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http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00654LOCS/ref=oh_o01_s00_i00_details
Fiio E7 rebrand. Save $29 over the regular E7.
Fiio E7 rebrand. Save $29 over the regular E7.
Yes. The big hole there is for the e7.
It works a lot like a sound card. You plug it in via USB, and you can then tell your computer to output sound to it. This can be a big help if you want one program to output from your speakers and another to output through your headphones. For something like a laptop or a computer with particularly crappy onboard audio, you can get cleaner audio out of it. When used with a portable (ipod, zune, cellphone), it can provide extra power or be a better match (complicated stuff) to fancy headphones that might not work so well with a portable.
I believe plugging in the E7 will completely bypass your soundcard, as it is a DAC itself. So it acts as a sound card. It goes into the USB slot as well, not your 3.5mm jack.
Why the hard feelings for Head-Fi?Originally Posted by DayoftheGreek
It works a lot like a sound card. You plug it in via USB, and you can then tell your computer to output sound to it. This can be a big help if you want one program to output from your speakers and another to output through your headphones. For something like a laptop or a computer with particularly crappy onboard audio, you can get cleaner audio out of it. When used with a portable (ipod, zune, cellphone), it can provide extra power or be a better match (complicated stuff) to fancy headphones that might not work so well with a portable.
Good review free of head-fi's disgusting misinformation and brand bias:
http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/05/fiio-e7-usb-dac-amp.html
Your Titanium HD is probably one of the best music-oriented sound cards out there. Unless you need more power, or just don't like the sound signature of the Titanium HD, you're better off just using it alone.
I'm not much of an audiophile but even when visiting head-fi there is definitely bias opinions all around, hard to get an unbiased opinion at headfi.
I understand that. I used to visit a lot and be very active, but the past couple years now I just go there to see headphone news every once in a while.
(the following is true for amps, dacs, cables, etc. The headphone section is still decent, but should be taken with a grain of salt as always)
A quick google brought up that the S2 has about a 50 ohms output impedance, which is terrible for driving almost anything. That is very high. The E7 has about 0.13 ohms, which is very good! So I can't say anything for certain because I haven't listened myself, but there is as good a chance as ever you will get some audible sound improvement.
Besides this site, what other site would you recommend for unbiased headphone/amp reviews/discussion then?Originally Posted by DayoftheGreek
(the following is true for amps, dacs, cables, etc. The headphone section is still decent, but should be taken with a grain of salt as always)
Imagine OCN, but nobody here was allowed to post benchmarks because they were a banable offense. Now imagine about half of the computer component companies in the world sponsored OCN and OCN made a lot of money when their sponsors sold product. OCZ could be rebranding old SSD's and sell them for a huge profit because of their "increased reaction time." OCZ fans would, of course, feel this claim because they expect too. No benchmarks remember, so only human interaction can be the judge. Companies could sell gold SATA 10Gbps cables, but with no benchmarks to prove they don't do anything, people would buy and love these cables. Any sane person would speak out against this, right? Wrong, because speaking out against the sponsors gets you banned because of the huge amount of money they make. The opinion of members who have tested a lot of gear is held in super-high regard, so of course they get new test equipment from the sponsors first. Ever seen a piece of sponsors gear get a less-than-great review? Nope. A lot of times this gear even comes from companies that don't have the means to properly test their gear (trust your ears... and the price tag!) and it ends up damaging very expensive headphones. That should be front page news! Nope, not if it is a sponsor, then it gets swept under the rug.
I spent too much time and money on that website, only to find out everyone there thinks microwaves can control your mind and painting your cables red increases the bass, but only if the cables cost at least $100. And if you can't hear it, it's because you need to spend at least $1000 on an amp.
http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/banned-at-head-fi.html
This is probably one of the best documented examples of head-fi being crazy, but check out the forum links at the bottoms too . You will be able to find tons of bad head-fi stories at each of those forums. Time and time again I've been censored myself, and watched smart posters get banned for calling out blatant misinformation.