Hi Neal,

Sorry for the late reply, last week was a bit hectic, but I did promise and I forgot, so sorry. Anyway, about the amp situation, I had a go in my wife Mercedes and the results were interesting. As we discussed, on its own with the 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable that I got from who knows where, my Nano struggles to produce any real volume. As for my system, I’ve got a Blaupunkt Velocity 2Go 5, so I’m good to go.

Blaupunkt Velocity 2Go 5 speaker system for both in and outside of the car. Brilliant!

Belkin cable upgrade

The first thing I did was to switch the rubbish cable for my Belkin 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, and the results were surprising. The difference was very noticeable, and the sound was as clean cut as the design of the cable. There was also an increase in volume.

The “Royal” Amp

iPod, C&C mini crystal 6″ mini-to-mini cable into the amp, Belkin mini to mini cable from the amp into the Mercedes jack. There was an increase in the depth of bass, and the volume, however I feel it was “overkill”. The amp can pump out more than the standard speakers can handle, even with the bass switch turned to the lowest settings if you’re not careful the speakers will wave a white flag. The speakers can handle the Belkin upgrade well enough.

FiiO E5 amp

Sorry no pics the battery ran out.

The FiiO E5 amp was another good choice, but again, the speakers began to show that they’d had enough, not as much as the Royal amp.

Conclusion

The Royal amp will provide a decent increase in volume. I didn’t analyse the sound to the standard set up. All I’d say is; if you want clean bass at a reasonable level, the Royal amp will do it. Personally, the Belkin cable will be a good way to clean the sound up and add a touch more volume.

Serious sound upgrade for the price of a happy meal!

Simple, but serious sound upgrade for your MP, laptop or PC.

For those of you who’ve never even contemplating buying an amp, or if you just want a quick and easy boost for your headphones and earphones, there’s nothing cheaper or better (for the price) than the Fiio E3 amp! I’ve just been burning in the Klipsch Custom 1 earphones, and I’ve plugged them into the Fiio E3 and the difference in weight and scale is very noticeable.

Starting from $3.99, I’ll slap you if you don’t buy one!

I also bough some rechargeable AAA batteries to go with them. I’m listening to Enya’s new album “And Winter Came” - White Is In The Winter Night (the best song from the album) with the Klipsch are far more happier with the Fiio than without. The Fiio amp, is a nice booster. The sound is more forward, but and fairly even across the frequency range. But for $3.99 it’s a deal of the decade. Just buy one!

FiiO E5 is out there somewhere

Source: slashgear.com

Some notes on the effect the FiiO E3 amp has on different headphones: AKG-K240 Studio with Sweetcome cable, OVC HC1000, Denon AH-D1000. The FiiO E3 mini-amp costs less than $10, and is certainly worth the money. Anyone owning a portable player without an amp should get one.

The FiiO E3 also has a great synergy with the OVC HC1000 headphones. OVC HC1000 cost $49 (plus $5 or $10 shipping) from Head-Direct, and are perhaps the first “portable” headphones that can compete not only with the likes of Sennheiser PX100/PX200, but also with more expensive gear. HC1000 and the FiiO E3 amp paired are at least as good (at the same, if not better, level of clarity/detail/dynamics, though slightly less bassy) as the Denon AH-D1000, worth $120-170 (depending on store). Less than $75 of headphone gear performing as well as a set of headphones worth two to three times as much.

Spent the day with the FIIO amp, the Grado iGrados and of course the ubiquitous IPod Nano. The FIIO amp has taken the low end headphone world by storm. After watching them sell like hot cakes, we at Headphonedeals have decided to find out why is everyone trying to snap them up. And it’s not hard to see why they are selling so fast. They are one of the cheapest portable headphone amps on the market today, but even better, the FIIO amp can perform.

For a measly outlay it has to be said that they are a good ‘little‘ investment, and these things are tiny. O.K. we’re not talking Ray Samuels here, but you get a nice boost, and a very good amount of increase in sound staging and detailing. In terms of sound, these are very impressive.

The FIIO amp puts decent sound in the reach of those with the smallest of budgets. Now you have no excuse not to buy a headphone amp. So what are you waiting for? I could go on but why bother? For the price, just click here and buy one and find out for yourself.