[Naschy]

Hi all,

I've got an E17 on the way to me. I need an LOD cable to pair with it. I'm thinking the L9 looks to be a good price to performance option, and ergonomically easier to use. Would you agree? Is there something in the price bracket you recommend instead?

I'm in Australia which makes buying difficult sometimes. What is the cheapest place to buy? And are Chinese based sellers, like: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Type-Fiio-L9-iPhone-iPod-iPad-Line-Out-Dock-LO-3-5mm-Transfer-Cable-/300884318099?pt=AU_headphone&hash=item460e1a5793&_uhb=1 okay to use?

Any help is great appreciated.

 

[szwety]

I use the L9 with my iPhone and iPod into an e07k and it sounds fine.  I'm finding that it depends on what kind of setup you have whether you need ot go over the top on an LOD or maybe invest in better cans first.
 
If you are interested in a, let's say silver braided LOD, and are anywhere near handy: take a look at this post and maybe give it a go yourself.
 
(On a side note: pretty sure the grammar in that last sentence is all sorts of messed up... WHERE DOES THE COMMA GO!)
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/499986/diy-ipod-lod-cables
 
It's really quite easy, Just a bit of brading and some soldering!
 
Take this advice with a grain of salt as I'm newbish at the HiFi game myself.  I've just been racking my brain on how much money this can all cost and have been weighing the benefit to cost ratio alot lol.  As they say: Welcome to Head-Fi.  Sorry about your wallet!
 
Hope this helps!

 

[Naschy]

Thank you for the reply.

That's a very similar setup for what I'm intending to have. The L9 looks like the best option for fiio branded products because of its L shaped design. I imagine this is more comfortable and lessens the chance of damage while in a pocket or the like?

I would love to get into electronics/circuitry and do all this stuff myself. So many different projects you could tackle - and save some coin I imagine. I have no real experience with that stuff, nor do I own any equipment. I want to learn in the future though. With that said, a pre-made cable is probably the most realistic option right now.

Hehe yes, entry into this hifi arena has started to impact my wallet. It's very true!

Most testimonies I've read are pretty positive towards the L9. Is the linked one in my OP to be trusted? Are there fakes? Like you I'm very new to this stuff.

Again, thanks for the reply.

 

[szwety]

Quote:

That's a very similar setup for what I'm intending to have. The L9 looks like the best option for fiio branded products because of its L shaped design. I imagine this is more comfortable and lessens the chance of damage while in a pocket or the like?

I have both the L9 and the L3, both are great quality and work as described.  The L3 has buttons which lock into place L9 doesn't, plus the form factor difference that's about the extent of it.  The only one to stay away from would be the L1, I can't remember where I saw it, but a FiiO rep was saying that the quality of the copper is inferior to that of the L3 or L9.
 
Quote:

I would love to get into electronics/circuitry and do all this stuff myself. So many different projects you could tackle - and save some coin I imagine. I have no real experience with that stuff, nor do I own any equipment. I want to learn in the future though. With that said, a pre-made cable is probably the most realistic option right now.
 

Fair enough, but for the future I'd highly advise it.  Fairly cheap to get into as well.  ~$12 for a variable temp soldering iron, ~$10 for a soldering pump (to clean up mistakes, ~$10 for a helping hand (optional, but greatly helpful...), ~$5 for a tub of flux, and ~$10-$20 for cardas silver solder (or some other solder depending on what your project is.  Best part is that those are the tools needed for about 99.9% percent of electronics DIY projects.  You can find that stuff from all sorts of places.  I bought a couple of those items from dealextreme for pretttty cheap
 
Quote:

Most testimonies I've read are pretty positive towards the L9. Is the linked one in my OP to be trusted? Are there fakes? Like you I'm very new to this stuff.

Like I said above, I'm pleased with the L9... it's definitely a better way to go than from the 3.5mm out...  As far as that guy goes.... I don't know.  His seller rating is quite high, which is always a good sign.  I bought mine from amazon which was fulfilled by amazon.  The cool thing is that the packaging on all FiiO products have a scratch off sticker that has a code which you input on the fiio.com.cn site to check it's authenticity.  Shipping will probably take a bit of time but that's to be expected for a package from china.
 
Hope this helps!  And if you ever need some help in the DIY arena there's a whole part of the forum dedicated to it, so don't be shy!

 

[Naschy]

Again, thank you for such a detailed reply szwety.

I managed to get a new L9 here in Australia for relatively cheap from Headphonic (great service). Received both the amp and cable today so have been messing around with it. From my initial impressions, the L shape is perfect for my pocket.

I wasn't aware of the scratch off authentication code - shows how much of a noob I am! Both are genuine going by the site.

Been thinking of taking an electronics course, so I'll stick my head in those forums; thanks!

One unrelated question though, if I may: what volume should I have the source on (4th gen iPad, android phone etc.) when I have it plugged in via 3.5mm rather than LOD cable? Should it be at 100%, 50% ... I'm sure I'm even further showing my ignorance hehe, but I thought its best to ask. It's just I found that both effected the volume in the headphone, and I don't want to further degrade to sound quality by having it set up wrong.

 

[szwety]

Cool dude! Glad you were able to find and procure the cable you wanted and that all is working well with it!

An electronics class is an excellent place to start, I hope you follow through with that!

Hey we're all noobs at some point right? It's funny because I was just doing research on these same things a few months ago!

As far as the line in level, when you can't use the LOD, I've read that the best way to do it is to max the volume on, say your computer, and then control it on the fiio. You might want to double check that though. Have you used it on your computer yet? There's a pretty good post from a user here on how to get it set up on windows while using foobar as your media player. Ill find the link when I get to my computer and post it for you.

 

[szwety]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axAewk-qFGw
 
Here's a video from bowei006 on how to use the e17.  He did one on the e07k that I have and it was quite helpful.  I didn't watch this one, but give it a look!
 
Please ask if you need an anything else!

 

[Naschy]

Thanks for the link mate. I've been watching that video the past few days.

Yes, I've used it with my PC. Set it so it outputs through USB and utilised the DAC and amp. Sounded very nice. I just used VLC - will be looking into Foobar. Downloaded some NIN in FLAC 24/96 - very nice! It's great to hear having never listened to a setup like this. I feel the hifi gods getting an even tighter grip!

Righto, I'll try with max volume. Sounds about right to me, as when using 3.5mm, you're effectively amplifying the already amped sound of the iPad etc. very happy with the purchase. Thanks again, szwety.

 

[szwety]

NP dude.  Happy listening!