Reddit mentions of FiiO E11 Portable Headphone Amplifier - E11

Certainly. One could also buy this and this and get SUBSTANTALLY better audio for half the price of Beats (but at the expense of that single red cord). Keep in mind these are open so there is a lot of sound leakage but for listener experience I think these hit the sweet spot as far as price and performance are concerned. Beats don't sound BAD but they are a fashion accessory in the same way Air Jordans aren't bad basketball shoes but they cost so much for name alone.

Sennheiser HD449.

If you really want an ear orgasm, combine them with any of FiiO's amazing headphone amps.

My combo: FiiO E11 + HD449 = ear bliss.

Detailed specs and frequency response chart:

http://www.headphone.com/headphones/sennheiser-hd-449.php

Example purchase links:

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E11-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B0053KWDES/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1348252469&sr=1-1&keywords=fiio+e11

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-449-Headphones-Black/dp/B005SNPV8K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348252455&sr=8-1&keywords=sennheiser+hd449

If you have 100$ to drop on a headphone amp, get something like a Magni or an E11 and simulate the effects of that thing with an equalizer. You'll get the same results and much better sound, and the effect isn't literally baked into the hardware if you ever want to get rid of it and just have a nice amp.

You should definitely get an amp for those. Something like the Fiio E11? (I'm sure others can chime in with better suggestions).
Also, don't forget to let them burn in.


In terms of gaming, you want an open headphone since they give wider soundstage.
If you need a mic, Modmics are popular or you can get a desktop mic.

With all that being said, DT770s are definitely an upgrade over most if not all gaming headsets so enjoy!

Tek Syndicate also have videos relating to this topic

Fiio makes some pretty nice budget and portable amps.

What are you looking for? For a introductory tube amp, I would reccomend the Vali + Modi amp/dac combo. They are made by Schiit, and their products are really good for their price.

The M50s are fairly easy to drive, but ~$40 is a bit of a low budget for an amp, you could find a portable fiio amp used (like the e11) for about $40. As a matter fact, it is selling for $40 here.

However, I'd honestly recommend saving up some extra cash and keeping an eye out for something like the Schiit Magni used on Amazon or Head-Fi. I've seen them go for around $70 used, it has much more power output than the FiiO and it will be able to handle higher end headphones if you decide to upgrade later.

Well the higher the impedance the harder to drive the headphones, thats the basics of it. In DT990s case the 600ohm is the best sounding one, but not by much. The DT990 250ohm premium is almost as good. The DT990 32ohms is also pretty good. You will only be able to tell the differences when listening to all three of them at the same time. But i think the one you were considering must have been the Pro 250ohm model, which is quite a bit different compared to its premium counterparts. It is more uncomfortable, has a smaller soundstage with muddier bass. It is also the cheapest at 200$. If I were you I'd go with the Premium 250ohm or 32ohm models. They both cost around 300$ new and run around 200$-250$ used(on Amazon via Amazon warehouse). If you get the 32ohm model you CAN skip getting an amp, as it wont be necessary, it will certainly improve the sound but wont be necessary. With the 250ohm premium an amp becomes a necessity. If you're going with a brand new 250Ohm premium then just get that along with a AMP+DAC like the E17 or if you want to go cheaper get the E11(it is the same amp as the E17 but without a DAC). You can skip getting a E9 as it wont give as much benefits and would unnecessarily push you overbudget. This should cost you about 440$ if you buy from Amazon(New DT990 Premium 250ohm + Fiio E17 or E11, with the E11 you'll be in budget but will loose on getting a DAC. Or you can get a used DT990 Premium 250 ohm(check out the 4th listing that lists it as like new, if Amazon says it is like new it means it will impossible to differentiate it from a brand new one) with a E17 to stay within budget

Personally, I don't bother with high-quality music on the go, but Fiio makes some affordable headphone amps that are the same size as a phone like this.

Schiit is an American company that makes excellent headphone amps and DACs but will be primarily for desktop use due to size.

Just so you know, a headphone amplifier is only necessary for phones that have a high impedance (the sum of resistance in the headphone's circuitry). From my own experience, my Sennheiser HD598 with an impedance of around 50 ohms does not require a headphone amp (one does help a little bit but it's not night and day), while the higher level Sennheiser HD650 (300 ohm impedance) definitely requires an amp to sound "good".

I don't really know much about IEM or Closed Headphones (my HD598 is an open-end design) which is what you would probably want for listening on the go.

Anything under $40 probably won't be enough for the 250 ohm version, but this one isn't too far above your budget and should be powerful enough

You're better off getting it from Amazon. I would never buy from eBay. Seems so unnecessarily sketchy.

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E11-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B0053KWDES/

FiiO E11 Portable Headphone Amplifier ($64) and HRT Music Streamer II High Resolution USB D/A Converter ($149). Reviews here, here and here.

I have a pair brainwavz b2 and I think they sound great. I use a e11 amp with them, but they sound pretty good out of the box as well. Also the cable looks cool

The answer to that question is kind of technical so I'll do my best. First off your phone and your laptop both have an internal DAC (Digital Analog Converter) and a basic amp so why do you need another one?..

Using hifi headphones require more "juice" (learn about impedance) than the phone and laptop can provide. There's also a considerable interference that comes from the internal workings of the phone/laptop that's not shielded. The interference effects the sound noticeably. If you're running a lot of processes on your device while listening to music you'll hear a hiss.

A DAC/Amp like the one I listed above gives the juice your hifi headphones want + shields the craziness happening inside the device from effecting your tunes. That one is designed for desktop use and I use it primarily at my desk at work with my laptop. You can also consider a portable DAC/Amp like the Fiio E11 if you plan on using your headphones with your phone and want portability. In hindsight, I would've bought one of these Fiio E12 models which offers the same sound quality as the desktop model but as a portable.

The Sennheiser HD598 DrAquafresh linked is a great pair of headphones. Super clear, very comfortable, with that nice Sennheiser warm sound. Two problems though: they benefit from an amp, which is difficult for making them truly portable, and they're open, meaning they let a lot of sound in and out.

So, if you can afford a cheap portable amp like this FiiO, and aren't in loud areas, they're definitely the best option for you.

If you need noise isolation, I highly recommend IEMs. They will isolate sound much better than any "noise cancelling" headphones, while actually producing high quality sound. I have to say: avoid Bose if at all possible. There are much better options for the same price. See this buying guide to find a pair of IEMs for you.

If you don't like the idea of IEMs, most closed headphones will be pretty good at noise isolation. That buyers guide has a bunch of options.

Compare to the FiiO E11 alone on many popular sites for $59.99 - The extra battery and charger are almost free if you're looking to get a portable amp for your audiophile headphones. Honestly, these make a difference for the standard headphones too - they just benefit the audiophile builds further. http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E11-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B0053KWDES

So I’m sort of new to the audio setup thing, but I recently bought the AKG 7xx on Massdrop:


https://www.massdrop.com/buy/akg-k7xx-massdrop-first-edition-headphones


And I also bought the Fiio E11 (that I can return):


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0053KWDES/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


And I was wondering, should I get a better amplifier? The 7xx came with a large jack that looks like it goes into a guitar amplifier, while the E11 only has 3.5mm jacks ins/outs. I like the 7xx’s form factor and it’s very comfortable so I want to keep it, but I am not attached to the E11 at all and was wondering if I should replace it. Portability doesn't mean much to me, since I will use it mainly as an amp on my desk when I'm using my desktop.


Also, should I get a sound card for my desktop? Or is just plugging into 3.5mm jacks on my tower good enough for the most part? My budget is flexible but I want something that will do my current set of headphones justice.

I've heard people use this amp with the re400s and said the bass boost option helps. Can't speak on their behalf but it works for them.

I was using a Fiio E11.

So you can see why I was having issues. Lesson learned, though; Don't cop out on an amp when you're buying $400 headphones.

I've heard anything over 200 ohms will greatly benefit from an amp. Those headphones have even been bundled together with a fiio amp like this

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0053KWDES?cache=5a525fc4f6e55beafe1dd0fde8e1e62d&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1410361843&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E11-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B0053KWDES/

Instead of an E6 would the E11 work?

The FiiO E11 portable amp should be a perfectly acceptable device to drive your DT-770's at 80 ohms. This is because 80 Ohms is not necessarily a high impedance so you don't need to spend tons of money on the actual amp itself.

Here's a link to the actual product: http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E11-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B0053KWDES/ref=sr_ob_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375633942&sr=8-1

I also recently purchased a DT 770 80 Ohm, it should arrive in 2 days, although I picked up an FiiO E07k AMP/DAC combo to go with it, thats about 90 bucks.

For the headphones, I would recommend the Klipsch X10. Here is a review from Head-Fi. These headphones have a pretty good seal so you get excellent isolation and virtually no leakage.

As for the amp, I'd go with the FiiO E11. Solid build construction, and it packs quite a punch. It only has a 10 hour battery life though, which can get annoying if you listen to music a lot.

These two products combined cost about $182 on amazon, though I'm sure you can find a better deal if you look hard enough.

I don't even use the base because the battery pack gets in the way.

So I can't find the 32hom version anywhere but I did find some deals for the 80 ohm, cheap enough that I could get a portable amp, such as this.

The prices I found were:

used

refurb

used a few times - - looks like 250ohm, better?

wholesale from China

Any you recommend trusting or not trusting? Any other places you would recommend?

Ok I got one more question for you, to get the most out of them would you recommend buying the amplifier? http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E11-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B0053KWDES/ref=pd_luc_bxgy_01_01_t_lh

try these

Budget - About $200 can go a little higher if there is a real increase in quality.


Source - An amp ( The Amp ) and hten into my phone or computer. I will buy a desktop amp in the future.


Requirements for Isolation - They are for use at home at my computer mostly there is no real isolation requirement.


Preferred Type of Headphone - Full sized.


Preferred tonal balance - I like my sound to sound crisp and defined. I also like good bass that you can feel. I really hate it when songs sound almost muffled. My EQ's usually end up being a parabola shaped (u shaped). I hate it when the good bass sound comes at the cost of the rest of the audio quality. I also hate it when bass just ends up being a constant rumble (like what happens sometimes with the bass guitar) instead of sounding like punches if that makes any sense, but then again that may just be the songs themselves and not the equipment. I also like my guitars to great so when a crunchy guitar riff comes on I'm able to hear it well. Lastly I like vocals too. A well balanced sound with emphasis on the bass if it does not come at the cost of the quality of the other areas is what I'm looking for.


Past headphones - Siberia v2: Admittedly I did not buy these for music, they really suck in that department even with my portable amp they do not get loud enough and they have far too little bass and while they play the music nothing really stands out as good about them.

Sennheiser HD 7 DJ: I bought these last week somewhat an impulse purchase and I am not exactly happy with the sound, while it's better than anything else I own currently (I own Razer Hammerhead Pro's, Sennheise cx-300's and the siberia v2) I still don't think it sounds great. My car has pretty good sounding speakers. When I play a song in my car I can get both defined sounding guitar and great bass but with these headphones some songs guitar and/or vocals (most commonly guitar though) sounds like absolute crap. No matter what I do with the EQ I can't get it to sound right. I have 3 more weeks to return these if I choose to do so.

Preferred Music - I listen to a lot of different stuff, Most commonly metal, rock, rap and pop. I however also listen to trance, electronic, jazz, and folk from time to time. I'll post a few examples below.

Metal

Metal

Rock

Rock

Rap/Hip-Hop

Rap/Hip-Hop

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E11-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B0053KWDES

is what I would suggest as something cheap-ish and basic, i'm currently running a E17 with MDR 7506's. Even if your phone has the capacity to properly power lower ohms headphones it's worth it to invest in a good amp.

That E11 is only a amp though, the E17 is a DAC and Amp, I use the E17 as my soundcard wherever I go, it's awesome.

Not sure if you're onboard will be able to drive them to their potential.

The FiiO E11 will certainly drive your 50ohm headphones.

If you're looking for something a little more robust looking and desktop oriented, the FiiO E9 will drive most any headphone out there.

Actually, I just read a review over on Head-Fi and was shocked to find they say it sounds better than the more expensive e7!!! My man, I think you just picked out my next purchase. Thanks again! :D

Edit: I must admit, for an extra $30 the e11 is looking mighty tempting, too.

This is what i have. Has an amp to boost the volume, as well as the ability to adjust gain and an equalizer.

Im using Sennheiser 280 pros with this and its able to get very loud without distorting.

Edit:switched to amazon link

I did buy it a long time ago so there is probably a new version.

Would the
Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO, 250 ohms (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006NL5SM/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1M3AMBGK3OIPO&coliid=I3JEXU45VJLNNF) be good to walk to and from classes in college with the FiiO E11 (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0053KWDES/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1M3AMBGK3OIPO&coliid=IZLOCH1VXRN7N) or is it awkward?

You would want to use the composite cables that came with ps3.

http://www.amazon.com/C2G-Cables-40645-Stereo-Adapter/dp/B000J1H4VI/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1372095739&sr=8-9&keywords=rca+to+3.5mm

using that you can get the audio to a 3.5mm jack
http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E5-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B001P9EQH8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1372095704&sr=8-2&keywords=Fiio+amp
http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E11-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B0053KWDES/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1372095704&sr=8-4&keywords=Fiio+amp

get yourself and amplifier so you can control volume.
plug the RCA->3.5mm into the amplifier input and plug anything you want as the output be it speakers or headphones.

This is what i use to get my HD650s working with my ps3 :D. It works quite nicely

You should definitely look into those two:

Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO

Audio-Technica ATH-M50

I have the ones from Audio-Technica and am fully satisfied. Back when I wanted to buy some good headphones I originally planned on buying the DT 770 PRO from Beyerdynamics but before I could order them a friend told me that the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 were currently discounted - so I went with them.

You'll most likley need a portable headphone amplifier like this one if you want to use the Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO with your smartphone.

Ahhh m30. I'm using the m50s but I had the same problem. I don't mean a big thing like that reciever, I mean a headphone amp with a bass booster function. This is what I use:

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E11-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B0053KWDES/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1395606163&sr=8-3&keywords=fiio+headphone+amp

Oh wise audiophiles,

Forgive me in advance for any ignorance, this is going to be my entry-level purchase into the hifi world. This is not necessarily a 'puchasing advice' inquiry, but more of a knowledge inquiry on what I need to power my setup. I'm looking at buying KRK Rokit 5 G3s and the Beyerdynamic DT770 250 ohms purely for near-field music listening (no producing, mixing, DJing, etc.) at my PC. I was recently gifted the Xonar DX 7.1 PCI sound card for my rig which I believe is a sufficient DAC for Rokit 5s (correct me if I'm wrong), but I'm unsure if I'm losing some quality by hooking my monitors in with an unbalanced line via an XLR or 1/4" TRS to 1/8" TRS. Further to that, the Xonar DX does not split to mono inputs so I would need an adapter to plugin directly to my soundcard. I do enjoy having an external interface to control my sound devices and a friend suggested I buy a mixer such as the Behringer XNYEX502 as another possibility.

First question: is it worth buying an external DAC/mixer for my Rokit 5s compared to using only a Xonar DX soundcard?

I also understand that they DT770s need an amplifier to be properly used. The recommendations I've researched typically consist of the fiio portable headphone amplifier series or the O2/ODAC JDS Labs combo. I do not need a portable amplifier as these headphones will live at my station and I have separate headphones for portability. The O2/ODAC combo sounds like a great piece of hardware, but at $279, they greatly exceed the price of my DT770s.

Second question: Are there other solutions that I can look into that aren't portable or expensive?

If the O2/ODAC combo is recommended and is worth the price in combination with the DT770s, then I'm perfectly fine making the purchase. Just want to be sure it's not overkill.

Now for the (longshot) third question: Since I'm potentially looking into both a DAC and a headphone amplifier, is there a piece of hardware that can satisfy both in one tool? Seems like I could find a way of mitigating the cost by purchasing a device that could be both a DAC/mixer for my Rokit 5s and a headphone amplifier for my DT770s. If not, is there a stack I could purchase that have similar designs that would look aesthetically pleasing on my station (I'm a fan of clean looking and matching hardware)?

Again, sorry for any groans I may have caused and thank you in advance for your expertise.