I bought this to augment my collection of MP3 players, mainly out of curiosity. Everyone on the DAP/Headphone boards rave on its performance out of such a cheap and small device. It arrived 5 days later and my MP3 players have never sounded better.
Its sound signature augments my players containing less-than-stellar bass response and all out quality(i.e. All but the most recent iPods with the Cirrus Logic DAC), nicely and provides both a bass boost and widened soundstage. It just sounds "warmer"
As stated by another reviewer, its only fault is the lack of an on/off switch. But, Fiio has rectified this with the updated(and a bit more expensive) E5.
All in all, this is a great little amp and a worthy addition to your DAP collection. It's certainly not a replacement for a high end amp, but then again, it's not meant to be. Fiio E3 Headphone Amp
this review is for those who have never owned any headphone amps before.
the fiio e3 is one of the cheapest headphone amps out there and that fact may very well tempt newbies to purchase it as their first foray into the world of portable headphone amps. that was indeed the reason i bought it as my first amp. however, it's probably better to first ask yourself why'd you even consider buying an amp to begin with.
headphone amps in general offer: 1) improvements in sound quality, 2) increased power to better drive high impedance headphones (such as the sennheiser hd600), and 3) an external volume control. that's for starters. there are some headphone amps with even more bells and whistles like crossfeed, optical input, and so forth. you don't need any of those special features if you've never heard of them. as you gain more experience with amps, you'll grow wiser and figure out for yourself what you do and don't need. let's focus on the fiio e3's ability to handle the basic improvements an amp should provide.
1) sound quality -- the fiio e3 is not a neutral amp. the e3's sound is bass heavy to the detriment of the midrange and highs. for example, details in guitars and vocals will seem muddier because of the exaggerated bass. if you intend to actually listen to your music, then you will want an amp that's as neutral as possible and doesn't distort too much what the artist intended for your ears to hear. the soundstage on the e3 is small and the instrument separation and imaging is not really improved much beyond what the headphone out of your music player would provide. for example, a large orchestra will still sound compressed together with details from different instruments obscuring and blending into each other.
2) power -- the fiio runs on one aaa battery. that pretty much says it all when it comes to power. this amp will not drive a pair of headphones any better than the headphone out of your mp3 player. in fact, the e3 might make things worse by being in the signal chain!
3) volume control -- one nice feature amps in general provide is the ability to fiddle with a volume knob in your pocket so you don't have to take out your ipod to adjust the volume. neat. unfortunately, the fiio e3 does not have a volume knob, so this benefit is non-existent on the e3. the e3 makes the music louder by a fixed amount, but louder volume without control is of quite limited use. more importantly, amps without volume controls are essentially useless if you're planning on using a line-out dock to bypass your mp3 player's output section to get a cleaner signal.
the fiio e3 falls far short on these basic features one would want out of a headphone amp. you are better off saving yourself the hassle of changing batteries every few days, and doing something else instead with the $9 or so that it would cost to buy an e3. sure, it's not a lot of money, but personally i'd rather spend that money on another cd for my collection. or better yet, save that $9 and put it toward the purchase of a better amp that will actually improve the music listening experience.
I cant say enough about this little gadget. I am a music afficionado and I wasnt getting the volume level that I require to listen to my library of over 15,000 tracks on my Dell studio Hybrid PC. I have old Logitech speakers which sound great when played however when I use the headphones while plugged into the headphone input on the Logitech speaker the volume level was waay below acceptable. After DJ'ing for several years Im sure I have some hearing loss as well. This little amp works miracles! Not just by increasing volume level by 100% but a rich, fuller un-distorted sound through my sennheiser earphones. I paid roughly $10 total - product and shipping. Best $10 investment ever!
Some of the one-and-two-star reviews said this was not an amplifier and did not perform to expectations. At the other end, four-and-five start reviews say it performs perfectly. How can this be? Perhaps it's expectations and purpose.
Permit me to project, but when one says "amplifier" for me it brings to mind a component audio device that takes a tiny signal and, using a variable control, outputs in anything from nothing to ear-splitting volume. If that's your expectation, this is not for you.
We'll leave aside that 'to amplify' is to increase, to make larger or louder. This device fits that strict definition, but for most people there are more assumptions that come along for the ride (above) and so perhaps calling it a "booster" will help people decide if it's right for them. Just like you ask someone for a boost to climb over a barrier, so the E3 gives a little extra "oomph." For my purposes--I had almost but just not quite enough volume--it works perfectly. My application is playing my mp3 player through my car's auxiliary input. At full volume, it was just not quite enough with highway noise. But with the E3 inline, I get enough boost to hear perfectly (and actually have just a little volume to spare).
I'm no acoustical engineer but if 3 db is a doubling of power, it might well describe this device: a perceptible difference but not going from a whisper to a shout.
That it uses a AAA battery I also view as a plus: as long as a replacement is handy, there is no down-time during recharging, and one doesn't have to worry about recharge fatigue over repeated cycles (how's your cell phone battery life at one year compared to new-out-of-the-box?). I've used it about 10 hours over several weeks on the same battery; battery life is advertised at 20 hours. Just be sure to unplug the output/headphone side when not in use or you'll probably drain the battery in a day. (There's a small LED next to the output jack that lights when something is plugged in, so I assume there's a constant drain beyond the LED.) The AAA increases overall size compared to built-in battery models but for me that isn't an issue.
Bottom line, as long as you don't expect the Hubble telescope for $7, as long as you're a little short and need just a boost, this is probably for you. And, if not, you're only out a lunch at McHardees. There aren't too many things with that cost/benefit/risk ratio. - Amp - Fiio E3 - Headphone Amps - Headphone Amplifier'
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