# [Impression] FiiO E12 Mont Blanc – Way to Pinnacle



## ClieOS

FiiO is known for their good entry level and budget friendly desktop and portable amps. They are probably the largest headphone amps manufacturer in the world right now. Even though it is the audiophiles community that first take notice of FiiO, the company is still largely producing consumer level products and not targeting the higher end of the market specifically. It is most likely because high-end portable amps are much more of a niche market where individual amp maker usually only sells a few hundreds of amps per year and has to charge a higher price to stay afloat. This kind of business model doesn’t quite fit the FiiO mass production capability, nor does the company want to alienate their traditional customer base with a high price tag.
   
  However, FiiO decision to develop the E12 as the company first higher end portable amp really looks more like a statement, rather than just trying to break into a new segment of the market. It is to showcase that the company can go beyond entry level products if it wants to, and offers it at a lower price @ US$130 than one would expect of its quality – and perhaps also to answer the demand from some of its audiophile’s fans that want ‘more’.
   





   
*Spec*
  Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz
  SNR: over 110dB (A weighted)
  Crosstalk: over 65dB
  Gain: 0dB (low) and 16dB (high)
  THD: Less than 0.005%
  Max output: 600mW (16ohm), 880mW (32ohm), 160mW (300ohm)
  Recommended Headphone Impedance: 16 – 300ohm
  Input Impedance: 5kohm
  Battery Life: over 12 hours
  Recharging Time: less the 3 hours with 5V, 2A.
  Selectable Bass EQ and Crossfeed
   




   
*Packaging, Accessories, and Build Quality*
  Packaging is pretty much the same style as FiiO previous few models of portable amps, which is basically hard paper box. Accessories are similar as well – two rubber bands, microUSB cable for recharging, a few rubber stick-on feet, a shart 3.5mm interconnecting cable, a soft pouch and the manual.
   
  Build quality is, as always, pretty good. The volume control pot also doubles as on/off switch and it is intentionally made to be stiff and harder to turn so there won’t be any accidental volume change. It will take some getting used to but not a real turn down. Out of the three other switches (bass, crossfeed and gain), crossfeed and gain switches are recessed and not easily adjustable without pointy object at hand. Being recessed is fine, but it would have better if they can be changed without the need of another tool.
   




  Top, with the recessed crossfeed and gain switches on the side.
   




  Bottom with reset hole. Bass switch and microUSB port on the side.
   




  The power LED (blue) and recharging LED indicators are between the headphone-out and volume knob.
   
*Battery Life*
  The listed battery life is ‘over 12 hours’. It is about right as I have, on two occasions, run the amp continuously for 12 hours and it still has some battery left at the end. Recharging is done with microUSB and any USB port and power adapter should be able to recharge it. However, due to the fact the battery is 11.1V internally instead of the more typical 3.7V, the USB power is internally boosted to 14V during recharging. This means the amp does suck up a lot of power from the USB port. An USB port with higher output will charge it faster, and the speed is reflected on the charging LED indicator. It blinks faster when the USB power supply has higher output and vice versa. Thus it is recommended to use a high output USB adapter to charge the amp if you want to charge it faster.
   
*EMI and Hiss*
  EMI is quite noticeable on the E12. While far from blasting loud, it is annoying. Also, the amp not only picks up cellphone EMI, but has a tendency to pick up any nearby (within a feet or two) EMI source as well, such as 2.4GHz cordless phone. It probably not going to be great pairing if you are using cellphone as source.
   
  The amp is close to hiss-less in low gain even with some of the most hiss prone IEM. On high gain mode however, hiss become very noticeable. However, any headphone that needs to be used with high gain (16dB!) mode most likely will never be sensitively enough to pick up hiss anyway. So overall it is pretty good in this regard. However, there is also some fainted level of hissing during recharging, most likely a side effect due to the voltage step-up circuit the needed to boost the USB 5V to 14V in order to charge the 11V battery.
   
  All and all, E12 is only doing okay but not great for both.
   
  One interesting feature that you don’t commonly see on many portable amps is the use of a relay to suppress any ‘click and pop’ during startup and shutdown. It is the ‘tic’ sound you will hear after turn on/off the amp. This makes the amp much safer to wear the headphone when turn the amp on / off as there won’t be any big thump sound that could damage the headphone or worst, your hearing.
   




  Size comparison (from left): Sansa Fuze, Galaxy Ace (same size as iPhone), E12, and Nano 7G
   




  Size comparison: UHA-4, O2, C421 and E12
   
*Sound Quality*
  Despite common belief, higher end amp often isn’t a lot more complex in design. In fact, it can be the opposite sometime. This is because the key to performance is to optimize rather than to complicate. However, amp design is also about compromises – the designer needs to balance between performance, battery life, size and weight, production cost as well as price. Another important perimeter is what kind of load the amp is supposed to drive. While ideally we all love to own just one amp that can behave perfectly in every occasion, the reality is that one that is designed for IEM might not be the best for driving full sized headphone, vise verse. Again, it is another compromise the designer needs to make and the buyer needs to be aware of.
   
  One of E12 design goal is the ability to drive 600ohm full sized (though the spec only lists up to 300ohm), which is quite a tall order compared to the maximum 300ohm load most portable amps are recommended. This means E12 will need to have a lot of voltage swing. This is solved by using a DC-DC circuit to generate a negative rail of 11V so there is a combined swing from +11V to -11V in operation. A side benefit is that it is unlikely you will ever clip the amp with common portable source.
   
  Another goal is that it should be able to drive IEM as well, since it is the mainstream choice in portable world. This means it must have high current output and low impedance. Current wise, my usual test reveal no issue of any kind when driving IEM. The output impedance is so low that it is not measureable by my usual routine. I think it is safe to conclude that it is extremely low and won’t cause any problem driving even the lowest impedance of IEM.
   
  Basic RMAA test doesn’t reveal any issue as well. The FR curve does however show a strange and very mild roll-off in the sub-bass region, starting from 100Hz and reaches -1dB at 20Hz. It is mild enough that I don’t think it will cause much problem audibly. Beyond that, the FR curve is quite flat with a very minor tilt upward that is I think is too subtle for any human to hear.
   
  Subjective listening wise, E12 is undoubtedly a class above your typical sub-$150 portable amp and really pushing itself among the top sounding $200 portable like Leckerton Audio UHA-4, JDS Labs C421 and O2. Good news first – as far as power goes, E12 easily wins out. Control wise, it is also excellent. Even without any bass boost, bass is impactful, solid and very tight. Now comes the bad news – as far as soundstage goes, E12 really loses out. While depth is merely decent, the width feels really narrowed. Overall, the whole presentation seems to get compressed and become rather upfront. Everything seems to be more in-your-face than they should. It is not totally flat, but it is certainly far from being transparent in the overall soundstage, including separation, image and position. As a result of the narrower soundstage, everything feels much more forwarded, which also gives it a slightly edgy and grainy feeling, full of energy and excitement but lack in refinement and resolution. Strange enough it also sounds thicker, richer and more euphonic in the mid without getting congested. It gives the same feeling of listening to old RSA amp or Headamp Pico, where warm is the dominating characteristic. It will be a sound that, I think, goes well with full size that has really wide soundstage or generally being regarded as more laidback (kind of a ‘complimenting’ effect there). Probably not the best pairing for IEM which are usually more upfront / close-in since it can get a bit too much. It is not to say it will sound bad, but certainly not going to be particular great synergy wise. Due to this hindering of transparency, I’ll rate E12 almost on par with C421-OPA2227, and just below UHA-4, C421 and O2.
   




   
*EQ*
  The bass EQ is basically a sub-bass boost in my review unit (first batch). It starts just under 200Hz and peaks around 25Hz @ 4dB. Due to feedback from the first batch, FiiO has decided to move the boost a bit forward in the frequency so the next / current batch will have a broader boost and peak closer to 70Hz. As far as how much / wide a bass boost should be, it is all about personal preference. I like the sub-bass boost because it adds really solid rumble to the music without adding much coloration into the overall sound, but a broader bass boost can be beneficial if you also want to add warmth to the music.
   
  Another feature that is a first for FiiO is the implementation of crossfeed. If you don't know what it is - it is intentionally leaking just a small amount of left channel to the right and right to the left with a tiny bit of delay. The theory is that, human don't listen music in true stereo in open space so it will be more relaxing and natural to have both channels mixing a little bit into each others. While the theory is good, it is often also a personal preference on whether individual will find it better. Some find it great, some, including me, don't find it any particularly useful.
   
*Ending*
  E12 is a portable amp that FiiO can be proud of. It still lacks the total transparency and complete effortlessness to be that top-of-the-top amp, but it is getting really close. By far the best sounding FiiO yet, it also a testament to FiiO steady improvement over each generation of portable amps they manufactured. Perhaps it won’t be too long that we will see a FiiO portable that is not just challenging the top level portable, but capable of dominating them as well. Full transparency is never a strong point of FiiO, it is however the last step they will need to conquer before reaching the pinnacle of their craft.
   
  p/s: A thank to FiiO for the sample.


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## waynes world

Thanks for the great impressions ClieOS!
   
  I have the E12, and am loving it for my ATH AD900X's (laptop - ele dac - E12). When I listen to my Vsonic GR07 Bass Edition iem's through it, they sound great, but I was feeling that the soundstage might not be as large as I was hoping for (or as large as others were purporting it to be). I now read your impressions about the E12, and thought that I had better try the gr07be's through my E11 (I just read your impressions about it as well). From what I can tell, I am getting a larger soundstage and transparency out of the E11 with my gr07be's (and it sounds _very_ good). Very interesting! My E11 lives to see another day lol!


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## ClieOS

Indeed that is the only real weakness in E12. If it has a wider soundstage, it could very well be _THE_ dream amp to have.


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## Saoshyant

Ok, silly question time, where did you order your E12?


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## ClieOS

Quote: 





saoshyant said:


> Ok, silly question time, where did you order your E12?


 

 Mine come straight from FiiO as a review sample, it is part of the first batch (the pre-order batch). If you want to order one, the official US resellers can be found here: http://www.fiio.com.cn/where/index.aspx
   
  It is out of stock on most places, so you might need to wait a bit.


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## elito

hi, would a DAC still be preferred to feed this lil guy or the sounds are clear enough?


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## ClieOS

Quote: 





elito said:


> hi, would a DAC still be preferred to feed this lil guy or the sounds are clear enough?


 
   
  Not really sure what you mean - all digital audio device / source (DAP, smartphone, PC, CD player, etc) has a DAC inside. It is what doing the conversion of digital data to analog audio. E12 on the other hand is purely an amp, no DAC inside as it only deal with analog audio signal I/O.


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## elito

Quote: 





clieos said:


> Not really sure what you mean - all digital audio device / source (DAP, smartphone, PC, CD player, etc) has a DAC inside. It is what doing the conversion of digital data to analog audio. E12 on the other hand is purely an amp, no DAC inside as it only deal with analog audio signal I/O.


 

 what i meant to ask was - hows the sound clarity of this thing? so would having a dedicated dac feeding to the e12 would help improve if much...


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## waynes world

The e12's clarity is great imo, regardless of what dac/player you hook it up to.


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## ClieOS

Quote: 





elito said:


> what i meant to ask was - hows the sound clarity of this thing? so would having a dedicated dac feeding to the e12 would help improve if much...


 
   
  Having a dedicated DAC doesn't automatically equal to better sound. There are sub-par DAC and there are good DAC - the simple rule is, 'crap in, crap out'. Amplifying a lousy sound will only result in a louder lousy sound. So having a decent source first is the prerequisite of having a good amp, not the other way around.


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## waynes world

.


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## waynes world

^ Yeah, l meant what ClieOS said lol!


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## acti0n

Other reviews are complaining about the EMI as well. Even if you're not using your cellphone as a source, it's still going to be in your pocket as you use the amp on the go. What was FiiO thinking not properly shielding this thing?


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## runswithaliens

Thanks for the well written and thorough review ClieOS.
   
  Am considering this to use with full size headphones at home, and also partnered with a Sansa Clip Zip at work.  I wonder if there is any way to determine if you are getting a version 1 or version 2 when ordering? Are all the units currently available still version 1? What would be cool is if with version 2 they gave you a 3 way switch so you can have the option of the new full bass boost while still keep the sub bass boost option as well.
   
  When you say it has a really narrowed sound stage, does that mean then that it decreases it from what is coming out of your source?  I would have thought that sound stage width, separation and imaging would be more a product of the DAC not the amp, but don't have much experience in these matters.  I wouldn't want to buy an amp that wrecks the holographic sound stage I feel like I get from my HD650s at home for example.


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## ClieOS

Every available E12 out there should be a version 2. Version 1 is only made in small batch so they have sold out fairly quickly.
   
  As far as my personal experience goes, amp tends to be much more colouring to the final sound than the DAC. You usually get better and better sound (including better separation, image, etc) with better and better DAC. This is mostly because the amplification of the circuit has more effect on the analog sound. So yes, I do think E12 tends to take whatever is fed into it and push it more upfront.


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## JamesFiiO

Quote: 





acti0n said:


> Other reviews are complaining about the EMI as well. Even if you're not using your cellphone as a source, it's still going to be in your pocket as you use the amp on the go. What was FiiO thinking not properly shielding this thing?


 
   
  sorry, the lme49710 is very sensitivity for the GSM and Wifi signal. we try our best to decrease the EMI noise but we can't change the OP amp just for EMI.


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## Funkmonkey

Nice review, thanks for writing it.
   
  Have you noticed any improvement in sound stage (specifically) with added time (burn-in)?  Or any other changes?


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## effsandoval

I am thinking of buying a fiio e12 to pair it with my Cowon x9. I wonder if it could increase the power of my x9 and improve the sound. I am a little hesitant in buying the amp because my x9 does not have a LOD. Also if I pair it with my Galaxy Note 2 the Cellular and Wifi signal would ruin the experience.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2


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## ClieOS

Quote: 





funkmonkey said:


> Have you noticed any improvement in sound stage (specifically) with added time (burn-in)?  Or any other changes?


 
   
  No.


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## Skolar311

Can anyone tell me if the EMI decreases if I disable data and wifi on my cell phone?


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## ClieOS

Quote: 





skolar311 said:


> Can anyone tell me if the EMI decreases if I disable data and wifi on my cell phone?


 
   
  Yes of course.


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## Skolar311

Quote: 





clieos said:


> Yes of course.


 
   
  Cool, thanks man. By default this is how I have my phone set.
   
  Appreciate the response.


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## ClieOS

Quote: 





skolar311 said:


> Cool, thanks man. By default this is how I have my phone set.
> 
> Appreciate the response.


 
   
  Still, you'll get some EMI when receiving a call. So it is not exactly a total fix.


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## Skolar311

Quote: 





clieos said:


> Still, you'll get some EMI when receiving a call. So it is not exactly a total fix.


 
   
  Well....that's fine because I'll be answering the call. The music stops when a call comes through.
   
  But thanks for that anyway


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## Ringer71

Quote: 





waynes world said:


> Thanks for the great impressions ClieOS!
> 
> I have the E12, and am loving it for my ATH AD900X's (laptop - ele dac - E12). When I listen to my Vsonic GR07 Bass Edition iem's through it, they sound great, but I was feeling that the soundstage might not be as large as I was hoping for (or as large as others were purporting it to be). I now read your impressions about the E12, and thought that I had better try the gr07be's through my E11 (I just read your impressions about it as well). From what I can tell, I am getting a larger soundstage and transparency out of the E11 with my gr07be's (and it sounds _very_ good). Very interesting! My E11 lives to see another day lol!


 
  Is your E12 V1 or V2? If it's the V1 does anyone know if the AD900x will pair well with a E12 V2?
   
  Edit: Sorry checked waynes gear and found out it was V1. So, anyone knows if the ad900x will pair well with the v2?


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## joshg

i barely got my fiio e12 and i was thinking to myself "can i use this amp to power my car speakers via auxilary input?",i dont want to try it for fear of messing it up. i bought them originally to power my akg k550 and they do an outstanding job. But ive been itching to here this amp in my car speakers, can anyone suggest or have any opinions on this idea?


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## Roman2011

I got one and returned it cause it felt more like a bass boost rather then enhancing the overall sq. Sound got muddy and lost detail...range...Then again, maybe my ps 500 didn't need an amp with iphone. At least I save money for a pc dac.


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## soundy08

Thanks for writing this.


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## Stancrom

Anyone have any feedback on E12 battery life to share? I've had three of these now, the first two returned back to the seller with what I presumed were faulty batteries - I was getting at most 2-3 hours use - with the third amp lasting no better between charges. I'm using it with either a 5th gen ipod or iphone 5, on 50% vol and bass boost normally switched on. Is 12 hours really realistic? Surely I've not had three duds in a row?! Grateful for any comments.


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## ClieOS

stancrom said:


> Anyone have any feedback on E12 battery life to share? I've had three of these now, the first two returned back to the seller with what I presumed were faulty batteries - I was getting at most 2-3 hours use - with the third amp lasting no better between charges. I'm using it with either a 5th gen ipod or iphone 5, on 50% vol and bass boost normally switched on. Is 12 hours really realistic? Surely I've not had three duds in a row?! Grateful for any comments.


 
  
 I have had several occasions ran the E12 over 10 hours between recharging. 2~3 hours don't seem right. Even with the most power hunger headphone on full volume, I'll expect it to run over 8 hours. Are you sure you get it to fully recharged between use? It can take quite some time to fully recharge, especially if you do it on a PC's USB port on USB adapter will small current output.


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## Stancrom

Thanks for the reply. I've tended to charge the amp by leaving plugged into my laptop's USB port overnight (at least 8 hours, maybe more sometimes), the red cycling light has always become static come morning and I've never disconnected early so I've always presumed that it is fully charged at that point... I have only used the amps so far with a pair of AKG K545s so at 32ohms there shouldn't be much of a burden on battery life.... I might try a longer charge next time and ignore the static red light just to see if that makes a difference. Three separate units performing the same though suggests a common factor rather than pure bad luck. I emailed Fiio the first time and they suggested a poor battery likely. Would have expected that to be rare given Fiio's good rep, but given three consecutive experiences, maybe it's a little more prevalent...I had wondered how much impact on power usage the 16dB gain setting would have (at ~half vol), compared with full vol at 0dB gain, as I do like a fair bit of volume and the 0dB setting is never quite enough with my measly i-product outputs.... Thanks


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## ClieOS

Have all three E12 came from the same place? I asked because there is a possibility that if the battery has been exposed to high temperature (over 45 degree Celsius) for a prolong period of time during shipping, it can reduce the battery life. In situation like that, the whole box of E12 might suffer the same fate, which could explain why you keep getting poor battery life from E12 by the same vendor. Of course, I am just guessing here. Very low temperature also has ill effect on battery life as well.


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## Stancrom

Good call, could well be the case. They have all been from Amazon UK, (but from two different suppliers...) The latest model has the more up-to-date black/red Fiio packaging - the earlier two, the white 'minimalist' cardboard packaging of the older units, so presume they would be from different shipments from China, but maybe not... Will give it another go with a good long charge and see how it fares. Thanks for your replies.


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## ZenocideZ

stancrom said:


> Good call, could well be the case. They have all been from Amazon UK, (but from two different suppliers...) The latest model has the more up-to-date black/red Fiio packaging - the earlier two, the white 'minimalist' cardboard packaging of the older units, so presume they would be from different shipments from China, but maybe not... Will give it another go with a good long charge and see how it fares. Thanks for your replies.


 
  
 Could you post a photo of the new /black/red package of E12?


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