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

[Brooko]

It's VERY interesting actually. I would never peg the A5 as bass heavy, nor would I have it tilted upwards in the lower mids. I just poked around and only found one other site doing measurements of Fiio stuff, and it was the old Q1, which measured flat on this guy's AP.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-mark-ii-portable-dac-and-headphone-amp.4074/

Measures flat on mine too. But the request was for measurement of the bass boost - which is what I’ve shown.

 

[Xyrium]

Ahh, that makes sense. You had me frightened that I was going deaf for a minute! LOL

Sorry, I saw the graph and jumped to conclusions! Phew!

That said, I'm stunned that the Q is so low on that EQ. It's terrible, what were they thinking?

 

[Slater]

Ahh, that makes sense. You had me frightened that I was going deaf for a minute! LOL

Sorry, I saw the graph and jumped to conclusions! Phew!

That said, I'm stunned that the Q is so low on that EQ. It's terrible, what were they thinking?

I’d love to know if the Q can be tweaked or controlled somehow, like by changing out a resistor to a different value.

Any electrical engineers or power amp designers among us that are willing to take a look at the FiiO board?

 

[Xyrium]

That would be pretty cool, because it may just be a passive filter instead of IC-based. If we could drag that down to around 40Hz, and keep the Q tight enough to only impact one octave, that would be awesome for folks with cans that aren't substantial enough in the low end department.

 

[Spektykles]

Hi, here is my A5 after mod. Feels very good, better than the previous E12DIY I tried. Right now Im using stock Muses02, muses03/ad797/opa627/lme49990 I will try it later when things arrived

 

[Slater]

Hi, here is my A5 after mod. Feels very good, better than the previous E12DIY I tried. Right now Im using stock Muses02, muses03/ad797/opa627/lme49990 I will try it later when things arrived

Nice clean work!

So what did you do other than the socketed opamp?

 

[Spektykles]

Nice clean work!

So what did you do other than the socketed opamp?

Replaced original WIMA MKS2 cap with Nichicon ES one (47uf 16v) and socketed opamp (Asahi silver-tin solder). Maybe in the future I will replace those power cap with Sanyo OSCON one and hook some bypass cap too.

 

[CapnCook]

If the battery is fully charged, but the unit remains plugged in while in use, is the battery in use?

I prefer the sound of the A5 over my desktop amp, but I don't want to diminish the battery life using it all day every day at work.

 

[FiiO]

If the battery is fully charged, but the unit remains plugged in while in use, is the battery in use?

I prefer the sound of the A5 over my desktop amp, but I don't want to diminish the battery life using it all day every day at work.

Dear friend,
After the battery is full,because there is no need to charge the battery anymore, the USB port would power the device directly. The battery would neither be charged nor discharged.
But it is recommended to finish charging first. Because you may receive current interference when charging at the same time which affect the output .

Best regards

 

[CapnCook]

Dear friend,
After the battery is full,because there is no need to charge the battery anymore, the USB port would power the device directly. The battery would neither be charged nor discharged.
But it is recommended to finish charging first. Because you may receive current interference when charging at the same time which affect the output .

Best regards

Excellent. It's very good to know about the current interference while charging. I had not thought about that possibility.

As always, FiiO, thank you for your great products and your excellent presence in the community.

 

[Xyrium]

You won't hear any interference unless you have a problematic mains supply. I run both my e12a and a5 always powered, and they're dead quiet. Good stuff!

 

[Shane D]

Got my A5 today. Charging it tonight and start using it tomorrow. And yes, I'm a little excited.


Shane D

 

[CapnCook]

You won't hear any interference unless you have a problematic mains supply. I run both my e12a and a5 always powered, and they're dead quiet. Good stuff!

Great to know, thanks.

Got my A5 today. Charging it tonight and start using it tomorrow. And yes, I'm a little excited.
Shane D

Hope you enjoy. I am definitely happy with my purchase.

 

[Shane D]

I am really curious about what it does to the music. Especially with HiFiman HE4XX's and Grado's.

Shane D

 

[Slater]

I am really curious about what it does to the music. Especially with HiFiman HE4XX's and Grado's.

Shane D

I'm sure you'll like it.

On low gain (no bass boost), it's neutral and just provides clean amplification.

On High gain (no bass boost), it adds a tube amp-like sound (to my ears anyways). Some others have mentioned this as well. I think at least 1 person measured a bit of distortion on high gain, which is what causes this effect. YMMV.

Bass boost is pretty significant IMO, and is over pretty much the entire bass range. I rarely use bass boost.

You're probably gonna hate the volume wheel. It's quite slippery. I would recommend replacing the stock volume knob o-ring with a thicker one:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...-19vp-p-12-hours.819831/page-48#post-14346913



Also, if you need a cable, the genuine FiiO cables are a ridiculous bargain. Very high quality (Oyaide plugs w/Furukawa OFC SPC cable).

• https://www.amazon.com/d/Stereo-Jack-Cables/Right-Angle-3-5mm-Stereo-Audio-L17/B00R9WAYC6
• https://www.amazon.com/L16-Stereo-Audio-Cable-Connectors/dp/B00KL7C10O