For That You Need Power

I haven't looked outdoors since midnight, and that's not an accident.  Winter is hitting Minnesota like a ton of bricks right now.  A friend said he was looking forward to winter.  I told him, "Go to hell," but in a nice way.

I tried to imagine myself looking forward to winter, but the closest I could come was looking forward to Christmas.  I love Christmas, and a big part of it for me is the music.  So imagine my horror when my ipod mysteriously died last week.

I know what you're thinking, 'Ipods are so 2000's.  We all have smartphones.'  That is true, but this is all about hi-fidelity.  That old ipod happens to interface with my FiiO E1, which I purchased for $10, shipping included.  It's the cheapest amp you can find, and it also does a better job at digital to analog conversion(DAC).

So do I buy a $40 replacement five-year-old ipod to keep using the  cheapest amp on the market?  That seems silly.


For $20, I could buy a non portable amp.  I'm sure it would work well, but that seems like a waste.  I don't like spending money on something that's not what I really want.  Then again, it's not like I wouldn't find a use for that later.

No, if I'm going to spend $20, I might as well spend $60, and get a great portable model.  I'm looking at the FiiO E11K.  By all accounts, it's the one to have if you're not ready to shell out hundreds.  It's like the  FiiO E11, but with a solid metal body, and the bass boost is a little more user friendly.

I'm this close to taking a huge journey, so this isn't the time to be spending $60 on something I don't need.  On the other hand, I can't imagine not having hi-fidelity music this Christmas season.

Then yesterday I tried my ipod one last time out of frustration, and it sprung to life.  Maybe it was a Christmas miricle.  Maybe the hard reboot I tried the other day just took a very long time to happen.  Either way, I'm off the hook financially for a while.  Well, other than the pair of velour replacement ear pads I bought for my ATH-M50's for $20.  What?  They do double as earmuffs.  Do you want my ears to get cold?