RSA **Predator** A review in stages ** With some "NEW" images on 1st and page 64 . . .

[dmk005]

Jamato,

What kind of battery life are you experiencing and have you noticed any difference in the noise floor when listening while charging?

[jamato8]

The Predator sounds better when on battery. It is a little bit brittle in the highs and not as smooth overall when on the charger because once the battery has a charge it is taken out of the circuit and you are running on the charger. Ray stated that with the battery you have a certain capacitance but this is gone when using the charger. I have run it off of the Tekkeon battery and the sound is fine, much the same as the internal battery.

I haven't run this out from a full charge but it is supposed to get around 56 hours depending upon the current draw/volume being used.

[jamato8]

At 425 hours the Predator seems to be evening out. It is very open, smooth and on well recorded music like Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", throws tremendous depth and width with fine imaging and solid well controlled bass. It does not have character that changes the music but changes with the music giving you musical entertainment when the recording is decent or better and not so enjoyable when not. As I stated early on there is a very slightly warm presentation, which is a positive for IEM's and with anything else I have listening with.

[itsborken]

How's it's DAC measuring up vs. that of the D1?

[jamato8]

I did not like the sound of the USB going into the iBasso so I never really used it so I ran the USB into the iBasso into the amp section of the Predator overnight. The sound actually smoothed out so it may have been the other USB cable, the USB section of the iBasso not being broken in or something else but this AM it sounds pretty good out of the iBasso. I noticed more detail than what I was hearing from the Predator and then went back to the Predator USB and noticed the same detail so it seems a further change with the Predator amp section but anyway they both sound very good. The Predator is maybe a little smoother on USB but I will have to compare more. Spatial presentation is about the same at this point, very open with no boxy or closed in sound and neither being "in your face" type of sound.

The USB dac section of the D1 has a little more information in the upper mids/lower high frequencies. I don't know if this is an emphasis in this area or just more detail from the dac section. I will have to listen further.

The output from the D1 is higher than running straight out of the Predator so that has to be adjusted (when using the amp section of the Predator to compare the two the Predator amp/dac has to be turned up to match the volume of the D1 USB dac to the amp of the Predator).

The amp section of the Predator is showing itself to have good resolving abilities. I can also hear that the bass of the D1 is stronger than the dac section of the Predator but that the bass of the Predator is more defined.

[itsborken]

Very good, thanks for the description/comparison.

[nickknutson]

Can you use the DAC and the amp at the same time? Or when you're using the DAC do you need to feed it to an amp?
It just wouldn't make sense if the amp was disabled when the DAC was active.

[red sox 7327]

You can use both at the same time. I don't think its possible to use only the DAC.

[Ray Samuels]

Originally Posted by nickknutson

Can you use the DAC and the amp at the same time? Or when you're using the DAC do you need to feed it to an amp?
It just wouldn't make sense if the amp was disabled when the DAC was active.

You can not listen to the DAC by itself on the Predator, as the output of the DAC, analog, is fed to the selector switch on the front panel, the selector switch connects the DAC output to the input of the amp.

You can listen to the amp alone as you can connect the output of any source to the stereo mini jack input of the amp & flip the selector switch to input position to listen to your external analog source. If the Predator is not connected to computer via USB the DAC on the Predator is not powered by the internal battery of the Predator, it is just sitting there in an off mode.

You can connect both, the computer via USB & any source like iPOD via line out to the Predator, and flip the selector switch between the two sources choosing either one by selecting either USB or INPUT.

Happy Holidays
Ray Samuels

[upstateguy]

Originally Posted by n_maher

I believe in a bit of burn in but "electromagnetic influence and electron flow"?

[Mazuki]

The Pico uses a 24bit/192khz DAC chip while the Predator uses one of TI's combination USB receiver/DAC chips similar to the AlienDAC no?

[jamato8]

What is burn in or forming if part of the influence isn't by electromagnetic influence and electron flow? There is plenty to read on this and it has been around, the knowledge of, for many, many years. Even a friend who developed vacuum tubes for RCA was extremely aware of it and he was aware of, as were other RCA engineers, in a burn in process. This dates back to the late 40's and on into the 50's and 1960's. There is little that is new, just reworked and reworded.

I believe the Predator used a combination chip, and the Pico uses the dac chip mentioned. Implementation is what it is all about.

One thing I haven't mentioned is the fit and finish of the Predator. As usual it is up to the extremely high standards of Ray. Much like a fine watch in fit and finish. I thought the volume knob was plastic because it was so perfectly made but after I thought about it I couldn't imagine Ray using plastic and after examining it I realized it is metal. Everything fits perfectly together on the case with little room for any error in tolerance.

[jamato8]

I wanted to wait for more time to pass as the Predator transitions through different stages.

At approximately 475 hours the bass became overwhelming. I thought there was something wrong with the amp or my ears so I did a comparison and it was the Predator. I haven't had a component change to such a great degree. The bass was as if I had a max bass switch and doubled that. I put down the headphones after confirming with my other amps and sources that it wasn't my ears or anything else and let the Predator burn in over night as this started in the evening. The next day the overpowering bass was gone but the sound was somewhat bright.

500 hours. I am at around 510 hours now and the sound has become more even in the frequency range. The bass is well defined and on well recorded music the depth and width are very good. I think that with the large capacitor that the Predator uses, as with a number of other portable amps that Ray produces, the time required for the final sound to materialize, should be understood. I have found this can not be rushed and is just part of the process.

[Jaw007]

Originally Posted by jamato8

When it comes to dac and many IC's there are many influences going on. Do some investigation.

I received the Predator with 300 hours, as stated, and have a little over 60 hours of my own use now. Of course I don't listen 24 hours a day, but I think most people could understand that with a little bit of thought.

Oh, and spread out what is inside of a dac and some of the other devices on a breadboard with all of the required resistors, transistors and associated parts and build a dac if you want to see how complicated a circuit we are dealing with.

You being a Cardiac critical care nurse, Visual Anthropologist, Professional photographer,Where do you find all the time listening and evaluating all of these amps?

[Jalo]

Originally Posted by Jaw007

You being a Cardiac critical care nurse, Visual Anthropologist, Professional photographer,Where do you find all the time listening and evaluating all of these amps?

Of course, he listen to his amp while providing cardiac critical care.