[canadien]

Hello guys, will e12 and C&C BH work with my Samsung Nexus S phone? or is it only compatible with iphone? Can I pass through from PC audio connector?

 

[Bill-P]

Both E12 and BH are amplifiers, so they'll work with anything. Not just iPhones.
 
And I think there's a common misconception that the headphone out of any device is bad, but I personally don't think so. The internal amp section of the device may skewer the sound, but there's no problem plugging an external amplifier into the headphone output of any device. You can still get good sound out of it. Maybe you'll get better out of a line-out, but that's not a necessity.

 

[JoeH]

I have read through this thread and many others, and I still can't decide which amp to get.
I try to find an amp to partner up with K550 and IPod 5.5, which I feel the sound is very muddy , and the treble, base and normal vocal seem mixed together. Of course, I don't mean you cannot tell them apart, IPod 5.5 does have a wolfson chip and K550 is a relative good headphone. However, there is just no excitement inside.
Does anyone can give a little insight on that?
 
Is K550+IPod 5.5 suitable to E12? or C&C BH is better choice for K550 + IPod 5.5?
or no matter which one I choose I won't see much improvement, because the problem is the DAC? so to get a better player is more practical?
 
I will appreciate your help very much.

 

[Gintaras]

Jeo, hard to tell. E12 is newer amp so you must ask people who have or had both. one of them is Bill and he posted his findings in which he liked E12 over BH.
 
so it would wise to ask Bill-P who did side by side comparison.

 

[JoeH]

Thanks. I see.

I read the post, but I am sure whether I should consider K550 as a warm headphone or other. I feel its sound totally depends on what source you feed it. I don't know which amp would be better to choose.
 
Or even I am not sure how much the difference the amp would make, if I choose any of the two. so I am considering whether it would be more worthy to buy a better player than just to get a BH or E12 pair up with IPod 5.5.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

I have read through this thread and many others, and I still can't decide which amp to get.
I try to find an amp to partner up with K550 and IPod 5.5, which I feel the sound is very muddy , and the treble, base and normal vocal seem mixed together. Of course, I don't mean you cannot tell them apart, IPod 5.5 does have a wolfson chip and K550 is a relative good headphone. However, there is just no excitement inside.
Does anyone can give a little insight on that?
 
Is K550+IPod 5.5 suitable to E12? or C&C BH is better choice for K550 + IPod 5.5?
or no matter which one I choose I won't see much improvement, because the problem is the DAC? so to get a better player is more practical?
 
I will appreciate your help very much.

I don't find the 5.5 muddy at all....and I use the line-out with the FiiO E11, which some people say sounds dark (which I disagree with).

 

[JoeH]

Quote:

I don't find the 5.5 muddy at all....and I use the line-out with the FiiO E11, which some people say sounds dark (which I disagree with).

yes. I think I just didn't say it right. Actually I don't think it is muddy, but it is just hard to describe that kind of feeling.
 
Does  pairing up IPod 5.5 with E11 make a lot of difference?
 

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

yes. I think I just didn't say it right. Actually I don't think it is muddy, but it is just hard to describe that kind of feeling.
 
Does  pairing up IPod 5.5 with E11 make a lot of difference?
 

I think the 5.5  has what some some call a non-fatiguing sound, an analog type sound....you can listen to it all day long without needing to take a break. And if you Rockbox it, then you'd have a 10 band parametric EQ and bunch of other adjustments you could make, if you so desired. I'm not using the EQ, but I do have the Meier-style crossfeed enabled....it's a very subtle crossfeed that doesn't ruin the separation in early stereo mixes, just tones it down the slightest little bit.
 
Since I don't use sensitive IEMs, then I don't notice a sound signature difference when using my FiiO amps (E11 and E6) as long as I don't engage the bass boost of the amps. There's just more power available. If one was using sensitive IEMs, then headphone-out vs. line-out could make a much more noticeable difference. I do prefer the volume control of my amps rather than relying on the clickwheel for volume adjustments, but that doesn't bother everyone.
 
For you, it's possible Rockbox alone could let you make the changes you want without needing to get an amp at all....it's worth a shot, plus it lets you bypass iTunes.

 

[JoeH]

Quote:

I think the 5.5  has what some some call a non-fatiguing sound, an analog type sound....you can listen to it all day long without needing to take a break. And if you Rockbox it, then you'd have a 10 band parametric EQ and bunch of other adjustments you could make, if you so desired. I'm not using the EQ, but I do have the Meier-style crossfeed enabled....it's a very subtle crossfeed that doesn't ruin the separation in early stereo mixes, just tones it down the slightest little bit.
 
Since I don't use sensitive IEMs, then I don't notice a sound signature difference when using my FiiO amps (E11 and E6) as long as I don't engage the bass boost of the amps. There's just more power available. If one was using sensitive IEMs, then headphone-out vs. line-out could make a much more noticeable difference. I do prefer the volume control of my amps rather than relying on the clickwheel for volume adjustments, but that doesn't bother everyone.
 
For you, it's possible Rockbox alone could let you make the changes you want without needing to get an amp at all....it's worth a shot, plus it lets you bypass iTunes.

Thank you for your advise. I will give it a shot. 
I think what you mentioned helped me understand a little more about what I felt. 
IPod 5.5 doesn't color its songs, and K550 is also pretty neutral, so adding them up, they just truly interpret the sound as it is. Sometimes    I feel like listening to many people play all kinds of instrument simultaneously to me, and all the sounds are so distinct from each other. Maybe it is because of that, it makes me feel going crazy. maybe the good separation of sounds provided by IPod 5.5 and K550 threw me off. I think crossfeed should worth a shot.
 
Thanks.

 

[Moab]

I currently do not own headphones or a headphone amp. I would like a great sounding portable setup. I have a 5.5 gen IPod Classic. I have considered the E11 and the Sennheiser H D-25 II headphones more than any other equipment. The E-12 sounds great also. I assume I do not need an amp with a DAC for the 5.5 gen IPod?

What is a great portable setup with the iPod I have? I am very interested in the E-12.

 

[Bill-P]

Quote:

I have read through this thread and many others, and I still can't decide which amp to get.
I try to find an amp to partner up with K550 and IPod 5.5, which I feel the sound is very muddy , and the treble, base and normal vocal seem mixed together. Of course, I don't mean you cannot tell them apart, IPod 5.5 does have a wolfson chip and K550 is a relative good headphone. However, there is just no excitement inside.
Does anyone can give a little insight on that?
 
Is K550+IPod 5.5 suitable to E12? or C&C BH is better choice for K550 + IPod 5.5?
or no matter which one I choose I won't see much improvement, because the problem is the DAC? so to get a better player is more practical?
 
I will appreciate your help very much.

 
You mean the sound is "congested"? And by that, I really mean that there's no distinction between different instruments and vocals.
 
If that's the case, C&C BH is the better choice.
 
Also, just to say, but Wolfson isn't a guarantee of good sound. At least not relative to what we have now. I think you'll want an amp that slightly boosts treble or clarity to go along with any wolfson-based audio player.
 
Quote:

I currently do not own headphones or a headphone amp. I would like a great sounding portable setup. I have a 5.5 gen IPod Classic. I have considered the E11 and the Sennheiser H D-25 II headphones more than any other equipment. The E-12 sounds great also. I assume I do not need an amp with a DAC for the 5.5 gen IPod?

What is a great portable setup with the iPod I have? I am very interested in the E-12.

 
As above, C&C BH. It boosts treble, and it makes up for the warm and mellow wolfson DAC in the 5.5 iPod.

 

[HeatFan12]

Kick @ss  review Bill....

 

[Bill-P]

Quote:

Kick @ss  review Bill....

 
Thanks! 

 
The E12 was really something special, and it convinced me that even more sound quality can be squeezed out of something that's not an O2.

 

[gavinfabl]

Hi, I  just ordered the Audio Technica ad900x with the Fiio e12. I'm excited to see how that combination works together. The only negative is that the portable device I am using is a Zune 120, which can only interface through the headphone out.

I've been using my Audio Technica ath-ad900x with the E12 & iPod Classic. For me these cans are better than my hd558s due to the additional sound staging , clarity and attack or poise.

 

[casanova]

Hi Bill,
Can you tell me, what is the name of your silver RCA cable, which you use to connect from the Fiio D3 to an amp.
I've been searching for one, but could not find one as fine as yours.