[mdiogofs]

But if you don't have the E6 yet, the NX1 is not much more expensive. Maybe just no more than $15 more than the E6. Bought it at Shenzenaudio on a promotion for about $35 I think.

 

[ph0n6]

The NX1 is nice for the price, but tbh E12A is at another level (surprised!), especially for sensitive IEM.

 

[dan.gheorghe]

Guys, I just loved the E12A. Never expected this level of quality at that price. In some areas like details and transparency it beats much more expensive amplifiers. (even full sized ones)
 
You can find my full review here.

 

[Fadem]

  Guys, I just loved the E12A. Never expected this level of quality at that price. In some areas like details and transparency it beats much more expensive amplifiers. (even full sized ones)
 
You can find my full review here.

Nice review. Just a small question about 'pocketability'; how easy does the potentiometer move? Is it possible to accidentally turn up the volume while in the pocket?

 

[dan.gheorghe]

 
Nice review. Just a small question about 'pocketability'; how easy does the potentiometer move? Is it possible to accidentally turn up the volume while in the pocket?

Thank you, Fadem. Good observation. The potentiometer is pretty stiff, but can be accidentally turned up while in pocket.

 

[KLJTech]

  Thank you, Fadem. Good observation. The potentiometer is pretty stiff, but can be accidentally turned up while in pocket.

 
I read reviews in which they stated that they volume knob on the E12A is smoother and easier to adjust than the stiffer E12 and I agree, it is easier yet I've never had it move on its own while in my pocket or belt pouch. I think it's not really an issue because the volume knob doesn't stick out beyond the sides of the amp's case. I do find it easier to make very fine volume adjustments with the E12A than my E12 which has a bit stiffer feel to the volume control. If FiiO had made the knob any easier to turn I think it may have THEN had issues turning one way or another, on its own, when being slide in or out of a pocket.
 
I know that there are a couple other very nice amps in the price range but frankly I'm enjoying the E12A so much that I'm not concerned about it as I'm too busy enjoying the music. The E12A mates perfectly with the two headphone/IEM's (Westone W40's and B&W P7's) that I use most when I'm on the go or simply relaxing at home but not in the room of my main system. It's a pretty clean/neutral sounding amp and I like that if you decide to use the bass boost that you do get a bit more low-end thump, which is nice and tight, but doesn't affect the midrange at all...at least with my gear. 

 

[Fadem]

Alright, I received the Sabre DAC today. Major improvement over the headphone out of my HTC One M8 (no audible noise at low volumes with sensitive IEMs!) when listening straight from the DAC, but I need near maximum volume to approach my normal listening playback. Adding the Fiio E6 to the chain returns some of the noise from the headphone out. Quite a bit of distortion at first too, but that was solved by lowering the pre-amp volume in PowerAmp. However, both the red and blue EQ give audible and annoying distortion. I've ordered the E12a to see whether or not it can perform better, should arrive tomorrow. 

 

[mdiogofs]

Nice! Share your impressions about how it pairs with the Android/tiny sabre DAC

 

[DeeKay10]

The Android DAC has some sort of amplification built-in then? The PC one sounds awful when listening to it directly. Also, what pre-amp settings does PowerAmp has? As far as I'm aware all of its tweaks are at the software level and as such, are usually off.
I do recall the E06 having slight hiss, but not enough to bother, particularly while music is playing. The red and blue are +6 and +3 db at the bass department respectively (the red's pretty useless IMO), but I don't remember hearing anything out of the ordinary...
 
The PC Sabre+E12A is dead silent, if it's any comfort. Clearly, if you still be hearing hiss and distortions after that, something's screwed up either with the phone or the DAC.

 

[mdiogofs]

The Android version makes the volume at the smartphone 100% or muted. It's all or nothing, you absolutely need an amp to control the volume.

 

[Fadem]

Quote:

  The Android DAC has some sort of amplification built-in then? The PC one sounds awful when listening to it directly. Also, what pre-amp settings does PowerAmp has? As far as I'm aware all of its tweaks are at the software level and as such, are usually off.
I do recall the E06 having slight hiss, but not enough to bother, particularly while music is playing. The red and blue are +6 and +3 db at the bass department respectively (the red's pretty useless IMO), but I don't remember hearing anything out of the ordinary...
 
The PC Sabre+E12A is dead silent, if it's any comfort. Clearly, if you still be hearing hiss and distortions after that, something's screwed up either with the phone or the DAC.

The DAC responds to Android's volume control. In the PowerAmp equalizer the left most slider is labelled "pre-amp". It seems that the DAC causes the limiter to stop working; I had the pre-amp gain set to max before.
The E6 bass boosts don't sound well at all, seems to influence quite a bit of the frequency range. Tried just now at work with Phone > DAC > E11k > M50 and there was no such issue with the bass boost.  
 

The Android version makes the volume at the smartphone 100% or muted. It's all or nothing, you absolutely need an amp to control the volume.

Very odd, mine does not respond like that. I just tried again, the volume controls in the default music player and PowerAmp both control the volume output of the DAC. (HTC One M8, Android 5.0).
 
 
Anyhow, I should get my E12a today, I'll make a short write up, mostly about the technical capabilities and not so much soundstage changes and whatnot.

 

[gearofwar]

Currenlty looking for more impression on X5  with E12A

 

[nmatheis]

I'm not great at describing the nuances, but I really like E12A and E12 DIY with X5. I typically use one or the other when I have my X5 parked on my desk. If I'm out and about, I don't amp.

 

[Fadem]

Alright, I got the E12A today instead of yesterday. Here's some initial thoughts after listening with the IM70 and the UE900s:
 
- Pairs very well with the HiFiMeDIY DAC, no noise (hiss) coming from the amplifier during playback unless turned all the way up (don't do this while playing music with IEMs in ear, this is seriously loud and could damage your hearing and the drivers!). When turning the volume dial to beyond 9 o'clock when there's no playback, the noise turns into a screeching sound though not too loud.
- Slight hiss on high gain for my IEMs, but that is to be expected. I think the high gain mode is not needed for the vast majority of IEMs anyway. High gain is +12 dB and interestingly, low gain is stated to be -1 dB in the specifications and not 0 dB as expected.
- No loud eardrum shattering popping when putting in/removing the 3.5mm jack in/from the amplifiers headphone out
- These go very very loud, very fast I have an effective space on the volume dial between 2 and 5 o'clock on low gain to work with before it becomes very uncomfortable - should probably not have the phone to DAC output set to max. volume to have a greater range. (Off = 1 o'clock, On = 2 o'clock and maximum = 11 o'clock)
- The bass boost is very clean and doesn't intrude in the rest of the spectrum, very clean and polished - I like it a lot, boosts mostly in the lower bass regions.
- It seems like the DAC+Amp combo is slightly more detailed than just the DAC itself (and especially much, much more detailed than the headphone out of the HTC One M8, which I feel is very noisy for sensitive IEMs) - though this could possibly be attributed to the fact that the volume is higher with the DAC+E12A than with just the DAC.
- Some artifacts in losssy recordings become quite more apparent with the HiFimeDIY+E12a than compared to using the HTC One M8's headphone out and even just the DAC alone (albeit slightly). I'm undecided on whether or not this is a good thing yet; the amount of lossless files I have in my collection is relatively low at the moment. 
- The volume potentiometer knob has more resistance to turning it than the one of the E11k; I don't see the E12A's knob turning by itself very easily when placed in a pocket.
- There was only an L-shaped 3.5mm interconnect cable included. Fiio included both straight 3.5mm and L-shaped interconnects with their other portable amplifiers, at least the ones I have
- I need to find a better way to make it into a portable set-up, the provided rubber bands don't really cut it for me, cover too much of the screen.
 
Based on these observations, I would definitely recommend the E12A to anyone who values clean sound and wants to enhance their listening experience when on the go. Hope this helps!

 

[gearofwar]

^ Do you think straight interconnect plug is a good idea? IMO, it doesn't seem to be convenient for carrying around