I'm one of you now! My RME ADI-2 RME FS arrived a little while ago and it's replacing a pair of Drop/Grace SDACs ... One went to a Bottlehead Crack and then an HD800S (and sometimes HD650) The other to a Burson Soloist and then to a Focal Clear (and sometimes that HD800S or an HE-500) Not to...

I am also a heavy researcher. I noticed that as well... or those that didn't favor it versus something else still tended to really like it, just not as much as something else they liked more. The Chord Qutest seems frequently compared, but that unit is more expensive and less flexible ... and...

Cool, thanks for the info. I usually like to listen to stuff before I buy ... especially stuff this spendy, but this seems awesome enough for my needs that I've taken the leap. Just put in an order with an RME authorized dealer (and managed to get 'em to knock ~$150 off the price). I'll be a...

Hey folks ... I'm looking to up my DAC game, and the ADI-2 DAC definitely sounds appealing. My current main rigs: SDAC -> Bottlehead Crack+Speedball -> HD800S SDAC-B -> Burson Soloist -> Focal Clear Fiio BTR3 -> UERM (I've also got HD650, Hifiman HE-500, Denon AH-D2000, Beyer DT770 and more...

Alright headphone nerds -- I got my plane ticket and I'm registered -- I'll see you guys in two weekends.

    Like @jaywillin, I'm liking what I hear with the Pulse Xfi.  The things I've noticed with the sound versus my existing setups are that the drums sound much better, the bass has a little more kick and fullness and there's a slight improvement to soundstage.  The two headphones I...

True -- though connecting device A into input B is hardly a usage peculiarity ... unless (from my standpoint) they only expected folks to use USB ... :)

Good suggestion -- it was on PCM and I tried bitstream for the hell of it.  I noticed no difference either way.

Have any of you guys tried using the Geek Pulse via non-USB connections?  It works nicely for me via USB, but in trying both SPDIF (both ports) and Toslink, things didn't go so well.   With SPDIF, the dropouts are occasional, but enough to be annoying -- in this case, the Pulse was connected...

Well, and I want to reiterate that I'm uncertain which device is to blame, so I don't want to point any fingers yet.   The Blu-ray player in question is a hacked Pioneer BDP-150 which also plays SACDs (hacked to play all regions Blu-rays and DVDs).

I have no problem when using my Xfi units from my laptop via USB, but I do have dropouts on both units when connecting my Blu Ray player via SPDIF -- with either SPDIF port, though it makes an odd noise-ish sound on one channel with one of the SPDIF port and just a silent dropout on the other...

Yeah, I think I'm liking it as is -- this is more than sufficient for my needs.   I did a quick test last night and another right now.  Works and sounds good, but I don't have time for a more in-depth opinion at the moment (I strive to be a good dad).   Also caveat to all -- I try to keep...

  Well, they shipped out my two units before I could decide -- but I'm fine where things are at with the Xfi.  I'm feel I'm at a good place to get off the train.  I've got a Xfi+LPS for home and an Xfi for work... done.     Interesting... thanks for that -- I've switched to Low gain and...

  It's parked at high gain for the headphones I'm using (HE-500 via XLR), and I'm listening at whatever the music asks for -- generally in the -20db to -35db range.   I haven't seen Larry's video... have a link handy?  Is that the -3dB thing I saw someone mention?

  Yeah, I'm thinking so ... especially at the price I paid for 'em (I got in early on it all).    The Burson Soloist still has a very welcome place in my house -- especially since it has three analog inputs and I have it connected to a Roku and a BluRay/SACD player... but the Pulse Xfi is...

Ehh, she tolerates me.   Anyways, she's handed it back over and I'm doing some listening testing.  Like I said before -- clarity.  I'm listening to it and going back and forth to my HRT Musicstreamer II+ / Burson Soloist setup.  I'm finding the sound on the Geek Pulse to be a bit more spacious...

I saw jaywillin got unit 104 ... I got numbers 108 and 113.  Right now, 113 is out of the box and plugged into the LPS.  I had a quick look around the menus... switched the digital filter to FTM (Femto Time Mode), plugged in my HE-500 via the XLR port (I modded the cable) and started to play...

Well, it seems that there are a pair of Xfi units sitting on my doorstep. I'll start playing with them tonight and let you guys know when I have some opinions.

  So then... do not all Xfi units have active components?  How to I tell if my units have the active component upgrade?     Or, you know, Wiki page.  Head-Fiki.

I got an email yesterday that the two Xfi units I ordered have shipped.  I live about a 90 minute drive from LHLabs, so hopefully this goes pretty quickly.   Meanwhile -- question for you guys.  Do you remember that $88 "Instant $1M Upgrade" perk.  What ever happened with that?  I emailed...

Same problem here -- I posted on their forum:     http://lhlabs.com/force/geeklps/2654-lps-weirdness   posted a video online     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhUUzKDq9hE   and opened a support ticket.  I have an RMA with them to ship the unit back along with the little blue extension...

Yeah, I had heard that.  Their support had told me that I wasn't going to get my referral unit for a few months, so it'd be a pleasant surprise either way.  At least I'll be able to test if my LPS is working with an externally powered DAC.

Iiiiiiinteresting... I just got an email from lhlabs that they have shipped me a "PULSE":     I have two Xfi and one plain unit coming (the plain one is from referrals), so I'm not sure which it is -- I didn't pay $999 for any of the units.  Anyways, I'll keep you guys posted when I know...

I can only speak from my experience at Rdio, but it's likely the same for all services.  As far as I can remember, almost all of the labels and aggregators deliver flac to the streaming services, with one or two exceptions that deliver something like 320kbps mp3.  From there, they mostly stream...

A fine and interesting question... in that case, it does not work, but in an interesting way.  If the Mac has seen the device without the extension cable, but then I disconnect and reconnect with the extension cable, it acts as though it sees the device, but I cannot adjust its volume.  The...