[mikel51]

I just purchase a pair of E5s for about $370 delivered on Ebay. They were drop shipped from Shure so I know that they were the newest latest model.

First thing that I notice is that they are far louder than the E4Ps when playing from the Ipod. With my E4Ps, I use the volume between 1/2 and 3/4 (usually closer to 3/4) while with the E5s I am using the volume at (3/8-5/8).

I am breaking them in before I make up my mind--but I am enjoying them immensely and would tend to agree that they are more "fun" that the E4P.

 

[lindrone]

Quote:

Originally posted by stark23x OK. Knowing that the e5s are going to beat my wallet into submission, what's the low end (pricewise) you would recommend for a *portable* amp?

Truthfully speaking, the first "portable" amp I would recommend that truly improves the E5 would've been the XP-7 (which is a $400~$500 amp)...

Other than that, I haven't found an amp that's portable and really good enough to recommend carrying with an E5. The added bulk for most amps just doesn't justify it much at all. For example, both the SuperMicro and SuperMini were not good enough for me to consider carrying them all the time.

I'm going to be trying out a SuperDual soon though, so we'll see how that turns out.

Other cheap amps, Mint Meta, CMOY, Total Airhead.. so on.. so forth, just aren't worth it in combination with the E5, imo. They still improve the sound a certain degree, just not enough to knock my socks off.

 

[cmascatello]

I also have high hopes for the SuperDual and would love for it to be up to snuff with the e5. I agree with lindrone that the XP-7 is currently the low-water mark for getting real improvement in the sound of the e5. I have a SuperMini and it does not do much (if anything) to the sound of the Shures. I am hoping that the Dual with the AD8610 op amp will be able to open up the e5 in a similar manner to the XP-7 (with AD797s).

Keep an eye out for the upcoming reviews of the SuperDual. I found out today that my test model has shipped and should be here by Friday (damn cross-country shipping!).

 

[cmascatello]

Quote:

Originally posted by smeggy Look forward to hearing your thoughts. I love mine, 'specially as I just got a new Rio Karma to go with them to replace the old Archos. I was re-ripping all my CD's to high quality ogg format because the old MP3's just weren't cutting it with this combo. I love the sound of the E5, the bass is just fantastic. Solid clean and very deep. Mmmmmm, tasty ear goodness.

Smeggy, give FLAC a try on the Karma if you can afford to have the files take up more space. The e5 benefits greatly from a lossless CODEC -- I carry a Karma that I got as a gift as a purely lossless source. My iPod is loaded with 256 kbps AACs and APS/APE LAME mp3s which still sound good, but I like to have the pristine quality of FLAC files for my favorite 40 albums on the Karma.

 

[smeggy]

Thanks, I might just do that. I think I can afford the space as I like to have the sound above all else. I know one thing, with large ogg files the battery life is falling well short of potential

The way I skip around files and the big sizes are certainly making the drive work for it's keep.

 

[cmascatello]

Battery life on my Karma dropped to a hair over 10 hours with all FLAC files. This is still sufficient for me to get where I need to go and charge it up again.

 

[lindrone]

Now.. that's interesting... A lot of people complain about iPod's battery life being short, but using uncompressed WAV with iPod only decreases its battery life slightly. Instead of the rated 8 to 10 hours, I get about 6 to 8 hours.

Using FLAC with Rio Karma seems to be a lot more detrimental then... given that Rio Karma is rated to 15 hours of battery life.

 

[cmascatello]

My 10 hours was also with little-to-no backlight, no EQ, and straight-through album playing. I should test it with some shuffle and track changes to see if the life drops even more.

 

[smeggy]

Yes, I do hammer my players more than most. I use some EQ, loud volume, 10 sec backlight and no playlists. I am constantly scrolling, skipping and searching.. all with the backlight on (dark office) so I would expect mine to eat the battery faster than normal. I never know what I want to listen to from track to track so I go on a scroll-fest until I spot something that takes my fancy.

I read somewhere that big ogg files are harder work for the player than flac, I'll see when I re-rip again. Even with my crazy modus operandi I still get over 8 hours so it's enough to cover my work day. Good job I got that extended warranty

 

[=w=]

Did I make a bad descision in purchasing a Nomad Zen Xtra? And the XP-7 doesn't realy look that portable with it's power supply. What's so bad about the Xin anyways?

 

[lindrone]

I would say to not worry about your DAP player too much. All DAP player has their nuisances... Truthfully speaking, I think the most important factor is still interface (both the player itself and how it works with your computer) when it comes to portable players. Again, I'm spoiled with a somewhat beefy home set-up that I use regularly with my E5c.

The current Xin amps (the Mini and Micro) both has noise problems when used with the E5c. I didn't have any time to work with Xin to get the kinks worked out. However, he's working on the SuperDual anyway, so I'm more concerned in helping him getting some of the kinks outof the SuperDual instead.

Even disregarding the hiss problem, there just isn't enough improvement to justify carrying the extra bulk and spending the $100 or so on these amps. By comparison, a non-transportable $150 amp (like a lower scaled Meta42 or something) would've been a better improvement, although you lose the portability.

XP-7 doesn't come with the power supply standard, actually. XP-7 can be driven off 2 9-volt batteries. You can completely disconnect the power supply section when you're using it as a portable. Even then it's a bit bulky, but the sound quality is truly so much better. It's really not a portable amp, but a luggable, in-between desktop and portable amp.

The power supply is actually another $200 something on top of the original cost of the XP-7.

 

[asbradbury]

Quote:

Originally posted by lindrone Now.. that's interesting... A lot of people complain about iPod's battery life being short, but using uncompressed WAV with iPod only decreases its battery life slightly. Instead of the rated 8 to 10 hours, I get about 6 to 8 hours. Using FLAC with Rio Karma seems to be a lot more detrimental then... given that Rio Karma is rated to 15 hours of battery life.

However, we have to remember that although wav and FLAC are both lossless, FLAC is compressed and so I imagine the CPU would consume power decompressing it (and I can imagine that the decompression code may not yet be particularly optimised).

 

[TMC]

Let's not forget about buffer memory. With less memory your HD has to spin up and down more, eating up more of the battery. Since iPod has 32Mb while Karma has 16 there will be some power saved on the iPod when you use both players playing songs without skipping back and forth between songs a lot.

 

[lindrone]

I guess the combination of CPU consuming more power and less buffer memory would be the cause in dramatically reducing Karma's battery life when using FLAC files.

 

[bangraman]

Perhaps my ears are defective but a JMT META to me provides 90-95% of the XP-7 performance on the E5 at less than 50% of the cost... Especially on the iPod. I must be at odds with many here thinking that the E5 does not improve much amped beyond a certain point. At which point exactly I couldn't tell you. Perhaps a basic PPA? A 'maxed' PIMETA? Not sure.


I've got new true 9V rechargeables today (9V batteries are becoming toys of excitement for me, I am getting to be a sad old man

) so I'm going to run my tests again. Something suited for the E5... rock I think. Now, where did I put my spandex catsuit and air guitar?