[gavinfabl]

I can't answer all that. I had an E11 which I found quite dark. The E12 is more natural and the bass boost is more subtle. Sonically the E12 is far superior in all ways than the E11. Not surprising due to its power.

But the E11 is smaller. I would have the E12 over the E11.

 

[bowei006]

Power!=soundquality

 

[imackler]

Quote:

Power!=soundquality

 
Serious or taunting? 

 

[D1E]

So I have spent some time listening to the E12. Bottom line: I'm very impressed. I even hooked up my LCD2s to the portable amp, and it manages to drive them to excessive sound levels. The background is completely black - even with the volume knob at 100%. It probably wouldn't be fair to compare it against my Violectric V200 (at 10X the price), or my O2/ODAC combo (much larger, and also a DAC). It is however, definitely the best truly portable amp I now own, and that's compared against the E17 I have, and the E7 and E11 I have owned in the past.

I'm quite thrilled with it, honestly, as I have now reached end-game with all of my headphones. I'm completely and totally satisfied with my LCD2/Violectric V200/ODAC/Mac Mini combo in my living room, my M-100s at work with E17 as Optical SPDIF and E09K as amp, and now my E12 and M-100s with IPad/iPhone, LOD, and 30-pin adapter(s) for travel/on the go portable use. I can only hope FiiO comes out with a Lightning-native LOD cable for iDevices...

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

 
Serious or taunting? 

I wasn't saying Power!!! yeah! IT's sound quality right there! 

 
I was more along the lines of saying that power doesn't equal sound quality. Which is what the ! stood for. 

 

[Craigster75]

Quote:

So I have spent some time listening to the E12. Bottom line: I'm very impressed. I even hooked up my LCD2s to the portable amp, and it manages to drive them to excessive sound levels. The background is completely black - even with the volume knob at 100%. It probably wouldn't be fair to compare it against my Violectric V200 (at 10X the price), or my O2/ODAC combo (much larger, and also a DAC). It is however, definitely the best truly portable amp I now own, and that's compared against the E17 I have, and the E7 and E11 I have owned in the past.

I'm quite thrilled with it, honestly, as I have now reached end-game with all of my headphones. I'm completely and totally satisfied with my LCD2/Violectric V200/ODAC/Mac Mini combo in my living room, my M-100s at work with E17 as Optical SPDIF and E09K as amp, and now my E12 and M-100s with IPad/iPhone, LOD, and 30-pin adapter(s) for travel/on the go portable use. I can only hope FiiO comes out with a Lightning-native LOD cable for iDevices...

Glad to hear the M-100 is your end-game portable as it is for me as well unless the AKG Tiesto K267 is a big surprise.  I use M-100 with Vamp which is far superior to my E11, but I may want the E12 as a backup to Vamp or if I ever splurge for an ortho headphone that needs the extra power.

 

[Craigster75]

Quote:

I can't answer all that. I had an E11 which I found quite dark. The E12 is more natural and the bass boost is more subtle. Sonically the E12 is far superior in all ways than the E11. Not surprising due to its power.

But the E11 is smaller. I would have the E12 over the E11.

I would be curious to double amp E12 with my ZO2 as I have with my E11, then say goodbye to subtle bass boost

 

[Dyaems]

i hope you guys dont hype the E12 due to "new toy syndrome" =(

 

[Digital-Pride]

Quote:

i hope you guys dont hype the E12 due to "new toy syndrome" =(

 
 
I don't think any of us here are expecting this to be a portable Beta-22 or Blue Hawaii.  But considering its specs, price, and Fiio's reputation for quality products, is it really that surprising that many of us are excited about it?

 

[Apo0th3karY]

Quote:

i hope you guys dont hype the E12 due to "new toy syndrome" =(

 
Isn't that the case with most things though? Even outside of head-fi? I remember when I was a kid, every new toy I got I would want to show off to my friends and play...

Besides, Fiio is well regarded here, and I don't believe the E12 is being 'hyped' to the same degree as say, the S500, M-100 (800 pages), or FXZ1/200. Not that any of these products don't deserve the hype, because they're all fantastic, but you just have to be cautious when someone comes on a thread saying "OMG THIS IS AMAZING AND 10x BETTER AND CHEAPER THAN THIS INDUSTRY STANDARD", and I don't think that's the case here. 
 
I believe there's a recently banned user who's been behind a lot of *that* kind of hype. Not that it's the reason for the ban, but it's an example of how someone can hype things up on the internet without even laying hands on the product.
 
As for myself, I feel like this site is a place for people who love sound to come and share new experiences, and especially with new products people are going to want to know from a user/consumer/hobbyist perspective rather than from a reviewer on say, Engadget , or Gizmodo, where their opinion is taken rather lightly in many cases as they tend to lean one way or another with bias. But it's hard here when you have so many members with different tastes and biases themselves, for people to decide weather the hype is deserved or not without making a purchase.
 
So I don't think anyone really 'hypes' some products so much as excitement and anticipation ends up making a lot to read on some threads. I don't think there's a hype train here that's lead to more disappointed users than happy ones, but I could be wrong. 

 

[bowei006]

The hype train may even last for a while. For example Cataclysm and Diablo 3 where everyone loves it for the first month but then the new toy syndrome wears off.

 

[gavinfabl]

Any new piece of equipment will suffer from new toy syndrome. But if its crap it won't. The E12 is lovely. I am selling my fairly new E17 as I have no need for this now, and I prefer the sound quality of the E12 a lot more.

 

[Dyaems]

sure it will fall with the new toy syndrome, but users who claim it as the "best" even if they only own it for a few days, and have not compared it with a wide range of amps is definitely wrong

 

[Apo0th3karY]

Quote:

Any new piece of equipment will suffer from new toy syndrome. But if its crap it won't. The E12 is lovely. I am selling my fairly new E17 as I have no need for this now, and I prefer the sound quality of the E12 a lot more.

 
Interesting, considering the E17 is also a DAC... Could you maybe elaborate some more? 

This lends me to doubt the usefulness of a portable DAC/amp even further. I mean, when it comes to my various iPod touches and their generations, I have two with Cirrus chips and one with Wolfson, and I can't say one is 'better' than the other, definitely different form one another, but it's subjective. I personally like the Cirrus Logic chip better, despite the Wolfson chip being the 'better' of the two around these parts.

So when it comes to portable DAC/amps, I feel like the DAC part is redundant considering I'm already getting pretty great sound sound already. 

 

[bowei006]

Interesting, considering the E17 is also a DAC... Could you maybe elaborate some more? 


This lends me to doubt the usefulness of a portable DAC/amp even further. I mean, when it comes to my various iPod touches and their generations, I have two with Cirrus chips and one with Wolfson, and I can't say one is 'better' than the other, definitely different form one another, but it's subjective. I personally like the Cirrus Logic chip better, despite the Wolfson chip being the 'better' of the two around these parts.


So when it comes to portable DAC/amps, I feel like the DAC part is redundant considering I'm already getting pretty great sound sound already. 

What about the people that go to work or travel that want to strap it to their pmp on the train/plane/ car and then plug it into their laptop at the destination? It isnt useless for everyone. There is a reason it is so popular.

I personally use portable units as portable units like you. But a few times have come where a dac played in handy