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Headphone amp (quality but not pricey)

bmwuk

Well-Known Member
My Electric-avenues amp from years ago has taken a turn for the worse. Any thoughts on a decent headphone amp for use with a portable setup? Using Shure IEMs
 
I use the FIIO E5 in my travels to connect to my laptop output or the headphone outputs the in-flight entertainment offer (often very crappy and helped a ton with this gorgeous little amp).

I strongly recomment it.
 
I contacted them on why the crackling sound. Turns out I was using regular batteries and not rechargeable batteries. Trying it out tonight
 
bmwuk said:
I contacted them on why the crackling sound. Turns out I was using regular batteries and not rechargeable batteries. Trying it out tonight

yeah, alkaline will do that. Gary is a great guy.
 
GreatDane said:
bmwuk said:
I contacted them on why the crackling sound. Turns out I was using regular batteries and not rechargeable batteries. Trying it out tonight

yeah, alkaline will do that. Gary is a great guy.

Gary is wonderful. Responded to multiple emails quickly.
 
GreatDane said:
bmwuk said:
I contacted them on why the crackling sound. Turns out I was using regular batteries and not rechargeable batteries. Trying it out tonight

yeah, alkaline will do that. Gary is a great guy.
Huh. Would love for an EE type to explain to me why this is... :think:

The guitarist Eric Johnson swears he can hear a difference when his guitar pedals are powered with 9v batteries versus A/C adapters, but I could almost see this as no rectification (converting AC to DC) is perfect. Don't know if he uses Monster™ batteries... :happy-smileygiantred:
 
Flint said:
I use the FIIO E5 in my travels to connect to my laptop output or the headphone outputs the in-flight entertainment offer (often very crappy and helped a ton with this gorgeous little amp).

I strongly recomment it.

That's a great deal, especially for $20.

I have the E6 and love it!


D
 
Botch said:
GreatDane said:
bmwuk said:
I contacted them on why the crackling sound. Turns out I was using regular batteries and not rechargeable batteries. Trying it out tonight

yeah, alkaline will do that. Gary is a great guy.
Huh. Would love for an EE type to explain to me why this is... :think:

The guitarist Eric Johnson swears he can hear a difference when his guitar pedals are powered with 9v batteries versus A/C adapters, but I could almost see this as no rectification (converting AC to DC) is perfect. Don't know if he uses Monster™ batteries... :happy-smileygiantred:

The rechargeable batteries are 1.2V versus alkalines at 1.5V. Gary indicated the amp was designed to work with lower voltage batteries like the rechargeables.
 
I have been stunned at the quality, usability, and price of te Fiio products. So much so that I now own several of their products. The are well made, perform flawlessly and as advertised, and are as small as possible for the features they offer. I don't know why the headphone community hasn't adopted them as the affordable standard for headphone interfaces - maybe because they are affordable and factory manufactured, or perhaps they are sold at traditional online discounters like Amazon and Parts Express.

I like the E5 because of the clip. I put on my shirt like an iPod Nano as I board a flight and leave it there for the duration of the flight. I plug in my IEMs and then plug the input into the airplane's entertainment system (often requiring an adapter), my portable music player, my Android phone, or my laptop. Sometimes I use multiple sources on one long flight, like my last 15 hour flight from Shanghai to Chicago. The battery lasted the entire flight!
 
bmwuk said:
The rechargeable batteries are 1.2V versus alkalines at 1.5V. Gary indicated the amp was designed to work with lower voltage batteries like the rechargeables.
Thanks! :handgestures-thumbup:
 
Botch said:
bmwuk said:
The rechargeable batteries are 1.2V versus alkalines at 1.5V. Gary indicated the amp was designed to work with lower voltage batteries like the rechargeables.
Thanks! :handgestures-thumbup:

Don't thank me, thank Gary at Electric-avenues. Guy is awesome. I asked him when we might see a new design for an amp. Apparently he is swamped with his existing 2 models. A shame.
 
Flint said:
I have been stunned at the quality, usability, and price of te Fiio products. So much so that I now own several of their products. The are well made, perform flawlessly and as advertised, and are as small as possible for the features they offer.

At the risk of hi-jacking the thread, what other Fiio products do you own and like?

THat being said, I love the idea of Electric Avenues... Seems like he gets a lot of love over at Head Fi based on my very limited perusing.
 
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