[Merackon]

I own a pair of 770s @250 Ohms, which of the two is better for driving them, the E12 or the E12A?

 

[BALLX]

12A - IEM
12 - Headphones

 

[KLJTech]

The E12A has the juice to drive full-size headphones. If I were driving planar magnetics or another harder to drive headphone I would go with the E12. The E12A sounds a bit more neutral "to me" and the bass boost doesn't affect the midrange at all. I still love the E12, I just like the E12A more but as always your mileage may vary. 

 

[White Lotus]

So KLJ, you find the bass boost less on the IEM version, right? Odd, considering the graphs on the FiiO website! Unless I read your comments incorrectly, that is..

 

[Merackon]

So KLJ, you find the bass boost less on the IEM version, right? Odd, considering the graphs on the FiiO website! Unless I read your comments incorrectly, that is..

I think that there is a 1dB difference in the total bass boost. The E12 that I have is very strong and makes listening to my headphones in noisy environments good for me.

 

[KLJTech]

So KLJ, you find the bass boost less on the IEM version, right? Odd, considering the graphs on the FiiO website! Unless I read your comments incorrectly, that is..

 
Yes, I find the bass boost of the E12A to be less prominent than that of the E12 regardless of which IEM's or headphones I've used with it. I not only find the bass boost to be down a dB or two on the 12A (when compared to the E12) but I also suspect (I could be wrong)  that the boost may be set to come in at a lower frequency than it does on the E12 as it doesn't appear to have any effect on the midrange. It's possible that it comes in/starts at the same frequency as the E12 but is simply shelved down a bit and that's why it doesn't appear to mess with the midrange. 
 
Like I said, I really like both the E12 and the E12A but "to me" it appears as if FiiO did a great job in designing the E12A for IEM's and many full-size headphones. The E12A sounds great but has no background hiss when used with my Westone W40's as where the E12 would also sound great yet you would hear background noise at low levels since it has so much juice which enables it to drive even planar magnetics.  
 
Have you listened to the E12A and heard something different than I do (very possible) or are you bringing this up simply based on the graph? 
 
Maybe James from FiiO can chime in on the subject and confirm that I'm not hearing what I believe I'm hearing. I've primarily used the Westone W40's and B&W P7's with the E12A...possibly other IEM's or headphones will give one different results.  

 

[Leo888]

E12A, JDS C5, iBasso D-Zero Mk2 and Cayin C5. Have read up on them on their respective thread but would like to seek an opinion. May I know if the clarity of these model on par with other or one is better than the other. Have the Cayin C5/DX50 and looking to add an amp to my X1 to drive some iems. Which one will have the best value. Hope that I can get some feedback so as to help me decide. As at now, the E12A is on top of the list but would very much appreciate some thoughts. Thanks in advance.

 

[hakushondaimao]

E12A, JDS C5, iBasso D-Zero Mk2 and Cayin C5. Have read up on them on their respective thread but would like to seek an opinion. May I know if the clarity of these model on par with other or one is better than the other. Have the Cayin C5/DX50 and looking to add an amp to my X1 to drive some iems. Which one will have the best value. Hope that I can get some feedback so as to help me decide. As at now, the E12A is on top of the list but would very much appreciate some thoughts. Thanks in advance.

Have the E12A, but haven't tried any of the others. If you're looking to drive IEMs, the E12A makes total sense. From reading the Cayin C5 thread, it would seem that's a pretty good all-rounder, capable of driving many over-ear headphones. Getting the E12A would cover you for more sensitive headphones and in-ears, so you'd be pretty much taken care of for whatever listening you want to do. I'm considering getting the Cayin C5 for similar blanket coverage without breaking the bank.

 

[Leo888]

Have the E12A, but haven't tried any of the others. If you're looking to drive IEMs, the E12A makes total sense. From reading the Cayin C5 thread, it would seem that's a pretty good all-rounder, capable of driving many over-ear headphones. Getting the E12A would cover you for more sensitive headphones and in-ears, so you'd be pretty much taken care of for whatever listening you want to do. I'm considering getting the Cayin C5 for similar blanket coverage without breaking the bank.

That's sounds like what I plan. Honestly, I have C&C BH2 and Topping NX1 and like them a lot. They serve their duty with my other dap and want one more in the same rank of the C5 for the X1. I really hope to settle down with one with good price/performace ratio on the budget i have on hand.

Btw, thanks for the thoughts and hope for someone with experience of the few I mentioned to chip in with their thoughts.

 

[nmatheis]

E12A!!!

Much, much better bass boost than C5 and more headroom on volume pot than C5. Sounds great, too. I can see owning both, which I do - but end up using E12A more.

 

[Mr Trev]

Agreed, although I haven't heard the c5. The e12a has plenty o power to drive some full-sized phones as well. I still haven't been able to get above 11 o clock volume on low gain with any of my phones.

 

[White Lotus]

 
Have you listened to the E12A and heard something different than I do (very possible) or are you bringing this up simply based on the graph? 

 
I haven't listened to the E12A, I'm getting one this week. I trust your opinion! 
 
I'll do my best to confirm your results once I get mine this week.
 
 

  I still haven't been able to get above 11 o clock volume on low gain with any of my phones.

 
Which non-IEMs have you tried the E12A with?

 

[KLJTech]

Hope the E12A works well for you. 
I just checked to see if there are any "pro" reviews out there for the E12A and found this (I see that one of the IEM's used for the reviews is the Westone W4's, which I assume is somewhat to my W40's: 
 
 
 
http://www.headfonia.com/fiio-e12a-great-budget-iem-amp/    
 
One of the Fiio features I always like is the Bass Boost. BB lovers might be a bit disappointed this time round, because the E12A’s bass boost, as I’ve mentioned, now only represents a 4dB boost. That means the over sound of the E12A is more linear than ever before.
 
Bass boost now is + 4dB where it was +6dB on the E12. Gain setting has remained the same (+16dB) but the E12A has a lower output current as FiiO calls it.
 
 
 
http://headfonics.com/2014/11/the-fiio-e12a-the-iem-amp/
 
The E12a’s MUSE02 still favors a slightly weighted low end but compared to the E12 the E12a low end is much more discreet and less in your face. The bass response on the E12a is toned down considerably without losing any sense of depth or slam whereas compared to the E12 using IEM’s the bass response is perhaps a little too dominant coloring the presentation and squeezing out the mids in favor of mid-bass slam and low end power. 
 
With the E12a the bass response feels tighter, a little bit less present and less boomy.

 

[nmatheis]

Agree with the reviewer's assessment of E12A's bass - tight & focused come to my mind. I just leave it on most of the time, since it fills out the bottom end nicely without warming up the sound.

In comparison, the Cayin C5's bass boost makes the sound signature noticeably warmer, and I leave that off all the time.

 

[Mr Trev]

   
 
 
Which non-IEMs have you tried the E12A with?

So far just Grado 125 & Beyer t51. Neither is hard to drive, but the grado is the one that used the most volume. Got a hp150 on the way, supposedly sounds nice with the e12a.