I bought the E18 as a portable DAC for my BlackBerry Passport on the I use a Spotify Premium subscription and hear 320kbit MP3s. I hear only with in-ears (Sennheiser IE80). The great advantage of the E18, compared to other products that I tested: it works. If both the smartphone and the PC recognized and he has enough power, even for headphones with high impedance. With my in-ears Stage 3 of 10 is already breaking out loud. The sound is definitely better than the standard output, but I guess that is why it is primarily the case because of E18 provides more power and can provide the strong bass-driven in-ears well. The whole sound is much fuller. However, I would sound quality does not begin to describe as well. I've been to Dragonfly v1.2 belongs (does not work with Blackberry, but apparently over Android when operating it via an USB Hub) and are worlds between the two devices. The Dragonfly costs 30 EUR less and is much more detailed, much space and makes any form of well-produced music into an experience. I had even with boring songs, constantly this wow factor. All these features I miss the E18. The sound is very close, null space, null brilliance, seems somehow "warmed up" falsified, not a wow effect. Boring. I have before buying a lot of reviews on the E18 and read the DAC has been always rated well and was designated as the best in the price range, but I can not understand completely.
