[retskrad]

Hi,
 
I see people really liking  Fiio E12 and the bad news is that  reviews says the E12 has a small sound stage. Now, I bought a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 990 pro 250 ohm's. I'm coming froma pair of AKG 518 headphones, which were closed and claustrophobic. I heard that open headphones are airy and it creates a separation between instruments, and also bigger sound stage.
 
My iPhone 4S doesn't really deliver a big sound stage. I really would like to enjoy my first open headphones, but I fear that the E12 won't deliver based on the reviews. 
 
Also is it true that sound stage is only important for classical music, jazz, vocals only, in other words everything but hip hop, pop, rap, r&b?
 
Any help?

 

[pukemon]

Can't comment on e12. Soundstage can be a big factor depending on recording and what is used to play music. I have a few terrible hi rs recordings that sound like it was recorded in a car. But generally recordings with real instruments or strong vocals will provide a better soundstage. Hip hoppy type stuff is usually done in a studio with digital sound so not much soundstage to create.

Sent from my SM-N9005

 

[retskrad]

Im listening to hip hop, pop, rap etc so that means soundstage isnt very important? I heard people saying that the e12 will make the music narrow but very energetic and "attacks", so to me this seems that it was made just for modern music.

 

[pukemon]

Well even listening to rap on CD on my home theater does not convey much of a soundstage. Instrumental stuff and my 5.1 do so and makes jaws drop occasionally. Hip hop isn't a very good genre to test soundstage regardless. It is a damn good genre to test bass capabilities. Look around websites that sell hi res music files. Hip hop type is few and far between. I still buy CD's often but the little bit of rap I do own is mp3's as its a waste of storage space to get higher bit rate. Bass is little bit cleaner in wav/FLAC files but not enough to warrant an extra 5 bucks or so an album. You want some soundstage get a flaming lips album on CD. Or some jazz.

Sent from my SM-N9005

 

[cachitongo]

I have this amp and don't feel that it has a 'small soundstage'.  that is more dependent on the quality of the recording and the headphones you're using in my opinion.  This amp does a great job of amplifying the music that gets put into it - garbage in = garbage out, good stuff in = good stuff out!  I really like this amp for it's power and it's portability.  I was looking forward to the cross feed function but after hearing it, I am very disappointed - the cross feed really changes (degrades) the quality of the output.  Oh well, everything else ROCKS!  I think that it's well-worth the money.

 

[blackmondy]

Originally Posted by retskrad /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Hi,
 
I see people really liking  Fiio E12 and the bad news is that  reviews says the E12 has a small sound stage. Now, I bought a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 990 pro 250 ohm's. I'm coming froma pair of AKG 518 headphones, which were closed and claustrophobic. I heard that open headphones are airy and it creates a separation between instruments, and also bigger sound stage.
 
 
I have both the Fiio E12 and Graham Slee Voyager and the latter wins by a long shot with regards to soundstage. I also have the DT990 250-ohms, recabled. The Voyager brings out more airiness into the music, which I absolutely adore.
 
I listen predominantly to classical music, mostly 320Kbps ripped from recrodings from the 60s to early 90s.
 
 
 

 

[bzippy]

  I have this amp and don't feel thaI'llt it has a 'small soundstage'.  that is more dependent on the quality of the recording and the headphones you're using in my opinion.  This amp does a great job of amplifying the music that gets put into it - garbage in = garbage out, good stuff in = good stuff out!  I really like this amp for it's power and it's portability.  I was looking forward to the cross feed function but after hearing it, I am very disappointed - the cross feed really changes (degrades) the quality of the output.  Oh well, everything else ROCKS!  I think that it's well-worth the money.

100% agree. These small stage reports on the E12 are total BS imo. In fact i'll go a bit further and say that amps Iin general have very little to do with the illusion of space. It's the cans that have most to do with this effect, and of course the recording too.

 

[blackmondy]

Hi,

I see people really liking  Fiio E12 and the bad news is that  reviews says the E12 has a small sound stage. Now, I bought a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 990 pro 250 ohm's. I'm coming froma pair of AKG 518 headphones, which were closed and claustrophobic. I heard that open headphones are airy and it creates a separation between instruments, and also bigger sound stage.

My iPhone 4S doesn't really deliver a big sound stage. I really would like to enjoy my first open headphones, but I fear that the E12 won't deliver based on the reviews. 

Also is it true that sound stage is only important for classical music, jazz, vocals only, in other words everything but hip hop, pop, rap, r&b?

Any help?

I own both the E12 and Graham Slee Voyager. The E12 soundstage is practically non-existent while the Voyager has both width and depth in that regard. The E12 sounds dark too which is not to my taste.

I have the DT990 250ohms and the IBasso DX90 and they synergize well with the Voyager. I listen mostly to classical so soundstage is paramount to me.

The E12 now lies permanently in my drawer.