[ajamils]

Cosa,
 
Thank you for your detailed reply. This is exactly I (and OP) was looking for. I have already sent my E7 back to Amazon and will be picking up E17 as soon as my pocket it ready to take another hit (bought DT900 250ohm, Astro MixAmp 5.8 and couple of other goodies this week already  )

 

[wilky61]

My experience has been relatively comparable to yours; I bought an E10 at first but decided to return it and upgrade since FiiO had just released the E17 as well. I think you will be very happy with the E17; it's a great all-around product for a relatively low price. For a lot of audiophiles, I think the E17 is the last amp/DAC they will need until they are ready to take that plunge into the realm of $1000 purchases. 24/96 via USB is good enough for me, for now.

Cosa,
 
Thank you for your detailed reply. This is exactly I (and OP) was looking for. I have already sent my E7 back to Amazon and will be picking up E17 as soon as my pocket it ready to take another hit (bought DT900 250ohm, Astro MixAmp 5.8 and couple of other goodies this week already  )

 

[CosaNostra]

You really don't need to plunge $1000 just yet though, there are so many nice units in the 150-300 range. Each price range has some real gems and of course diminishing returns really really start to hurt beyond certain price points. Of course, once one agrees to the head-fi terms of agreement, I am sure one must have abandoned all sense of frugality.

 

[dukeskd]

If I hadn't gone for the DACMini, I would have definitely considered the E17 however I assume they wouldn't work well with the HD800s.

 

[CosaNostra]

Something the caliber of the HD800s would be wasted upon the Fiio E17 so I am glad you got the DACmini.The E17 is not in the league of CEntrance products or even HRT's offerings.  My friend's Dacport is much better overall but the E17 is nifty and does a decent job for the price...I mean its one thing for a desktop DAC to crush the E17, but the DacPort being a portable one crushes it.
 
For my budget though the E17 does what it needs to and that's all I was looking for. I suspect that is all most people who find this thread will be looking for as well. 

 

[dukeskd]

Yeah I agree with you. E17 is a nifty device with a lot of features for a low price, and thats the main reason why they have hit a home-run with the audiophile/music listener community. The designs also do not make you vomit, I actually prefer it over the DACPort, however for desktop usage CEntrance products are more viable and powerful. The jitter guard in the DACMini is amazing and I use it not only for my headphones but as a pre-amp/dac for my monitor speakers.

 

[Cassadian]

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[Cassadian]

Gotta say.  The FiiO E17 is pretty attractive and I do enjoy it.  Considerably lowers the noise although I do hear some hiss (sensitive ears) and the amplification, while minimal with my mid-tier IEM's) is enjoyable.
 
Mhm... the DAC Mini is quite a marvel from Centrance.  They've certainly done well with their catering towards a USB-centric crowd.

 

[Mooses9]

 
Quote:

Gotta say.  The FiiO E17 is pretty attractive and I do enjoy it.  Considerably lowers the noise although I do hear some hiss (sensitive ears) and the amplification, while minimal with my mid-tier IEM's) is enjoyable.
 
Mhm... the DAC Mini is quite a marvel from Centrance.  They've certainly done well with their catering towards a USB-centric crowd.

 
my question is, does the performance govern the price over the fiio e7. 
 
i am looking to upgrade the fiio e7 but still feel even though the e17 is probably better than the e7, fiio still seems to be a entry level brand compared the say ibasso. im not saying fiio isnt a contender. it just seems like the fiio is more about asthetic appeal vs performance. thats just my take.

 

[dukeskd]

 
Quote:

 
 
my question is, does the performance govern the price over the fiio e7. 
 
i am looking to upgrade the fiio e7 but still feel even though the e17 is probably better than the e7, fiio still seems to be a entry level brand compared the say ibasso. im not saying fiio isnt a contender. it just seems like the fiio is more about asthetic appeal vs performance. thats just my take.

From what I read I think the sound difference is subtle (the dac is equal to E10 so you could think about getting that) but the biggest advantage of the E17 is the support for 24/96 IMO.
 
 
Quote:

Gotta say.  The FiiO E17 is pretty attractive and I do enjoy it.  Considerably lowers the noise although I do hear some hiss (sensitive ears) and the amplification, while minimal with my mid-tier IEM's) is enjoyable.
 
Mhm... the DAC Mini is quite a marvel from Centrance.  They've certainly done well with their catering towards a USB-centric crowd.

 
Yeah I am definitely part of the USB crowd since I do most of my listening from the laptop and music composing. The nicest thing though is definitely that DACMini is dead silent, whereas in all the Fiios products there is always some hiss (even when the volume level is set at full there is no audible hiss). I think that is really remarkable.
 

 

[CosaNostra]

 
 

 
 
my question is, does the performance govern the price over the fiio e7. 
 
i am looking to upgrade the fiio e7 but still feel even though the e17 is probably better than the e7, fiio still seems to be a entry level brand compared the say ibasso. im not saying fiio isnt a contender. it just seems like the fiio is more about asthetic appeal vs performance. thats just my take.

 
iBasso really isn't that good in terms of DACs. Their portable amps were nice but honestly I feel most lower level products from ibasso are overshadowed by others. 
 
If you just want a better DAC then yes the E10 is better than the E7 and very very close to the E17. If I remember correctly it does 24/96 as well but you are giving up two things for the lower price: Bass/Treble adjustment (and you can do this on your player's eq always) and portable amp usage. Funnily enough if you want portable amp and a good USB DAC you can get the E10 and E11, but then it costs the same amount as the E17.

 

[skcheng]

 
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.

 
 
Thanks for this post.   Pretty much sums everything up.   Now add in the mix that I purchased the E9, so I have the following:   E7, E9, E17......all of which should arrive by the end of this week.   Is there a particular combination of things that I could try that might work well.    Have a MacBook, and iPhone, and a main huge Windows based computer where I spend most of my time.  
 
Thanks again,
 
skc

 

[bkkcitiboi]

 
Quote:

Originally Posted by CosaNostra /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
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.

 
The E7 costs USD94 in Thailand and the E17 costs USD129. The difference in price is not significant but the E17 trumps the E7 hands down in terms of SQ and versatility.
 
I bought a second hand E7 as I was already using the E11.  Solely in terms of being a portable amp, the E11 wins hands down.  The E11 is a very powerful little fella and in terms of bass, the E11 has much more oomph. But I found the SQ to be a little dark.  I ended up giving the E11 to my nephew and decided to take the plunge and bought the E17.  WOW! Was I impressed!!  The E17 has a much tighter and deeper bass but at the same time is also more musical all round.  The mids are definitely brighter, fuller and warmer than the E7. The E17 plays 24bit audio sampling with aplomb and great detail.  It sounds really amazing when used with my Vaio and Macbook as a DAC/amp via USB!!
 
As a side note, I have the PA2V2 as well and in comparison, the PA2V2 still lags behind the E17 (although not by a big margin like the E7) in SQ.  My main complaint about the PA2V2 is that it suffers from static interference when placed near a cellphone.
 
However, there are two areas where the E7 trumps the E17.  The E7 has a very long runtime and can be used as a DAC/amp with the iPad.  The E17 cannot be used to bypass the DAC in the iPad.
 
I will definitely recommend the E17 to consumers as one of the best (if not the best) portable amp/DAC under USD200. It is packed with features, has great SQ and has a very good DAC to boot.

 

[CosaNostra]

Yeah that was one thing I didn't mention at all. The E7's battery life is just great. I remember taking it with me on my 1 month long trip to India and I charged the E7 like once in the whole month. The E17's battery life is probably 1/3 or less of the E7, but it has better hardware. Honestly, so long as the battery can get you through a couple days, there is no reason to complain. Extra juice is just icing on the cake.
 
I didn't know the E7 could bypass the iPad's DAC...no surprise since I rarely use any iDevices, but that is definitely a nifty use for people with iPads. You are 100% right in that the Fiio is probably one of the best purchases below 200 barring DIY solutions. Here in the US though, the price difference is pretty high between E7 and E17. E7 is roughly $75-80 and the E17 is 140 or more, hence my value rating reflecting those prices. For people in Thailand, the E17 is definitely the better buy from both sound and value perspectives.

 

[bkkcitiboi]

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.