Why is the source in Config 1 theoretically much better? The iPod is still using the same lithium ion battery, the same DAC, and the last time I knew the Red Wine mod had more to do with removing things than adding.

The problem with the iPod is that the signal path is "contaminated" by the numerous other electronics (I am no electrical engineer, so excuse my use of vague, non-technical words). Even the path from the DAC to the line-out is "contaminated". Hence, what the Redwine mod does is to go straight from the DAC to the line-out by bypassing the stuff in the middle. This is explained in a rather concise form on their website.

I quote:

The iMod Details

Even if you use the very best iPod cable with your stock iPod, you are still not avoiding the serious degradation
of sound that results from the cumulative effects of the following "offenders" in the signal path:

-- The low quality stock SMT coupling caps after the Wolfson WM8975 DAC (used in all 4th gen. iPods)
-- Opamp output stage following the Wolfson DAC
-- The minuscule circuit board traces that travel from the top of the mother board down to the
dock connector jack
-- SMD resistors and inductors directly in the signal path
-- The dock connector jack at the bottom of the iPod
-- The signal path inside the iPod dock, which contains: the dock connector plug, a very cheap
ribbon cable, more minuscule pcb traces, SMD resistors, and finally the line out jack.

The goal of the Red Wine iMod is to significantly minimize the analog signal path that follows the
output of the internal Wolfson dac chip. Using D.H. Labs silver wire, we take the analog output
(line out) off of the dac chip and send it directly to the internal 1/8" headphone jack (converting it
into a dedicated line-out jack) via high-end Black Gate Non-Polarized NX HiQ coupling capacitors.

The result of the Red Wine iMod is a superb sounding, battery-powered, miniature-sized digital playback
source with fantastic features and a stellar user interface. Of course, we only take credit for making it sound
so good!


There we go. Yes, you are correct that "the Red Wine mod had more to do with removing things than adding". I hope this has made it clearer.

For more, click here

Quote:



That's because the UE-10 is already easy to drive in itself and amping it is not really gonna make a big difference. What makes the UE-10 shine with that setup is the iMod's signal path. Then again, the sound of the UE-10 with the extra 75 ohm resistor in my amp gives these phones a step closer to nirvana. UE-10 owners, if you have the ety P to S converter cable, try it out with your UE and amp.

Quote:



Sounds perfectly plausible considering the rated impediance of the UE-10Pro is 13.3Ohm. I'm not sure about the electronics theory behind it though. If someone knows, please enlighten me.

iPod Red Wine Mod -> RnB Diamond Mini Reference -> RSA Hornet/Headamp AE-1 -> ER4P-24 cable -> UE-10Pro = Audio Nirvana and also $$$$ (comes out to around $2K)

Quote:





I actually use it with my laptop now and gave up on batteries. I take the micro stack WITH the power supplies and a surge protector and powerconditioner with me on my trips to starbucks and now just run the micro stack through the power conditioner. Sounds better than the batteries that way
Since im using wall power now for my transportable rig, I was looking at the aria for my lap top and rededicating the micro stack to battery iRiver use.

not sure how well the aria travels however.

My current on the go rig is iRiver WAV optical out, or USB Laptop loss less, micro stack, power conditioner, direct wall power, hd580 woodied with recable.

My pocket rig, will be my newly acquired ipod shuffle, and white earbuds.

untill I figure out what small portable headphones I want. Im thinking about the sennheiser 250 noise cancelling headphones.

Quote:

Quote:



I don't know the precise answer to this question. What I know is that ideally, a line-out should come directly from the output of the DAC at 1.23Vrms (pro equipment) or 0.316Vrms (mostly consumer). And at a flat level. No EQ, no amplifier, no tone controls, no volume control. iHP 140 is far better, especially since its optical output not only bypasses the internal amps and equalizer, but also the DAC, allowing playback via high-end esoteric stand-alone DAC components.

I still haven't found any better portable solution than 140 and optical out. As soon as the new perpendicular 80GB Toshiba HDD come out I'm going to snatch one and I'm going to implement a higher capacity battery to boot.

I'd like to ask you two questions:

1) if money wasn't an issue how would you mod 140 to be the ultimate portable solution ever, sound-quality wise (and so that the original size of the unit stays the same )
2) as above but the budget version of it.

Thanks.

^

what dac/amp combo are you using with the 140? i've just about made up my mind to throw down for the micro stack. i'll probably try out the analog line out as well to see if the difference is worth the $$$.

Quote:



I'll have to disagree with Redshifter's negative comments on page 3 about these - I have the SR-001, and it's comparable in quality to the ES2, and IMO better than the HD600 with a decent portable amp (Porta Corda Mk II in my case). The SR-001 is really a pretty touchy system in that it takes a lot of tweaking to get the best possible sound out of it - much like an IEM, I suppose. When you've got everything working right, it's really great.

So far, the best semi-portable rig that I've come across was my Sony D311/Fisher PCD-5400 PCDP --> Stax SR-001 rig. Of course, the "I've come across" component is pretty open-ended you can beat this rig by using expensive portable amps (old Headroom Cosmic and the like) and top-tier full-size headphones, but the cost is going to be substantially more than the measly $239 that I paid for the SR-001, and the improvement will be less that you'd think. Anyway... [/SR-001 fanboyism].

Of course, I don't consider an amped rig to be very portable. A truly portable system is one that goes with you wherever you go as unobtrusively as possible. Having to carry around a sizeable bag with a DAP, DAC, amp, headphones, and a whole wad of cables, not to mention all the spare batteries since your wonderful portable DACs probably won't last more than 3 hours, is all a major pain.

The Kenwood player is looking very attractive, if it does indeed provide substantially better quality than the current batch of DAP's. I'll be getting the 30 gig version shortly, and I will review it. Together with a top-flight, custom-molded IEM, it may actually provide a good quality, truly portable solution. And if not... well, the quest continues

Quote:



It's all in flux and currently I don't use any amp/DAC. I don't have much experience with these in the first place and I'm still thinking about it. It's not only my impression, but 140 seems to be particularly well suited for the match with Sensaphonics alone. UE-10 Pro come to live when plugged into 140 (and I wouldn't say so when their source is an iPod). Some say there is a very subtle sonic upswing when using these IEM's with 140 and a portable amp. I mean, they say there is one, but the ascendancy we are talking here is not worth dragging the amp portably. It's strange but some say that e.g. SR-71 sounds better with these than e.g. Raptor. I still need to think about it.

I think the best portable setup would be:

iRiver iHP-1xx -> HeadRoom Micro Dac -> RSA Hornet -> Ultimate Ears UE10-pro

Quote:



I thought UE10Pro didn't like amps.