olor1n
The Man. The Myth
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2010
- Posts
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Quote:
The same could be said about sources. I don't care if you spent 10 million on a source. I would never use an E1 on a can. A high end source doesn't matter if you don't have tue juice to drive them. A source is very important, but it takes a good amp to deliver the goods. Amps and sources goes hand and hand. Skimping on either one would bottle neck your cans. A 10 million dollar source a a cheap amp will still sound crappy.
Yep. When I first heard the E7 (WM8740) as a usb dac I was greatly impressed when comparing it to the onboard sound out of my Macbook. Upgrading to the Audio-GD Fun (WM8741 using optical) highlighted the congestion and lack of resolution from the FiiO unit. It's an unfair comparison when you consider the E7 in isolation, but considering the number of people heralding the E7 + E9 combo as the greatest thing since sliced bread I think it's worth mentioning that the E7 may be a bottleneck in that particular chain. The value of the combo may be indisputable, but it's certainly not the only option at that price range.
Note: I did the Fun vs E7 comparison with low impedance cans (M50 and MS-1i) and the Fun in low gain, so the weak amp section in the E7 shouldn't have been too much of a factor (lol).