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Headphone amp - Fiio E6

since i know nothing about headphone amps, i have to ask a couple of questions...

1. since your source would have a volume on it (mp3 player, cellphone), what would be the rule of thumb with the particular volume settings? if it comes with 15 levels, what should it be at?
2. when it comes to the amp, same thing, what would the rule be on the volume of the amp then? since you dont want to to be too loud as a source im assuming, your amp should be doing most of the hard work. correct?
3. of course, if theres a line level output, that would be the best to use to avoid any 'volume' issues, right?

on the way home i used my cellphone again to listen to some tunes, and love it. theres a sense of fullness to the songs i listen to. in comparison, when i listen to my music my volume is set at 13/15 based on the headphones i use (the ones from amazon that double as a headset), and et to listen to it where i can be aware of my surroundings and still enjoy it. its not 'in your face' kinda loud, but loud enough.

with the amp on, man, i had to put it on 9/15 i think, and despite being almost the same volume, i cant hear ANYTHING outside anymore. like im listening to some high quality set of cans.

i will end up using it later on this evening, after dinner, to enjoy it.. will tell you moe later on...
 
I use the volume control on my Squeezebox Touch, and leave the volume control on the LYR at a stationary position (11:00), althought the amp setting would be highly dependent on the amps gain. Possibly the best approach would be to connect headphones directly to the amp with no signal, then increase the volume until you encounter hum. If no hum is encountered, then you may want to trial and error until you find a volume level with the amp that sound best to your ears.

Rope
 
IME, the volume for the player should be set at 75% to 100%. I recall reading that a digital amp in such small devices might have lowest noise level when maxed out. I won't claim that this theory is correct but I have experienced this with some DAPs. I have used some lower quality DAPs where using full volume resulted in noticeable distortion when connected to a portable amp.

In a related debate, some people claim that an iPods line out is no different from using the HP out with the volume maxed. I don't believe that view. One thing I do know is that my 120 GB Ipod Classic has a bad case of hum with most of my IEMs when at low volume. When using the line out into a portable amp there is dead silence at near zero volume.

Rope's advice with testing for amp noise/buzz/hum, whatever, is a good place to start.
 
I don't own a portable amp (yet), subsequently, I have spoken out of turn. However, with my home amp and DAC, I'm unable to use my IEM's, because of hum, and would suspect it's from the amps power rating. On the other hand, I'm able to use my IEM's with the Little Dot II±±, connected to my computer with great results.

Rope
 
hah! my IEMs sound like dog doodoo from my tube amp. It is an OTL design so low impedance is a no-no.
 
okay, will try doing it with the player at full volume. maybe im just being too cautious or what not...

i dont get any humming at all with my amp, and tried it with both the sens and my regular earphones. too cheap to show the difference? my headphones that is.

anyways, i think ive 'calibrated' it enough where the sound is set pretty well - cellphone at 9/15 and amp at around 40/50 clicks. wierd but should i try the other way around?

i think my results where pretty good, considering i showed it off to my sister and let her listen to chicagos 'just you n me' first with my cellphone and regular earphones, and later on, with the amp on - she screamed at me asking if i changed the volume or anything, which i didnt on the cellphone.... i just added the amp on there. she said its amazingly different, like your listening to some 'real' speakers compared to earphones. she also was worried it might be too loud, said it was for work mostly, instead of travelling. besides, i turn it down real low when i get on the street.

thanks again for the help folks, and hopefully, flint post his reflections of this amp as well.
 
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