the trigger on a Fiio E12 amp. I then got advice saying I'd experience a bigger improvement going for the E18 and that certainly makes a lot of sense.

So, I've been reading this thread and am currently about half-way through it and my brain's about to explode! Can anyone tell me, definitively, whether the E18 will work with my setup? I prefer to use Neutron btw. My note 3 is running 4.3 firmware.

Thank you.

 

[kayza]

hi folks. Here's where I am. I'm currently using a Note 3 (on the 3 network in UK) and listening to FLAC files through V-Moda M100 headphones. I love the sound so far and was about to pull the trigger on a Fiio E12 amp. I then got advice saying I'd experience a bigger improvement going for the E18 and that certainly makes a lot of sense.

So, I've been reading this thread and am currently about half-way through it and my brain's about to explode! Can anyone tell me, definitively, whether the E18 will work with my setup? I prefer to use Neutron btw. My note 3 is running 4.3 firmware.

Thank you.

I have a Verizon Note 3, and am not the greatest fan of its built in dac. Not sure if you have the same or not. I have the quad core version.
That said, I have an e18, e12, and others. My favorite setup from my note 3 is usb out to HRT microstreamer to e12 to my sennheiser hd700. I use the E18 on the go as it is quicker and less bulky, but the EMI(interference) when rubber banding it to the back of the phone drives me nuts. It happens as the songs near an end, so either during read/write processing, or during network streaming the next song. I'm not sure. Either way, that only happens with the E18 and not my hrt. Which is a BIG oversight/fault of fiio for not shielding or otherwise preventing this from happening when planning to market the e18 for phones.

I definitely do notice a sound improvement when using either of those dacs compared to the phones dac. So I would definitely get an external dac and plug in to usb otg. The great thing is that both of my dacs listed above work 100% with the music apps I've tried: stock, Google play music, neutron, poweramp, usb audio player pro.

Also, skip along the thread to about October's posts and read from there. There is all kinds of speculation and rumors prior to that that will make your brain hurt. There is also lots of talk about EMI, reviews, and phone compatibility once the product was released. So from October on will be your most informative reading.

 

[Solrighal]

Thanks for the advice. I want this to be as portable as possible which was why I originally started out looking at the E12 amp. But then the E18 came out,was pretty much the same size and near as damn it the same price too. It should be a no-brainer.and then I started to look into it a bit more and people were complaining about all sorts of things like the DAC section sounded cold, the amp was weak, interference when it was being used for it's specifically intended purpose and incompatibility problems with various versions of android.

I think I'm just going to go for the E12 to be honest. It potentially won't give me quite such a boost in sound quality as the E18 might but I know it'll work.