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[Jack]

When the FiiO E5 became available, it had been a widely anticipated product due to the popularity of its predicessor: the E3. The E3 offered an unbeatable combination of low price, high quality, compactness, and good performance.  The E5 therefore had very large shoes to fill and would have to justify its higher price to a target market of very picky personal audio consumers.

I approach this review from a slightly different angle than other reviewers who have already expressed their valuable opinion of the E5. Instead of judging the E5 purely piece of high fidelity audio equipment, I will assess the E5's ability to improve the convenience and quality of one's enjoyment of music.  So often, audio enthusiasts get caught up with the gear itself, and forget that the gear is only there to assist the enjoyment of music and media. I've been all too often guilty of this myself, owning several pieces of expensive gear that while technically superior, has not contributed their fair share to my enjoyment of music.

So lets explore the E5.

Out of the box the E5 has a very familiar shape. This is something I truly wish that the better Chinese manufacturers will grow out of.  It doesn't really help their product any - certainly the E3 didn't need it.  The E5's body is made from extruded aluminum, with white nylon caps at either end holding various connectors and switches.  A aluminum spring-loaded clip is on the back of the E5 and can be used to hold it to clothing, bag, etc. Curiously, the clip is a little bit wobbly due to the off-center spring design; this takes away a little from the otherwise very solid feeling construction.

I tested the E5 under 3 different scenarios: impractical, practical, and for-giggles.

The impractical setup consisted of a Pioneer Elite DV-45A DVD player as the source and my Alessandro MS-1 headphones that I strictly listen to at home. This setup gives the best possible results out of the 3 scenarios, but obviously does not represent typical usage for the E5.  In this configuration, I found the E5 to be reasonably transparent with the EQ in the flat position. Other than a boost in volume and slight added hiss, I could not detect any coloration or changes to the image or sound, which is a very good thing in my opinion since that means it is doing its job of boosting the output level and not much more. With regards to the hiss, the level changes with the E5's volume control and is present with or without a source connected, so it is definitely from the E5. At higher gain levels, especially near maximum, the hiss can be very noticeable between songs or during quiet breaks. Lowering the gain a few clicks greatly diminishes the hiss and makes it virtually unnoticeable when listening at a normal playback level. Here I was reminded of the E5's price and target usage.

The practical setup uses a Zune 8GB player with 256kbps MP3 files, and a small collection of "average" ear buds including Creative EP-630, Panasonic RP-HJE50, and V-MODA Bass Freq. The E5 worked really well in this usage scenario, adding serious muscle to the output and driving the ear buds with a sense of effortlessness.  There is now much more clean headroom, especially with bass-heavy music. The V-MODA, benefited the most from the amp, gaining much more definition where it was previously muddy and loose. The EQ on the E5 is very well implemented, providing a modest but appreciable boost in the bass region. Bass boost switches are tricky to implement and all too often the boost is simply too heavy or the slope too steep, resulting in awkward sounding bass that is not all that listenable. The boost brought by the E5 is done very well and its mild nature makes it sound natural and believable. Different earphones will of course react differently to the EQ. I got the most out of the EQ with the EP-630, and it helped add a little flesh to the normally lean sounding HJE50. The E5’s bass boost EQ should be used judiciously as many songs come alive with it, but some don't and will tire out the listener quickly like bad house music.

Because of the quality of the bass boost, I hooked the E5 in line between my computer and a set of Creative Labs Z2300 speakers, which is one of the healthier 2.1 speakers on the market.  The Z2300 is an otherwise very capable computer speaker, but suffers from one of the worst bass level controls I have ever heard. Any attempt to dial up the bass beyond normal results in boomy accentuated upper bass without much added in the bottom octave.  This really is a shame because the 8" subwoofer is capable of reasonably deep and loud bass output as evident during high volume playback with a flat setting.  With the E5 in line, however, I had access to the quality bass boost I wanted: deep, rich, and loud bass that's smoothly integrated with the rest of the spectrum.  For a solid hour I rummaged through my MP3 collection playing back every bass-heavy song I could find. I felt just like the first time I got my hands on a Walkman with Mega Bass - remember those? That was a very enjoyable listening session and was my for-giggles scenario.

In conclusion, for the two main features of volume boost and bass EQ, the E5 does really well. In normal daily casual on-the-go listening situations, the E5 brings significant improvement to the enjoyment of music through its superior ability to drive headphones, and the bass EQ that adds so much fun on the bottom end. Of course there are also the little things such as the compact form factor, convenient clip, and excellent battery life. These minor details don't call attention to themselves, but together they add significantly to the usefulness of the E5. One other minor detail that I really liked is the power on/off button.  All too often, these types of press-and-hold buttons are implemented in a manner that is extremely aggravating to use, with a confusing combination of long delays, blinking LEDs, and the odd beep. I am thinking especially of Bluetooth headset makers. The E5's on/off button is so simple: press it once, and the E5 comes on without delay.  Press and hold it for 1 second, and the E5 turns off. So simple, quick, and intuitive.