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As all our music moves to the mobile, at least some of us are feeling hardpressed to find the audio quality we crave for. For audiophiles the mobile music is still compressed audio. However, there are ways to get more audio quality out of even mobiles. The easier way is to ensure that you download only good quality files, but they will consume a lot of space — still at a premium on smartphones. The second way is to get yourself a portable amplifier. We have written about these devices before, but this time we look at one of the more affordable options, the Fiio A1.
Fiio A1 portable Headphone Amplifier
Price: Rs 1,899
One of the biggest headaches while using a portable amplifier is the need to carry it around everywhere with your music. It’s an extra device that needs charging and a few more grams in your backpack. This is also the advantage while using the Fiio A1, because it is as small and light as an iPod Nano. It is, however, still another device to be charged and carried around.
The Fiio A1 is very easy to use. Just plug in the headphones into the device and use an extra cable to connect it to your smartphone, tablet or laptop. There is a power button and volume controls. It charges through a micro-USB port at the rear.
The power button doubles as the equaliser controls. On soft press changes the mode and you can keep pressing to shuffle. Simple and functional.
I tried the device while listening to music streamed through Apple Music. Using a high end headphone I could not really make out the difference from when there amplifier was on and when it wasn’t. But with a cheaper earphone that had smaller drivers, there was a discernible difference.
My issue with the review unit I had was battery life. Even after charging it for a few hours it would die out half-way into my hour-long morning walk. Maybe the device wasn’t charging fully, but there is no way to figure out as all you have is a small LED on the power button to that blinks green, blue and red. The fact that it happened to me more than once, makes me think this was a defective device.
Should you buy
Yes, if you are an audiophile. And by an audiophile, I don’t mean someone who listens to a lot of music, but really cares about the quality of whatever little he listens to. For such people this appears to be the most portable amplifier option. If you can spend more and don’t mind another devices almost as big as your smartphone then go for better options from Fiio. This is strictly for those who need a small amplifer.
