My new low cost system!

madmax
madmax Posts: 12,434
For whatever reason I decided I must have one of the Fiio X3ii portable players. It acts as a USB DAC as well. $200. Then after reading how a portable outboard headphone amp can increase the quality of sound of some headphones I picked up a Fiio E12 for $99 on sale. I mated with a pair of Polk Ultrafocus 8000 headphones I picked up at the last 50% off sale for $125. Oh, and had to buy a micro-SD card for about $50 and a USB wall charger for $7. So the system total was $481.

This little system really synergizes and each piece seems to work exceptionally well. Add about $100 for some DSD downloads and the sound is awesome! I could actually live with this as my only audiophile adventure if for some reason I couldn't have or afford a full home system.

I am very impressed!

Later on I picked up a pair of HiFiMan Songbird IEMs for $200 and they are pretty awesome as well, much better than the Shure $99 ones I used to have.

madmax
Vinyl, the final frontier...

Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D

Comments

  • voltz
    voltz Posts: 5,384
    Hey Max

    how do you stack it? I seen they had a HS12 stacking kit but couldn't see one for sell.

    I have a Ipod classic and a JDS labs C5 I like but it only does FLAC.
    2 ch- Polk CRS+ * Vincent SA-31MK Preamp * Vincent Sp-331 Amp * Marantz SA8005 SACD * Project Xperience Classic TT * Sumiko Blue Point #2 MC cartridge

    HT - Polk 703's * NAD T-758 * Adcom 5503 * Oppo 103 * Samsung 60" series 8 LCD
  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    The E12 amp came with a few black rubber bands, about 1/4" wide which worked well for stacking. There was also a silicon pad which you place between the two to keep them from squirming around and scratching each other.
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
  • RamZet
    RamZet Posts: 792
    Awesome stuff, right?
    I picked up the E07K and I paired it with my cellphone for mobile use. ( the LG G3 plays back FLAC and will even label the Flac files as "HiFi").

    For desktop use I also picked up the Fiio E09K Desktop Amp/dock. I am very pleased with all the Fiio gear, its well priced and built well. Packaging was nice too.

    https://scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/10868178_901130389905580_8846835877644989050_n.jpg?oh=8377220ea18f7918197db7e378afda13&oe=56BF9FC3
    B&W CM9Classé Sigma
  • gudnoyez
    gudnoyez Posts: 8,056
    I have the JD labs C5 an iPod classic and a few iPod touches with Sennheiser and Polk headphones and sometimes feel the same way at times I prefer to listen to those over my 2 channel rigs, so I can agree with you.
    Home Theater
    Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable

    2 Channel
    Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+

    Stuff for the Head
    JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365

    Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
    Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin B)
  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    A few weeks ago I tried a pair of Audio Technica M50x headphones with the Fiio. With the polk headphones the external amp made a huge difference and was almost a requirement while the M50x seems perfectly content with the built in amp.

    Not to ever leave anything alone I went ahead and tried a Cayin N5 digital audio player for $350 vs $200 for the Fiio. The N5 does everything just a little better and the internal amp drives the polks pretty well. Considering the external amp is not really a requirement with the N5 it is pretty much a wash as far as cost goes. I would recommend either setup although I prefer the sound of the N5 a little more. With the right headphones the Fiio could turn out to be cheaper and smaller if you don't need the external amp.
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
  • madmax wrote: »
    A few weeks ago I tried a pair of Audio Technica M50x headphones with the Fiio. With the polk headphones the external amp made a huge difference and was almost a requirement while the M50x seems perfectly content with the built in amp.

    Not to ever leave anything alone I went ahead and tried a Cayin N5 digital audio player for $350 vs $200 for the Fiio. The N5 does everything just a little better and the internal amp drives the polks pretty well. Considering the external amp is not really a requirement with the N5 it is pretty much a wash as far as cost goes. I would recommend either setup although I prefer the sound of the N5 a little more. With the right headphones the Fiio could turn out to be cheaper and smaller if you don't need the external amp.

    How did you like the M50x with the Fiio X3 2nd gen? Trying to find good headphones (will be my 1st one)
    RTiA5 + CSiA4 + Jamo SW410E
    Yamaha TSR-700 (equivalent to RX V6A)
    No surround...yet
  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    It was great! Then I switched the earpads to the velvet ones and they didn't sound nearly as good with the fiio. The original earpads were much better with the fiio. Very pleasing sound.
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D