[starstern]

Quote:

Typically, you can bypass the iPad DAC by getting the Camera Connection Kit and connecting the iPad to an external DAC via USB.  This works with the FiiO E7.  Unfortunately, the iPads do not have enough juice to power the FiiO E17.  I have not tried it with a powered USB connection though.
 

I thought the e17 is to give juice the i pad ;not visa versa ?

 

[Darkblade48]

Quote:

I thought the e17 is to give juice the i pad ;not visa versa ?

Not too sure what you are asking here, but the E17 draws power from whatever source it is plugged into. The iPad usually cannot provide enough power, unless you use the aforementioned "modification"

 

[thecansmancan]

Thank you to the people who posted actual reviews. A simple comparison was all that was needed. not the crazy fighting. Come on people we are audiophiles, we share a common passion, theres no need to take eachothers heads off over stuff like that. 

 

[AstralStorm]

I actually have both (damaged too), so the long story short:
- E17 can drive harder loads better (usually results in more high extensions, but with complex multi-driver might change sound too)
Esp. relevant for high impedance loads. Simply has more power.
- E17 is silent, E7 has minimal breathy noise with very sensitive IEMs. (est. 10 dB?)
- E7's USB chip supports 44.1 and 48k only and is higher latency, but nothing important.
- E17 has a balance control and a separate hold button, while in E7 you have to hold MENU to lock.
- E17 has SPDIF input, both coax and optical.
 
- E7 has two headphone outputs.
- E7 has at least 4x the battery life of E17.
- E7 is slightly lighter.
 
Both have/had crummy audio jacks. (Actually E17 got crippled by the jack "exploding", while E7's jacks went loose.)
Both have slightly buzzy display.

 

[starstern]

On the move the E17 can draw power via USB or run for up to 15 hours on its internal Li-ion battery with some intelligent management of the onboard OLED display                         http://virgilspencer.blogspot.com/2012/03/fiio-e17-alpen-usb-dac-headphone.html

 

[AstralStorm]

Yes, and E7 ~40h at least. Both have a charge disable option as far as I can recall, so as not to drain the laptop's battery.

 

[shorty920]

Quote:

If you guys want more details, I just got an E17 I picked up here in the FS section:
 
E7:
 
DAC was better than my onboard Realtek noticeably. The Bass Boost was a disappointment since only level 1 made any sense. The rest were just nonsense. Features wise, it has a sleep timer but that was it. Not feature rich, but it gets the job done for a cool 80 bucks. As a portable amp, the E7 was just a hair better than the E5 in my opinion. Not very good, but again at the time it was released, it was very versatile. It couldn't really power anything too demanding. Honestly, for the $80 or so, its a great device. The DAC works and improves quality noticeably, the amplifier will make your phones louder, the bass boost (lv 1) will add some oomph to bass light iems and cans like my RE-0. 
 
E17:
 
First off, it looks nicer and loses the scratch magnet front surface. The DAC uses the same chip I think (WM8740) but surprisingly it sounds better...much better. Where the E7 had a colder feel and sounded kinda thin, the E17 is a touch warm and sounds very nice is it worth ~2x the price? Probably not, but it is at least better. As a stand alone amplifier, the E17 is very good. It has multiple gain settings (0, 6 and 12 decibels) and the amp is more powerful. The Bass boost and treble boost are very very nice since you can change in 2dB steps up or down. In effect, this means the E17 can be used with something like the RE-0 which needs a little oomph for the bass, and it works equally well to boost treble to make something like the Monster Turbine Pro Gold a bit more lively. Besides this new eq ability and gain, there is the almighty sleep timer (which I will probably never use anyway).
 
Summary:
 
So again you'll ask is it worth the extra cost? For me yes! Its better as a DAC, better as an AMP and very very versatile. It'll do well with cans or iems, sensitive and hard-to drive, bass light and dark sounding. When the E7 was released it was the definition of versatility; we can now safely say that the E17 has dethroned it in that department. In the value department, the E7 is still better in my opinion. Of course the E10 offers the E17 sound for the cost of the E7 though you miss the portable amp. Now please do realize all Fiio products are pretty cheap so they probably don't compare with things like the Leckerton UHA-4 or HRT MS II+, but of course if you're considering Fiio you're on a budget and things like those roughly 1.5x the price or more of the E17.
 
If you want Value: E10 >> E7 > E17
 
If you want Sound: E17 = E10 >> E7
 
If you want Versatility: E17 > E7 > E10
 
I know this thread has had a ton of "Doi you idiots need to use t3h search bar and g00gle u nubsauce" type responses. Hopefully this and the headphonia review answer most of the questions you guys have.

 
I was looking at the E7 and the E11 and realized both had flaws and didn't completely fit my needs. The E17 was too expensive at twice the price of each. After reading what you said about the E10, I have been looking around and E10 definitely seems to hit the spot. It's small so I can move it around, the amp is more powerful than the E7, it has a solid DAC unlike the DAC-less E11, and it's half the price of the E17. I'll be rotating with my phone, laptop, and home desktop (no soundcards). For my DT770 pro 80, E10 should be perfect. I just want to thank you for having such a detailed post, ppl like you make Head Fi such a awesome place to browse

 

[Duncan]

Shorty920, don't forget that the E10 unlike the E7 or E17 only works by drawing power from the USB (no battery operation) so it probably won't work with your phone...

 

[DaN-PrS]

Quote:

If you guys want more details, I just got an E17 I picked up here in the FS section:
 
E7:
 
DAC was better than my onboard Realtek noticeably. The Bass Boost was a disappointment since only level 1 made any sense. The rest were just nonsense. Features wise, it has a sleep timer but that was it. Not feature rich, but it gets the job done for a cool 80 bucks. As a portable amp, the E7 was just a hair better than the E5 in my opinion. Not very good, but again at the time it was released, it was very versatile. It couldn't really power anything too demanding. Honestly, for the $80 or so, its a great device. The DAC works and improves quality noticeably, the amplifier will make your phones louder, the bass boost (lv 1) will add some oomph to bass light iems and cans like my RE-0. 
 
E17:
 
First off, it looks nicer and loses the scratch magnet front surface. The DAC uses the same chip I think (WM8740) but surprisingly it sounds better...much better. Where the E7 had a colder feel and sounded kinda thin, the E17 is a touch warm and sounds very nice is it worth ~2x the price? Probably not, but it is at least better. As a stand alone amplifier, the E17 is very good. It has multiple gain settings (0, 6 and 12 decibels) and the amp is more powerful. The Bass boost and treble boost are very very nice since you can change in 2dB steps up or down. In effect, this means the E17 can be used with something like the RE-0 which needs a little oomph for the bass, and it works equally well to boost treble to make something like the Monster Turbine Pro Gold a bit more lively. Besides this new eq ability and gain, there is the almighty sleep timer (which I will probably never use anyway).
 
Summary:
 
So again you'll ask is it worth the extra cost? For me yes! Its better as a DAC, better as an AMP and very very versatile. It'll do well with cans or iems, sensitive and hard-to drive, bass light and dark sounding. When the E7 was released it was the definition of versatility; we can now safely say that the E17 has dethroned it in that department. In the value department, the E7 is still better in my opinion. Of course the E10 offers the E17 sound for the cost of the E7 though you miss the portable amp. Now please do realize all Fiio products are pretty cheap so they probably don't compare with things like the Leckerton UHA-4 or HRT MS II+, but of course if you're considering Fiio you're on a budget and things like those roughly 1.5x the price or more of the E17.
 
If you want Value: E10 >> E7 > E17
 
If you want Sound: E17 = E10 >> E7
 
If you want Versatility: E17 > E7 > E10
 
I know this thread has had a ton of "Doi you idiots need to use t3h search bar and g00gle u nubsauce" type responses. Hopefully this and the headphonia review answer most of the questions you guys have.

 
 
*searches for "fiio e7 vs e17" 
*reads 2 pages of "you have to search the forums blah blah, you're doing it wrong"
 
finally I get to you, yay thanks

 

[Rosbife]

Quote:

If you guys want more details, I just got an E17 I picked up here in the FS section:
 
E7:
 
DAC was better than my onboard Realtek noticeably. The Bass Boost was a disappointment since only level 1 made any sense. The rest were just nonsense. Features wise, it has a sleep timer but that was it. Not feature rich, but it gets the job done for a cool 80 bucks. As a portable amp, the E7 was just a hair better than the E5 in my opinion. Not very good, but again at the time it was released, it was very versatile. It couldn't really power anything too demanding. Honestly, for the $80 or so, its a great device. The DAC works and improves quality noticeably, the amplifier will make your phones louder, the bass boost (lv 1) will add some oomph to bass light iems and cans like my RE-0. 
 
E17:
 
First off, it looks nicer and loses the scratch magnet front surface. The DAC uses the same chip I think (WM8740) but surprisingly it sounds better...much better. Where the E7 had a colder feel and sounded kinda thin, the E17 is a touch warm and sounds very nice is it worth ~2x the price? Probably not, but it is at least better. As a stand alone amplifier, the E17 is very good. It has multiple gain settings (0, 6 and 12 decibels) and the amp is more powerful. The Bass boost and treble boost are very very nice since you can change in 2dB steps up or down. In effect, this means the E17 can be used with something like the RE-0 which needs a little oomph for the bass, and it works equally well to boost treble to make something like the Monster Turbine Pro Gold a bit more lively. Besides this new eq ability and gain, there is the almighty sleep timer (which I will probably never use anyway).
 
Summary:
 
So again you'll ask is it worth the extra cost? For me yes! Its better as a DAC, better as an AMP and very very versatile. It'll do well with cans or iems, sensitive and hard-to drive, bass light and dark sounding. When the E7 was released it was the definition of versatility; we can now safely say that the E17 has dethroned it in that department. In the value department, the E7 is still better in my opinion. Of course the E10 offers the E17 sound for the cost of the E7 though you miss the portable amp. Now please do realize all Fiio products are pretty cheap so they probably don't compare with things like the Leckerton UHA-4 or HRT MS II+, but of course if you're considering Fiio you're on a budget and things like those roughly 1.5x the price or more of the E17.
 
If you want Value: E10 >> E7 > E17
 
If you want Sound: E17 = E10 >> E7
 
If you want Versatility: E17 > E7 > E10
 
I know this thread has had a ton of "Doi you idiots need to use t3h search bar and g00gle u nubsauce" type responses. Hopefully this and the headphonia review answer most of the questions you guys have.

Hello, I realize I'm replying to something pretty old, but you said something that really interested me: "Of course the E10 offers the E17 sound". Are you sure about this? At first I assumed the difference between them was indeed the portability, and that the rest would be on par, but I read everywhere else that E17>E10 in every way regarding SQ. Because I really could not care any less about portability, so choosing between the E17 and E10 seems like a nobrainer. But with many saying E17 is so much better, portability aside...
Thanks!

 

[PeterCheng]

Is the Fiio E17 a portable dac that can be used on the go with the iPod I have? Or it just serves as a usb dac? I'm so confused... :0

 

[rolandpsp]

I have a fiio e07k and a dacport lite.
 
 
GO FOR THE FIIO !!!
 

This is my frustration : seeing that high gain mode is absolutely CRAP and on top of that and most importantly : when i move the dacport it simply loses USB signal, be it connected to smartphone or PC.
 
How am i gonna walk around and listen if it loses connection ?
 
This is a massdrop order - i think they sent me a defective unit since i'm from Romania and they figured i won't return it.

 

[lovelysound]

I think the sound is similar but e17 is a little bit stronger and resist not to broke in high freq

 

[Toothless]

Sorry for necromancing this thread, but I'm just given an old E7. The former owner said its battery has nearly reached the end of life, and I wonder if its DAC lineout is affected by this, i.e. if I bought a L7 dock to use the E7 as a DAC to my amp, will it still work without a battery, or will I still have to replace the battery, or worse toss the E7 to the trash can? Thanks!