[smrky]

My E10 has arrived on Friday (5 days ago), I ordered it from MP4 Nation. As someone here have already mentioned: MP4 is currently shipping the 2nd version, i.e. gold plated coax RCA socket, silver jack in front (with the vertical "BASS" label on its side). Is is kinda sad, because I was delaying the order, waiting for the 3rd batch, from January (I was pretty impatient ). I asked the admin on the MP4 Forum if they ship the 3rd batch, he said they do, I ordered E10 and 2nd version has arrived It has printed 08-02-2012 in the date column on the quality certificate.

Anyway here is my 'review': I am using Sennheiser HD595 - the E10 jack socket has some problems with the big bulky 6.3 -> 3.5 jack adapter on my headphones cable. It is not plugged in straight, but is kinda askew. When I touch the jack adapter or try to switch the bass boost I get crackles immediately :/ Not that bad, because I use E10 for desktop PC so I do not need to touch it often, but still sucks, since it is doing this from the arrival...

About the sound - it may be a little subjective, but: before E10 I was using an old Sound Blaster Live! Gold (all jacks + electrical paths are golden). I was using the old (1998) soundcard, because I though it was still somewhat better then the onboard Realtek. Personally I would say the E10 is a great upgrade - it gives my HD595 really much bigger soundstage, the bass is also better. I do not consider myself an audiophile, and haven't been doing A/B tests between the SB and E10, but the E10 sounds definitely better, even from the first listening.

One strange thing though: when I first plugged the E10, I set the 'Default format' tab settings in Windows 7 to 2 channel, 24 bit, 96000 Hz



I had my Windows volume somewhere around minimum to middle and was getting some random pops and cracks when playing music (like listening to an old vinyl record) - it was pretty annoying and I was afraid I would have to go through the RMA process with MP4 Nation. Try it yourself, I later found out, that it is most noticeable here (set the sound settings as described above): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gogobeat.ogg. Notice even the fade-in between the beats. The pops get a little bit better, when you set max volume in Windows and use the volume knob on E10.

I ended up with setting 2 channel, 16 bit, 44100 Hz, this gives me no crackles nor pops in music, whatever Win volume I use. Only the pops when you pause/stop music playback (which are still sort of annoying when playing games or windows sounds).

One last question to end this long post: Did anyone try to open the E10? I am thinking of resoldering the jack when it eventually breaks, instead of RMA...

Thanks everyone in this thread for valuale info, in general I don't regret getting E10 at all

 

[haroldlloyd]

So since buying a new pair of IEMs (the PureSound ClarityOne) as an upgrade from an old pair of Shure SE115, I've been hearing more static and hiss from the audio on my macbook pro than I used to. I think it was always there, just the new earphones bring it to the fore. Will the E10 be able to get rid of that? Or at least reduce it? If I'm not going through my on-board laptop sound driver, I assume it should just disappear.... or is that too much to ask? 

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

So since buying a new pair of IEMs (the PureSound ClarityOne) as an upgrade from an old pair of Shure SE115, I've been hearing more static and hiss from the audio on my macbook pro than I used to. I think it was always there, just the new earphones bring it to the fore. Will the E10 be able to get rid of that? Or at least reduce it? If I'm not going through my on-board laptop sound driver, I assume it should just disappear.... or is that too much to ask? 

 
 
Onboard noise is the primary reason I got the E10. Happy to say, it's DEAD silent. There's also a boost in audio quality over my onboard realtek card too. Get it!

 

[haroldlloyd]

Quote:

 
 
Onboard noise is the primary reason I got the E10. Happy to say, it's DEAD silent. There's also a boost in audio quality over my onboard realtek card too. Get it!

 
Just did get one! Thanks for that. Looking forward to hearing this now. 

 

[Textfeud]

Hi guys,
 
How is the Fiio E10 with the Beyerdynamic DT990 250ohm? Just ordered them both, but not sure I made the best decision

 

[lemons]

Could anyone comment on the Fiio E10 compared to the Xonar DG?  I have a rebranded CD-880 headphone, and although I experience no crackling with the on-board sound, I feel that I could surely get better sound from this headphone.

 

[DudeBro]

Would having this improve the sound of laptops with crappy sound cards (such as a thinkpad t510)?

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

Would having this improve the sound of laptops with crappy sound cards (such as a thinkpad t510)?

 
 
 
 

So since buying a new pair of IEMs (the PureSound ClarityOne) as an upgrade from an old pair of Shure SE115, I've been hearing more static and hiss from the audio on my macbook pro than I used to. I think it was always there, just the new earphones bring it to the fore. Will the E10 be able to get rid of that? Or at least reduce it? If I'm not going through my on-board laptop sound driver, I assume it should just disappear.... or is that too much to ask? 

 
 
Onboard noise is the primary reason I got the E10. Happy to say, it's DEAD silent. There's also a boost in audio quality over my onboard realtek card too. Get it!

 

[H20Fidelity]

My E10 arrived today, I'm mighty impressed. Very welcome change from my USB Sound Blaster. 




EDIT: I have a quick question. I want to use my Fiio E10 some distance away from my computuer. I shouldn't have any problems using a 5 meter USB cable with it should I?

 

[ClieOS]

5 meters is the max limitation of USB cable length under USB 2.0 full speed. It will probably be safer if you have an USB booster cable which usually can be found under $10.

 

[H20Fidelity]

Quote:

5 meters is the max limitation of USB cable length under USB 2.0 full speed. It will probably be safer if you have an USB booster cable which usually can be found under $10.

Thank you ClieOS. I shall look into the booster cable.

 

[257wby]

Just ordered one. It will be my first amp or DAC, so I'm pretty excited. Hoping to experience no troubles using it with a Mac

 

[C0rnholio]

I am having a new issue with the E10 - I am not entirely shure it's it's own fault per say but whenever I use it with my Brainwavs ProAlpha IEMs - and most of the time that's what I use - I get a constant static even if the music is not playing. It's not the one reported some posts ago that shuts off if something starts to play. This is constant whether the music is playing or not. It's not volume related - even on 0 I can hear it. What's even more strange is that if I move my hand around - it changes in intensity and if I put my hand on the E10 unit - it pretty much becomes silent. Also it's not the Jack either - its irrelevant if I rotate the plug or anything - nothing changes. If I use a pair of AKG K-181 - it's pretty much DEAD SILENT - so it has something to do with the IEMs being so sensitive. It doesn't matter what USB port I use - or if I use another USB cable or an extension cable - same thing. Ahh also - it doesn't matter if my laptop is connected to the AC Source or on Battery What !!

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

I am having a new issue with the E10 - I am not entirely shure it's it's own fault per say but whenever I use it with my Brainwavs ProAlpha IEMs - and most of the time that's what I use - I get a constant static even if the music is not playing. It's not the one reported some posts ago that shuts off if something starts to play. This is constant whether the music is playing or not. It's not volume related - even on 0 I can hear it. What's even more strange is that if I move my hand around - it changes in intensity and if I put my hand on the E10 unit - it pretty much becomes silent. Also it's not the Jack either - its irrelevant if I rotate the plug or anything - nothing changes. If I use a pair of AKG K-181 - it's pretty much DEAD SILENT - so it has something to do with the IEMs being so sensitive. It doesn't matter what USB port I use - or if I use another USB cable or an extension cable - same thing. Ahh also - it doesn't matter if my laptop is connected to the AC Source or on Battery What !!

 
Does your ProAlpha have noise from any other source?

 

[ClieOS]

I am having a new issue with the E10 - I am not entirely shure it's it's own fault per say but whenever I use it with my Brainwavs ProAlpha IEMs - and most of the time that's what I use - I get a constant static even if the music is not playing. It's not the one reported some posts ago that shuts off if something starts to play. This is constant whether the music is playing or not. It's not volume related - even on 0 I can hear it. What's even more strange is that if I move my hand around - it changes in intensity and if I put my hand on the E10 unit - it pretty much becomes silent. Also it's not the Jack either - its irrelevant if I rotate the plug or anything - nothing changes. If I use a pair of AKG K-181 - it's pretty much DEAD SILENT - so it has something to do with the IEMs being so sensitive. It doesn't matter what USB port I use - or if I use another USB cable or an extension cable - same thing. Ahh also - it doesn't matter if my laptop is connected to the AC Source or on Battery What !!

It seems like a grounding issue. I'll guess either the USB cable is picking up a lot of noise or the noise is coming from the USB port. One way or another, there must be a lot of electronic noise around your E10. The indication is it goes away when you are touching it, which effectively is you help grounding the unit and cut off the noise.