[Thegreatgig]

Hi everyone.  I own a pair of Rs2i's but have always used them with my toshiba sattelite laptop.  Would buying the fiio e7 lead to a noticeable improvement in sound quality?  Is the fiio e7 a good dac/amp to pair with the Rs2i?
 
Also has anyone from Canada had experience ordering from mp4nation?  I want to order the fiio e7 from there since they sell it for only $85 with the LOD cable, but I am worried about being charged hidden fees at the boarder.

 

[Nagasaki_Kid]

I think a better choice would be to buy a cmoy(low gain) or ra1 clone(grado synergy) and buy a dac later to pair with it.
 
 
also might want to look into the fiio e11. grado do shine with a bit more power.

 

[Thegreatgig]

Thanks for the input.  I forgot to mention though that I'm using a pa2v2 right now, and i just bought it so im more interested in a usb dac than an amp.  I was thinking the e7 because i could always pair it with the e9 later on.

 

[Thegreatgig]

Can anybody else offer some advice?

 

[Digital-Pride]

Another option for ya is utilizing only the E7's DAC while connecting it directly to your PA2v2.  This can be done by using Fiio's L7 line-out kit for the E7.  The benefit here is the improved sound quality over your laptop's sound card while still utilizing the amp section of the PA2v2.

 

[Thegreatgig]

Thanks so much for the replies.

 

[mikeaj]

Hi, Thegreatgig, did you see my post before it was deleted by the mods?  Regards.
 
It was this:
 
 
The Grado RS2i are specified at 32 ohms impedance and 98 dB SPL / 1 mW according to Grado's website.  Grado headphones tend not to need that much power.
 
The FiiO E7 has decent performance as a DAC and amp and can put about 80 mW into 32 ohms.  See here for some technical details and measured performance:
*** [I'm removing the link to the review that was here, that caused the post to be deleted] ***
 
80 mW into 32 ohms with 98 dB SPL / 1 mW is about 117 dB, which is already way too loud.  This means that the E7 should have plenty of power, and I'm not sure if there's a more accurate DAC/amp for the price.  Since the E7's integrated amp is decent enough and has enough power for the job, I doubt you'll need to use the E7 as a DAC only and sent its signal to the PA2v2.  As for whether or not you'll hear a noticeable improvement, that depends on the integrated sound output on the laptop.  Many laptop audio outputs are kind of noisy and may have a few issues.

 

[Thegreatgig]

Hey mikeaj, i did see your post, thanks for the reply.  I think I'm gonna go ahead and get it as long as mp4 nation will ship to Canada without extra charges.

 

[Nagasaki_Kid]

I still suggest you look into the fiio l7 as an add on(maybe later on or you could do a full on e9 upgrade). It'll take advantage of the better amp section of the pa2v2 you already own.
 
 
There being able to power a grado and powering it well.

 

[Thegreatgig]

It looks like the e7 comes with the l7 so that sounds like a good idea.  Do you think the e7 would be worth getting considering im only using it as a dac and not an amp?

 

[Digital-Pride]

Absolutely.  You'll find the sound quality to better than your laptop's.