What is Reddit's opinion of FiiO E7 USB DAC and Portable Headphone Amplifier?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I tried the Xonar USB and no mono mode. I also tried a sound blaster USB with the same results. It seems the only things I have that do mono are my Dell workstation(not sure what sound card it has) and Fiio E7.

Here's a possible solution. Relatively expensive, though.

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-USB-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B003N0XDT4

well mine is usb, its amazing

Headphone amps and the vox thing are two different kinds of products, first of all, so let's establish the difference:

I've got a pair of nice headphones that need a little extra umph behind them. I plug them into a Fiio E7 to boost the signal. These kinds of amps can be REALLY expensive, and are targeted at the audiophile market.

The Vox Amplug is TECHNICALLY the same kind of thing, but it's more of a niche, novelty item. There isn't, to my knowledge, a great market for these tiny amps. So is it the best? It's probably one of the only.

I had one, it was okay and broke after a few weeks.

Makes me wonder: could you use a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter and feed that into an audiophile headphone amp like an e7, or even something cheaper?

Turns out Fiio actually makes one!

Realtek isnt a sound card. Realtek is just a set of arbitrary drivers. you could easily use windows sound drivers. The point is that its crappy onboard sound and it was never designed to sound good. it was designed to make sound.

ipod headphone controller

fiio e7

Fiio L9

L9 lets you bypass shitty iphone amplifier in favor of E7's beefy internal amplifier. E7 can act as a standalone amplifier with iphone or as a DAC when used via USB. you cannot use E7 as a DAC for the iphone, but it works wonders for the laptop. Alternatively, you can get the E10 or the D5 if you are looking for a cheaper option.

E7 is upgradable with E9 as an external amplifier for bigger more badass pairs of headphones. E9 is a fantastic amplifier for the price.

Another option is to get JDSLabs ODAC and JDSLabs O2. both are about 110 bucks apiece and are engineered to perfection.