I have a couple of the original Fiio (I think that was the E5) and gave one to my bro too. He loves it, I thought it was basically a bass and volume booster. It about kills me that the portable cd player he uses makes a loud beeping with any adjustments to the volume, makes me really want a volume control on it like the E1. I planned to use them for Christmas presents, but my flunky relatives decided not to really meet up for Christmas, so I still have them on hand.