One of the first products that brought Fiio worldwide popularity was the compact headphone amplifier E5. A small and very inexpensive device markedly added sound quality to devices of those years, allowing you to squeeze more of your favorite headphones. Naturally, the E5 sold very well. Many years have passed since then, and a new successor, named A1, has come out.
Unlike the previous plastic E6, Fiio decided to return to the metal in the case to give the device the desired strength. From the previous model, the novelty got a plastic clip for fastening the device to anything. Also, the company decided to develop the idea of strengthening the bass, as this is one of the main applications of such devices. In A1 there are 3 additional presets of the "improver", I will describe them below.
By the way, the index of this model is a bit confusing, since Fiio already had a model bearing the name A1, it was an amplifier in class D for acoustic systems. But he has long been considered an outdated model, so his alphanumerics inherited the hero of today's review, which in some ways is the antipode of the old model.
Naturally, the main argument in favor of this product was preserved - a low price. The recommended price on the A1 is $ 27, which is comparable to the price of budget headphones. But what will this purchase give?
Specifications
- Amplifier: TPA6130A2
- Effect module: 74HC4052PW + OPA2322AID
- Microcontroller: MSP430
- Output power: ≥78 mW @ 16Ω
- Frequency range: 20 Hz - 20 kHz
- Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise: <0.05% @ 1 kHz
- Signal to noise ratio: ≥100 dB
- Output Impedance: ≤0.2Ω
- Channel separation: ≥65 dB
- Channel imbalance: ≤0.2 dB
- Maximum Output Voltage: 4.52 Vp-p
- Maximum output current: 50 mA
- Battery: 160 mAh
- Operating time on a single charge: ≥13 hours (with a load of 32Ω)
- Charging time: ≤90 min
- Dimensions: 42 mm × 40.7 mm × 9.4 mm
- Weight: 20 g (including the clip)
Packing and delivery kit
Last time in Fiio the tradition to make packing of budgetary products from transparent plastic has settled, A1 was not an exception. In the box, in addition to the amplifier itself, a USB charging cable is found, a pair of interconnect wires with 3.5 mm connectors, one short, a second authentic, a spare clip and a plastic bezel without a clip. Plus, of course, warranty instructions.
In general, for a budget device, the package bundle is very good.
Design and management
The appearance of A1 is the simplest, there is even nothing to paint, everything can be seen from the photos. Compact case made of aluminum, the upper and lower sides are plastic. On the one hand there is an audio input and a microUSB-socket for charging, on the other - an output to the headphones and three control buttons. Management is also quite simple: two buttons adjust the volume, next to them - the main control button with the LED in it. Long press this button to turn A1 on and off, short switch the equalizer settings. The settings are exactly three, and when one of them is turned on, the indicator starts blinking with interruptions. The number of "winks" corresponds to the number of the selected setting. Actually, what are these regimes?
- Enhance bass by 2.7 dB
- Strengthening the bass and weakening the HF, which in volume gives an increase in LF by 5.2 dB
- The "transparency" mode, the amplifier simply passes the sound through itself, without amplifying it and without changing at all
The same indicator serves also for the charging / discharging message. On one charge A1 worked for me 11 hours 50 minutes, which is not bad. It's a pity that in A1 there is no auto power off function, forgetting to turn it off, you can quickly stay with a discharged battery, and it takes more than an hour to charge for charging (I left 1 hour and 15 minutes for full charge).
The body has a clip that allows you to hook the amplifier somewhere, if you break it (which is not impossible, because it is plastic), then there is a spare in the kit. If you do not need a clip, you can remove it, then the supplied plastic nozzle without the clip in general is useful.
In general, the quality of assembly is normal, there are no flaws, everything is adjusted, it does not lyuftit and does not tread.
Sound
The following equipment was used to listen to the device:
- Fiio X5-2 and Fiio X7 in the role of players
- Headphones Oppo PM-3, Titan 3 and Titan 5, Lear LHF-AE1d, Ambient Acoustics AM10, VE Monk and Asura v2, HiFiMan HE-400S
- Entries in lossless format
After a brief experiment, I've taken all the options for using the bass amp to listen to them, I need to love the bass more than I do. Although many people just like to enhance the bass in such devices.
In the feed of the device A1 brings very little, its amplification is small. Naturally, the sound of the amplifier is very simple, it is not designed for high-end players. As little it is suitable for tight in swinging full-size. That is, listen to it Sennheiser HD600 from your iPhone will not work. Its main task is to correct the sound in those cases when the telephone line does not pull headphones-plugs with high resistance (for example, VE Asura with their 150Ω plunges some phones directly into a shock). In similar situations, A1 simply returns the situation to "normal", making the sound exactly as it should be.
In addition, even in the "neutral" version, the A1 adds a bit of bounciness to the bass, and the midrange slightly smoothes. This is in favor of the overall musicality of the presentation.
conclusions
To be honest, I do not quite imagine the scenario of using A1. Usually all the same high-resistance models with a phone do not listen, for this purpose there are special players. And for sensitive low-ohm plugs A1 is not only not useful, but also harmful due to slight noise. With the computer, where is it better to use Fiio K1, it has the function of DAC and gives a greater gain in quality. For tight in the swelling of headphones will need more heavy artillery in the face of Q1. In general, it remains just not very necessary to me the function of strengthening the bass and rare cases when you need to match the headphones with the source, but it happens not often. In general, the use of A1 for me is not entirely clear, but on the other hand - it is inexpensive, so you can buy it purely for the sake of experimentation.
The article is based on materials .
Comments
Post a Comment