The HiFi Headphones team is pleased to announce that the new Portable Headphone Amplifier from FiiO, the E12 Mont Blanc is now available to be purchased on our website.
The FiiO E12 Mont Blanc is FiiO’s latest addition to their range of Portable Headphone Amplifiers. The E12 is the newer big brother of the superb E11, boasting a new look which is extremely durable with it’s all-over aluminium casing and seamless design. With improvments to the inner circuitry, FiiO have found the perfect balance between high-performance sound fidelity and long lasting durability. The E12 can be charged via USB on your PC, or by using your USB plug adapter. The unit will automatically adjust to the correct charging currency, the full charging time of the E12 is 3 hours.
Smart Recharging User Friendly charging indicator
Utilizes LME49710 & LME49600 Op amps, resulting in near-zero distortion at .00003%
Large capacity Li-polymer battery provides +/- 11 volts, with total output power up to 850mW
USB smartcharge circuit allow charging from laptop/PC, phone, or tablet
Ability to drive high-impedance headphones such as planar-magnetic models
The first thing the new headphone FiiO E12 Headphone amplifier ‘Mont Blanc’ AKA E12 does is impress just with its styling and shape. It is as oblong as it is solid, as it is black, as it is er.. rectangular. The size and shape of the FiiO E12 Headphone Amplifier is perfectly suited to lie against an iPod for instance, to form a nice regular pocketable rig. For me however, the temptation to grab a disused femur and bash the head of a hapless colleague is great indeed. It’s just so black. And oblongtangular.
I eventually shook off my atavistic tendencies; and using logic and reason I connected it to a USB socket for a good charge. The light pulsated slowly while this went on, and remained steady once the E12 was full. The E12 is not a DAC like the E07k or E17, it just amplifies.
The E12 is suitable for IEMs as well as full sized headphones, as there is a gain switch offering an extra 16dB should they be needed. The E12 is listed as being compatible with headphones up to 300 Ohms, but I thought I’d try my good old AKG K240DFs which come in at 600. The K240s were brought up to a good volume, and the bass boost switch on the E12 came in handy with them as they’re a bit bass-light. I’d say they could be driven better, but I could be using an amp which was designed for them so no surpise there. The HE-400 was always only just at an acceptably loud level with the E7, but with the E12 I can turn it up further should I need to.
The bass boost switch can be set to ‘off’ or ‘on’ only, there are no incremental steps. It sounds equivalent to a level ‘3’ setting on the E7’s bass boost, as the effect is large. Whether it improves the sound depends on what music is playing, for me; and how it is produced. Some forms of music can end up sounding a bit boomy and woolly, others are improved no end. I would say that in the former case, bass boost is superfluous anyway.
I tried the crossfeed feature with interest, as there are certain tracks which cannot easily be listened to on headphones. Mainly those early stereo mixes which are still experimental and intended for loudspeakers only, with for instance drums panned hard left, and perhaps rhythm guitar panned hard right. This makes my ears want to do back flips ordinarily, but the crossfeed feature really makes these tracks listenable again. In the past I’ve had to put the signal through a mixing desk and play with the panning, but this does it for me; and very well too. It need hardly be said that its effect on normal stereo mixes is detrimental indeed, so use crossfeed only when required.
The volume is controlled by a small pot on end of the E12, and is stiff enough not to deafen anyone with a nervous twitch. There’s little chance of it being moved by accident, and has a satisfyingly weighty feel to it.
I tried the E12 with my HE-400 full sized headphones and also the Phonak Audeo PFE112. The versatility of the E12 is one of its strengths, but great attention is required if switching from full-size to IEM and back again. It’s a good idea to check the gain control and volume religiously before switching on as there’s nothing to prevent the equipment and eardrums of the careless being damaged!
I think though that Fiio should take more care of their quality control as this appears to be coated in some sort of adhesive. It’s stuck to my hand, and I’m not sure if I can dislodge it before the weekend. I might have to take it home, and that would be dreadful.
Based on the highly successful FiiO E7, the E07K Andes features many improvements. The FiiO E07K portable headphone amplifier with USB audio decoder (DAC) is designed for dual-functionality. It both replaces PC on-board sound cards as the primary audio decoder, which can lead to an increase in audio quality, as well as provide high quality sound amplification and drive high-powered high-end headphones.
High performance with excellent resolution and low distortion
96kHz 24-Bit high resolution audio decoding
Right and left channel balance can be adjusted to suit users with different ear sensitivity
Separate fine bass and treble adjustments with 20 discreet steps from -10 to +20
Output bypass feature allows user to output fixed line-level signal when used with E09K
Three separate gain levels of 0dB, 6dB, and 12dB
Hold switch prevents inadvertent adjustments and key presses
Build-in rechargeable 1500mAH Li-ion battery for up to 24 hours of continuous use
Dual colour OLED display with automatic key lock and sleep timer function
Regular visitors to HiFi Headphones may have noticed we’ve listed the iBasso D2 in our headphone amplifier section. Last week we received a couple of samples of each iBasso model to test. The results were so positive we went ahead and listed them immediately and put our first order in (we’re expecting stock from in approx 3 weeks).
There are other models in the range, including an ultra portable headphone amp called the iBasso T4 (it is VERY small and weighs just 29 grams) and a high end model that comes with various types of Op-Amp to swap over to alter the sound signature (one for the perfectionists).
The iBasso D2 works especially well with higher impedance earphones such as the Sleek Audio SA6 and Klipsch Image X10, where there is good improvement in depth of bass, as well as high frequency detail and soundstage. I’ve yet to test with lower impedance earphones (Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10’s, etc), but I would guess the effect is similar, but maybe not so pronounced.
Below is a photo of the iBasso D2 with my Sleek Audio SA6’s and an old iPod Nano:
In my opinion the most interesting application for the iBasso D2 is using the DAC with a laptop. With my IBM ThinkPad T62 laptop feeding the D2’s DAC and a pair of Sennheiser HD650’s the difference in overall sound quality is significant compared with the laptop’s standard headphone output. I would say this is the application where the biggest improvement in sound quality is seen.
If you appreciate high quality audio and feel that listening to your iPod is a bit of compromise, then the British built Graham Slee Voyager Headphone Amp is an ideal solution. As most high end audio enthusiasts will quickly tell you, the iPod’s headphone output is actually pretty bad at driving many headphones. The Graham Slee Voyager gives an iPod the extra grunt that enables it to easily drive high quality headphones, such as the Sennheiser HD650, with added warmth and fullness and without distortion.
As well as allowing the iPod to drive higher end Hi-Fi headphones, the Graham Slee Voyager is a also perfect for driving lower impedance earphones and headphones. The Voyager headphone amplifier features a contour switch to equalise street-wear headphones, emulating the sound you get from “home” or Hi-Fi headphones – putting back that missing bottom-end bass and replacing the usual scratchy highs with the whole clarity that makes this portable headphone amplifier “hard to switch-off”.
About Graham Slee
The Voyager headphone amp has been developed and produced in the UK by the team at Graham Slee based in South Yorkshire. Graham Slee have a long history manufacturing high end phono amplifiers and headphone amplifiers. The Graham Slee Voyager is their first step into the world of portable audio, but this is fast becoming a major part of the business.
