[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I was under the impression that the E17+E9 gives better performance than the E7+E9?
To quote a friend:
"Keep the E9 and return the E7. Return it for the E17, it's much better than the E7. You could also buy a more expensive sound card, so that you don't need the E17 at all. Stick with the E9 though, it's great."

I guess the E17 does come with a better DAC chip then the E7.
and the E17 comes with a better headphone amplifier then the E7.
The E17 has more features then the E7.
 
The different between the E9 and E17 is the E17 headphone amplifier is rated up to 300-Ohms, the E9 up to 600-Ohms.
The E9 comes with 3 op-amps that are replaceable(?), the E17 comes with one non-replaceable op-amp.
the E9 is AC powered, the E17 uses a battery.
 
The E9 comes with an impedance of 10-Ohm, which is a (minor) negative for headphone under 80-Ohms.
The E17 has a much lower impedance, which is great if your using headphones that are a low 25-Ohm or even 16-Ohm  (IEMs).
 
You would need a sound card for surround sound for movies and gaming.
With music you really have no need for a sound card.

 

[DwightK]

Quote:

The E9 comes with an impedance of 10-Ohm, which is a (minor) negative for headphone under 80-Ohms.
 
You would need a sound card for surround sound for movies and gaming.
With music you really have no need for a sound card.

 
Yes, I really need the E9 for my AKG 601. In the future I would like to have a Senn HD650 and a Beyerdynamic Dt990. But first on my list is the Senn HD598.

A minor negative: I'm no audiophile what so ever, does that mean that I won't hear a difference if I use the 598 with the E9 compared to the E17 because of the low impedance?

I'm into gaming and watching movies as well, so it's pretty mutch a given that I'll need a good soundcard.

Things like the E7 and E17 will be obsolete before you know it because of new and better soundcards that hit the market on a yearly basis. Having a portable dac like the E17 isn't a long term solution.


 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

 
Yes, I really need the E9 for my AKG 601. In the future I would like to have a Senn HD650 and a Beyerdynamic Dt990. But first on my list is the Senn HD598.

A minor negative: I'm no audiophile what so ever, does that mean that I won't hear a difference if I use the 598 with the E9 compared to the E17 because of the low impedance?

I'm into gaming and watching movies as well, so it's pretty much a given that I'll need a good sound card.

Things like the E7 and E17 will be obsolete before you know it because of new and better sound cards that hit the market on a yearly basis. Having a portable DAC like the E17 isn't a long term solution.

Keep the E09K, send back the E7.
Buy a used Asus Xonar DX or D1 sound card, plug the E09K's into the headphone jack of the Xonar. (3.5mm to RCA cable).
A 50-Ohm headphone should be fine with the E09K.

 

[DwightK]

Quote:

Keep the E09K, send back the E7.
Buy a used Asus Xonar DX or D1 sound card, plug the E09K's into the headphone jack of the Xonar. (3.5mm to RCA cable).
A 50-Ohm headphone should be fine with the E09K.

PurpleAngel, thanks again for all of your great advice.

I will stick around. Maybe my headphone collection will eventually be a bit more impressive.

I contacted the guy from where I purchased the Fiio E7+ E9. He told me to send both of them back and he will send me a new E9. I'll get my money back for the E7. I can always purchase the E17 whenever I feel like.

Well, I'm off for now!

I'll look into the Asus soundcard!

 

[Marleybob217]

I had sort of the same problem, i switched the usb port and all was fixed. The fiio e9 was in directly next to  a wifi usb dongel, so i guess that was the problem.

 

[phil-t]

Just thought I'd resurrect this thread,
 
I was using an E7 for a year or so for work duties since my work laptop had terrible on-board audio.
 
I then bought some DT770 250ohm headphones, and although the E7 flat out can just about drive them, you can't EQ the bass up or get elevated volume levels, so I decided to get an E09K on the assumption it's more then capable of driving the headphones.
 
However, two minor niggles when used with the E7
- The E7 originally only had audio out of one channel (left), I found the solution was to plug in something to The E7's  Aux In just once and that reset things such that both channels then worked when docked in the E09K
- The E7 if docked is just ridiculously quiet (even with high gain), you get more volume plugging the DT770s directly into the E7.. It's like the line level or whatever the dock connector takes is really low on the E7, or the E09K is attenuating it far too much. (Did they increase the line level output on the E17?)
 
I can't find a direct support contact on the FiiO website, only their marketing e-mail, or is this the correct place?
 
I currently use the E7 as the DAC, and plug the headphone out of that into the E09K's aux in, and am very happy with how it's insanely powerful, I'd just like the Dock to offer the same performance since it's there!