What's the direct upgrade from the FiiO E10?

[Bluethulhu]

I got an E10 and loved it until it broke, I sent it back to Amazon and got a refund. I'm willing to spend a little bit more this time. Sound quality is my main concern, should I get the upgrade in FiiO's line from the E10 or get something else around $100? I don't mind a sound card, but my Sound Blaster Z sounds terrible in my opinion compared to the E10. My laptop onboard sounds better, no joke. I'm driving a pair of Sennheiser HD 558s as well. 

[ShearMe]

Sadly, the only thing purely better would be an O2 amp + ODAC. Those go for about $250 bucks (Mr. Mayflower has a 5% discount for LTT Forum members for the time being).

 

You could buy an E9k + E7k, but that'd be about $190 bucks and you might as well save up the $60 until you can gnab an Objective solutuion.

[MrSuperb]

maybe the new nuforce udac 3 ...(if you can wait a bit) it is quite new and there aren't any reviews out yet afaik.

[Bluethulhu]

Sadly, the only thing purely better would be an O2 amp + ODAC. Those go for about $250 bucks (Mr. Mayflower has a 5% discount for LTT Forum members for the time being).

 

You could buy an E9k + E7k, but that'd be about $190 bucks and you might as well save up the $60 until you can gnab an Objective solutuion.

How much of a sound improvement are those? I'm thinking about upgrading to something like the HD 600s in the future (maybe a year or two), would this be a good option to drive those?

[mr moose]

As Shearme has said, There really isn't much out there that is a sufficient improvement to warrant the extra expense until you get to the o2+odac. 

[ShearMe]

maybe the new nuforce udac 3 ...(if you can wait a bit) it is quite new and there aren't any reviews out yet afaik.

 

Please for the love of all things good in the universe - do not ever recommend a NuForce product. http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/03/nuforce-udac-2-listening-test.html http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/nuforce-udac-2-drama.html

 

 

How much of a sound improvement are those? I'm thinking about upgrading to something like the HD 600s in the future (maybe a year or two), would this be a good option to drive those?

 

Believe it or not, Human hearing sucks, and there's not a huge difference in sound between sources that we can hear. Measurement-wise, the Objective solution has less distortion and better channel balance and a handful of other specs you probably wouldn't understand. It's good for all headphones from low impedance IEMs to current-hungry AKGs. Compared to a FiiO E10, the O2 can drive headphones louder, and the ODAC is clearer.

[MrSuperb]

Please for the love of all things good in the universe - do not ever recommend a NuForce product. http://nwavguy.blogs...ening-test.html http://nwavguy.blogs...ac-2-drama.html

 

I am very well aware about that review, but with ALL audio products you always have someone hating and someone loving it. There are a lot of people really liking the uDac. Also there have been several improvements made since the time of that review.

[ShearMe]

 

I am very well aware about that review, but with ALL audio products you always have someone hating and someone loving it. There are a lot of people really liking the uDac. Also there have been several improvements made since the time of that review.

 

 

Next thing we know you'll be spewing crazy stuff like how good Schiit products are! 

 

It's not even about the product itself - I wont ever buy a Schiit, NuForce, or Meze product simply because of the company.

[pierrelucsav]

 

I am very well aware about that review, but with ALL audio products you always have someone hating and someone loving it. There are a lot of people really liking the uDac. Also there have been several improvements made since the time of that review.

It's not about hating or loving it. NwAvGuy proved objectively (with measurements) that it's a terrible product. The clipping problems especially are terrifying.

 

I agree with ShearMe; O2+ODAC is the way to go if you're willing to spend the extra $150. Would you hear a difference compared to the E10? I can't say. Personally, having the peace of mind knowing that my DAC and amp are fully transparent is worth the price.

[MrSuperb]

Next thing we know you'll be spewing crazy stuff like how good Schiit products are!

what is your problem? seriously?

[MayflowerElectronics]

what is your problem? seriously?

He doesn't have a problem, it's the truth. Some

companies are bad for the consumer and rip people off. Sure they all might have 1 or 2 OK products, but the rest is bad. This goes for every category, not just audio (although audio seams to attract more snake oil companies than normal).

Edit - take the car industry - they want to sell you a "special" air filter that adds like 10 hp. All tests show that you lose horsepower (the car was design with the stock air filter/air box) so there's stuff like that in every industry, @ShearMe is just trying to warn people.

[mr moose]

what is your problem? seriously?

 

I think the problem here is that all of us here in the audio subforum are fighting what feels like a losing battle against very poor audio advice, bad marketing practices and we are banging our heads against brickwalls because when someone does prove a product is shit, half a dozen mongrels on another forum who have spent money on said product don't want to look like fools so they bag out the tester or post a dosen reviews making shit up.  We end up becoming very short and straight to the point with our opinions as we constantly are saying the same thing over and over.

[MayflowerElectronics]

I got an E10 and loved it until it broke, I sent it back to Amazon and got a refund. I'm willing to spend a little bit more this time. Sound quality is my main concern, should I get the upgrade in FiiO's line from the E10 or get something else around $100? I don't mind a sound card, but my Sound Blaster Z sounds terrible in my opinion compared to the E10. My laptop onboard sounds better, no joke. I'm driving a pair of Sennheiser HD 558s as well.

I've seen a fair few threads about the fiio breaking, your sacrificing a bit of build quality at that price point. I'm not surprised at all about he sound card statement...

Anyways, the only logical upgrade like everyone said is the o2/odac. Anything above is a waste, and there's nothing in between the fiio and o2/odac that I recommend.

[MrSuperb]

Anyways, the only logical upgrade like everyone said is the o2/odac. Anything above is a waste, and there's nothing in between the fiio and o2/odac that I recommend.

 

Yeah the OP should just head over to http://www.mayflowerelectronics.com/products.html and buy ... There is nothing better for the money. This must be true, as it is coming from the guy selling them

[isen]

o2/dac or Aune T1 and get different vacuum tube with it http://www.head-fi.org/t/633006/aune-t1-usb-tube-dac-amp-discussion-thread-see-first-post-for-faq

[ShearMe]

what is your problem? seriously?

 

That particular sentence was a joke; sorry you can't take one.

 

 

 

Yeah the OP should just head over to http://www.mayflowerelectronics.com/products.html and buy ... There is nothing better for the money. This must be true, as it is coming from the guy selling them

 

Your sarcasm is palpable. There are plenty of other Objective assemblers, a big one that comes to mine is JDS Labs.

 

In all seriousness, if you find any that sell products cheaper than Mr. Mayflower, let us know.

[MayflowerElectronics]

That particular sentence was a joke; sorry you can't take one.

 

 

 

Your sarcasm is palpable. There are plenty of other Objective assemblers, a big one that comes to mine is JDS Labs.

 

In all seriousness, if you find any that sell products cheaper than Mr. Mayflower, let us know.

 

What does it taste like?

 

We don't have to pay many employee's, building rent, much taxes, ect ect. (some of the benefits of being a small business) so we can pass the savings onto the consumer. There are only a handful of us, spread out all over the world, we're the least expensive of all of them.

[MrSuperb]

Your sarcasm is palpable. There are plenty of other Objective assemblers, a big one that comes to mine is JDS Labs.

In all seriousness, if you find any that sell products cheaper than Mr. Mayflower, let us know.

 

lol, I linked to his site ... what is your problem? I never said, that what he is selling is bad, expensive or can somewhere be found cheaper. I was just slightly amused, that the seller/assembler of a product advertises his as the best for the money  

[ShearMe]

lol, I linked to his site ... what is your problem? I never said, that what he is selling is bad, expensive or can somewhere be found cheaper. I was just slightly amused, that the seller/assembler of a product advertises his as the best for the money

 

I got 99 problems, but the audio forum aint one. I never said you said those things, and yes, business men gonna advertise. We'll call him on his BS if needed.

[MayflowerElectronics]

lol, I linked to his site ... what is your problem? I never said, that what he is selling is bad, expensive or can somewhere be found cheaper. I was just slightly amused, that the seller/assembler of a product advertises his as the best for the money

 

I know what you are trying to say, and please don't take this as an offensive, but we've tried numerous products in the sub $100 for DAC's. We've come up short on almost everything we've tried. If there was something better, I would sell it.

 

Here are the specs, vs a DAC1 ($1000 benchmark DAC). The ODAC beats or matches it in nearly every category. If you know of any DAC like that, please show me i'd be very interested in it.

 

[MayflowerElectronics]

I got 99 problems, but the audio forum aint one. I never said you said those things, and yes, business men gonna advertise. We'll call him on his BS if needed.

 

Lmao...I'm sure you will.

[MrSuperb]

I know what you are trying to say, and please don't take this as an offensive, but we've tried numerous products in the sub $100 for DAC's. We've come up short on almost everything we've tried. If there was something better, I would sell it.

 

 

 

As I said before I now nwavguy and his reviews for quite some time, because I myself was looking for a DAC/headphone amplifier for almost 2 years now. I never bought one mainly because I was torn apart between buying a headphone+dac combo or replace my audioengine a2 with something like the Elac AM 180 or Adam Artist 5, which both come with built in dac&amps. Also i never 'needed' headphones as I have my Shure SE420 and UE TF10.

_______________________

 

Seeing and reading about the odac and knowing that I have orderer a Ncase M1 with a spare pci-bracket, I wondered if I could somehow atach an odac to a pcie bracket and connect it to an internal usb header ...

[MrSuperb]

Also i never recommended the udac 2 to anyone, but rather said there is something new coming (in the demanded price range) AND that he should wait for reviews if he is interested.

[MayflowerElectronics]

As I said before I now nwavguy and his reviews for quite some time, because I myself was looking for a DAC/headphone amplifier for almost 2 years now. I never bought one mainly because I was torn apart between buying a headphone+dac combo or replace my audioengine a2 with something like the Elac AM 180 or Adam Artist 5, which both come with built in dac&amps. Also i never 'needed' headphones as I have my Shure SE420 and UE TF10.

_______________________

 

Seeing and reading about the odac and knowing that I have orderer a Ncase M1 with a spare pci-bracket, I wondered if I could somehow atach an odac to a pcie bracket and connect it to an internal usb header ...

 

I'm sure it can be done.

[ShearMe]

Seeing and reading about the odac and knowing that I have orderer a Ncase M1 with a spare pci-bracket, I wondered if I could somehow atach an odac to a pcie bracket and connect it to an internal usb header ...

 

That's really where I see the future of Objective solutions if someone can get it running off PCIe. A front panel version would be sick as hell, imo.