Fiio E10 headphone amp / DAC - any good?

[amptastic]

We received a cute little DAC / headphone the other day as part of our current R&D into new products. We're currently looking for the perfect 24bit low cost/high quality DAC.

Has anyone got one of these? If so we'd love to hear your thoughts! They come highly recommended by a colleague, have an impressive spec (claimed) and come with both line out and headphone out.

Here is an in depth review:
http://nwavguy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/fiio-e10-dac.html

We are currently testing the partnership with our own little beauty (Mini T amplifier) from the line out - via our new signature RCA to 3.5mm interconnects.

https://p.twimg.com/AtcmFohCMAE_n5j.jpg:large

Thanks!
Chris

[Barry]

I recently bought a FiiO D3 DAC for use with my Freeview box, which only has a digital audio output. It was totally useless, as the DAC will only work successfully with PCM, which my Freeview box doesn't provide. As it was there was continual crackling added to the sound. No mention was made of this fact when I bought the DAC. :steam:

However out of curiosity I tried using it with my Sony CDP XB-930 player as an external DAC. Well this time it worked producing a clear sound without any crackling. But the sound quality was quite inferior to that of Sony's internal DAC. The FiiO D3 gave a sound that was most uninspiring: dull, flat and lifeless. :(

Not recommended. The E10 headphone amp/DAC may be better, I don't know, but I'm not holding my breath!

Regards

[DSJR]

Maybe you should give it ten months to run in. I mean, when a Naim DAC does similar things, you expect a prolonged burn-in time to sort it out. Why not for a less than fifty quid special?

Apologies, I'm being extremely facetious I reckon. I wonder if the bad sound of of the cheapie may just be down to power supply, and/or the designers asking too much of the all-in-one DAC chip, as I believe the low cost is because so much is self contained in one IC now?

[WAD62]

Hi Chris, I've been using one for about 6 months, it's excellent as a portable option, and at it's best as a headphone amp/DAC.

I've not had a great deal of success using it as 'Line Out' to an amp, it sounds a bit 'gritty' (however that was with my portable 2.1 speaker system), but it does offer a decent 'Coax' digital out option...:)

I'll give it a try with my Mini-T at some point...

[wobbleu]

Not tried the E10 yet, but I have owned 3 other Fiio products (E5, E6 and E11) and I find them to be excellent both in terms of value, and sound quality. The E10 is the next item on my shopping list.
Possibly not the last word in hifi sound but for the price you pay they'd be hard to beat.

[WAD62]

...ah, one final and pretty important point, I've not yet managed to get it working successfully with ASIO/ASIO4ALL/Winamp, it keeps spluttering despite the highest buffer setting.

It does work very well with WASAPI however...:)

[Barry]

Maybe you should give it ten months to run in. I mean, when a Naim DAC does similar things, you expect a prolonged burn-in time to sort it out. Why not for a less than fifty quid special?

Apologies, I'm being extremely facetious I reckon. I wonder if the bad sound of of the cheapie may just be down to power supply, and/or the designers asking too much of the all-in-one DAC chip, as I believe the low cost is because so much is self contained in one IC now?

Well you're right Dave, I shouldn't expect too much for a £25 'jobbie'. And yes I did wonder if replacing the wall-wart power supply with something better would help improve matters.

No doubt it could improve with ten month's burn-in, but quite frankly I can't be bothered. I don't believe it will ever match the internal DAC of the Sony, or match that of Stan's (Beresford) 7520. It might have been sufficient for TV audio, had it worked with that arrangement, but it didn't.

[wee tee cee]

I have an e10 have had a e7 and have a e5. The e 10 is no great shakes as either a head amp or usb convertor. Yes it will drive a pair of full size cans... but with ,treble and bass colouration. The grainyness mentioned is ever present.
As a usb converter...... noticeable inferiority sonically to the v link I have in situ.

The e7 was so hyped up I expected great things....same sonic signature with almost complete loss of soundstage.

The e5 lets me run hard to drive cans with a small cowon player...it has the same coloured presentation but in isolation if you are travelling a combo of small cowon/ e5/ superlux 668b must be very hard to beat sonically for under a ton.
Tony

[Bonky]

Hi, I have an E7 feeding your Amptastic T-amp. It is connected via usb to my iMac at 24/96.

It sounds fine to me, and a distinct improvement over NOT using it in the chain. It is also, IMHO, great value for money- as it is a portable headphone amp as well as a DAC.

I've heard good reports of Fiio's E17 and am wondering whether to get this or Stan's new Bushmaster.

BW

Richard

[Rambaud]

I have/had a few FiiO products - E5, E7, E10 and E11. All good value for money, IMHO.

The E10 is portable, and I find the sound quality better than the DAC in my Macbook.

However, I have not need the portability side for the past few months and have been using a Teac UD-H01 instead - mainly for its 24/192 USB capability.

[WAD62]

Out of interest has anyone here heard the new E17, particularly in comparison with the E10?

The E10 is good value for money, but as was said earlier there is a bit of colouration...

EDIT; Just spotted the E17 'temperamental' issues, so I've gone for the Arcam rPac instead, ordered...:eyebrows: