Fiio E5 Portable Headphone Amplifier

Some of us wanna improve our portable PMP's sound quality by using a portable headphone amplifier. There are a lot of headphone amps available on the market but they are not portable enough to fit in your pockets together with your PMP or your phone. Ive have a portable DIYed Cmoy headphone amp but its not small enough for portable use that I gave up using this amp outdoors. Searching for a better alternative, I found the Fiio E5 portable headphone amp.







The Fiio E5 comes with a USB cable (for charging), a long and short 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, and a manual (not shown).




My DIYed Cmoy amp and my Fiio E5.

The E5 looks similar to the Ipod shuffle, its very small and lightweight. It never gave me any problems putting this into my pocket together with my iphone. You can also use its clip for added convenience. The E5 has a volume control for quick volume adjustments and a bass boost function. The battery lasts long enough for a whole day listening.

SOUND TEST:
Headphones used for testing: Sennheiser PMX 100, JBL 510, Sony MDR-CX1 and Xtreme Mac FS1

Devices used for testing:

Iphone/Ipod
Using The E5 on the Iphone and Ipod, I noticed a slight improvement on the sound quality of my headphones, the difference is not that big but you will notice it. The bass booster barely gives the music additional punch on the lows.

Nintendo DS/Sony PSP
The sound quality of the NDS is not really good. Only few people using it as their portable music player. the volume of the NDS is limited, its DAC doesn't give enough power to please music lovers. After connecting the E5 to the NDS, I immediately noticed the improvement, HUGE improvement! The sound became more livelier and more detailed, the bass is much more deeper, the overall sound quality greatly improved!
Gaming is more enjoyable now especially when playing Elite Beat Agents!

Laptop
My laptop, Acer 5920G is equipped with Realtek ALC888. Its sound quality is good and it gets better with the Fiio E5 connected to it. The sound improvement is very noticeable. I hear more sound details when playing games and watching movies is more enjoyable now. Its like I upgraded the soundcard of my laptop!

Conclusion
The Fiio E5 doesnt give much power like the other amp does but for me it is the better choice for outdoor use because of its portability. The E5 is perfect for portable gaming devices, PMPs and alike. For a very affordable price of $20 this is perfect if you want to improve your sounds on the go. Highly recommended!!

Pros:

-Small, lightweight.
-Good sound quality.
-Long battery life
-Cheap.

Cons:

-Less powerful.
-Bass boost is not really effective.

4.5 out of 5