When In Manila and you just bought that nice sounding earphone/headphone eh? You know how to make that sound more clear, more powerful, more resolving and more wide? Get the Fiio E6. And yes, it’s an affordable audiophile upgrade to boot! It’s affordable enough to buy at the same time you get that earphone/headphone you’ve been wanting for a decade.
Sexy little thing packs a punch!
FiiO is a slightly new company from China that has been changing how audiophiles approach listening to music. Heck, the company even changed how normal people with tight budgets for their portable on the go music listening, enjoy their music.
The FiiO E6.
The FiiO E6 basically is a portable amplifier which is connected in-between your earphones/headphone and your music player. It boosts or resolves frequencies in your music to enhance or clean the audio it reproduces. Most portable amplifiers are priced at around P12,000 to around P25,000. And the FiiO E6 is priced at P1,400. So you get the idea now how much of a game changer this is. Usually, being an audiophile before needed quite a bigger budget. But now, even commuters and just normal music lovers can enjoy their music in a more resolving way thanks to FiiO‘s affordable price point.
The FiiO E6 comes generously with 2 clips that you could use to clip the amplifier to the back of your music player or on your pocket. It also comes with it’s own usb charging cable, 1 short 3.5mm interconnect, 1 long 3.5mm interconnect. So basically, it has you covered for the basic components and for the basic uses. Such as, for portable on-the-go or for desktop/laptop use where you might need a long cable.
Included in the packaging of the FiiO E6
The FiiO E6 basically has a rechargeable internal battery. You just plug it to your laptop with its usb charging cable to replenish the battery. On the sides are the volume, EQ and on/off switches.
So comes the sound part of the FiiO E6. How does it sound? definitely bang for the buck! I had an amp which is easily three to four times the price of the FiiO E6 and I can say that the performance of the E6 is at par and could even be ahead. I had Fiio E6’s older brother which is the E5. The E6 is easily an upgrade over the overall sound quality and characteristics of the E5. The E6 has 3 EQ options that is glorious and is usually not equipped even with other P12,000 portable amplifiers. You just flick a switch on the side to cycle through which EQ setting you want. When the indicator light at the back is off, the sound is on flat or neutral. Pushing the switch up again changes the indicator light to Red which boosts the upper bass sound. Bass heads will love this settings I presume. Moving the switch again will change the indicator to blue. This setting is my favorite on the E6 since I love luscious vocal experiences on my music. On the blue setting, the vocals are more pronounced and are warmer. The last EQ setting gives you a pink light on the indicator. And this one indicates a lowered frequency overall. Down by 3dB for strong music players or sources to be plugged in the E6 and still have good volume control.
The small hole at the back acts as the EQ indicator light. Nice and simple.
Overall, the amplifier is very versatile. Just flick the switch depending on your mood or your music. You want more bass? You want more pronounced vocals? You want it flat? You name it, just flick it. For P1,400 pesos, it’s like having 3 amplifiers in one!
FiiO Philippines/XTCorporation has also sent me a Fiio L3 line-out dock cable which is a line-out cable for Apple devices (iPhones, iPads, iPods). This is a cable specially made to be used for portable amplifiers. The purpose of this is to give a more pure sound signal from your Apple devices to the portable amplifier, giving you a more refined sound overall. I tried them paired with the FiiO E6 and… another cheap sound upgrade! Using the FiiO E6 on the earphone jack of my iPod already enhanced the sound spectrum. Using the FiiO L3 definitely made the overall sound much more crisp, more detailed and gave the sound more breathing space. The FiiO L3 SRP is P500 and it’s another bang for the buck purchase. Other line-out cables could range from P2,000 to even more than P7,000. Trust me, because I have a line-out dock cable at around that price.
The Fiio L3 cable. Nice and simple design. The cable looks and feels like it’s built like a tank!
The FiiO L3 and the packaging
Imagine that, for P2,000 you already reach HiFi/audiophile territory. For P2,000 pesos you enhance your music listening to a whole different league. I can’t fathom how good FiiO‘s pricing is. Definitely affordable and holds a large threat to way more expensive competitors both price and sound wise.
Ah yes, audio Nirvana
Thank you to XTCorporation/FiiO Philippines for the FiiO E6 and the FiiO L3 cable that I received for this review.
You can reach FiiO through Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/fiiophil
and follow them on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/xtchannel
PLUS we have a raffle a FiiO E6 portable amplifier for 1 lucky winner!
Simply follow @WhenInManila on Twitter, tell us your favorite song and ReTweet the statement below:
Win a FiiO E6 portable amplifier! Just RT this & follow @WhenInManila then tweet us your favorite song. https://bit.ly/OXUlI8 #WhenInManila
Don’t forget to follow @WhenInManila, and to tag @WhenInManila on your post as well as to hashtag #WhenInManila. Winner will be announced Thursday!
WINNER ANNOUNCED ON TWITTER – https://twitter.com/VinceGolangco/status/220766130770415616
You can purchase FiiO products from the following stores:
Las Pinas City
HiFi Lounge|4th flr, Festival Mall |(632) 8428133
Mobile 1 – Alabang Town Center |3rd flr, Alabang Town Center
Odyssey – Alabang Town Center | Alabang Town Center | (632) 7725984
Odyssey – Festival Mall | 1st flr, Festival Mall | (632) 8503763
Sw!tch – Alabang Town Center|Alabang Town Center | (632) 842-0794 / 217-0691
Makati City
Astroplus – SM Makati
5th Avenue Electronics – Park Square 1 |1st flr, Park Square 1 |(632) 8178756 to 58
Listen Up | 3rd flr, Glorietta 4 | (632) 818-5904
Mobile 1 – Park Square 1 |1st flr, Park Square 1 | (632) 893-4509
Mobile 1 – Power Plant Mall | 3rd flr, Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Center | (632) 8971054
Odyssey – Greenbelt 1 | 1st flr, Greenbelt 1 | (632) 8922039
Odyssey – Power Plant Mall | 3rd flr, Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Center | (632) 8981090
Sound Dimension | 1st flr, Park Square 1 | (632) 7527802
Spectra | 1st flr, Park Square 1 | (632) 8185493 / 8940130
Sw!tch – Park Square 1 | 1st flr, Park Square 1 | (632) 7527365 / 2170689
Mandaluyong City
5th Avenue Electronics – SM Megamall |4th flr, Mega B, SM Megamall |(632) 4966492
5th Avenue Electronics – Shangri La |6th flr, Shangri La Mall |(632) 6338315 to 17
Filters Exchange | 20th Century Bldg. Shaw Blvd. Mandaluyong | (632) 5349879 / 0917-4070007
Gadgets in Style | 5th flr, Shangri La Mall | (632) 9102588
iStudio | 3rd flr, Shangri La Mall | (632) 6343103
Listening Room | 3rd flr, Mega B, SM Megamall | (632) 6335085 / 6329577
Odyssey – SM Megamall | Upper GF Mega A, SM Megamall | (632) 6873620
Sights & Sounds | 4th flr, Shangri La Mall | (632) 6341789 / 6341790
Manila City
Astroplus – Robinson’s Place Ermita
Odyssey – Robinson’s Place | 2nd flr, Robinson’s Place Ermita | (632) 5367941
Pasay City
5th Avenue Electronics – SM MOA |2nd flr, SM Mall of Asia |(632) 5560071 to 72
Astroplus – SM MOA | 1st flr, SM Mall of Asia | (632) 5560080
Odyssey – SM MOA | 1st flr, SM Mall of Asia | (632) 5560138
Quezon City
5th Avenue Electronics – Trinoma | Level M2 Trinoma Mall | (632) 9015659
Edge – PC Hub | G/F 692-694 Aurora Boulevard, Aurora Garden Plaza Cor. Gilmore Avenue | (632) 4128481 / 7030704
E-novation | Eton Cyberpod Corinthian, Ortigas Avenue | (632) | 4709480
Gadgets in Style | 3rd flr, Trinoma Mall | (632) 9150481 ?
Go Gadgets Electronic Boutique | 1C Broadway Park, 1st st. bet. Gilmore and Broadway Ave. New Manila | (632) 7234958 / 4118604
Odyssey – Gateway | L2 Phase 201B Gateway Mall, Araneta Center | (632) 4210596
Odyssey – SM Annex |Annex 1, SM North Edsa | (632) 4411446
Odyssey – SM The Block | The Block, SM North Edsa |
Sw!tch – UP Technohub | UP Ayalaland TechnoHUB, Commonwealth Ave. | (632) 7949632 / 7949628
San Juan City
iStudio | 2nd flr, VMall, Greenhills Shopping Center | (632) 7258641
Golden Sound | 3rd flr, VMall, Greenhills Shopping Center | (632) 7212540
Taguig City
iStudio | Bonifacio High Street | (632) 8562395
Pampanga
Gadgets in Style | 3rd flr, Ayala Marquee Mall, Angeles, Pampanga | (045) 3040749
JBL | ground flr, Ayala Marquee Mall, Angeles, Pampanga | 09086080234
Sw!tch – Marquee Mall | 1st flr, Ayala Marquee Mall, Angeles, Pampanga | (045) 3040797 / 2170692
Cebu
Odyssey – Ayala Cebu |Phase 1, Ayala Center Cebu | (032)2315443
Odyssey – SM Cebu | 1st flr, SM City Cebu | (032)2330225
