[usf09]

So I picked up one of these to try, but on the first time charging, the red light keeps flashing and won't stop. I know the red light is supposed to be completely off when it's done charging, so I'm wondering if I should return it or not, or if others have had the same problem. Thanks...
 

 

[ASilva]

That is indeed weird, my red light doesn't blink even when charging. Either it's on or it's off.
 
I would say you got a faulty E5 :/

 

[usf09]

Ugh, this was my first experience with Fiio...not a good start...
 
The amp "works," I don't know if anything is actually wrong, though I'm not really impressed with the results. To be honest though, I had less hiss straight out of my Sansa Fuze then out of the E5, and the volume of the Fuze was generally louder than the amp, even with the volume turned up. So, I supposed it doesn't actually work, but music plays through it. I feel like the music is slightly more lively, but not by much. I wasn't expecting much out of a $20 amp, but I assumed it wouldn't make the sound worse...
 
I think I'll just return this...I was looking to try the Fiio E7, but I don't know if I should go with Fiio again. Maybe just bad luck, but still...Perhaps I'll save up for a D2 Boa...

 

[MrProggie]

Perhaps this blinking is some kind of error message only the folks at FiiO knows about. Try to email and ask.

 

[sanka]

I have a new E5 that I got a couple of weeks ago, and it does this as well: when it's charging, the LED stay on solid red, and hen when it's finished charging, the LED flashes red.
 

 

[nonsupremous]

Sounds defective.  Is that little white button by the clip a reset button?  Perhaps resetting it might do the trick.  Not sure.  I have never actually pushed that button, so I don't know what it does.
 
I know mine just stays on solid red until it's done charging.

 

[ASilva]

I don't think mine does that and I got it a couple of weeks ago.
 
When its on (w/out charging) the light is blue (non blinking)
When its charging and off the light is red (non blinking)
When it finishes charging the red light turns off
When its charging AND on it has both blue and red lights on (non blinking)

 

[Azathoth]

The light on mine has always held steady, i've never seen it flash or blink. Still does a great job of adding some heft (via bass boost) for my Alessandro MS1i.

 

[nonsupremous]

Ya, I really like the bass boost on mine too.  You don't get a ton of depth with this amp, but that bass boost does add a sense of fullness. 
It really pairs very nicely with the M50. 

 

[Jack C]

Hey,
 
That doesn't sound normal at all, I'd get that swapped out if you can.
 
Jack

 

[ClieOS]

If it doesn't affect normal operation, my guess is a faulty LED (which tends to either blink or totally off when faulty).

 

[usf09]

I originally though faulty LED too, but when it's on, the light is completely blue, when it's charging and on, the light is purple and doesn't flash. Basically, when I start charging, it is solid red for a while, and then it starts blinking.
 
(I feel like this happens when the light should be completely off, because it happened after 2 hours charging the first time, which I heard was normal for the first charge. I guess I'll use it until the battery runs out and try to charge it again. I'm considering returning it, but it's so much hassle for $20...)

 

[usf09]

I have to say, the Fiio E5 is not much more than a volume boost...it introduces a lot of hiss when music is not playing, and when there are quiet portions of a song...
 
I don't know if mine is defective or not, but I'm going to either exchange it or return it...

 

[ASilva]

Quote:

I have to say, the Fiio E5 is not much more than a volume boost...it introduces a lot of hiss when music is not playing, and when there are quiet portions of a song...
 
I don't know if mine is defective or not, but I'm going to either exchange it or return it...

I find quite the opposite! I use it alot more on my IEMs that have alot of hiss.
Try this, put the volume on your source at max (or close to it) and then reduce the volume on your E5 to a listening level and control it on the E5 always. This works like a charm to reduce the huge hiss on my M6 for example

 

[usf09]

Ah, I already packed it up lol...I'm exchanging it, so hopefully Amazon will send a new one out quickly...
 
In the past day, my Fuze has stopped working and the E5 never seemed to work. Luckily, both are within the 30 day return limit from Amazon, so shouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, I absolutely destroyed the packaging of the Fuze (ridiculously hard to remove from the plastic contained), so I'm hoping they don't try to say I didn't return everything...