FiiO Mont Blanc/E12 portable headphone amp, 880mW, slim design, full metal case. Bass boost and Cross feed!

[JamesFiiO]

The official introduction of Mont Blanc
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------Below is the history of the development ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
First, I don't want to use the word " High End " but any better word to describe it is the best headphone amp in our line up. from low to high, it is E6, E11, E12?
 
Why we develop E12?
 
The 1st reason is that to we now try to clear up our our products line up, and find out that there are room to us to make a better portable headphone amp.
 
The 2st reason, lots of user encourage  us to make a better amps because E11 can not satisfy them.
 
 
The 3st reason, we will see how can we show our ability in design , the E12 should have very good sound quality , affordable price, but sill have some different

design compare with others high end amp. I think this is why FiiO alive and become more and more popular, we don't want to become a follower or just copy or
 
clone the design from others. 
 
 
The 4st reason, it maybe a very good way to reward to all FiiO's fans on Head-Fi, and could be more funny because we will release limited edition version.
 
 

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OK, back to E12 itself, below is some features
 
1, ALPS potentiometer to control the volume, so far it still the best way to control the volume, simple and user friend.
 
 
2, 3.5mm input/output.
 
 
3, Gain control, sorry, only 2 different gains, but we do hope we can figure out how to install a 3 position switcher into the small case.
 
4, Output power >500mW.
 
 
5, Power supply: 6 AAA li-ion 10440 batteries, provide up to +/- 11V power supply.
 
 
6, Bass boost.
 
 
7, Crosstalk? maybe.
 
 

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UPDATED ON 1, NOV, 2012

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1, ALPS potentiometer to control the volume, so far it still the best way to control the volume, simple and user friend.
2, 3.5mm input/output.
3, Gain control,  0dB and 10dB
4, Output power >700mW.
5, Power supply: build in 11.1V/800mAh li-ion 10440 battery,  OP Amp supplied power  +/- 11V .
6, Bass boost: ON and OFF
7, Crossfeed: ON , OFF.
8, Smart charge function, can be charged by USB power, auto switch charger current from 450mA when connect to PC, or 1A when used wall charger. 
9, Can be used while charging.
10, Output Buf: LME49600，pre amp: LME49710
11, 2 LED indicator. one to indicated the power also work as an alarm when there are any DC output or over current. one for charge status, includes low battery, full battery, charging.
12, Build in small relay to protect the headphones/earphones, avoid any pop noise when turn on/off the power.
13, Dimension: 124 X 65.5 X 14.5 with knobs, 119 X 65.5 X 14.5 without knobs 
14, Battery life: 15 hours, charge time: 7-8 hours by USB port of PC, 3 hours by 1.2A USB wall charger.
15, ETA: DEC.

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Initial design rending.


 
updated the newest photo of Mont Blanc/E12
 
 


 
 
 

 
 
updated the final  photo of Mont Blanc/E12
 
 
 

 
The Pre order unit will be delivered before 10th , Jan, 2013 and we will carry some to CES.
 
 

 

[KT66]

I don't want or need EQ, I want a flat sound that accurately represents the recording and mastering,
 
Heard of Quads Peter Walker? Probably the UK greatest ever amp designer, he said the perfect amp is a " wire with a Volume control"
 
The amp should add no sound character to the sound at all, it should just amplify the source, as purely as possible.

 

[zazex]

Quote:

I don't want or need EQ, I sound want a flat sound that accurately represents the recording and mastering,
 
Heard of Quads Peter Walker? Probably the UK greatest ever amp designer, he said the perfect amp is a " wire with a Volume control"
 
The amp should add no sound character to the sound at all, it should just amplify the source.

"straight wire with gain" is the way I first heard it,
but the concept's the same.
 
I haven't used eq in years (except in the car ,which is a listening environment unto itself).
 
But in Fiio's favor on this, I do notice many people like eq capability...

 

[H20Fidelity]

Output power >500mW

I hope E12 bass boost works on lower sub regions similar to E11. I found E10's bass boost to be a little more mid bass focused in comparison. The boosting is very important to me in that regard but with as less colouration possible! I trust Fiio with their designs and thoughts so there's nothing I'd like changed from their own decisions.

The special edition sounds mighty interesting!!

 

[JamesFiiO]

Output power >500mW
I hope E12 bass boost works on lower sub regions similar to E11. I found E10's bass boost to be a little more mid bass focused in comparison. The boosting is very important to me in that regard but with as less colouration possible! I trust Fiio with their designs and thoughts so there's nothing I'd like changed from their own decisions.
The special edition sounds mighty interesting!!

The bass boost will similar with E11.

About the EQ/Bass Boost, it can be switched so don‘t worry about the sound transparent.

 

[feigeibomber]

Sounds like this amplifier will have a lot of juice ! 
I wonder how it will fair up against other amplifiers such as the RX MK3 or the SR71B ?

 

[JamesFiiO]

Sounds like this amplifier will have a lot of juice ! 

I wonder how it will fair up against other amplifiers such as the RX MK3 or the SR71B ?

I don't think they are direct competitor .

 

[Parall3l]

So the amp will output >500mw at 32ohms ? Also, what's the predicted price for the E12?

 

[JamesFiiO]

So the amp will output >500mw at 32ohms ? Also, what's the predicted price for the E12?

Yes, retail price will lest than 200usd. Higher than100usd

 

[bowei006]

I remember you said 800mW @ 32 ohms in the "upcomming" thread. Was that now pulled down to 500mW? And what impendence are you talking about at 500mW?
 
The E17 had a flaw where at higher volumes with generally harder to drive headphones(but it will happen on any headphone still) a "click click click" sound would come in. CLIEOS came in and said something about design I believe. But design or not, that was a flaw that I really didn't like in the E17 and made it hard sometimes. Many users have also noticed it.
 
Some amps that use ALPS potentiometer's, when at low volume(like very low) will have imbalanced channels which is very bad for IEM's and other easy to drive headphones. I've had this with some amps, I don't believe I've heard it yet from a FiiO but just making sure it's there. I have some very low impendence and easy to drive 16 ohm IEM's that are sensitive to that kind of stuff. They aren't expensive, nor do I use them often, but my O2 has a slight problem just as you turn the volume up from nothing.

 

[mikeaj]

Some suggestions and thoughts:
 

• If there are only two gain settings, could you increase the difference between low and high gain?  I think on the E11, the settings are 2.5x and 4.5x, a 5.1 dB difference.  Something lower than 2.5x would help IEM users.  
• I think that bass boost like the E11 increases higher bass and midrange frequencies like 100 Hz and 200 Hz too much.  But that is better than on some other FiiO products, with even more boost to midrange.  Keep it at the lower frequencies, please.
• Are you including a charger for the batteries?

 

[bowei006]

Good question. Not allowing usage of E12 while it is charging would be ..not very good.

 

[OK-Guy]

when is the expected release date and will you offer a different colour housing?... cheers

 

[richbass]

e12 with docking (e9) port plzzzzzzz !!!!!!!!

 

[Brooko]

e12 with docking (e9) port plzzzzzzz !!!!!!!!

Why? It's an amp only - not a DAC - so what possible advantage would there be in docking one amp with another one?