how was MKV compared with MKIVSE, what's the difference?

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That's a big question. My MKV is only 40 hours into "maturing", but right out of the box, the differences were very apparent. The MKV is extremely dynamic, with a dead flat frequency response. It amplifies even the slightest little notes and other nuances from the source. If a horn player takes a breath and it is on the source, you will hear it. With tube amps, we aren't used to this kind of accuracy. The bass is absolutely true and it reaches out and grabs you. Mids and Highs are true to the source, with great detail. Clean, clean audio is the name of the game. If you have a great source, the MKV will amplify that greatness and ALL of the music will reveal itself to you! There is zero hiss, zero noise, zero noise floor. What you put in, is what you get out, amplified. I love my MKIVse and it has many of these traits as well, but tubes induce distortion (can't help it) and the MKV lets you hear the music without any distortion (audible). Nothing gets hidden or masked. Having both units seems like overkill, but there are times when I want PURE music (MKV), and times I want LUSH music (MKIVse). Ow, and the MKV's two inputs, selectable on the front panel is a great feature!! Does this help any?

wow seems like a winner to me
btw which do u like better with HD650

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I was pleasantly surprised to find that the HD-650 does excellent Solid State audio just as well as it does excellent "tube" audio.

We may have an SS convert
your impressions were similar to mine. maybe the MKV isnt dynamic? maybe the IVSE was just slow and syrupy? When i got another headphone, it finally hit me that the 650 was slow to begin with

I wonder if the MKV is in same league as a gilmore lite.

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Yea Penchum, i second that. the MKV really drives the Hd650 well, even my dt990 which i have alot of trouble with a couple of different amps, drives really well with the mkv. its just that i find it funny, if i press the button on source 2, and i can hear what source 1 is playing very softly in the background, have u tried that before? i don't know if is it my MKV is spoilt, maybe i should email david for this problem.. but as far as i am concerned, this is my everyday amp now.

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Nope, sorry. I've been into Solid State since 1976. Look at my avatar, that is real, sitting right behind me. The MKV is very dynamic! It is true I like to put different tubes (other than Mullards) in my MKIVse. Still sounds "tube" but gets the molasses out of the mix. I have heard the "slow" issue about the HD-650s here and there on HeadFi, but I have had no indications that they aren't keeping up with the dynamics. There is also the comfort factor. My head just loves my HD-580s and HD-650s. Ha ha, I even fall asleep with them on sometimes!

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WOW! Ya, somethings wrong for sure. It might be something super easy to fix too. I've been switch'en back and forth a bunch (just love those two inputs big time!) and never have heard the slightest of the other input. I know the switching is IC controlled and dampened, but past that, I can't even think of how they could cross talk. Yes, email David and see what he says.

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Thanks for the input buddy, yea thats the word i'm searching for -(cross-talk). anyway, its not a big issue to me, as i only use a single source on my mkv. but anyways, i will still email david and listen to what he have to say. thanks againn Penchum .

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This would be interesting. Anybody knows if the MKV is an opamp-based amp or a partial or fully discrete one?

From the pictures of the little dot web site I see two socketed opamps tagged as MC33078P. I have never heard about them and, maybe, they are not used in the audio path...

Now that Penchum is trying different opamps for the Zero dac, perhaps some opamp rolling here can be an interesting test

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This also happens with my MK V. Has David replyed to you explaining why this is.

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errrggg. I don't know. This thing sounds too great to mess with...famous last words!!

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this is called crosstalking, happened to all amp with 2 inputs, my graham slee solo and yamamoto ha-2 has 2 inputs and they have the same things happpened. nothing to worry about, i guess there's not much point to have source on channel 1 and listen on channel 2.

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Thanks Minivan! I just want to know why it happens. I went back and listened to mine again, just to be sure, and I have no crosstalk. However, you folks that do, probably have more hours on your MKV than I do.

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The MKV can be paired with the MKIV SE used as its preamp. This combines the best of both worlds and negates the need for gain adjustments. I ran into the same problem with my MiniBox-E+ (no gains adjustments) until I used my MKIV SE as its preamp. The MB-E+ may well be a not quite so poor man's MKV - mega power plus lots of slam, PRAT and all that.