Practical Devices XM5 - Page 12

What I have to try later in the XM5 are OPA627, AD743 and NE5534. I gave away all my AD797 over the past 6 months to nice people, so I have none to try. I also have the AD8397 kit for XM5 to try. I've just been so tired and busy I haven't had time to open it up and swap stuff out yet.

They would be very bright and clear from a first impression.

I got myself 4 sets to play with while i waited for James to offer me a set of AD8610 (loved the AD8620 on the XM4).

AD711 has a stranger meager sound.

NE5534 sounded clear enough to give them a second longer audition, after a few hours ~10-12 with them i find them bright and clear, but nothing "wow".

Last was the OA227, kind of a "try another OPA before wasting money on a OPA627", and well, the chip is nice enough that i will order the OPA627 after i get the AD8610 set from Practical Devices on their WhiteCaT, and *hopefully* together with a pair of AD8065 (if James is willing to put them up, i asked, now he just needs enough people wanting them i think?).
How the OPA227 sounds for me to say nice enough? You may have noticed a pattern of "nice and bright" not so with the OPA227, first impression was strong strings, (piano, cello, guitar) but veiled vocals, not sure why, i forced myself to close the amp up and take it to work.
Got used to the sound but decided to play with BBE on my D2, and sure liked that, after a while of listening i thought it was time to turn off BBE (BBE: 2 and M3B:2 for those of you with a D2), i was baffled when i realized i had fooled myself, the spacious sound did not come from BBE and the bass did not come from M3B, i had long turned it off, so yeah long story short, i enjoy this sound so much that i HAVE TO hear a OPA627 pair, since everyone seems to say they are so much brighter and detailed.
The phones i used at work are Phonak Audeo PFE, at home i use my AD700, and spacious is not something that would usually come to mind between an IEM and a set of open phones. just in case you wonder what pair i had on their.

I quick tested all 4 pairs with and without BUF634 and chose to only "long test" combinations of opamps with BUF634 in place.
The NE5534 may not see a long test after the medium long test was bright and clear but uninspiring, it never fooled me into thinking i had BBE on ;P

AD711 is out, and if i can make myself let go of the OPA227, the LM6171 sounded like it deserves a long test.

Just my 78 cents (i never could keep it short and add 2 cents when i get excited)

Daniel

does xm5 has any imrpovement bass quantity than xm4??

Not out of the box. But i had already sent off the XM4 when the XM5 arrived, so i could never do A-B comparison, plus i sent the XM4 off with the AD8620 inside which seemed to have a much tighter low end than the original OPA2134.

The feature set of the XM5 was what convinced me and as my OA627 arrived today, i do not regret the decision. (I can also better appreciate the comments of those who like the OPA627, hopefully the AD8610 set gets here by Monday to settle on "the best" opamps for my XM5)

Do any users of XM5 hear a slight bass boost effect with the crossfeed engaged? It seems to be lower than the 100 Hz. which is the bass boost freq. By slight I mean maybe less than 1 dB. judging by the 6 dB. boost at 100 Hz. feature. I use the crossfeed at minimum setting.I have the BUF634 in my XM5. I hear this with all monitors.

(edited to reflect a new/lower judgment/guess with crossfeed bass boost effect)

I ordered mine late last week should be here sometime this week. I got the black model with the BUF634P buffers and the fast charger.

This should complete my portable rig which already sounds great with the Atrio M5's and my Zune30\100Gb.

My wallet hates me already,
...but...can't...resist...must...order...

-HK sends

Since your wallet hates you already, you must try the XM5 with OPA627 (yay for DIP-8), it was an eye opening experience swapping out the OPA227 and in with the OPA627, but the final word is not spoken, since my set of AD8610 is somewhere between Canada and Texas at this point.

I tried and tried again, i don't hear it, not on my bass anemic AD700 nor on my comparably bass heavy Phonaks. (Harsh to switch from Phonaks to AD700 if i used them hours before putting on the AD700)

I'll wait for the final word...

-HK sends

Thanks for testing it out. Hopefully other XM5 people can do the same.

You guys should try AD8065AR. These babies packs some butt kick punch and analytical details at the same time. Much better than my AD8610 which sounded lifeless in contrast.

I am waiting to see if James adds them to the chiphelp page, i had my eyes on them for a while but would rather buy some from his website all neatly soldered than adapt them myself.

The waiting helps me actually use my chips long enough to be able to tell which works best. After mostly AD700 listening on the OPA627 over the weekend it's going to be phonaks until the AD8610 get here.

It seems that the AD8065 is on that page, here, already. James seems to have a great deal of different mounted opamps and buffers there, for XM5 and XM4. Neat.

That's all new, innit?

Must try

Thanks Keppel for that link. So if I buy a pair of these AD8065AR(28USD) I would exchange the OPA134 and leave my BUF634 in place or leave out the buffers and use the busbars?