[DiscoProJoe]

Paired with my V-Moda M-100s, this amp is so amazing that I wrote a whole article about it at http://hub.me/aji60
 
I run it through the analog line-out jack on the top of my iPod Classic with the volume knob on the E12A set to max, along with the gain switch set to "high," and control the volume completely from the iPod. If the music on the iPod is all the way down and paused, I can't hear hardly any noise or hiss coming from the amp. This is awesome, because I want to control everything from the iPod (with a set volume limit on the iPod to prevent any accidental ear-blowouts if my finger slips). I also don't need to mess with any knobs on the amp while walking and listening, and can keep one hand free. And if I accidentally bump the knob, it won't blow out my ears and ruin my good headphones.
 
The extra bass boost switch on the side is absolutely essential and really whoops some major ass. I almost always use it with my M-100s. It sounds super solid and clean without boosting the upper midbass nor lower midrange very much, and I can combine it with the bass boosts on my iPod to really boost the low end -- especially on a lot of  '80s music where a huge sub-bass boost is usually needed to make it hit. You can see a graph of the E12A bass boost curve by clicking here . It boosts it by 6 dB, centered around 20 Hz, and this 6 dB boost is spread throughout the 10Hz-40Hz range, which totally shines through on the M-100s. Only a 2 dB boost remains at 200 Hz, and only 1 dB at 300 Hz, so it pretty-much leaves the mids alone.
 
It also works great if I plug it into the auxiliary input on my small 2.1-channel desktop stereo. In this setup, the volume on the E12A is still set to max, but with the bass boost switch turned off. I also need to turn down the volume on the iPod somewhat so the signal doesn't overpower the input on the stereo and get distorted. (Without the E12A, I would set the iPod volume at max while running it through a receiver.)
 
Well, to contrast the E12A with a different amp, I sampled a Cayin C5 at a local Hi-Fi shop, which was sitting next to the E12A on their display table (just prior to purchasing the E12A a couple weeks ago). I was using my M-100s while listening, and the C5 sounded awful in comparison. The C5 had way too much noise with its volume turned way up, and with the music on my iPod paused or turned down. It also didn't sound as clean, and with my M-100s, the C5 had too much coloration in the upper midbass and lower midrange -- especially with its bass boost, which made it sound even-worse.
 
Anyway, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Happy amping!  

 

 

[Paulus XII]

I think the sound of it is so unique, like "FiiO house sound" as we say for Westone. Something like that. I'm in love by the sound of this amp. And the sinergy with the Westone W40 is terrific. Never felt anything like this with the JDSLabs C5.

 

[SashimiWu]

  I think the sound of it is so unique, like "FiiO house sound" as we say for Westone. Something like that. I'm in love by the sound of this amp. And the sinergy with the Westone W40 is terrific. Never felt anything like this with the JDSLabs C5.

 
If you don't mind what would you say sounds different about this amp from the JDS Labs C5?
 
I really enjoy the clean and detailed sound of the C5 along with the multiple steps of bass boost but the E12A seems to be a nice option for perhaps a slightly warmer sound.

 

[shacky]

  Paired with my V-Moda M-100s, this amp is so amazing that I wrote a whole article about it at http://hub.me/aji60
 
I run it through the analog line-out jack on the top of my iPod Classic with the volume knob on the E12A set to max, along with the gain switch set to "high," and control the volume completely from the iPod.  

 
Do yourself a favor and get a true line out bypassing iPod amp section - connects to 30 pin side.  You will be thankful you did 

 

[DiscoProJoe]

   
Do yourself a favor and get a true line out bypassing iPod amp section - connects to 30 pin side.  You will be thankful you did 

 
They let me try it both ways at the Hi-Fi shop (first with a 30-pin connector, and next with with a standard line-out plug). I totally preferred the second method.  I could still control the volume from the iPod (which I couldn't when using the 30-pin).  I also could point the amp in the direction I prefer -- with the wires and volume knob facing upward and away from me, instead of downward or toward me and getting in the way. And oh yeah,...I couldn't notice any difference in sound quality either way, especially since the amp puts out almost no noise whatsoever with ultra-low distortion, and Apple products such as iPods have very little distortion as well.

 

[Dobrescu George]

   
They let me try it both ways at the Hi-Fi shop (first with a 30-pin connector, and next with with a standard line-out plug). I totally preferred the second method.  I could still control the volume from the iPod (which I couldn't when using the 30-pin).  I also could point the amp in the direction I prefer -- with the wires and volume knob facing upward and away from me, instead of downward or toward me and getting in the way. And oh yeah,...I couldn't notice any difference in sound quality either way, especially since the amp puts out almost no noise whatsoever with ultra-low distortion, and Apple products such as iPods have very little distortion as well.

yes, but you are still double amping, which degrades the original signal. But haing a input resistance of a order of KOHM means that most of that is filtered anyways. 
 
What could use improovement, is the fact that ipod amp is not totally colorless, but it is close, so it is up to if you hear or care about the difference, which should be small.

 

[vman]

Can you guys suggest a DAC that pairs well with the E12A?
 
Budget is <$70. I have an android phone (Sony Z3 compact).
 
Thanks.

 

[snellemin]

I've been enjoying my E12A for a while now.  I use it with my old iphone 3gs, minidisc players and hooked up to my Ibasso D7 when my kids want listen along with their headphones.  My head gear is not as fancy, but it's just consist the Sony MDR-V6, Monster Turbines and Lil Jamz.  The E12A does well with the Sony and I can listen for hours on end with the amp attached.  I'm using the Denon app on the Iphone.  I was happy running my portable rigs without an amp ever since I was kid.  But in the pass two years, my hearing is not as good anymore.  So I spend that time reading this forum and see what would fit my needs.  After lurking for ages, I finally decide the join and say thanks.  
 
I grew up with loud music, learned how to recone speakers, rewound voice coils in woofers  and build big speaker boxes at the age of 14.  Messed around with car audio for a long time.  My home audio also went crazy as I got older.  So as my hearing is letting go, I decided I needed an amp for my portable players.  The FIIO E12A seemed to be what I needed.  My friend told me about his Fiio E12 DIY and how he loved it.  I almost bought one, but the E12A came out and was meant for the IEM.  I figured it would be the perfect match for my beloved Turbines, and it is.  It sounds so good. Everything sounds so clear.  A lot more bass and it's clean undistorted bass. My minidisc players are in use again and so so are my old phones that had been laying around.  The bass is so clean and I don't really need to use the bass boost with the Turbines.  The EQ and limiter in the Denon app make my earphones and headphone come alive with the E12A.  I really don't mind lugging around this amp.  I mean I am one of those that still rock out on my early 80's Sony cassette Walkman at the gym.  
 
I was surprised how well the E12A handled my Sony V6 headphones.  I thought I would need the E12 for the higher bass boost and power.  But no need for me.  All I have to do is use the high gain, enable the Bass and tweak the bass level in the Denon app.  Headphones have more than enough power for my ears. The bass is enough for all my EDM, Drum&Bass, Miami Bass, and Reggea music.  This little portable amp is great.  
 
To my ears the FIIO E12A bass sounds nearly as nice as my IBasso D7 when using my Sony headphones.  But that could be because the D7 is hooked up to my PC and I'm using the VLC player EQ with it.  The FIIO really shines with the Turbines and makes a nice addition to my music setup at home.  Sometimes I can't blare out my home audio setup, nor my PC setup.  So me and my kids can just plug in our headphones and enjoy music without disturbing anybody else. 
 

 

 

[DiscoProJoe]

  yes, but you are still double amping, which degrades the original signal. But haing a input resistance of a order of KOHM means that most of that is filtered anyways. 
 
What could use improovement, is the fact that ipod amp is not totally colorless, but it is close, so it is up to if you hear or care about the difference, which should be small.

The E12A isn't a DAC/amp, and is all-analog, so anyone using the E12A will be double-amping, regardless. The 30-pin connector I tried at the shop was a simple adaptor plug with a 3.5mm analog audio line plug on the other end of it; it wasn't a 30-pin-to-USB line as a DAC/amp would use.
 
Apparently, all that 30-pin-to-3.5mm line adaptor did was send an analog signal to the E12A as if the iPod were at maximum volume.
 
Anyway, I couldn't find any highly-technical audio specs for the iPod Classic, but I did find one for an older iPod Touch at http://kenrockwell.com/apple/ipod-touch-4g.htm#perf .  The results for an 80GB iPod Classic (6th Generation) are probably quite similar. For the older iPod Touch, it's 10Hz to 22kHz, +/- 0.02dB with 0.00025% distortion. Most humans usually can't notice distortion of less than 3%.

 

[Dobrescu George]

of course. if it does not bypass the amp in the ipod, then there is no reason for you to use it.
 
for example, the line out of fiio x5 bypasses the amp, and sends a full blown un-amped signal into e12a. it does not do double amp, the amp section is turned off. i thought that the adaptor for ipod could do the same thing.

 

[Paulus XII]

   
If you don't mind what would you say sounds different about this amp from the JDS Labs C5?
 
I really enjoy the clean and detailed sound of the C5 along with the multiple steps of bass boost but the E12A seems to be a nice option for perhaps a slightly warmer sound.

 
I don't know, there's that sweetness in the mids, so mellow, almost "liquid", that I didn't find in the C5 and most importantly the treble. JDS C5's treble was too dry and lifeless to me. Really bad, the worst part of that amp. Bass was excelent though. But the E12A sounds better to me in general. Concerning layering they're equivalent. Another thing that I think is excelent in the E12A is tonality and timbre, but of course, this can be the Westone W40, the E12A just amplifying the sound and giving a better perception of that. The amp is neutral but there's maybe just some very slight sweet coloration in the mids, not quite sure, again the sweet/"liquid" mids can be already coming from the Westone W40, just amplified. I think that the E12 takes everything that is good in the W40's and makes it sound even better. Fuller, sweeter, lush, refined. All in all the best match I've found for W40 so far.

 

[DiscoProJoe]

  for example, the line out of fiio x5 bypasses the amp, and sends a full blown un-amped signal into e12a. it does not do double amp, the amp section is turned off. i thought that the adaptor for ipod could do the same thing.

 
My bad; I think the iPod is the same way. The 30-pin-to-3.5mm "L-shaped adaptor" works like an analog line-out plug for the iPod, whereas a 3.5mm-to-3.5mm line works like an analog headphone-out (with the iPod). The iPod doesn't have a separate 3.5mm line-out port, so if you're using a 3.5mm-to-3.5mm line that's connected to an external auxiliary input, you'll just have to use the iPod's headphone output.
 
 

 of course. if it does not bypass the amp in the ipod, then there is no reason for you to use it.

 
Audiophiles would have no reason to use it, that is, but non-audiophiles like me have all the reasons in the world to do so! Since I personally couldn't notice any difference in sound quality between using an L-shaped adaptor versus a 3.5mm-to-3.5mm line, I chose the latter. Why? Because it's a lot more ergonomical and gives me more control options. When using an L-shaped adaptor, it doesn't allow me to adjust the volume from the iPod, but with a 3.5mm-to-3.5mm line, I still can.
 
One of the reasons I love the E12A so much is because it is a non-audiophile's dream!  As I said earlier, you can set the amp gain at max and control the volume from your music player while using a standard 3.5mm-to-3.5mm line, and you won't get hardly any extra audible noise. As a non-audiophile, if I personally can't notice any sound quality difference, then I choose whichever options are easier, cheaper, smaller, safer, more flexible, more ergonomical, and have more longevity.
 
For example, if I could select between a device with a 120dB dynamic range and 0.00000001% distortion, versus one with a 70dB dynamic range and 1% distortion with all the other audio specs identical to the first device, and if the latter device was somewhat cheaper and easier to use, then I'd pick the latter one in a heartbeat, as long as I'm not using it in a recording studio.
 
Anyway, most audiophiles probably would prefer DAC/amps over the E12A, such as V-Moda's Vamp Verza, which is $600. (The E12A is $150, by comparison.)
 
Finally, I found another discussion about this line-out vs. headphone-out topic here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/615499/line-out-dock-vs-headphone-out
 
There's also a spec page I found (possibly from 2003) for much older iPods at http://www.stereophile.com/content/apple-ipod-portable-music-player-measurements
 
Happy amping,...whichever floats your boat!  

 

[Dobrescu George]

   
My bad; I think the iPod is the same way. The 30-pin-to-3.5mm "L-shaped adaptor" works like an analog line-out plug for the iPod, whereas a 3.5mm-to-3.5mm line works like an analog headphone-out (with the iPod). The iPod doesn't have a separate 3.5mm line-out port, so if you're using a 3.5mm-to-3.5mm line that's connected to an external auxiliary input, you'll just have to use the iPod's headphone output.
 
 
 
Audiophiles would have no reason to use it, that is, but non-audiophiles like me have all the reasons in the world to do so! Since I personally couldn't notice any difference in sound quality between using an L-shaped adaptor versus a 3.5mm-to-3.5mm line, I chose the latter. Why? Because it's a lot more ergonomical and gives me more control options. When using an L-shaped adaptor, it doesn't allow me to adjust the volume from the iPod, but with a 3.5mm-to-3.5mm line, I still can.
 
One of the reasons I love the E12A so much is because it is a non-audiophile's dream!  As I said earlier, you can set the amp gain at max and control the volume from your music player while using a standard 3.5mm-to-3.5mm line, and you won't get hardly any extra audible noise. As a non-audiophile, if I personally can't notice any sound quality difference, then I choose whichever options are easier, cheaper, smaller, safer, more flexible, more ergonomical, and have more longevity.
 
For example, if I could select between a device with a 120dB dynamic range and 0.00000001% distortion, versus one with a 70dB dynamic range and 1% distortion with all the other audio specs identical to the first device, and if the latter device was somewhat cheaper and easier to use, then I'd pick the latter one in a heartbeat, as long as I'm not using it in a recording studio.
 
Anyway, most audiophiles probably would prefer DAC/amps over the E12A, such as V-Moda's Vamp Verza, which is $600. (The E12A is $150, by comparison.)
 
Finally, I found another discussion about this line-out vs. headphone-out topic here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/615499/line-out-dock-vs-headphone-out
 
There's also a spec page I found (possibly from 2003) for much older iPods at http://www.stereophile.com/content/apple-ipod-portable-music-player-measurements
 
Happy amping,...whichever floats your boat!  

just a little note, just for using IEMs the amp in e12a is  one of the best alavaible on the market. Fiio are very kind people to have it at such a low price, because, that amp, is practically amazing.
 
i would still choose e12a over vamp verza. in fact, for using iems, such as ie8 and ie800, it is one of the best amps possible at any price, it does have plenty of power for iems, and sounds good too!

 

[ph0n6]

Actually the ipod classic require a mod to achieve true LO, unlike most DAP we have on the market now. Yes the Double Amping can distort the sound so really I can't recommend them.

 

[DiscoProJoe]

  Actually the ipod classic require a mod to achieve true LO, unlike most DAP we have on the market now.

 
You mean to say that the 30-pin-to-3.5mm "L-shaped adaptor" also uses the iPod Classic's internal amp? This makes sense, because when I tried listening to it that way, it sounded the same as using the headphone output at maximum volume.
 

distort the sound

 
Personally, my only complaint about the iPod Classic is that its digital EQ (if used) will often audibly distort the sound on a lot of newer music, prompting me to settle for a different EQ setting that doesn't distort it, or to settle for it at "flat" or "off." On most '80s music, the EQ doesn't distort the sound at all, but it does on a lot of newer music.
 
A couple months ago I had the battery replaced in the iPod, and had the circuit boards thoroughly cleaned, and it runs like a champ. (It's more than 6 1/2 years old.) If and when it eventually goes out on me in the future, I'll probably get the latest FiiO player or something.