I have just received a FiiO A5 and first impressions is that it is the most disappointing FiiO product I've had. And I've had 7 I think.
I have the beyerdynamic DT880 premium and yes, they are 600 ohms which probably higher than FiiO would recommend. But as my A3 did pretty much get them to the maximum volume I would listen to them at, I thought this would be more than loud enough. What confuses me is the specifications of the two.
I am quoting what is on Fiio's site for the A3 here:
270 mW (32 Ω/THD+N＜1%)
And the A5:
＞800 mW (32 Ω/THD＜1%)
Is that not quite some difference??
My A3 on most music is just a tiny bit too loud when on maximum volume with these headphones. But it distorts just slightly. And if you have bass boost on (which I certainly do like sometimes), it then distorts pretty badly when the volume dial is past 7. So that is why I wanted something witha lot more power. Just to have the freedom of being able to go much louder than I would need to. On my other headphones That are both around 30ohms, being able to go much louder than you need to seems to make them sound better because the amplifier isn't trying too hard. It also makes the dial more responsive without having to move it so much.
On to the A5. The difference between max volume on both with high gain on with my DT880s is barley anything at all. The A5 certainly sounds a bit cleaner and is at least a bit louder, but i feel there is something that I'm not understanding about the power difference. I also tried with my AKG K550s. As I didn't want to destroy me hearing, i turned my PC volume right down for these. I had both the A5 and A3 on high gain and max volume. The A5 was a bit louder, but not much at all. So, 530mw difference for that?? I don't understand the maths for measuring these things. But when I used my original FiiO E11, that has a 200mw output at 32ohms. That was really really loud with headphones at that impedance. Surely a difference of over 500mw should me more than a tiny little step?
Now onto something else. The bass boost. It really is not nice. My DT880s have a very bright sound. Very happy with the mid range, but the bass sometimes lacks a bit of impact. The bass boost on my E11k so long as i was listening not too close to max volume would boost it nicely. It seemed to focus it on the deep bass and barely effected the other frequencies. The A5 bass boost sounds awful to me. It makes the low midrange sound too heavy and muddy. Also, when i tested a quiet track that had very heavy bass, it distorts a little when close to maximum volume. I really wanted an amplifier with a bass boost, but I haven't had one that boosts the upper bass frequencies as much as this and it just messes up to much of the other sound for me to appreciate it. My A3, E11 E10 and X3 DAP all boost it in a way that somehow sounds much more pleasant even if it is boosted by a bigger margin. The output volume for the size and price of this just doesn't impress me at all. My original X3 i believe is basically the FiiO E17 Dac and amplifier if I am correct. Even that is not far off the A5 listening from the headphone socket. I think the X3 has a boosted line output. But even with that, the A5 doesn't seem to be as loud as I expected.
It does get to the sort of level I shouldn't be listening at for a long time, but if say you were watching a film that happened to be a bit quieter, you couldn't get it any louder. This maybe is my fault for having such hard to drive headphones. But I expected this to have way more power than I would need as for headphone amplifiers, this is pretty expencive. I don't know what it is that my hifi amplifier has in it but that can get them to significantly higher volumes than this. And being a headphone amplifier is not it's purpose. It was barely any more expensive for that matter either. It is a Pioneer A-209R. Getting to just under half way on the dial and it is impossible to go any louder without hurting your ears. But it allows you to go louder if your source is quiet or something. Also, unlike the all my Fiio Amplifiers which all seem to distort when close to max volume with bass boost on, on this you can turn the bass dial up to full as well as putting loudness on which boosts it even further, and there is no distortion at all. It sounds bad because of the quantity it adds. But why does this not have any problems with this and an expensive headphone amplifier does? The main purpose of this amplifier is to drive my speakers, not headphones. The reason why I don't like using this for headphones is because the of the level of inputs I have. So many that it is next to impossible to stop there being interference coming through the outputs. That is far more noticeable on headphones than speakers.
The other thing that I'm not very happy about the A5 is the volume dial. It has a nice ridged surface. But only at the back... It may have a ring that adds some grip but right at the front is a super smooth metal disc. Having it sat on my desk makes it so difficult to turn the dial. It feels just like you are turning it but the volume doesn't change and that was just because i couldn't grip it. Unless you really try to get a firm grip, it is not good to use on a flat surface, which was my plan for it's main use. Although I have tried putting a tiny rubber band round the edge and that has made quite some difference. I'm not sure why FiiO went with this design of dial. On my E10, E11, and A3, they all have a grooved finish right to the edge. meaning that using it on a desk by just sliding your finger on them works perfectly.
Sadly, I think I'm going to return this. But I really am stuck with what sort of amplifier I need to have the ability to get more volume out of these. I'll see if I can wait for some advice first though.
