I don't know why these things are such a pain in the butt to sound good from small portable players and portable amps.
Been using them a lot with the E11 and Nuforce Mobile DAC (from PC) and it sounds very good.
Today I was cleaning my house and using an Iaudio 7 and E11 and the sound was rather dull and lifeless. Sounded good, but totally not like it's old self. Very strange. I don't think it's because the E11 is supposed to be neutral. Connected it from my DAC to my (full sized) Headroom Micro Amp and it sounds perfect and at it's best. A lot more engaging for sure. Similar results with the E9 (which is neutral or so they say).
Maybe giving it all these crazy amounts of power is making it sound better by boosting it's upper mids, improving the bass and increasing the soundstage. Without a lot of power from a good source everything sounds so different. I always felt to get it how I wanted it to sound, an Ipod Touch and larger portable amp was best. I never got it to my liking with smaller amps and devices. Not sure why this is. I don't think it's synergy because I've tried it with lots of portable amps and devices.
Hopefully if Tyll/Inner Fidelity ever reviews the Tony Bennet headphone (DJ100?) he can figure this mystery out. It would have been nice to use it without my Iaudio 7, but guess I'll need to use the larger Total Airhead with it.
Haven't noticed any huge difference between going from the E9 and Micro Amp.
It's kind of funny how I now listen to the DJ100 over even the K501 and HD-598
Sometimes I keep forgetting this is supposed to be closed. M50 pads help the soundstage so much really. Can't get over how much smoother the sound is with the M50 pads.
In the past I often just used them with my Ipod Touch and Total airhead, but these things are loving my cheap Nuforce Mobile DAC. So much better than the sound from the Ipod Touch. Nuforce Mobile's amp part isn't too good, but the DAC seems pretty good.
BTW It's kind of weird how with my DJ100 and K501 I use the same settings on my Headroom Micro amp. High gain and about 40% volume. Actually I need to increase the K501 sometimes by another 5%. On any of my amps, the low/medium gain doesn't give me enough volume for the DJ100
Probably will sell the E11 since it's not enough maybe if I use it with my Iaudio 7. It's great with the Ipod Touch and my DAC, but I bought it for the Iaudio. Too bad. Guess I'll have to haul around my Total Airhead for portable use. Maybe it's just bad synergy..who knows. Sounds great...as long as I use my DAC!
EDIT: Ok, maybe the E11 isn't as good as I thought with the DJ100. When I mentioned it was so good, I had it connected to my DAC. Really did seem to improve them in a lot of areas.
With the Iaudio 7 it's NOT a good match at all. Possibly due to synergy or something strange. I connected up the (which "should" be worse) Nuforce Icon Mobile and the sound is so much better. I don't think it's a better amp than the E11, but just gets along better with the DJ100.
Here's a list of amps for the DJ100 that get my approval:
Headroom Micro amp (desktop..I love this amp and prefer it to the Asgard by far)
Fiio E9 (desktop)
Schiit Asgard (desktop)
Fiio E5 (with Ipod Touch)
Nuforce Icon Mobile (amp part seems not that good, but sounds good with the DJ100)
Headroom Total Airhead (perfect for the DJ100, but a bit bulky)
If you check ljokerl's review you can find a few more that worked for him.
Even with the Nuforce Mobile and a small player the sound is a bit harsh and fatiguing (but not too badly). I noticed this a little with the E5 and the Ipod Touch.
When a more powerful amp and decent dac is used, the sound is completely smooth for me. Strange huh? I wish I knew why. I noticed this also with the D2000 recently!
I think when I have more money I'm going to upgrade my DAC just for the DJ100. No kidding.
EDIT 2:
Just found out that E11 sounds great with the Ipod Touch and DJ100. Guess the Iaudio 7 and E11 isn't enough to make the DJ100 happy. Weird. How is this possible? Not sure if it's this or just bad synergy?! The resulting sound is just so boring and missing something. Feels like everything is lacking. Well I've found the iaudio 7 has problems driving a ton of headphones itself, so that's probably the biggest problem to begin with.