[louisnomad]

So... I have the E5 and E6 lying on my bed now... I was doing some comparisions betwem them, and I'm a little bit confused...

Some of you will remember my thread about the Magic E5 here:

viewtopic.php?f=48&t=9332

The thing is, I'm pretty sure FiiO noticed the same thing as I did, and now we have a brand new, entirely magical, E5... from now also known as E6!

The thing is, I'm not sure what I will prefer and here goes why:

1 - On flat EQ, E6 sound the best of the two. It is the more powerful one, too. In fact I can feel the whole sound getting richer than straight from the Headphone Out. But...

2 - With Bass Boos ON (also known as EQ1 on E6) the things start to change. E5 is more tight, defined. E6 gets a little boomy, the other frequencies seems to be veiled when you turn on the Boost... The E5 will not do that to the music, i only feel a pure bass boost, and that's all! 

3 - The EQ2 on E6 follows the same direction: more power on the entire frequence range, but somewhat veiled. And now comes the part where E5 will shine and mop the floor with E6! With the "Magical EQ", the E5 will give you an awesome power up, but it will also give you a treble boost, along with the better bass boost.

Ok, E6 have another EQ (EQ 3) that you can't have with E5, but for me, AFAIK, it is useless... 

Call me crazy, but regarding hiss, I think both have the same amount. 

So, will i move to E6 just because is new and I have a "real" second and third EQ? Sorry, but not! I will stick with my magical E5, because this little thing has the best building, the best look, and the best sound! I'm sorry for you if you can't make your E5 a magical one!

 

[ClieOS]

The 'magical' E5, as you called it, is basically a short in the circuit. There are two output circuit on E5, the flat FR, normal one and the bass boost one. Bass boost (BB) in E5 (and for most FiiO's amp) is done using a low pass filter. When the switch is in the middle, it simultaneously short the two circuits and so you are not only getting the signal out of the flat FR circuit, but also the BB circuit as well - this is why you are getting more volume / gain out. It seems to do no harm but it is certainly not 'by design'.
 
Now back to E6, the EQ1 is the big bass boost that affect up to 450Hz, so it is definitely more boomy than E5. The feeling of boominess is mostly caused by 250Hz bump - and E5 only has around +1.5dB in this area while E6 is about +3dB. Even in EQ2 (a smaller bass boost than EQ1), E6 still gives a +2dB. These are by design however, as there were complaint of no enough bass boost back in teh E5's day so FiiO makes the E6 bass boost higher. As for EQ3 - well, it is not really an EQ at all, but a gain limiter to lower the overall output so high input source will not clip the amp. EQ3 is still a flat FR, just lower in output than no EQ / flat mode. I think the reason you have feeling that  E5's "magical" mode is less veil then both EQ1 and EQ2 on E6 is because of how the bass boost works. The bass boost circuit used by FiiO will lower output above 600Hz or so (it is one of the weakness of using BB of this kind). Since you are getting a mix of original and BB on the "magic" E5, you are getting a little more signal (from the flat circuit) above 600Hz than pure BB. Think of it as playing the same song on two boom box simultaneously, one is flat on EQ while the other has bass boost and lowering in FR over 600Hz - this is what happens to your 'magic' E5. You are having a mix of signal, but in sync, so you are getting a bit of both.
 
E5 hiss increases with volume, E6 is the same as well but on a small scale (so they will both start with very low level of hiss at first). To compare hiss on both you really need to max out both and listen to them without any input (so you are only listen to hiss and not music as it will be too loud at this point). You should notice slightly less hiss on E6 when volume matched, if not, I will wonder if something is wrong with your E6.

 

[louisnomad]

Quote:

The 'magical' E5, as you called it, is basically a short in the circuit. There are two output circuit on E5, the flat FR, normal one and the bass boost one. Bass boost (BB) in E5 (and for most FiiO's amp) is done using a low pass filter. When the switch is in the middle, it simultaneously short the two circuits and so you are not only getting the signal out of the flat FR circuit, but also the BB circuit as well - this is why you are getting more volume / gain out. It seems to do no harm but it is certainly not 'by design'.
 
Now back to E6, the EQ1 is the big bass boost that affect up to 450Hz, so it is definitely more boomy than E5. The feeling of boominess is mostly caused by 250Hz bump - and E5 only has around +1.5dB in this area while E6 is about +3dB. Even in EQ2 (a smaller bass boost than EQ1), E6 still gives a +2dB. These are by design however, as there were complaint of no enough bass boost back in teh E5's day so FiiO makes the E6 bass boost higher. As for EQ3 - well, it is not really an EQ at all, but a gain limiter to lower the overall output so high input source will not clip the amp. EQ3 is still a flat FR, just lower in output than no EQ / flat mode. I think the reason you have feeling that  E5's "magical" mode is less veil then both EQ1 and EQ2 on E6 is because of how the bass boost works. The bass boost circuit used by FiiO will lower output above 600Hz or so (it is one of the weakness of using BB of this kind). Since you are getting a mix of original and BB on the "magic" E5, you are getting a little more signal (from the flat circuit) above 600Hz than pure BB. Think of it as playing the same song on two boom box simultaneously, one is flat on EQ while the other has bass boost and lowering in FR over 600Hz - this is what happens to your 'magic' E5. You are having a mix of signal, but in sync, so you are getting a bit of both.
 
E5 hiss increases with volume, E6 is the same as well but on a small scale (so they will both start with very low level of hiss at first). To compare hiss on both you really need to max out both and listen to them without any input (so you are only listen to hiss and not music as it will be too loud at this point). You should notice slightly less hiss on E6 when volume matched, if not, I will wonder if something is wrong with your E6.

I didn't notice a difference on hiss in both amps... But honestly, it is too low to bother someone... I just mentioned that is there, and yes I was testing it with no source plugged! Regarding ammount of hiss, the ZO2 v1 have 2 or 3 times the amount of hiss that I can hear on E5/E6, and I still love the sound on ZO2!
 
I can see clearly now, what's going on with the E5. So far, I still think is the best sound of them both, when I manage to cause the short between the 2 EQs on E5. If it will damage the amp, I don't know... but I will keep listening to it with the "magic EQ"! 
 
lol
 

 

[joelongwood]

Just browsing and came across this thread, as I have both E5 and E6. Checked to see if I was able to get the bass boost switch on the E5 to stay in the middle.........magic! The sound is great, and it seems to be more than just a boost in volume. The music comes alive. Thanks for the tip.

 

[louisnomad]

Quote:

Just browsing and came across this thread, as I have both E5 and E6. Checked to see if I was able to get the bass boost switch on the E5 to stay in the middle.........magic! The sound is great, and it seems to be more than just a boost in volume. The music comes alive. Thanks for the tip.

 
You're welcome, my friend!

 

[joelongwood]

I think I need to pick up another E5, so long as they are still available. Head-Direct has the silver version for $17.95........but I don't know if it's the "magic" version.

 

[louisnomad]

Quote:

I think I need to pick up another E5, so long as they are still available. Head-Direct has the silver version for $17.95........but I don't know if it's the "magic" version.

AFAIK every E5 is a magical one (or I am a very lucky person). I tried 5 or 6 different E5, and all of the were "magical"... lol
 

 

[floydstyle]

hmm I recently bought the E6 when I decided to buy my HiFiMan. But at E5's price, I guess it's not a lot to try and compare both of them. I am tempting to try the E5 as I find to lack just a bit of bass

 

[louisnomad]

Quote:

hmm I recently bought the E6 when I decided to buy my HiFiMan. But at E5's price, I guess it's not a lot to try and compare both of them. I am tempting to try the E5 as I find to lack just a bit of bass

I prefer the bass on E5, but on E6 it is more strong. If you can buy an E5, try the magical EQ!  ;D 

 

[zantaff]

I've been looking at them as well. The problem I think I may have with the E6 is the clip. If I travel around a lot, it looks like it will break, or jiggle loose as im going around. Keeping portability/pocket use in mind how does the E5 compare?

 

[louisnomad]

It is as portable and pocketable as E6, but the build quality is better in my opinion. All metal and a metal clip too, so, no worries about it.

 

[zantaff]

Quote:

It is as portable and pocketable as E6, but the build quality is better in my opinion. All metal and a metal clip too, so, no worries about it.

 
This is gonna be my first amp, actually.  I'll go for the E5 since it's a bit less expensive, as well as less likely to fall off my pants, or get pulverized.