[StanD]

  After browsing photos in this thread I noticed that some os the users use angled micro usb interconnects. After an internet search I've found two sources of such cables. Cheap chinese cables (6$) and more expensive Venturecraft ones (30$). Since I don't really believe that digital cables make that much of a difference I'd rather go for the chinese ones. Unfortunately eBay cites 2 to 6 weeks of shipping time. So my question is, how long did You guys wait for the cables? I'd rather not use the cable that comes with the E18 as it protrudes too far from the phone/dac combo.

I'm in the USA, got mine from Amazon. Delivered in two days. They haven't failed yet, 2 years.

 

[gr8soundz]

  After browsing photos in this thread I noticed that some os the users use angled micro usb interconnects. After an internet search I've found two sources of such cables. Cheap chinese cables (6$) and more expensive Venturecraft ones (30$). Since I don't really believe that digital cables make that much of a difference I'd rather go for the chinese ones. Unfortunately eBay cites 2 to 6 weeks of shipping time. So my question is, how long did You guys wait for the cables? I'd rather not use the cable that comes with the E18 as it protrudes too far from the phone/dac combo.

 
I have a couple of the right angle cables from ebay. They work fine for audio but I cannot charge my Note 3 via the e18 with them. Have to switch to one of the cables that came with the e18 for it's charge out feature to work.
 
Don't know if the Venturecrafts work for both audio and charging.
 

 

[Yethal]

I'm in the USA, got mine from Amazon. Delivered in two days. They haven't failed yet, 2 years.

Do You have a link to the auction? The only cables I've found on Amazon were venturecraft ones.

 

[StanD]

Do You have a link to the auction? The only cables I've found on Amazon were venturecraft ones.

Amazon doesn't have auctions. Sorry no link, I got mine so long ago. Here's a link to something that might be what I got.
http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters%C2%AE-2-Pack-Micro-USB-Adapter/dp/B00GM0OZ4O

 

[erikiksaz]

I'm curious, anyone using the E18 with a 2015 Moto X?
 
I've had both the 2013 and 2014 X hooked up to my Fiio E18. With the 2013/2014 X, I would connect the 3.5mm cord from my car into the line out port of the E18. Sound quality was great and the volume was perfect.    

With the 2015 X, connecting the same 3.5mm cord into the E18 line out results in low audio output, which can't really be amplified by changing the volume dial in my car. Instead, I have to connect it to the headphone output, but even with the volume dial on the E18 fully dialed up, it's still quieter than the 2013/2014 X in line-out mode.. It only reaches the same level of volume when I turn on the gain switch, but that type of amplification sounds too artificial--the heavy treble/bass boost doesn't sound good to me.

From what it seems like, is it possible that the 2015 Moto X puts out less power through the USB port?  Is that even possible?  Or could it be an incompatibility with the new X?  I have the first revision of the E18.

 

[StanD]

  I'm curious, anyone using the E18 with a 2015 Moto X?
 
I've had both the 2013 and 2014 X hooked up to my Fiio E18. With the 2013/2014 X, I would connect the 3.5mm cord from my car into the line out port of the E18. Sound quality was great and the volume was perfect.    

With the 2015 X, connecting the same 3.5mm cord into the E18 line out results in low audio output, which can't really be amplified by changing the volume dial in my car. Instead, I have to connect it to the headphone output, but even with the volume dial on the E18 fully dialed up, it's still quieter than the 2013/2014 X in line-out mode.. It only reaches the same level of volume when I turn on the gain switch, but that type of amplification sounds too artificial--the heavy treble/bass boost doesn't sound good to me.

From what it seems like, is it possible that the 2015 Moto X puts out less power through the USB port?  Is that even possible?  Or could it be an incompatibility with the new X?  I have the first revision of the E18.

It is unlikely due to USB power but a scaling issue (digital/softare) in the MotoX. Do you have the volume on the MotoX turned up all the way, make sure that you do this after the USB audio out is engaged and working via the E18.

 

[erikiksaz]

  It is unlikely due to USB power but a scaling issue (digital/softare) in the MotoX. Do you have the volume on the MotoX turned up all the way, make sure that you do this after the USB audio out is engaged and working via the E18.

 
Yep, volume is all the way up.  I guess I'll have to file a bug report with Moto.  That'll be a tricky endeavor.  

 

[TheoS53]

Thats very strange. I love the sound of the E18 with my LG G3 (so much so that Ive sold my X5+E12 combo). Must be an issue with your Moto. Do you perhaps have the same problem if you use the E18 when connected to a pc?

 

[TheoS53]

By the way, to anyone interested..... I previously raised a concern of using the E18 with the G3.my concern was that, when using the E18 as a DAC, I was still able to adjust the volume from the phone. To me this suggested that the audio was still being processed by the phone instead of being bypassed. I think I may just have confirmed this to be true. Earlier tonight I installed Hibymusic (music app) and what do you know..? A message popped up asking me if I want to allow Hibymusic to access the USB device. Now, I can't adjust the volume from the phone, only from the E18,which suggests that there is no audio processing being done by the phone anymore. I prefer the UI of the stock music player, but Hibymusic is still quite clean... Clean enough that I'll stick with it. I also tried Poweramp and Shuttle, but neither of them did the bypassing.

I must say, I sold my X5+E12 combo because I preferred the detail of the E18. I now realise that some of that detail was artificial as the signal was still being processed by the G3 DAC. Now that I've switched to Hibymusic, I still get the detail that I liked, but without the added siblance introduced by the G3 DAC. very very pleased with this setup.
But, I suspect that I can still get further improvements by using an amp like the E12A..which will be my next experiment.
I will soon be reviewing the X7,and will compare it to the G3+E18+E12A combo. Would be interesting to see if a $320 (excluding cost of phone) setup could match or better the $650 X7

 

[Yethal]

Previous setup (velcro) was cumbersome and unstable so I just taped the E18 to my phone case.so far no issues.
Also, fhe abgled cable from China arrived earlier this week. The difference is tremendous. With the stock micro usb cable I suffered from random disconnections every hour or so (I use UAPP) so with every disconnect I had to restart the player and replug everything. The problem is gone since I've switched over to the angled cable. Fiio should start including these instead of the straight microusb cable.

 

[TheoS53]

Previous setup (velcro) was cumbersome and unstable so I just taped the E18 to my phone case.so far no issues.
Also, fhe abgled cable from China arrived earlier this week. The difference is tremendous. With the stock micro usb cable I suffered from random disconnections every hour or so (I use UAPP) so with every disconnect I had to restart the player and replug everything. The problem is gone since I've switched over to the angled cable. Fiio should start including these instead of the straight microusb cable.

I've had no issues with having to restart my phone after using the DAC, I'm using Hibymusic. Perhaps give that a try?

 

[Yethal]

I've had no issues with having to restart my phone after using the DAC, I'm using Hibymusic. Perhaps give that a try?

Is there any noticeable sq difference between UAPP and other music players (which use built in Android USB driver)?

 

[TheoS53]

Is there any noticeable sq difference between UAPP and other music players (which use built in Android USB driver)?

I could definitely tell a difference between using Hibymusic and the standard player on my LG G3. I haven't tried UAPP (because it's not free), so the only one I could find (I tried Google Play, PowerAmp, and at least 5 others) that actually bypassed the internal DAC was Hibymusic...its free and the interface is great.

Once I have my desktop up and running again I'll be able to graph it up and see what the differences are in the frequency response between the standard player and Hibymusic, and of course between the internal DAC and the E18

 

[Yethal]

I could definitely tell a difference between using Hibymusic and the standard player on my LG G3. I haven't tried UAPP (because it's not free), so the only one I could find (I tried Google Play, PowerAmp, and at least 5 others) that actually bypassed the internal DAC was Hibymusic...its free and the interface is great.

Once I have my desktop up and running again I'll be able to graph it up and see what the differences are in the frequency response between the standard player and Hibymusic, and of course between the internal DAC and the E18

Actually, they all bypass the internal DAC if used together with a USB DAC as it is not possible to chain dacs together. Unless You are referring to the built in digital volume control. The difference between the UAPP and the other players is the fact that UAPP has it's own USB driver which supposedly bypasses Android's internal resampler. Also, it has a free trial now so it may be worth a try.

 

[TheoS53]

Actually, they all bypass the internal DAC if used together with a USB DAC as it is not possible to chain dacs together. Unless You are referring to the built in digital volume control. The difference between the UAPP and the other players is the fact that UAPP has it's own USB driver which supposedly bypasses Android's internal resampler. Also, it has a free trial now so it may be worth a try.

Yup, all the others still allowed for digital volume control... Which to me says that some of the sound processing is still being done by the phone. But with Hibymusic everything must be controlled by the E18.
I had a look at UAPP, I prefer the UI of Hibymusic