[mysteryofsound]

Hi
  I recently bought a pair of ath m50 and given that I have turn my onboard laptop volume to the max to just get a satisfying hearing level, I decided to buy a fiio E7 to boost the volume and quality of the sound. But surprisingly, I don't hear much difference in the loudness of the sound coming from my ath m50. My sources are mp3 files and youtube music videos. I turned the volume to max on both windows media player and to the highest 60 on Fiio E7, but still on many songs, I feel the volume is nowhere near the deafening level I would expect. Right now I am looking at the audioengine D1 DAC. Should I return my Fiio E7 and buy it instead? Will the audioengine DAC produce louder sound?

 

[schaefere]

Could there be something wrong with your headphones?
I only need to turn my volume up <10% of the way on my laptop to get to comfortable listening levels with my ATH-M50. They don't require that much power.
 

 

[pelli]

Quote:

Could there be something wrong with your headphones?
I only need to turn my volume up <10% of the way on my laptop to get to comfortable listening levels with my ATH-M50. They don't require that much power.
 

+1.  I have found the ATH-M50 to be very sensitive and run it at about "8" on my E17 and very low on my laptop...  Do you consider yourself to listen at "high" levels normally?

 

[mysteryofsound]

thanks for the feedback. I think i have ruled out the possibility that my pair is defective since I also own a pair of Senheiser HD 380 pro, and it also doesn't sound loud to me on max volume. I tested it on two different laptops. And on both of them I need to crank the volume to the highest to listen to most songs. I listen mostly to techno and house music, so I like them loud. Could there be something wrong with my sources? They are mostly mp3 files I downloaded straight from the internet. And the ath m-50 sounds even weaker on Youtube. I also want to note that the ath m-50 does sound very loud in games even at low volume setting.
 

 

[pelli]

What program do you use to play your music?  Is it possible it has it's own volume control that is turned down, or a setting in your preferences that limits volume?  It is surprising it would be so much quieter on music when compared to gaming...  

 

[mysteryofsound]

I use windows media player when listening to music offline. When I am on youtube, I just use their default player. The volume bar on both programs are shifted to the max.  Maybe some of the settings needs to be adjusted to amplify the sound?
 

 

[mysteryofsound]

I just tried listening to music with and without the fiio e-7. The difference is not that huge. E7 gives a slight boost in max volume but nowhere near a satisfying hearing level. I admit that my laptop might have a weak sound card but shouldn't E-7 take over its role when I plug it into the usb port? The volume setting on my E-7 is set to Max. I think I might return the e-7 for a refund. Is there any more powerful headphone dac amplifier you guys can recommend? Which one should give me a louder sound? A dac/amplifier or a dedicated headphone amplifier? Thanks in advance.

 

[fubar3]

Quote:

I just tried listening to music with and without the fiio e-7. The difference is not that huge. E7 gives a slight boost in max volume but nowhere near a satisfying hearing level. I admit that my laptop might have a weak sound card but shouldn't E-7 take over its role when I plug it into the usb port? The volume setting on my E-7 is set to Max. I think I might return the e-7 for a refund. Is there any more powerful headphone dac amplifier you guys can recommend? Which one should give me a louder sound? A dac/amplifier or a dedicated headphone amplifier? Thanks in advance.

Your laptop is more likely to have an integrated chipset, not a soundcard. Everything on a laptop is constrained for space and battery life.
 
Usually the sound output is a green jack and it might be a LOD or it might be a headphone jack. Since you hear little difference with-without the amp, the laptop jack is probably for a headphone and not for plugging an external amp.  If you plug phones into a line jack, it will sound weak and tinny.
 
So you need a DAC, a better computer, or an MP3 player with LOD cable.