[Koolpep]

that's confusing. From what I read :http://www.head-fi.org/t/607272/fiio-e17-for-ipod, it seems that in 'ipod+LOD+fiio' combo , fiio only serves as an amp but not dac, is this right?

Back to this thread, as far as I understand from what you said, fiio can be a dac by using the way you suggested. So if I use apple lighting to 30pin adapter+LOD+fiio, does it make fiio only an amp or a dac/amp? 

thanks

Whenever you use the 3.5mm input into the fiio it won't use it's DAC. You have to feed it via USB to use its DAC hence the answer to your question is no, it won't make the fiio be an DAC/amp, it will work just as an amp.

The DAC in the iPhone 5 is pretty good though, so using line out an damping the cleanest possible signal is already quite good.

 

[superkaka]

cool, that's clear. Thank you!

 

[cehowardNote3]

Do I need to start another thread, or is this a hi jack if I ask:  ????????
 
How can I use the Fiio e17 with a Samsung Note 3??
 
Let me know if I am out of order... Since the questions were similar I thought I would ask here.
 
I will be using a AKG K550 headphones with a Note 3 and my Dell 790 desktop computer... 
 
Thanks in advance...
 
EDIT: 
In doing a search I came up with the Fiio E18, for android..  

 

[stolleee]

I have a dumb question.  I have an E17 and have used it before with my Iphone 5 using the AUX setting however recently my E17 will not allow me to switch the source to AUX.  What am I missing?

 

[raulromanjr]

  I have a dumb question.  I have an E17 and have used it before with my Iphone 5 using the AUX setting however recently my E17 will not allow me to switch the source to AUX.  What am I missing?

You would be better off connecting your iPhone to the E17 via USB thus bypassing the iPhone's limited DAC and allowing you to play 96K/24bit music on your iPhone.  You'll need to be running IOS 7+, the Lightning to USB camera adapter from Apple and a music play that is able to output hi-res music to an external DAC (Onkyo's HF Player for instance). 

 

[tlusc]

Another related question:
 
If I'm using the lightning cck/usb hub method, can the third-party IOS music players output FLAC files to the external DAC? For example, I am currently using Capriccio, which supports FLAC. Will that work, or do I have to get the Onkyo HF player?
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[suarkttam]

Sorry to bump this topic but I'm in a similar situation with the E17 and an iPhone 5 (soon to be 6) and didn't really see a final "best solution" here. Not to mention the last question about actually playing FLAC files from iOS wasn't really answered at all

 

[suarkttam]

The 30-pin to lightning adapter description says it supports analog audio and USB audio output:

"Product Information

This adapter lets you connect devices with a Lightning connector to many of your 30-pin accessories.* Supports analog audio output, USB audio, as well as syncing and charging."

So. I'm not sure why everyone says that the audio output coming from the Lightning connector is still digital and will not benefit from the DAC in the E17.

Am I missing something?

 

[thekash]

I think what they're saying is that the E17 only has a DAC running when the sound is Digital and NOT analog. So EVEN if you use the Apple lightening to 30-pin adapter and Fiio adapter you will only get an analog audio out signal that will be what the E17 is working with. Now the E17 is a DIGITAL DAC and amplifier. So only a digital file can be decoded by the E17 using the DAC and then amplified. If you use the adapters the sound is 'unprocessed' by apple device and then the sound will be amplified. The only way to access the E17s DAC is to somehow allow the E17 access to a digital audio signal, which can only happen if Fiio themselves design a cable and offer an iOS app to accompany it or 3rd party app that would allow it. But Apple being Apple it doesn't exist as of yet or just not well known. So in all honestly i'm not sure how ppl are are actually noticing THAT great a difference between just plugging the iphone headphone jack right into the Fiio E17 and just using it as an amp since some sound signature should be incorporated into the sound just from that alone while setting the internal DAC of the iphone to flat or un-eq'd. 
 
Anyways just what i've observed using my P7's, Grados, SE535s with Neutron on Note3, iPhone5/6+ and Cowon J3. Maybe the camera connect kit or something is more the direction we should be headed if you want to truly be able to use the DAC/Amp on iOS as you would with an android device. 

 

[suarkttam]

Well...I think things may have changed recently with the news that "Apple recently updated its Made for iPhone (MFi) program with a new set of specifications that allow for the transmission of audio through Apple's Lightning cable port instead of the traditional 3.5-mm headphone jack."
 
There is already a pair of headphones from Philips (http://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/10/philips-fidelio-m2l-lightning/) that have a built in DAC that will do exactly that. So, it would follow that a cable that could connect directly to the lightning output on the iPhone, then to the e17 and the signal would be a purely, unprocessed digital signal...
 
Unless I'm misunderstanding something...

 

[Mors]

Sorry to bump this old thread, but it's relevant to my interests
For xmas I got the Fiio E17, the Fiio lightning to 30pin adapter, then the Fiio 30pin to 3.5mm LOD cable. I've connected the cables to my iphone 5S, but I'm not getting any output on any of the inputs on the E17? I've checked all the ports are working by plugging other inputs into them. Do I need to do anything with the iphone to get it to work?
 
Thanks for any help

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

Iphone 5 has a Lightning connector, an all digital connector. An analog line out won't work. Which is why so many people are heart broken about the discontinuation of the iPod Classic. Still had the 30-pin, which has an analog output 
 
Now you can use an amp with any phone (just use the normal input not the line-in using the normal headphone jack or a lightning to line), the problem is, if the phone doesn't have an analog out-put (like the 30-pin), chances are the signal is going through the often terrible on-board amp, then through the lightning connector, then to your amp (or dock). If the speakers or headphones are good enough, you really really really can hear the difference.
 
Analog generally allows you to bi-pass the onboard amp, essentially just using your phone or player as a Storage/DAC. If its an iPod classic, the onboard DAC is strangely good and the amp is terra-bad.

 

[Koolpep]

Iphone 5 has a Lightning connector, an all digital connector. An analog line out won't work. Which is why so many people are heart broken about the discontinuation of the iPod Classic. Still had the 30-pin, which has an analog output 

Now you can use an amp with any phone (just use the normal input not the line-in using the normal headphone jack or a lightning to line), the problem is, if the phone doesn't have an analog out-put (like the 30-pin), chances are the signal is going through the often terrible on-board amp, then through the lightning connector, then to your amp (or dock). If the speakers or headphones are good enough, you really really really can hear the difference.

Analog generally allows you to bi-pass the onboard amp, essentially just using your phone or player as a Storage/DAC. If its an iPod classic, the onboard DAC is strangely good and the amp is terra-bad.

There is an issue with the middle part of your post. As you said the Lightning connector is all digital, so according to your theory it would be Digital to analog then amp then analog back to digital and out to the Lightning. But that doesn't happen. If you connect via lightning then you need to have your own DAC and Amp.

Hence using the Lightning to USB kit from apple you can connect a DAC/amp that supports it to it and have the iPhone serve clean unamped digital to the DAC/amp.

So while analog allows you to bypass just the amp, digital out allows you to bypass the DAC and Amp.

In this case, if the e17 supports it (don't know) then you just need to connect it via the Lightning to USB camera connector cable (not the normal charging cable, that won't work and also no Lightning to 30 pin converter) to the micro USB of the e17. Make sure to switch USB charging off when in use and change USB to DAC mode,

Cheers,
K

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

There is an issue with the middle part of your post. As you said the Lightning connector is all digital, so according to your theory it would be Digital to analog then amp then analog back to digital and out to the Lightning. But that doesn't happen. If you connect via lightning then you need to have your own DAC and Amp.

Hence using the Lightning to USB kit from apple you can connect a DAC/amp that supports it to it and have the iPhone serve clean unamped digital to the DAC/amp.

So while analog allows you to bypass just the amp, digital out allows you to bypass the DAC and Amp.

In this case, if the e17 supports it (don't know) then you just need to connect it via the Lightning to USB camera connector cable (not the normal charging cable, that won't work and also no Lightning to 30 pin converter) to the micro USB of the e17. Make sure to switch USB charging off when in use and change USB to DAC mode,

Cheers,
K

My apologies, 21 hour day doesn't sit so well heh.

You can't bypass the amp, because you need to use the headphone jack. So either you use an outboard dac/amp, otherwise you use on board amp and then amp again if you need the extra power.

If you want to keep things on the more budget side, a 30-pin allows to just utilize the onboard dac straight to outboard amp.


Good thing you cought that, would have made things very confusing o.O

 

[the5chord]

Has anyone just used the Lightning to 30pin connector plug amd then to the Fiio old cord?


Who is using a dac with an iOS device? And how did you make it work?