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I connected the E10 to my desktop PC (running Windows 7 64-bit), and the driver installed automatically in seconds. I then opened the computer's control panel, then sound, where I was able to select the E10 as the default device. (When I disconnect the E10 from the USB connecting and disconnecting the E10 powers it on and off the default automatically returns to the speakers I have attached to my PC.) On my computer the E10 is listed as SPDIF Interface (it names it as the FiiO E10 below this). In the advanced tab of the SPDIF Interface Properties window there is the option to select sample rate and bit depth, and I made sure this was set to the 96 Hz/24 Bit maximum specified for the E10. I then plugged my TDK ST800 High Fidelity Headphones into the E10, played some Bellini followed by Joy Division, New Order and Philip Glass all lossless (FLAC). Wow. I have not heard music like this out of this computer before ever. With the E10 bass boost switch on while playing New Order's "Blue Monday," I feel as if I'm in a club (several decades ago). With all the music I used to test the E10 I could hear details I have not heard before. The E10 also sounds great paired with my Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Professional Studio Monitor Headphones (tested with some Killing Joke and Dum Dum Girls with bass boost on, and some of Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports with the bass boost off, because Eno has some serious near-subsonic bass going on in there that gets distorted when the E10 bass boost is on).
The E10 comes packed in a tin just like the one the FiiO E11 Portable Headphone Amplifier comes in, with optional stick-on rubber feet, a USB cable and instructions. The high/low gain switch works fine and with the 250 ohm ST800s low gain is all I need (a rule of thumb I've heard for determining whether you need high or low gain with a given set of headphones has to do with volume; if with high gain the volume becomes too high too soon, e.g., when the E10's numbered volume knob is at 2 or 3 and the volume is super loud, switch to low gain; the volume knob on the E10 goes from 0-8). I find, however, that high gain is better when my 300 ohm Sennheiser HD580 headphones are connected to the E10, for at the low gain setting I can turn the volume to 8 without reaching a maximally loud volume. (Suitable headphone impedance for the E10 runs from 16-300 ohms). With my 38 ohm Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Professional Studio Monitor Headphones, the low gain setting on the E10 works best.
The E10 can of course also be used as a DAC with any speaker system that would otherwise connect directly to a computer (i.e., to the computer's sound card). I am surprised at how much better my Logitech Speaker System Z523 with Subwoofer sounds when connected to the E10 instead of to the computer's sound card. There is a line out port on the back of the E10 for connecting speakers, which bypasses the E10's volume control, which only functions when headphones are connected through the headphone jack on the front of the E10. I don't imagine I will ever want to connect speakers directly to my computer's sound card ever again, now that I have an E10.
Crystal clarity... And so small it will be no problem to travel with it in a laptop bag. FiiO has hit one out of the park with the E10. Now I'm thinking of getting a second E10 so I can keep one connected to my desktop and have the other always handy for use with my laptop.
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