Thread: FiiO E3 Small review

I got a 2nd hand set of FiiO E3 headphone amplifier for Rs230 from a friend (new ones cost Rs420 including shipping,saves me the hassle of online payment and shipping)


I never really had a need for these amps, got them just4kix ,were just Rs230 anyways. So, i just plugged and man, do they work. I did not know they could amplify it that much. I am using cheap headphones that had come with my motorola E8.

I got the black ones...

Well, it basically boosted the volume to about 3 times (i cant tell exact numbers in dB) than i got without them. Just to give you an idea, you cant not practically bare the sound when you go above 35% on media player volume controls. Above 70%, there is huge distortion, but that is obviously due to my cheap quality head phones. Otherwise, there is no apparent difference in sound quality.


So,whats the use ? High quality headphones generally have high impedances. Obviously, when you have high impedances in the headphones,you will loose the volume. Hence, you need good headphone amps to regain that volume.

I am not an Audiophile, so i will not really go into the depths,but for now, i was impressed just by the extent of amplification and nothing else. When i get better audio gear (which could get expensive) i would be able to comment better on the quality.

High quality large headphones can also potentially damage a small mp3 player such as an iPod. This is because the music device does not have sufficient power to drive the large headphones.

In case of high voltage speakers (there are converters pins to connect speakers to iphone) it may even blow up an iphone. There are good quality speakers exclusively for iphone too.

Originally Posted by alokmis

In case of high voltage speakers (there are converters pins to connect speakers to iphone) it may even blow up an iphone. There are good quality speakers exclusively for iphone too.

Speakers are not high voltage - they are high wattage.

Voltage or potential difference for all speakers is same from amplifier output. The current (amperes) makes the difference.

p/s. Voltage is supplied whereas current is drawn.

For iPhone, I will not recommend simple speakers for the same reason. The large current drawn by the speakers may damage the iphone circuits which are designed to drive 32Ω earbuds/phones. The external speakers may be 8Ω or 16Ω. These will definitely draw more current.

I will strictly recommend branded docks that many reputed companies make, e.g., Logitech, Antec Lansing, Creative, etc. to as expensive as JBL, Bose, etc. These docks use the preamp signal from the iPod and amplify it using external power.