Warning: This is just the initial impression."Take it with a grain of salt"





So, this little thing arrived just a few hours ago. So far I have only managed to listen to it very briefly and did some quick A/B with other ultra-portable and sub-$150 amp I have. I won't think it is fair if I went straight to the 3MOVE and Stepdance - those will be left for the final review

First, I switch it to low current mode (the switch is under the battery), set it to low gain, not bass boost. Then I did a quick listening via RE0. My first impression is...






Then I flipped the switch to high current mode, high gain. My impressive goes like...



Yep, it is true - that is my impression. How does FiiO make this happens is beyond me. I am just glad it is what it is. So, I will put some time on it before I will write my final review, possibly going to take a week or two. I will also source a battery with bigger capacity just see if E11 will take it, and that will take time as well. Here are my last piece of advice...



Enjoy another photo for now.

It should be out before the end of the month if everything goes well. Not sure if local dealer will have it or not.

US$60, about RM$180~200 or so.

I haven't heard the E9, so can't really tell you much. I can only tell you it is better sounding than E7.

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Added on May 5, 2011, 10:45 pmDon't have Pico slim (or RSA shadow, in case you wonder).

This post has been edited by ClieOS: May 5 2011, 10:45 PM

Just received it this morning and I haven't done any test on it yet, but the listed battery life is >10hrs, probably on low current mode.

PC speaker already has an active power amp inside, adding an amp before it just make it double amp (and generally bad). What you need is a good DAC.

Yes, 2 level actually. It boost more sub-bass then mid-bass, so it is the more gentle kind.

The WM874x series (including the WM8740 in E7) is still considered to be best of Wolfson DAC. Though I haven't heard any DAC based on WM5801.

Most update has been posted in Head-fi.org. Nothing really major, still lovin' it!!!

RMAA test reveals that the FR is quite flat (=transparent), no boost anywhere. Bass boost is as I commented before, mainly on the sub-bass region.

I am actually doing a battery test right now - low power mode, low gain, no bass boost and a fairly loud 4/9 volume - 11hrs+ so far. "Myth Confirmed"

This post has been edited by ClieOS: May 7 2011, 11:43 PM

It is better than A10. Quite close, but still better. Full comparison will have to wait till final review though.

Sorry, don't have DT770 250ohm or anything close to that caliber. All I can tell you is that it drives ER4S, RE262, and PK1 (all 150ohm) pretty well.

Will be posting my review before the end of the week, stay tuned.

Review posted:

http://www.inearmatters.net/2011/05/impression-fiio-e11.html

Come on, boys and girls. Keep the impression com'in!!!

Yes, you are right. Most digital source these days do their EQ in tehe digital domain, meaning EQ has been added to the digital stream before it is sent to the DAC.

Most digital source's volume is also digitally controlled too. Actually there is probably volume control (similar to an amp stage) in the DAC stage, but it is digitally disable to give a line-out signal. Now some might mistake that line-out must mean no amp, but there real thing is a little more complicated than that. The only requirement to be a line-out is that signal must be in line-level. As long as it is on line-level, it is a line-out (of course some line-out might be better than others)

Glad to be of help