Portable headphone amp

[beanbag]

I recently went out and purchased a pair of B&W P5 Series 2 headphones. They are pretty awesome but I feel as though they lack some drive on my iPad when watching movies.

They actually sound ok with my iPhone 6S but I really did struggle to get enough volume on the iPad (Air).

Can anyone suggest a decent but not ridiculously priced portable headphone amp that I can slip away in my bag easily? I've found quite a few online but the prices are pretty extreme in the range....£20 all the way up to £350! (It does make me think I should have purchased the Bluetooth version, but it's a bit late for that now).

[dtmpower]

techmoan recently did a video on some of the options: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22kx0q5j-JA

[dmsims]

http://www.ea-audio.co.uk/products.html

[beanbag]

dtmpower said:

techmoan recently did a video on some of the options: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22kx0q5j-JA

Cheers! Will take a look later this evening!

[beanbag]

btw....I did see this one:

http://www.ea-audio.co.uk/fiio_e6.html

Does anyone have any experiences with this? I can get it for about €20 where I am which seems a bargain if it's as good as it claims to be....

[dmsims]

beanbag said:

btw....I did see this one:

http://www.ea-audio.co.uk/fiio_e6.html

Does anyone have any experiences with this? I can get it for about €20 where I am which seems a bargain if it's as good as it claims to be....

http://www.head-fi.org/t/662935/fiio-e6

Hide your credit card

[ehonda]

I have B&W p7s and a Filo E6, cracking combination which works really well.

[BigMacDaddy]

I've got the fiio E3 which is pretty impressive, I imagine the E6 would be better still.

[beanbag]

So I was just about to buy the Fiio E6 but then I stumbled across the Creative Sound Blaster E1:

http://uk.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blast...

Several things made it stand out:

- Programmable DAC if used through a USB output on a laptop which is nice and a built in microphone if used in this way too.
- Dual headphone outputs. I plan to only really use this on a plane so in this instance, it could be great with the missus. She has a pair of B&W P3's on her way - (Christmas stocking gift from me), so this could drive both devices when we're watching a movie together.
- Massively longer battery....10 hours with the Fiio E6 and more than 20 hours with the E1. That's quite impressive.

But quality is where I'm lacking info. The device is only £7 more so I'm not bothered about that, but I don't want something that hisses. Does anyone have any real experience with this amp?

[dmsims]

http://www.head-fi.org/t/725028/any-info-reviews-o...

[beanbag]

dmsims said:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/725028/any-info-reviews-o...

Damn! It's pushing me to get the E3....however saying that is has APTX but spending that much makes me think I should have bought the wireless P5's. I love the fact they have both wired and bluetooth built-in but it was £110 more....

[beanbag]

Reality kicked in and this great review pushed me towards the E1.

http://headfonics.com/2014/08/the-sound-blaster-e1...

It's a great little bit of kit but it stands out against the Fiio with the dual headphone output and 24 hour battery life. A must on a plane.

Job done

[tgr]

Give us your considered views in a few days/weeks

[beanbag]

tgr said:

Give us your considered views in a few days/weeks

Will do. I've not used it much at this stage as I've not been travelling but I'll try and get some use in the office.

Initial thoughts:

- Plasticy but well built.
- As many reviews have mentioned, the volume slider is a bit crappy.
- A quick go watching a movie on my iPad didn't really amplify the volume much. There was not much of a noticeable gain but I was in a noisy environment and it was a very quick test.
- No hiss (very good thing).

Feature-wise I had to try out the configuration options. I don't know if they apply when using it as a headphone amp, but I've not RTFM so a little bed-time reading and experimentation will reveal all.

It's an ok start. I'll try and get a proper review done this weekend....

[arun1uk]

After reading this thread, I bought one too!
I think it's a nice bit of kit - however, I have to agree it didn't make a massive difference but has helped.
I'm using it with a set of B&W C5s. I found that disabling any EQ settings on the device you're using helps. For example, I turned off my EQ via Spotify and it sounds a lot cleaner.

Nice low frequency boost and highs remain crisp. Not as big a difference as I was expecting but it now goes much louder than standard with my phone so that's worth it in itself.

Am yet to try via my laptop as a soundcard but will try later this week and come back with my findings.

Overall, was it worth £30? Debatable, but I will keep it.