Product Comparison: Sony PHA-1A vs Fiio E12A

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Best Pick

Sony PHA-1A Portable Hi-Res DAC/Headphone Amplifier, Silver

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Fiio E12A Mont Blanc IEM Special Edition Portable Headphone Amp

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General Specifications

Brand

Sony

Fiio

Model

PHA-1A

E12A

Origin

China

About the Product

Easily connect to your portable digital music device or PC via USB input to enjoy powerful, pintsize Hi-Res audio performance on the go. The PHA-1A supports audio file formats up to 192kHz/24-bit. The Hi-Res DAC and amplifier circuitry complete with lithium-ion battery.

The FiiO E12 is still suitable for general headphones and especially large headphones. Only the FiiO E12A is a special model. Designed specifically for small size headphones, there is also a new high-end OPAMP chip and a better combination. Therefore, the model name is E12A IEM Special Edition.

Key Specs

Built-in DAC

Wolfson WM8740

MUSES02 / LME49600

Type

Portable

Sample Resolution/Rate

24-bit / 192kHz

Signal/Noise Ratio

115 dB

Type
Sample Resolution/Rate

What customers say about "Key Specs"

Sony PHA-1A Portable Hi-Res DAC/Headphone Amplifier, Silver

A well made excellent headphone amplifier with an internal DAC.
The Sony PHA1A is a very powerful portable amp, surprisingly so for the fact that it is portable, and is powerful enough to drive 600 ohm headphones.
The DAC affect I cannot speak for. The sound quality sounds amazing to me. Music is crystal and clear.
Though this is portable, so if it turns out I need this DAC amp with my Sony Walkman to power my headphones, then I will do that.
Excellent choice for a portable DAC usable with iphones.

Fiio E12A Mont Blanc IEM Special Edition Portable Headphone Amp

The mids never felt recessed or gave the impression of a nasal vocalist. Just an amazing amp.
This portable amplifier has a cleaner sound than the amplifier section of my Fiio E18 Kunlun with a DAC!
This is a no-brainer for someone looking for a portable amplifier.
Using this amplifier I not only heard my music but with it's bass enhancement it was great.
Excellent portable amplifier!! I would recommend to everyone!

Size & Weight

Color

Silver

Titanium

Height

0.06 in.

0.57 in.

Width

0.36 in.

4.88 in.

Depth

0.2 in.

2.58 in.

Weight

1.59 oz.

5.86 oz.

Sony PHA-1A

Fiio E12A

Sony PHA-1A

Fiio E12A

Sony PHA-1A

Fiio E12A

Sony PHA-1A

Fiio E12A

What customers say about "Size & Weight"

Sony PHA-1A Portable Hi-Res DAC/Headphone Amplifier, Silver

SONY are nicely built, light and designed and have a clear feel of a quality device.
Good Aluminum build. Device feels light but solid and have an awesome lookness.
I'm enjoying the crystal clear sound being transmitted to my ears via this slick little device.
Not as big as I thought, but is bulky compared to Fiio A3 heaphone amp.
My only gripe is that this unit scratches easily. Aluminium case is light but new scratches appears every minute.

Fiio E12A Mont Blanc IEM Special Edition Portable Headphone Amp

Carved out of a single aluminum block for maximum sturdiness.It looks heavy, but surprisingly it's not. That aluminum is thick it's not some flimsy soda can aluminum.
It is about the size of an iPhone and is quite portable.
That little bad boy was a third of the price of my desktop DAC and a third of the size, and gives quite a bit more sound improvement.
Very powerful amp capable of making your iems sing, & can Aldo drive your full sized cans.
A bit heavy to carry in my pocket when strapped to an iPod or phone.

Features

Enclosure Material

Aluminium

Max. Frequency Response

100 kHz

90 kHz

Min. Frequency Response

10 Hz

Controls

Volume Control, Gain

Volume Control, Gain, Bass

OS Compatibility

Apple OS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Apple iOS, Android

Wireless Connection

Interfaces

Phones, USB, Jack for Walkman Xperia

Line In, Phones

Extras

Superior conversion, purer sound, Built-in Lithium-ion battery, Shielding from noise and interference, High-Resolution Audio

Metal film resistors, Optimized sound tuning, Intuitive controls

Min. Frequency Response
Max. Frequency Response

Sony PHA-1A

Fiio E12A

Sony PHA-1A

Fiio E12A

What customers say about "Features"

Sony PHA-1A Portable Hi-Res DAC/Headphone Amplifier, Silver

The extra gain makes for nice sound for the more difficult to drive higher impedance headphones.
Great soundstage, separation, balance and, especially, clarity or definition of instruments. Beautiful. It is built to withstand accidental drops.
I charged it about 30 mins to an hour after receiving it, and then listened for 2-3 hours of listening because it wasn't fully charged.
Crystal clear sound with a lot of optional inputs. Happy buyer.
The only problem is it won't let you charge while listening. The power has to be off on it in order to charge.

Fiio E12A Mont Blanc IEM Special Edition Portable Headphone Amp

It pairs perfectly with all of my devices. Amazing quality product.
It works exceptionally well with IEMs as there is virtually no noise associated with the amp.
The battery life is very long. Not as advertised 20 hours, but 8-10 is far enough.
Battery lasts 8-10 hours. It will also work on a dead battery as soon as you plug in the USB micro charger from AC or a laptop.
Amp started failing to switch on even after charging overnight. The reset button doesn't fix this issue, even if I hold it down for the recommended amount of time.

Warranty / Certifications

Manufacturer Warranty

1 year(s)

Certifications