What is life without good music? Earlier we introduced to you guys other models such as the Fiio E5, E6 and E7. Here we are today with the latest Fiio amplifier, Fiio E17!

The Fiio E17 amplifier, also known as Alpen, was built to be a much more complete product than any of its preceders. Fiio released a new USB DAC amplifier (for the computer), E10, which was very well received, and E11, which was a portable amplifier just like the E5 and E6. Now, unlike the E10, E17’s most significant addition was the ability for it to serve as a portable headphone amplifier. With batteries built into the device (like the E7), you can unplug it from USB and take it for a spin together with your music devices. The E10 was limited to the USB DAC/Amp functions, and the E11 amplifier only to amplification purposes. The E17 does both of these jobs, and this is a good thing. In addition to that they also added new features which was not available before, such as coaxial and and toslink digital inputs, making it one of the most affordable DAC with complete digital inputs.

There is indeed a lot of features for the money, but I did not want to get distracted with the features and ignore the quality. It could be a 20-in-1 device, but the bottom line here is still about the sound. Even if it was $1, I am not going to recommend it to you if the sound was crap. Because after all these hype and enthusiasm are gone, there are going to be newer products in the market with bigger and better numbers, hence, all that is left in this is the sound quality, the way it does music.

The E17 is better, no matter how you look at it, even if we ignored all the newly added features. The sound signature sounds very similar to the E10 I tried (but did not buy) but the E17 is clearly a winner; the bass is punchier, tighter, a even wider soundstage, and the mid-range is even clearer. So what is there not to like actually?

The accessories provided include:

• Mini USB Cable
• 3.5mm to 3.5mm Interconnect
• Silicon Band
• Optical and Coaxial adapter
• Rubber feet
• A furry pouch
• Screen Protector

First look, the controls are now all on the front, with the menu button (aka enter), input (to switch the various inputs), power or exit button and a hold key.

Comparison

So how will this compare to the E7 we showed to you guys earlier?
There is almost no comparison here. Tone-wise, the E7 sounds thin on the mids and lows with the mids sounding congested, and the soundstage is not that impressive once you have heard the E17. The E17 on the other hand has a much bigger soundstage, and a more likeable tonality. Good full mids, good bass, spacious sound, all around musical.

Pairing it up with the E9 desktop dock-amp unit, you get a bigger sound with better dynamics and dynamic range. It should be sounding much better, but it isn’t doing much justice to me. Because it seemed to me that it erodes sweet full midrange in the E17 and returning you a somewhat unpleasant and recessed mids. Bigger sound, more power, but so what? The missing midrange makes it sound so bad. Hence, if your planning to pairing the devices the E9 better left paired with the E7, while the E17 better be left on its own.

Now, another competitor that I got to try was the iBasso D0 amplifier. Build and dimensions wise, D-Zero feels much much better. It is smaller, slimmer, uses fully analog controls, and is lighter. Sound wise, however, I am voting the Fiio’s warmer, fuller sounding sound.

Comparing strictly on amplifiers (E11 vs E17) I have to admit, the E11 is the better amplifier in that 20 minutes I had with it. More ample power, smoother, more refined. The E11 shows much more depth in the soundstage though the width is slightly narrower. But everytime you have to choose between depth and width, it is always the depth because that is what gives you three dimensionality. Well anyway remember that the E11 is an amplifier only unit, no DAC.

The other lower end models, E5 and E6, there is completely no challenge here. The E17 blows them out.

Other features

The E17 is made to be the successor to the E7, and by comparison, I find improvements on other aspects other than the sound. The first improvement is clearly in the amplifier section. You get better impact and much higher gain level. The E17 comes with three gain levels, and I can go much louder on the E17 medium gain (6db) setting than I can on the E7.
The second improvement is the bass boost. Instead of the three stepped bass boost on the E7, you now get five steps (each on both the positive and negative), and the increments are much more linear than that on the E7. Besides, there is also a Treble Boost as well, with five steps (each on both the positive and negative). Each increment adds or reduces a good measure of the respective tone.
In addition, a L/R balance control was also included in the settings within the E17. We wont usually take a look into this but, there are times when this is required and I think this is a very nice and fine feature.

Bottomline

So what is there to dislike about the E17? Well, not much, although I would have preferred the controls to be on the side like the E7 rather than on the top of it. Available for $205 with registered mail, $208 with courier delivery, this is a very reasonable price. Get it from here. [Note: 1 year local warranty] (Retail Price: $219)