Do I need an amp on top of a FiiO e17?

[flogen]

I've seen a lot of posts talking about amp/DAC combinations. I've been running an Alpen E17 for years now - god bless it, I don't think it's been turned off more than a few times, awful screen burn, but it's never let me down. I rotate through Sony MDRs, Sennheiser 598s, some cheap IEMs, and I've been looking at picking up the entry Hifiman HE400s. Nothing that even comes close to the advertised 300 ohm impedance cap, and I haven't found myself needing to turn the DAC up much beyond the default volume.

Am I getting the most out of it, or could I be pushing these headphones further? Is there value in an amp?

E17 is powered and input fed via USB
Desktop EQ via Peace, like everyone else
Playing mostly Spotify, some ripped CDs, streaming media, etc.

Thanks!

 

[JaMaSt]

I've seen a lot of posts talking about amp/DAC combinations. I've been running an Alpen E17 for years now - god bless it,

Yeah, I've had one for about 5 years now (E17k). Sweet little thing. A screen, tone control, 3 gain stages. I use it at work via USB from my company laptop. The only thing that drives me nuts is you have to rotate the volume wheel approximately two thousand times to reduce the volume from 55 to 35. .

I've thought about replacing it, but for my work IEMs it's fine. I use Final E1000, and they are pretty thirsty (for my laptop), but the E17k has more than enough power. I also used to use it with Koss Porta Pro (60 Ohm if I recall correctly) and it powered them just fine.

Other than the volume thing, I can't see why to replace it until it gives up the ghost. At home I have "better" (i.e. more expensive ) equipment, but I don't know what's currently on the market that has all E17k features for the price in a portable, battery powered, form factor.