I understand that the E12 is an amp only. When would I need an amp/DAC combo (such as the E17) instead? I have a Bose QC15 driven by Apple products.
1386824
I dont know the impedance of the qc15's, but if the ohms are 50 or less, i dont think the e17 would help very much. Low impedance headphones usually do not require much help from amp/dacs. I really can only talk about the e07...only slight improvement due to bass boost when plugged in to my PC/i Tunes. My Acer PC seems to power my sennheiser 598 or Audio tech ATH-50's very well. If you are using i-phone or Gallaxy mobile devices, portable amp/dac is essential. I hope this was helpful.
1386825
the dac is if your pc sound card or mp3 player doesnt sound so great. You probably don't need one for QC 15
1386826
this amp will give your bose much clear and crisper sound and will get louder then you will even need, plug them bose into this baby and you will see what I mean
1386827
I know this review is from 2013, but I want to say I am using the same pair of headphones with the JDS Labs O2 Headphone amp and standalone ODAC and it has made a major increase in listening quality for them. The Amp alone at least doubles the quality, whereas the DAC will clean it up for you.
1386828
I can't tell you if the dac is worth it but I wanted to make it clear since a lot of people have said that an amp wouldn't help much on the qc15's. This is quite wrong since I have used these headphones myself with and without an amp and the difference is clearly there. You'll be able to turn up the volume much louder on these headphones with an amp and get a much warmer sound. Whichever amp you decide on getting, you'll definitely notice the difference.
1386829
You don't really ever "need" an amp/DAC combo. The problem is that the DAC that is used in the iPhone is okay, but not really the best available, largely to keep the cost of the iPad and iPhone competitive. A really good DAC will have better harmonic distortion, linearity and noise characteristics than what Apple puts into the iPhone or iPad.
1386830
Two main places, the first being if you are on a computer that has a weak DAC. Most computers produced do not have high quality audio systems, in fact the only motherboard I'm aware of that was designed with audio in mind hasn't even been released yet. So unless you have a high end addon soundcard, you might just be amplifying bad sound. The other reason would be for convenience. I find the volume knob and controls being immediately available on the DAC way more convenient then using my PCs volume mixer.
1080022
It's not necessary to have a DAC, I use a Schiit Modi. They released the second generation DAC and Amp that are great quality and very reasonably priced.
1790279
I don't know but I'm using the Fiio E17 and it does a fine job with the HE 400's.In my opinion you definitely need an amp and the FIIO E17 has bass control which makes all the difference. I just want to say that the more I listen to these headphones the more I appreciate them.
325926
I heard from other people that the Fiio E17 has slightly better and clearer highs, not really noticeable, when listening to certain music like classical, ballad, etc. The E18 has better lows, which make music like EDM, R&B;, Hip-Hop all more enjoyable. I do believe it was said that the E18 does have a bigger soundstage, but that really depends on the capabilities of the headphones/speakers connected to it. Overall, if you already own the E17, then the E18 is not really too big of an upgrade, seeing as they are essentially similar. The E18 does have some features that the E17 does not, but they are more gimmicks/goodies than actual upgrades. And that goes both ways for the E17 as well. I heard from other people that the Fiio E17 has slightly better and clearer highs, not really noticeable, when listening to certain music like classical, ballad, etc. The E18 has better lows, which make music like EDM, R&B;, Hip-Hop all more enjoyable. I do believe it was said that the E18 does have a bigger soundstage, but that really depends on the capabilities of the headphones/speakers connected to it. Overall, if you already own the E17, then the E18 is not really too big of an upgrade, seeing as they are essentially similar. The E18 does have some features that the E17 does... » Read More I heard from other people that the Fiio E17 has slightly better and clearer highs, not really noticeable, when listening to certain music like classical, ballad, etc. The E18 has better lows, which make music like EDM, R&B;, Hip-Hop all more enjoyable. I do believe it was said that the E18 does have a bigger soundstage, but that really depends on the capabilities of the headphones/speakers connected to it. Overall, if you already own the E17, then the E18 is not really too big of an upgrade, seeing as they are essentially similar. The E18 does have some features that the E17 does not, but they are more gimmicks/goodies than actual upgrades. And that goes both ways for the E17 as well. « Show Less
1880393
Yes it can. I purchased the E9K and the E17 for use with the 650s and it works great. When the E17 is set to 20 (default) the E9K needs to be set to 3/4 volume to be comfortably loud. When the E17 is set to 35 the E9K can be set to 1/2 volume for comfortable listening. If you are not using the E17 as the DAC, the E9K should still be loud enough for the 650s regardless of source.
1042345
I use an E9 amp at home, and it's pretty much perfect, but even if you just have them hooked straight to your iPhone or w/e they perform pretty damn well in the bass department.
1961971
Can't really answer how the combination of the Fiio E17 matches up with the HD 700 head phones. If your're going to spend that much on headphones I would suggest checking out the DAT's and Amps on HeadRoom @ www.headphones.com
2205989
An amp isn't necessary, however I have tried a friends DAC/AMP and it did sound better than my onboard audio on my computer, but that's the DAC more than the amp.
939314
My two cents..I'm not sure how good the internal DAC/AMP in the Macbook is, but as for my HP DM4, I found the FiiO E7 to be of lesser quality than the sound card I already had in this laptop.
558273
It you are asking this question about products in general, then it depends on a number of things.If you are referring to this particular product, it had both a DAC, and a headphone amp included.I own it, and I feel both components work very well.
2142486
Nope it's 30-something ohm so any source can easily power them. I've plugged them into my android phone, my wife's iPad, and my work computer and all powered them easily. Volume levels were good and sound quality was great. I did get a budget dac amp for my work computer and I'd say there seemed to be the slightest performance increase, but it also could have been my ears getting used to the headphones. So no, an amp is not needed.
949102
With ease. I use the HD 800 with it. Plenty of power and to spare. An additional headphone amp would be redundant and likely degrading of sound. And I own the list of HP amps. You name it, I own it. The AK240 is truly a standalone player.
1457101
You can use Beyerdynamics 80ohm DT770s just fine with any Apple products, so these 50ohm ones should work just as well, if not have slightly more volume. An external amplifier is totally not needed. I have a 2i2 as well as a Peavy 10AT and the sound quality is hardly different from direct connection with an iPhone or iMac. The only real difference is you can have a higher max volume, but even an iPhone is 'loud' at minus 1-2 stops from the max volume setting.
2052879
Yes, the E17 function as a stand alone system, and paired with The E11 for computer-use (headphones). The FiiO E11 is not compatible with the E9.
2021299
I just bought a Mcintosh MHA100 DAC/AMP and it is brilliant with the HD600. It completely changed the performance and took it to a level that in my opinion was better than $1800 cans I tried. If you like tubes Woo Audio WA7 has some excellent feedback
1971277
You may understand, I will point out there is no amplifier in the DAC. It's only a processor. That said, it makes an amazing difference in sound quality, such that I want to run all my music through it. I have been told that HDMI sound channels are superior. My ears prefer the sound from this device.
2052881
It may be used either stand alone or in the E09/E09K dock/amplifier. I mostly use it docked as a DAC for the E09. I used Optical (mini-TOSLINK) from a MacBook Pro and USB from a Windows desktop. I have used it stand alone several times and it works well.