Portable headphone amp with DAC

[toon10]

I bought an FiiO E11 a couple of years back to power my B&W P5's on my iPhone. Although it wasn't the best amp in the world and I'm running Spotify premium which isn't lossless, it did make a big difference. Fast forward to now and for some reason it won't power up anymore.

I want to replace it and a lot of the Internet points me towards another FiiO of some flavour. I'm a bit concerned about reliability so is there another good headphone amp with DAC I should be looking at? My requirements are that it should be decent quality, not cost more than £150 and be portable.

[curlyks2]

Creative Sound Blaster E5? (or E3?)

The Oppo HA-2 appears to get good reviews if your budget can be stretched.

[toon10]

curlyks2 said:

Creative Sound Blaster E5? (or E3?)

The Oppo HA-2 appears to get good reviews if your budget can be stretched.

Thanks Curly. The E5 looks a good shout. The Oppo reviews well but out of my budget unfortunately.

[TX1]

I would also consider the iBasso D14 Bushmaster which is slightly over your budget from here http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/

[Dr G]

My E10 is 5 years old (maybe more) and going strong.

I've recommended them to a few friends/colleagues over the years who have without fail been impressed by the difference it makes and gone out to buy one. Never heard of a single failure.

Sounds like you may just have been unlucky...

[toon10]

Dr G said:

My E10 is 5 years old (maybe more) and going strong.

I've recommended them to a few friends/colleagues over the years who have without fail been impressed by the difference it makes and gone out to buy one. Never heard of a single failure.

Sounds like you may just have been unlucky...

They don't have a reputation for failures. Mine isn't old and I've had some good use out of it. It tends to only get used when travelling so it should be in top condition but although the power light comes on when it's charging, when I unplug it and turn it on, there's nothing. It wasn't overcharged either as I never leave things on overnight or for too long. I suspect I have just been unlucky. A couple of people have suggested I stick with FiiO and look at the Q1 which has dropped to £59.99.

[Podie]

Ditch the iPhone and go lossless in a dedicated player - you wont regret it.

I have a Fiio X3 (mk1) you can have for some beer tokens... since upgrade to AK70 via an AK Jr.

[toon10]

Small update. I decided to do a bit of googling and there are a few people who have had the same issue. All I needed to do was open the the case and take the battery out and put it back in. Easy as that. You may wonder why I didn't try this before. I didn't actually realise you could open the thing up and get to the battery

All is well so I'll stick with the E11 until I can justify more on a better amp.

[Dr G]

That's a result