[ael00]

Hello,
 
so far I love my m50x, I have been using it for about a month now. One thing I find lacking though is that they are hard to drive on my phone, an Xperia Z3. I just slap it on full volume and most songs are waay to quiet. So anyways I am looking to buy a dac/amp combo for it, so far I mostly use these headphones on my pc, but mostly due to the fact that I cant with my phone.
 
I have been looking at the FiiO Q1 and the E18k specifically - these seem to be the only valid options here in romania. The Q1 is priced at around 90$, for the E18k I found a mint condition one at 120$. Comparing the two I would naturally go for the E18k, but what keeps me from buying it straight away is that from what I could tell from reviews it makes headphones sound brighter and bassier. I am not really looking to brighten these as I found the m50x plenty bright and generally V shaped, in some cases a tad tinny on some percussions - this was mostly resolved in the past month of listening due to burn in and dont wish for it to come back. I would also like to avoid a muddy bass response.
 
Ofcourse I am also open for other suggestions but unfortunately options here are very limited . I mostly listen to flac when I can, with a few 320kbps files here and there. Genre wise my collection is very varied from choral to metal to jazz to EDM so not sure what to note here.
 
Thanks in advance for any input given!

 

[cel4145]

The sound quality of the Z3 is pretty good, and even improves a bit on crosstalk when used with an external amp.
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_z3-review-1140p7.php

So a Fiio A3 could do the job without spending as much money, and I wouldn't expect miracles in SQ improvement by adding a DAC into the mix.

 

[ael00]

I can get the A3 for about the same price as the E18 that's why I didnt even cosider at as it doesnt have a dac to use with my pc.

 

[cel4145]

I can get the A3 for about the same price as the E18 that's why I didnt even cosider at as it doesnt have a dac to use with my pc.

Might want to look around some more if you are interested in A3 since it should run you about half of an E18. Perhaps Ebay or an international vendor has it. Penon Audio carries it: http://penonaudio.com/FiiO-E11K

But if you want the E18K, I would not assume that it will "make headphones sound brighter and bassier" as you have said above. Any differences that DACs and solid state amps make tends to be very minor, assuming that they even do affect the sound.