[Mad Lust Envy]

That IS true, but DAMN if that isn't the toughest volume knob in existence, lol.

So I initially felt the E12 was bright. Then I thought it was the Fiio D03K. It seems to have been the music I had recently downloaded. So sibilant.

The X1 is almost unusable on high gain. The E12 has a crapton of gain... but damn, it sounds extremely tight/clean.

 

[pietcux]

Quote:

Sure the u7 supports DH? It only says Dolby home cinema in the specs.

[size=11pt][size=medium]This is what I asked Dolby support:[/size][/size]
[size=11pt] [/size]
[size=11pt][size=medium]As a long time user of Dolby Headphone technology from Asus Xonar soundcards, I am concerned that the new Dolby® Home Theater v4 headphone implementation found on the Xonar U7 might be inferior to the classical Dolby Headphone. Please clarify that for me. [/size][/size]
[size=11pt][size=medium]Thanks Peter[/size][/size]
[size=11pt] [/size]
[size=11pt]Hi Peter-[/size]
[size=11pt]I apologize for the delay in responding to your email, the team was attending E3 last week.  The algorithms between Dolby Headphone and Dolby Home Theater v4 for headphone virtualization are the same, so there shouldn’t be any difference.  You may be hearing a difference because DHT v4 features things like volume leveling, dialogue enhancement, etc.[/size]
 
[size=11pt]I hope this helps.[/size]
 
[size=11pt]Best-[/size]
[size=11pt]The Dolby Game Team[/size]

 

[pietcux]

Quote:

But still no console support...

The Dolby stuff is calculated by the PC. No console will ever give the software space to do so.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Interesting. Thanks Piet.
 
Anyway Peter, do you have any personal comparison between FiiO E11/E12 and your Meier?
 
I want a portable amp to power any headphone for the Mixamp and deciding between FiiO and Meier. UHA6 MKII is an alternative. 

 

[pietcux]

The E12 is very tempting, but I could hold back myself from buying both the E12 and the X3 DAP. I am totally happy with my Ultrasone Signature DJ, the Ipod Classic and the Stepdance @ 15 volt, I cannot stand more of better sound right now.
 

 
But maybe I will preorder The E12 limited version that was announced here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/674808/fiio-e12diy-limited-edition-version
 
Very tempting

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I was about to rage if I had seen the input and usb ports moved to the back. I would've packaged the E12 right back up to return if that had been the case.

 

[pietcux]

What would Yoda tell you about this rage.......

 
The complete back of the E12 is filled with its powerful battery though, no space for connectors. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

So I just scored an E17 off the forums for $75. I plan on leaving it stacked with the E12 (through the L7 lod which I've had since ancient times, lol), and using the E17 as my SPDIF dac for the Xonar U3, and the USB portion for my audiophile purposes. Makes the Fiio D03K moot, but oh well.

It was that or the ODAC later, and I chose versatility over tech superiority. I find DACs to sound samey anyways...

 

[Evshrug]

That IS true, but DAMN if that isn't the toughest volume knob in existence, lol.

So I initially felt the E12 was bright. Then I thought it was the Fiio D03K. It seems to have been the music I had recently downloaded. So sibilant.

The X1 is almost unusable on high gain. The E12 has a crapton of gain... but damn, it sounds extremely tight/clean.

So, you're liking it? Yeah it IS impressively clean, that's the benefit of the low total harmonic distortion, low output impedance, and crazy (for a portable) power. It is maybe a bit much for 100% portable use, but it's impressive enough to suit more power-hungry headphones. It even supplies a fair amount of current for low-impedance headphones to sound their best, if I am not mistaken (the low output impedance helps).

Why use high gain with a low impedance 'phone? That's 16 dB of gain, you crazy Mad man!

Btw, I also thought the E12 was clean but on the edge of bright initially, but apparently resistor burn-in or at least settling is actually a thing. So yeah, sibilant music counts, but the slightly edged treble smooths out. FiiO's most neutral portable amp to date, IMO.

 

[Fegefeuer]

The Objective O2 is actually not too bad for my Mixamp 5.8 living room solution even though it's not portable. They should all be the same except certain features or is there some standout among the O2 creations? JDS vs. Epiphany?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Nah, they should be similar.

I never got into the O2 because of all the inputs being in the front. That is a horrible design. I mean, REALLY, a power adapter input on the front? That is such a turn off.

 

[Fegefeuer]

yeah, that's true, it's not very pretty and nobody tried changing this. I guess they're loyal to the board design.
 
The great appeal is in it being the best and at the same time cheapest solution for tougher headphones both SQ-wise and in power.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

To anyone else who bought Tales of Xillia... the game runs in Dolby Digital, unlike Tales of Graces F.

I say this, because if you're using Millia, the very first area of the game when you're in control of her has some water running in the distance which offers very fantastic positional cues.

I'm sure the game has plenty of more, but just thought I'd mention this as I just now heard it, and I have to immediately go to sleep, lol.

 

[Dillweed]

Is there a good guide somewhere for how to find an appropriate amp for your headphones?
 
I have those TH-600s coming to me now, but from the best information I can find, the output impedance on my Lovely Cube is 6 Ohms on the headphone out, which doesn't seem like a good fit if you use that 1/8th rule (6 Ohms output impedance → 48 Ohms minimum headphone impedance vs. the TH-600's 25 Ohms). Most of the technicalities are over my head. I'm not sure about the output impedance directly from the X-Fi Titanium HD itself, but an article at goldenears puts it around 35.59 Ohms (I'm guessing on the headphone out). I don't know how to figure out the line out impedance from the specs given, since all they really say is 2Vrms and 122dB output on the line out. Somebody on the Creative forums said that the line out impedance is "0.01 ohms @ 10K load," but again, I don't know/remember how to translate that to usable information when trying to pair a headphone and amp.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Line Out of the Titanium HD (don't worry about loss CMSS-3D, it's not bound to any output so you can still use it via line out) to an Objective O2 amp would be a very good combo.