[swmaxxx]

My Shure SE210s recently went out on me, so I'm looking around for something new. My budget is $150 and I want to get the best possible earphones and amp. I've been hearing a ton of good things about the UM1 so I'm seriously considering them.

http://bit.ly/7N9ecw

Also, I've never owned a HP amp before so I did some research and found that the E5 is both extremely small and cheap.

http://bit.ly/8dCebo

It's size is what really caught my eye though. I look around at people's "portable" rigs and find myself saying, "How is that portable??" I keep my iPhone 3G in my front pocket. I cant fit some huge amp in there so the Fiio seems to be my best choice. What are your thoughts/suggestions?

 

[headfever]

You place your thread at the wrong forum I suppose.

Mind you that Fiio 5 maybe not good synergy with your UM1 for the hiss issue.

 

[rapier84]

I've had this combination for a while actually.

The UM1s are surprisingly resistant against hissing (Sansa Clip--->E5---->UM1) with what I have...But then again the E5s do put out relatively flea sized wattage compared to some of the portable amps here. As for the sound signature...the E5 accentuates the already full bodies warm-ness of the Westones...some though may find the highs lacking. Personally I used the middle setting of the bass boost on the E5 plus a slight bump in the 16khz band on the EQ

 

[swmaxxx]

The E5 has a Middle setting for the bass boost?

 

[mierenneuker]

No it doesn't.
I had a "simmilar" combination, UM1 with the E3.
I wasn't impressed by the sound and sold them, buy something else instead, I liked the SF.5 pro more, or even better, the PFEs

 

[Ntropic]

Yes, it does. It's just not part of the design.

If you set your bass boost switch in the middle, you'll get a volume boost and what feels to be a toned down version of bass boost. I rate the volume boost at about 5 clicks on the volume control.

 

[swmaxxx]

So is this combination a good one?

 

[mierenneuker]

Get the PFE, much more enjoyable.

 

[swmaxxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mierenneuker /img/forum/go_quote.gif Get the PFE, much more enjoyable.

Unfortunately I can't afford the PFE. Thats why I asked if the UM1s are good enough.

 

[smachine]

TF10 hands down. Its still on ebay and the price is low, you should be able to find some for 140-150 shipped.