[NoahZ]

With the holidays coming up, I'm planning on either buying a speaker system (something from Creative, mid-quality, wireless or wired, maybe the d5x. That's irrelevant right now, though. I don't even know why I wrote it here) or a headphone amp. 
 
If I buy an amp, I would probably purchase either the Fiio e11, the Fiio e7, or a combo buy of the Fiio e7 and e9. I would use whatever I bought  mainly with my Android, using my Ultrasone PRO 550 headphones or Shure SE 215 K IEMs. If I went with the e7 and e9 combo, I would also use it a lot with my laptop. 
 
My question is, for what I'm doing should I go for just an amp or an amp/dac? In other words, what would best suit my needs? The e11, the e7 alone, or the e7 with the e9?
 
I'm in over my head. With my phone and the two headphones I mentioned earlier, and sometimes my laptop, which of these items would work best for me?
 
Thanks!

 

[KraftD1]

The E10 is 'transportable', since it's USB powered, so you don't need to bring power supply with you.  Doesn't have a battery, so not really portable.  I haven't used any of them, so can't really give advice on which to go with.

 

[NoahZ]

B-b-b-bumpers.

 

[LimeANite]

 
Quote:

B-b-b-bumpers.

Hold your horses dude...an hour and a half is barely any time at all

 
 
Quote:

The E10 is 'transportable', since it's USB powered, so you don't need to bring power supply with you.  Doesn't have a battery, so not really portable.  I haven't used any of them, so can't really give advice on which to go with.

He didn't mention the E10.
 
@ OP: If you're happy with the sound from your laptop (no excessive hissing or distortion, etc), then you'll probably be just fine with the E11.  If you feel like your laptop's DAC isn't up to snuff, then the E7 is what you want.  Unless your phone has a line-out feature out like a LOD or the USB-out that's come up on here a couple times, the E7's DAC won't do it any good; you'll just be using the amp chip in it.
 
Either way, I don't think you need the E9, unless you plan on buying more difficult to drive headphones in the future.  The E7 and E11 are more than capable of driving either the Shures or the Ultrasones.

 

[NoahZ]

Quote:

 


Hold your horses dude...an hour and a half is barely any time at all

 
 


He didn't mention the E10.
 
@ OP: If you're happy with the sound from your laptop (no excessive hissing or distortion, etc), then you'll probably be just fine with the E11.  If you feel like your laptop's DAC isn't up to snuff, then the E7 is what you want.  Unless your phone has a line-out feature out like a LOD or the USB-out that's come up on here a couple times, the E7's DAC won't do it any good; you'll just be using the amp chip in it.
 
Either way, I don't think you need the E9, unless you plan on buying more difficult to drive headphones in the future.  The E7 and E11 are more than capable of driving either the Shures or the Ultrasones.

I mentioned the E10 in my original post haha, I edited it out as soon as I realized what it was.
 
I assume I could use the E11 with my laptop, right? I honestly don't think I could even tell you if my laptop's DAC isn't up to snuff, so assuming I could use the E11 with my laptop as easily as I could with my phone then the E11 would be fine. 
 
Oh wait. Oh. Oh oh oh oh crap. Does the E11 plug into a devices USB or into it's audio jack? Because my phone's usb is a strange micro, the kind a lot of smartphones have. It's not a normal micro usb. So if the E11 plugs into the USB, not the audio jack, of my device... I suppose I'm not buying anything...
 

 

[NoahZ]

Nevermind. I looked at a picture. The E11 connects to a device's audio jack. Ok I think I'll buy that in the near future, unless someone runs in and yells "I OBJECT!"

 

[Nagasaki_Kid]

ibasso zero because it seem like you want something with a dac and a better amp section than the e7, but still remain portable.

 

[NoahZ]

ibasso zero because it seem like you want something with a dac and a better amp section than the e7, but still remain portable.

Ok. It is just like you to make this complicated. Actually, I don't know you so that's mean. I'm not conveying sarcasm through this post very well, am I?
 
I'm rambling.
 
Anyway. OK SO NOW IBASSO IS ON THE TABLE TOO. Good thing I'm not buying right away.
 
My possibilities are: FiiO E11, FiiO E7, iBasso D-Zero, iBasso T4, and iBasso T3.
 
A couple of questions, then: Is there a clear winner between these various amps/DACs? Is there any place to buy iBasso stuff aside from iBasso.com?
 
Thanks for the further help, oh wise gurus of the audio world!

 

[Nick01]

My friend likes his E10. But then you can't use it with your Android

 

[NoahZ]

Quote:

My friend likes his E10. But then you can't use it with your Android

....which is why it's not on my list.
 

 

[chef8489]

I personally would not waste my money trying to amp a phone unless it had a dedicated line out to bypass the internal amp. Now a dac for you notebook is a different story,

 

[Eric_C]

What about them speakers? What were you going to use them for?

 

[NoahZ]

 
Quote:

I personally would not waste my money trying to amp a phone unless it had a dedicated line out to bypass the internal amp. Now a dac for you notebook is a different story,

 
I'm... thinking about this. Maybe I won't go with this...
 
 


Quote:

What about them speakers? What were you going to use them for?

What am I going to use speakers for? Um.. music? I currently only have the tiny speaker in  my phone, and a crappy old logitech one my brother owns. I'm leaning toward just buying speakers, not doing an amp for now. Maybe a set of 2 of the Creative D3X, wireless linking speakers, which are really tempting me right now. Or the Creative Gigaworks T40 II. But that's an issue for a different thread.
 

 

[Coop]

I own a E7, E9 and a iBasso D2+ (which, from what I've been told, is quite similar to the D-Zero).
 
The E7 is pretty much only used at home (permanent DAC duty in combination with the E9). While the E7 and D2+ are very similar hardware wise, I keep choosing the D2+ over the E7. The only times I take the E7 along on portable duty is when I'm in a particularly bassy mood. I'm thinking about getting a D Zero, as it's supposed to be a lot like my D2+, but a bit more flat, making it easier to pocket when velcroed to my S:Flo2. The D2+ will probably find a nice new home on my office desk then.
 
 

 

[shrimants]

I feel like a dac/amp combo will give you the greatest benefit in the long run. I'd say iBasso D-Zero wins out over the Fiio E7. Less battery life but slightly better volume implementation and looks better to boot.