There is DEFINETLY something wrong somewhere there...

I have a Marantz CD63se, Audioquest Quartz III Interconnects, X-Cans V2 and Sennheiser HD580s... this comes to a total value of $1245 (as new)

and I can say far and away that the X-Cans makes a difference compared to an un-amped source

The bass although an area of debate, to my ears is very deep, and fluid... the treble is as sweet as you can imagine... the only one criticism that I have is that the mids aren't as rich as those of my CDP headphone out, but overall the sound is like chalk and cheese!!

Upgrade your source, and reap the dividends

Quote:



Not really, a DDE v1.0 should be equalled or surpassed by most sub $500 players..

I'm in total agreement...

What are you using the DAC with? Your soundcard? if so, they probably don't run in perfect sync... I myself once asked about a suitable DAC for my SoundBlaster Live! and I was told that the jitter and general signal noise would probably make the sound worse than the Live! running on its own

And you'll still suffer from the RFI (or is it EMI??) from all of the equipment inside of your computer making for an overall messy "similar to a portable CDP" sound

It doesn't sound any better on the mainstream desktop sony CD player. I don't have a better source available for testing, but could that really make such a huge difference? I would believe so, if I could hear some flaws of the source right now. But there just isn't a difference. Only a slight added brightness and harshness, but it's very, very subtle. Might be just in my head =).

btw, soundblaster live digital outs have an inferior quality signal due to resampling. As far as I know, Aureal doesn't do that.

I have been in impression that X-Cans could improve sound with any source. Just more with better sources. Could someone please test plugging their xcans and phones turn by turn to a low cost CD player or decent soundcard, and telling me wether or not they experience any differences in the sound. If someone does, either he is a lair, I have a defect unit or lacking hearing. Who knows...

I'm keeping the unit over the weekend, but will probably try returning it on next week.

ok... I'll do a mini review of my Marantz / Sony D777...

Marantz :

The headphone out sounds quite good when you are using it with "deaf" ears (meaning that you haven't been listening to music for more than say an hour)... lush sounding, deep, albeit spongey (clippy) bass, and a nice smooth treble... little to no soundstage though

Going to the XCV2... the bass is a lot more prominent, and a LOT cleaner, the mids aren't as pronounced (overly rich through the Marantz HP socket?) as those of the Marantz, but this makes for a cleaner listen and the treble is a LOT more open than through just the CDP jack

Sony :

Headphone jack wise, very clean sounding nice and smooth sound all throughout the spectrum, instruments are clear to pick out etc etc although ultimately vocals lack that last quality edge compared to the Marantz

XCV2 with the Sony is a bit of a dissapointment compared to the Marantz... for a start you have to turn the volume up a lot more, and the sound seems anemic in comparison, yes, everythings there, but there isn't the factor anymore, its just something to listen to to pass the time, rather than something to get engrossed with

This leads me to think that the quality of the source DOES pay quite a large part in the XCV2's success... If I only had my D777 I'd be dissapointed to own the X-Cans... Thank the lord I have the Marantz!!