Audio [Urgent] Questions on portable earphone amplifier.

suhas_sm

Disciple
1. Is it worth getting an Fiio E5 to listen music on mobile phone along with Sennhiser cx-100 ?
2. Does this amp improve on sound quality rather than just boosting volume levels ?

:)
 
I would suggest to get a better iem than a amp for cx-100.

Amp's may improve the sound a bit but it depend from iem to iem, some are better with amp some don't show much effect.e5 can boost the bass a bit.
 
I totally agree with Kuki, at a price for CX100 it doesnt make any sense to add a Amp. Unless you like to dangle around another gizmo. A headphone amplifier is akin to High Octane Fuel. But does it improve handling of the car, is anybody's guess. Good amps would cost money. My suggestion would be to go for a better PMP for the added price of the E5.
 
Long post... sorry!

Portable music listening is due to the entire chain : [Source Files] -> [Player] -> [Amp] -> [Ear phone]

In order of my preference, I'd first fix the source player as Gautam said. Mobile phones in general don't make great sources. Then spend max money on the earphone. Only a few IEMs if ever are revealing of the source material i.e., you can figure out the difference between 128kbps badly encoded files and 320kbps original CD rips. Many of them are forgiving and you only get to listen to music. Only if your IEMs are very revealing, you need to re-encode / re-rip the source files in 320kbps / FLAC / ALAC. But, it's always better to have good source material quality as long as you are not constrained for space.

Last comes the amp. Only a few IEMs require an amp and there are some which improve marginally with an amp. Of the 25 IEMs I've tried thus far, only RE0, PFE improve with a portable amplifier. RE1 was the only one which seemed like requiring an amplifier. There are a few like RE2 which show slight improvement with amplification. That's 1/25 for which amplification was essential. The rest can be used directly out of the player.

Like kuki says, spend the money on getting a better IEM.
 
IMO , a good source is very important. Source includes both your player (DAC) as well as the source music files .I would first start with a good player , it could be something as cheap as the Clip+ or Fuze for long term VFM or even something expensive and niche as the Cowon J3 or even a pure audiophile player(*lot different than your average players so read about it before you invest into it) like Sflo2 /HiF-man players ! Most mid-range IEMs show a good difference between low quality 128 kbps MP3 files and 320 kbps files. If you plan to climb up the ladder its best you put the habit of sourcing only 320 kbps or loss-less music if possible. Once you have done that your basic inputs are all sorted out and you can then eliminate the chances of your expensive IEM not sounding good because of the source. Its now time to start investing in the gear which will make your wallet thinner day by day . IEMs, amps , cans all that you wish for :D .
 
Thanks Fah33m. Go on... I m ready to read/learn more about it :p
I ll definitely check out what Sflo2/HiF-man players are :) Btw is CX-180 any good ?

I have a Creative Zen Aurvana as well. But has loose contacts everywhere :( Is there anyway to repair it. If I fiddle with wires around ear plugs and 3.5 mm connector, it sounds is fine.
 
A great source is always a must. That means your best bet is getting yourself quality coded track and good player. Anything else will build up on the limitation on that. To explain, the limitation of the source will be carried right across the earphones. This is also a reason where most of the people decide to invest on a quality player, where in they end up purchasing a lot of earphones to suite their taste. Let me elucidate mathematically, if a store were to randomly give you discount of 20%, 30% and 40%; which would be your best order to get the maximum discount? Trial and error, if you are not mathematically inclined would yield the result: Get the maximum discount in the first order and follow it diminishing. For the store guy, to save the maximum money would be to follow it in the reverse order.

A understanding in audiophile quality sound reproduction is to have minimum number of stages.

Of course you have money go ahead and buy both good source and earphones. If you have lots money ... :), you can enjoy your trial and error.

Also kindly factor longevity in your products. How long is it going to last?
 
Guys may be a little bit OT but i dont feel it make sense to make a new thread for this.

So far from what i understand a good source makes a lot of difference. I have ipod nano 5G. can this be considered as a good source when compared to sflo2 and all? Why not many people in this forum talk about ipods as source, Bose, sony as IEMs? Are these that bad?

BTW i have Brainwavz M2 nd pretty much satisfied with it.
PS: I asked these questions just to know your opinion on "Brand Vs quality" as couple of friends discouraging,discouraged me when i got Brainwavz.
 
Iphones have pretty ordinary SQ and definitely not that good compared to DAPs like Sflo or even the Sansa Fuze and Sansa Clip.

The only good thing about Ipods are that its very user friendly and looks quite nice. For sound quality however one should look elsewhere.
 
^^I disagree to agree with that,4th gen ipod touch is extremely good.I do not have j3,but have a v5 and a very old d2,s.q of the touch is definitely better than`em(at least to my ears,I am no audiophile though)
 
Brendon might be comparing or talking in terms of the older iPods and iPhone which is true cause until the latest gen of iTouch , I always found the older gen of iPods slightly inferior in SQ compared to the Cowons and Fuze. They didn't lack any major detailing as such but were not very neutral.I always found them to be slightly enhanced in treble and bass .

But Metalspree tells me that the SQ of his new iphone 4 is as good as the Fuze and with some particular gear the iPhone 4 has better synergy & output compared to the Fuze :O !

So in the end I guess it depends a lot on your personal sonic taste and the IEM / earphone you plan to use with the DAC. Some gear might have better synergy with the Apple products :).
 
Yes I was referring to the older Ipods like the Classic, Shuffle, Nano and the older Itouch. The newer Iphone 4 and Itouch 4G have been touted as having awesome SQ.

Benny who has an Iphone 4 however still uses his Sflo 2 instead. :p
 
[QUOTE Some gear might have better synergy with the Apple products :).[/QUOTE]

Not only some gear,some people also have better synergy with apple products;)They are probably the single company making idiot proof technology:)It is almost impossible to brick an ipod touch!I screwed up almost every gadget I laid my hands upon,except that ipod.
 
^ Hahha true . Have to give that for Apple. I seriously love their UI,simplicity (yes even iTunes is simple) and ofcourse the killer looks :D . Also they wont ever crash or anything , even if dead Apple has no questions asked replacement warranty. The service you get for paying a premium.

Now only if Apple could make an audiophile player with the SQ of Sflo and the likes .hahaha dream on !
 
That would mean requie the battery life to go down considerably , Apple wont do that ever ! :( ( oh i wish iron man was real )

If you love Ipods ( i do too :D ) you can buy the Cypher labs Algorithm Solo , its a once in a life time investment on Ipods, your ipods will change but it will support

them all. plus you get a very good DAC and digital out!!

(costs a lot though :ashamed: ...but still worth it if you really love ipods ...as there is nothing quite like it !
 
I'd go with HRT iStreamer, if they release a version which does not require to be plugged in to A/c power. I bought a iPod Touch 3G from here not so long ago. It's headphone out is cold and sucks life out of every 'exciting' IEM I plugged in. But via LOD and iBasso T3, it sounds (almost) like every other player out there. Actually, it's not bad at all. And the UI :lick: - that is something else. I still prefer my Clip+/Fuze and S9 though!
 
Solo is some thing else !! :D

it does not use the inbuilt DAC of IPod rather it takes out Digital Data from Ipod and uses that. In shour it compleately Bypasses the Sound related circuit of Ipod !!

you have heard of the Onkyo ND-S1 ! it does what it does ..and is portable !

its the first of its kind ! Supports digital coax out and A very good DAC (that is still to be tested though ) , but the coax out makes it woth it !
 
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