as for me, E5 is a decent amp, portable and just nice for my iphone.... too bad i havent order the LOD yet, which is in no doubt will change my iphone sound....

LOD stands for what>?

Line Out Dock - a cable that connects to the player's dock connector that draws out the line-out signal. Usually has an 3.5mm mini plug on the other end so user can plug into an portable amp.

Is LOD better than 3.5mm normal output?

it's supposed to be better...

any reason or explanation behind that?

Here is how things work in DAP:

Music data -> CPU -> DAC -> AMP -> headphone.

DAC - Digital-to-Analog Converter, turns digital data to analog sound.

AMP - Amplifier, amplify the signal (music) from DAC to different set of gain (kind of like volume control).

In portable device, due to size restriction, the amp section is usually kept very simple and just enough to drive normal, easy to drive headphone. Some time, cheap SMD components (tiny resistor, capacitor, lousy chips) are used to cut cost and space - these result in a headphone signal that are sub-par. In order to extract as much sound quality as possible from the portable device, we use the line-out signal. Line-out means the signal is directly from the DAC, un-amplified (so it avoids all the sub-par components in the amp section). We connect the line-out to an external amp (which replace the function of the internal amp section), which hopefully will be a lot better than the internal amp and thus provide better SQ and more power to drive difficult-to-drive headphones.

Of course, the assumption is the internal amp is not going to be as good as (or as powerful as) the external amp you are going to use, or else the improvement will be really minimum (or none).

Very detailed explanation bro, thumbs up for newbie like me. I learned new stuff today

wow, at last, after so much of reading, and a lot of confusions when i read audiophilers discussion, now i know wat they mean!
so that is really wat it all means...

good stuff here, all so plain and easy to understand!

That mean if there are no line out in our portable device, then it is not suitable for us to use external amplifier to amplify our portable device?

It is not 'ideal', but you can still get good result from amping headphone-out as long as the headphone-out is very good in SQ and 'clean' (low noise).

i still hear good changes eventhou im using the stock cable with mini 3.5mm.
the bass is tighten and the isolation of music is quite good, but hopefully i'll be hearing more with the LOD...(hopefully... hahahaha!)

Okay. I just grab the Fiio E5 and I was thinking of changing the small and fine stock cable but I've no idea which one to choose and they're so many seller selling the DIY able out there at the music section. Will it shows improvement after changing the stock cable I wonder?

This one

this one

OR LOD

this type better or this type ?

Question.

How long usually does the E5 take for it to be fully charged?

Or just wait until the red light goes off regardless of the duration?

Depends on the output of the USB adapter / port, but usually it is less tha 3 hrs... and yes, till the right light goes off.

anyone.....

juz asking if the E5 can go well with a Sennheiser HD555...

if not,... any recommandation on any other suitable portable amp.

go for mini 3 cheap2 onli

klipsch custom-1 and e5 good combo

I am compelled to ask.

What about iBasso T4?

Is there anyone here using it?

Is it still available in the market?

T4 is still in the market. You can think of it as the refined E5 - better on all count but a lot more expensive.