The Fiio A5 thread: an upgrade of E12A, MUSES02+LME49600, 800mW, 19Vp-p, 12 hours

[Wesbound]

Any one using Fiio A5 with ipod touch 5g?

 

[audio123]

 

 
it sounds slick in the upper register. decent width of soundstage.
what is your source and interconnect used?

 


Rockboxed iRiver, line out via Cardas cable direct to the A5, then onto Ety ER4Ss. It ain't my gear, or my ears that are the weak link.

it is your source and interconnect.
cardas cable makes the sound dark.
iriver makes the sound compressed.
try with a better source and silver material interconnect

 

[Lohb]

 

   
I would beg to differ, with respect to A5 sounding too dark and compressed. In fact, I find that when used with my various sources it tends to widen the soundstage and invaraibly sounds more transparent than the built in amplifiers in my gears. When paired with my best sources it sounds immense.
 
The A5 is not "bright", but that should not be conflated with being dark in my opinion. It is neutral and transparent, with perhaps a smidge of airyness up top. Too many gears add a certain flavor, for example treble forwardness and make claims of being more detailed. Frankly, FiiO tuned the A5 right. It adds NO flavor of its own, but rather let the DAC speak for itself.
 
Also, you will notice that most manufacturers (teh ones that know better) do not directly enter debates about sound qualities unless it pertains to a defect or an issue that they can help with. Cheers.

 


Fair enough, we can disagree on subjective sound. What sounds bright to one person will sound dark or neutral to someone else. I'm going to exaggerate here for effect, but the A5 was rolled off enough that some voices sounded, to me, more like AM radio than hi fi. It wasn't even close.
Glad you like yours.

Sounds like the 3.5" interconnect cable issue. I had an over-crimped/clamped under the barrel 3.5" to 3.5" that caused those sound issues.

 

[ceemsc]

it is your source and interconnect.
cardas cable makes the sound dark.
iriver makes the sound compressed.
try with a better source and silver material interconnect

Assuming the Cardas interconnect used is the $20 basic 3.5mm to 3.5mm... I would not expect there to be issues with higher cost/spec model.

Erik_C have you performed a sine wave sweep from 20hz to 20khz to ensure all audible frequencies are heard at the "same level" (Fletcher-Munson curves non-withstanding)

I will have to perform the same exercise if & when I upgrade my E12 to the A5.

It may be worth pasting or providing your RockBox running config to see if there any suggestions to try...

 

[Erik_C]

it is your source and interconnect.
cardas cable makes the sound dark.
iriver makes the sound compressed.
try with a better source and silver material interconnect

 


Wrong and wrong. This is not my first amp. This is my first amp with sound quality issues.

 

[Erik_C]

Assuming the Cardas interconnect used is the $20 basic 3.5mm to 3.5mm... I would not expect there to be issues with higher cost/spec model.



@Erik_C have you performed a sine wave sweep from 20hz to 20khz to ensure all audible frequencies are heard at the "same level" (Fletcher-Munson curves non-withstanding)



I will have to perform the same exercise if & when I upgrade my E12 to the A5.



It may be worth pasting or providing your RockBox running config to see if there any suggestions to try...

 


I appreciate the advice. No, I didn't run sine waves through the system to see what's up. What I did do was listen to everything with the A5 in the loop, without it, and with my old Xin amp in the loop. Then I did all the same, but running things through my home hifi system. (Focal Utopias, Anthem Statement, 18" Velodyne.) The results were the same: the A5 is dark and compresses the soundstage to a significant -- and unacceptable -- amount. It's not my gear. It's not my ears.

Some people are responding like they're personally offended, or that they're shareholders in FiiO and I'm trying to hurt their bottom line as a result. That's not the case. If you like the A5, that's fine. But it should give people pause that at least a few of us here have found the A5 to be no so great. Could it be that I got a bad sample? Maybe. Or maybe not. All I know is the A5 is not for me for the reasons I've articulated.

 

[Light - Man]

 

Assuming the Cardas interconnect used is the $20 basic 3.5mm to 3.5mm... I would not expect there to be issues with higher cost/spec model.



@Erik_C have you performed a sine wave sweep from 20hz to 20khz to ensure all audible frequencies are heard at the "same level" (Fletcher-Munson curves non-withstanding)



I will have to perform the same exercise if & when I upgrade my E12 to the A5.



It may be worth pasting or providing your RockBox running config to see if there any suggestions to try...

 


I appreciate the advice. No, I didn't run sine waves through the system to see what's up. What I did do was listen to everything with the A5 in the loop, without it, and with my old Xin amp in the loop. Then I did all the same, but running things through my home hifi system. (Focal Utopias, Anthem Statement, 18" Velodyne.) The results were the same: the A5 is dark and compresses the soundstage to a significant -- and unacceptable -- amount. It's not my gear. It's not my ears.

Some people are responding like they're personally offended, or that they're shareholders in FiiO and I'm trying to hurt their bottom line as a result. That's not the case. If you like the A5, that's fine. But it should give people pause that at least a few of us here have found the A5 to be no so great. Could it be that I got a bad sample? Maybe. Or maybe not. All I know is the A5 is not for me for the reasons I've articulated.

 
Erik, I think that ceemsc was making light hearted comments, tongue in cheek sort of stuff.
 
I find that my AP100 sounds better without the A5 and I am using Fiio OCC Copper interconnects (and the Chord Mojo just to try a different source).
 
I pay for all my stuff and I have to justify why I keep any new gear that I buy as I don't want any stuff that I will not use, cluttering up my wife's home. 

 
At the moment I also can't recommend the A5 unless you have no choice but to use an amp for high impedance head gear but I would be looking elsewhere.
 
BTW, I think that the Fiio amps are very well made & finished with good ergonomics, I just wish they sounded better.

 

[ceemsc]

Erik, I think that ceemsc was making light hearted comments, tongue in cheek sort of stuff.

Sadly no, I am quite serious...

As each audio component adds its own frequency response to the chain, I have to re- EQ my entire setup otherwise it makes my tinnitus worse...

 

[Light - Man]

Sadly no, I am quite serious...

As each audio component adds its own frequency response to the chain, I have to re- EQ my entire setup otherwise it makes my tinnitus worse...

Sorry to hear that, I keep well away from EQ's
 
If you wish for good vocals with a rolled off top end - maybe check out the E12A.

 

[SalfordBoys]

Glad I didn't go for the A5, as I'm not seeing many "you have to buy this" kinda hype.

The E12a/x5ii is such a fantastic combo that I'm gonna stick.

 

[Dobrescu George]

What problems were presented? 
 
For the top end to be slightly (more or less) rolled off and smooth or are there other problems?
 
A5 has also reached Romania recently and I'm curious what to look into when testing one. 

 

[audio123]

 

 
it is your source and interconnect.
cardas cable makes the sound dark.
iriver makes the sound compressed.
try with a better source and silver material interconnect

 


Wrong and wrong. This is not my first amp. This is my first amp with sound quality issues.

what are the amps u used before?

 

[HotIce]

This is the FR of the E12 (the blue ones refers to the bass boost).
I do not expect the A5 one (the direct, not bass boosted ones at least) to be much different.
See? Flat as a pool table. If you think you can hear 0.1dB differences in a 90..100dB listening session, think again.
 

Now lets look at a typical headphone FR (HD 650). Notice the scale on the Y axis.
 
 

The combined FR is hence the combination of an almost constant FR function, with an FR function which looks like a rollercoaster.
Which one do you think is going to influence more the final sound?

 

[RedJohn456]

One feature I don't like about the A5 is the bass boost - sounds too muddy and incoherent. Granted, at this price range it may be a bit much to expect something like the bass boost on the iDSD Micro but the bass boost is bad enough that I never use it. I wish they had added crossfade instead that would have been more useful and it reduces ear fatigue. My 2 cents. I wish the battery lasted longer and it takes a bit of time to have it up and running again. Sucks because it means I am gonna miss the sound of it while it charges LOL. 
 
Maybe I am just a pleb, but I haven't heard the earlier E12 iterations, but the A5 has sufficiently impressed me to give it a solid recommendation.
 
I do have a high end 'transportable' amp, ie the Venture Electronics RA 2.0 (best solid state amp I have heard in a long time) and while the FiiO A5 is no where close to that, what it offers in this smaller portable package is sufficient enough that I now use it to power my HD600 all the time as I hear no short comings. Is it perfect? Not really, it has a few things it can improve on (will touch upon this in my review) but by and large it offers a very compelling package at a friendly price that is versatile enough to splendidly drive everything from my most sensitive IEMs to my HD600. What else can you really ask for, specially considering the price point?
 
Again I don't find it rolled off, just not very bright or forward - there is a distinction to be made here. I don't people thinking its akin to dark chocolate because it is anything but!

 

[Erik_C]

This is the FR of the E12 (the blue ones refers to the bass boost).


I do not expect the A5 one (the direct, not bass boosted ones at least) to be much different.


See? Flat as a pool table. If you think you can hear 0.1dB differences in a 90..100dB listening session, think again.


 





Now lets look at a typical headphone FR (HD 650). Notice the scale on the Y axis.


 


 





The combined FR is hence the combination of an almost constant FR function, with an FR function which looks like a rollercoaster.


Which one do you think is going to influence more the final sound?

 


I'm not going to be able to get into all that, but I found that a 2db treble boost via the Rockbox option menu on my DAP brought the treble back to where it sounded like I'm used to, based on hearing live music all the time, from my previous Xin amp with 627 opamps, and from my home system.

And with that, I'm out. I've said my bit. You can either agree or disagree. It's subjective, so we're all right and we're all wrong.