FiiO, the $8.50 Headphone Amp

Accessories

By: Andreas Ødegård on July 12, 2008 6:34 PM

When I came across the FiiO headphone amp a few days ago I immediately dismissed it as crap and posted a topic on it on Head-Fi presenting it as the cheapest headphone amp out there. Someone then mentioned that there was an entire thread dedicated to the thing and that feedback is pretty darn good.

According to the Head-Fi thread the FiiO amp is far from crap and offer very good sound quality. The size adds to the usability as it seems to be about twice as big as the AAA battery it runs on. Headphone amps are normally a bit bulky for most people and few other ampsthe FiiO's size. It all sounds (too) good and for $8.50 shipped worldwide it might turn out to be the best thing since sliced bread. I myself have ordered one just to see if there is any truth to the Head-Fi fuzz. I still think it's too good to be true, but I guess I'll know in a couple of weeks.

Comments

RedSky on July 13, 2008 4:06 AM

I too have been reading about this, decided to finally order one tonight. Really a bit surprised there haven't been more ultra-portable amps coming out around this size. The only other comparable one I can think of is the Xin SuperMicro IV, when you would think there'd be a big market to be filled for people who want portable amps that they can actually fit in their pocket ...

Matt Baines on July 13, 2008 6:47 AM

Nice, i saw one, didnt realise it was this cheap! Might order one, at the current exchange rate that is like £4.25. -- Also, RedSky, Micro's are hard to get. Xin will take your money and take over a year to build it and ship it to you, no joke. -- I may have to get one of these and pair it with my d2, and also see how much better it is over my USB only DAC's little internal amp, maybe pairing the FiiO with it out of its clean hp/o or rca out, shame it doesnt take optical! -- I was after a Go-Vibe petite to replace my usb only powered amp/dac combo, to pair with my d2 and use with my laptop (if it sounds better than the u control.

Matt

Matt Baines on July 13, 2008 6:53 AM

Ahh, just looked at the head-fi thread. No volume control :( -- sucks because with the sensetive Livewires, i only use a volume of 7 max on the bus, worried about hearing, dont know whats safe. In bed i use 1 or 2, but 2 sounds better, but amped with no volume control i will have to use the d2 volume, and maybe it will be too high in bed?

Matt Baines on July 13, 2008 7:23 AM

Hiss sounds bad, and if its bad with some earphones it will be terrible with my sensetive livewires, which is the reason why i have a d2!

Not for me. Dealextreme is good though guys.

kadajawi on July 13, 2008 12:56 PM

I'll give it a try... I mean... 5 €? Why not?

What do you use as USB DAC? How expensive and is it any good? I'm looking for something to replace my laptops onboard soundcard. My PC has a nice Audiotrak, but that won't work for the laptop...

Eric on July 14, 2008 1:33 AM

i really am looking forward to hearing your opinions on this.

xan K on July 14, 2008 12:10 PM

what is livewires?

RedSky on July 15, 2008 5:27 AM

They're a brand of custom made IEM (in ear monitor) earphones. Here's a link to their site: http://www.livewiresforyou.com/

@Matt Baines

Heh, yeah I've been reading about it on head-fi. Still waiting for an amp from him, ordered it back in March although I've heard there are plenty that have been waiting far longer.

Matt Baines (normally Baines93 on everything) on July 15, 2008 1:02 PM

Yeah, you got it RedSky. Yeah, i dont follow it, but i see in some people sigs much longer waits... Shame, because i was loaned an amp made by him and it was a real quality product, abeit expensive, and i could hear a huge difference, but that was before the d2 and usb dac/soundcard.

The dac is a Behringer U Control UCA-202, it has optical out, rca out, headphone out and rca in. Great product and clean sounding. No hiss with very sensetive and easy to drive phones. I got it for ~£27 but i think it can be had cheaper in the us, but the company wanted huge sums to ship it, so i got it from a head-fi'er who didnt need it or want to sell it but was interested in helping me out.

Matt

Matt Baines (normally Baines93 on everything) on July 16, 2008 5:52 AM

In my last comment i meant to say "and i couldn't hear a huge difference"

Latest Articles:

abi Editor's Choice

SanDisk Sansa Clip

The Clip has a fantastic little form factor; cheap in build quality but very rugged. The interface is simple and relatively straight forward. The features on the clip are more or less average, mostly identical to the Sansa Express. However, what earns this player a spot in Editor’s Choice is the superb sound quality; you will not find another player at this size and price that can match it. Read the full review or go ahead and buy it.
Samsung P3

The Samsung P2 was a success and the P3 is a very welcome and substantial update. Samsung has paid close attention to users on P2 issues and made great strides in addressing and improving most of them. The best feature of the P3 is its native video support. Most content you thow at it will playback without conversion on the great looking screen. Stop by the Samsung P3 forums for more details or check out our indepth P3 review.
Microsoft Zune 120

Sure, many of us are not big fans of the walled garden, but there are a lot of great things going on with the Zune- sturdy hardware, ultra easy to use user interface, and a media player that is worthy of editor’s choice. The best part of the Zune is the constant firmware and software updates virtually giving you a new device at each major refresh. You can check out the latest Zune 120 & 16 review or stop by our Zune forums for the latest.
Cowon iAudio D2

The D2 is a fantastic sounding PMP with a very nice looking screen and a tone of features. One of the best features of the D2 is the SDHC slot allowing you to add another 32GB to this small wonder. The touch interface does not lend well to on the move operation, but it is not enough to keep it from being an editor’s choice. You can find usually find it at Amazon for the best price and before to check out the review.
Phonak Audéo PFE

Phonak Audéo PFE offer outstanding clarity and precision; natural, dynamic mids and treble, and decent bass for a single armature in-ear phone. They handle dense, complex music very well. The PFE work well with most acoustic and some electronic music genres, but bassheads might have to look at other alternatives. They're great for sports as well, since they fit very securely. Check out our review.