Small "inline" portable amps.

[MASantos]

I'm looking for an amplifier for my brother's ipod classic. He has a pair of UEsuperfi4vi with plans to upgrading later to a pair of triple fi 10.

He doesn't wan to have a lod +portable amp because of size and price.

Ive seen threads over at the other place about the Fiio and similar amps, but never paid much attention because it's really not my thing.

I've been through a couple of those threads but under all that crappy posting is it hard to find some useful information.

Does anyone have an opinion on these "cheap" amp like this one:

Head-Direct.com | YUIN

Is there under 80-100$ that is any good?

[Dusty Chalk]

Maybe it's because there isn't anything positive to say about it. Do the triple-fi 10's really need amplification? (I.E. in the same way the JH13 doesn't really need additional amplification?) I would point him in that direction. I have been happy with both Etymotic ER-6i and Yuin ...I forget, PK-1, PK-2? ...without additional amplification.

Edited January 13, 2010 by Dusty Chalk

[Currawong]

I'd say that the TF10s are absolutely fine without amplification and not to bother. With a Corda Move there was zero benefit. What ended up making useful difference for me was the Null Audio cable which removed some very unpleasant harshness. I'll try again with the Pico slim again though.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jinp6301]

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Oh apple/tapatalk!

[mrarroyo]

MASantos is your brother's iPod volume limited as per EU rules? If so see if you can reset the volume limit and he may not need the amp. If he still needs it the T3 by iBasso would be my suggestion because of its size and it is made for portables. I just loaned my T3 to Carl and he should be able to provide feedback in a couple of days. Cheers and good luck.

[episiarch]

I have a Fiio E1 (the unit MASantos linked to in the OP). It's good for making some earphones that really don't need an amp sound better. It's really not good for making earphones that do need an amp sound properly amped.

I like it very much with my d-jays and Denon C551. It's pretty good with the V-moda Vibe II. It's a sonic negative with Etymotic hf2, which sounds much better without it.

It is hopeless with Etymotic ER-4, Yuin PK-1, Senn PX100, etc. Anything beyond an already very efficient earphone, in other words.

Don't know at all how it would go with your brother's UEs. So, yeah, this isn't a really helpful post, sorry. But at $25 it's hard to go too far wrong. For some purposes the inline remote/volume control on the E1 could be worth that by itself.

[MASantos]

I'm not sure if his ipod is EU volume limited, but there is an option in the menus to remove a volume limitation, but volume isn't quite the problem.

There is some harshness in the sound, and the bass isn't as controled as it could be. It might be the IEMs, I guess he should wait for the TF10's to see if it improves, which is very likely.

[oogabooga]

I got a Fiio E5 for my friend to use with his iPod and SE210s - he likes the sound out of the Fiio a lot, and uses it all the time now. I don't have a more detailed description as he's not as into headphones are most of us are, and he's a few thousands kilometres away so I can't try it out myself at the moment. He did say that the improvement was more pronounced on some songs than others, but that the sound was always the same as or better than the HP out, never worse.

FWIW he uses a mini-mini, not an LOD. If you have any specific questions I could ask him.

HTH

[manaox2]

I have a couple of the original Fiio (I think that was the E5) and gave one to my bro too. He loves it, I thought it was basically a bass and volume booster. It about kills me that the portable cd player he uses makes a loud beeping with any adjustments to the volume, makes me really want a volume control on it like the E1. I planned to use them for Christmas presents, but my flunky relatives decided not to really meet up for Christmas, so I still have them on hand.