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i'm impressed

post #1 of 16
4/5/08 at 4:46pm
Thread Starter 
not that it's a big deal that i am impressed, but still.
i upgraded from a bithead running the usb off my macbook pro
to a portable micro amp w/dac, connected to my macbook via optical.

the difference is not small for sure. wow this thing sounds great.
now connecting it via an analog connection there is still marked improvement
but you have to listen for it.

the difference between the 2 dac's is huge. even using usb it is better.
but with the toslink cable i am really pleased.

i noticed though that the bithead via usb was affected by the volume control
on the mac. however the micro is un-affected and this is how i assumed
it should be. they both just show as usb-codec in the system pref's but
they act differently

question <?> does the crossfeed improve as you move up the line also
or is it pretty much the same throughout the series. crossfeed is one reason
i went with headroom. there is some diff between BH and micro crossfeed i sense, i think.

the bithead was just a way to kick the tires on the company i guess as i knew i would be moving on to something. so close to buying a predator.
so close. but went micro instead.

very happy. it's much smaller than i thought [i even drew it life size on paper beforehand] and is really solid. very nice. very versatile.

i use either the macbook pro or a 160gig ipod as the source.
output is through any of the following, and it performs superb.

westone um2
sony v700
vandersteen 2ci's powered by bryston amps and pre-amp.
various bose devices [wave, 701mk2's, companion 2's, port sound dock]
dalquist dq-10's w/ luxman amp ....

new headfones next, anyway

i am impressed and feel i got my monies worth from headroom.

scott
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post #2 of 16
4/6/08 at 4:55pm
To answer your question about crossfeed. Yes, it does improve as you move up the line. The difference between it on my micro and the ultra micro is huge.
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post #3 of 16
4/7/08 at 12:28am
Wow this gets me really excited since as soon as I get my first paycheque on my next co-op workterm I am getting a desktop amp with DAC and DT880's.

BUT.

your post has raised a question for me...
A) you said you use the optical inuput from your macbook to the micro amp?
how is that possible?
MacBooks do not have a Toslink port last time I checked (and I have a MacBook)...
and you said it sounded BETTER than going through the USB and letting the micro DAC do the D to A conversion??
whoa!
please explain.

THanks in advance
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post #4 of 16
4/7/08 at 12:34am
The macbook has an optical out at the headphone jack, I think this only includes the intel macs, correct me if I am wrong. But if you look down the hp jack you will see the redlight-being the optical toslink out. Congrats OP, I may check into this too since I am looking for a desktop rig.
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post #5 of 16
4/7/08 at 12:34am
im pretty sure the macbook pro has a toslink optical jack built into the headphone jack

edit: oops not quite fast enough
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post #6 of 16
4/7/08 at 12:38am
Hopefully Apple will include an optical out on the ipod one of these days. Sheesh, I'm still waiting for the new gen nano with atleast 16GB or even 32GB. I'm not so keen on the iTouch.
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post #7 of 16
4/7/08 at 2:53am

powerbook g4 optical

The older G4 powerbook has an optical as well. I prefer it to the USB. I would have thought digital was digital, but to my ear the optical sounds better.
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post #8 of 16
4/7/08 at 8:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeg88 View Post
Wow this gets me really excited since as soon as I get my first paycheque on my next co-op workterm I am getting a desktop amp with DAC and DT880's.

BUT.

your post has raised a question for me...
A) you said you use the optical inuput from your macbook to the micro amp?
how is that possible?
MacBooks do not have a Toslink port last time I checked (and I have a MacBook)...
and you said it sounded BETTER than going through the USB and letting the micro DAC do the D to A conversion??
whoa!
please explain.

THanks in advance
yes both the input and output of the macbook pro i have are combo sockets. they accept either the 1/8" analog jobs _or_ the toslink. i got 2 toslink to optical mini adapters with the amp and a cable to attach them too.

yes better than having the dac connected usb, having the dac connected optically is better. notedly so for sure. things dont seem jumbled together or cramped i guess. everything has its own space and seems to breathe easy.
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post #9 of 16
4/7/08 at 11:53pm
ok I get it now.
thanks for your help.
now just to pick a headphone...
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post #10 of 16
4/27/08 at 6:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pirate6955 View Post
not that it's a big deal that i am impressed, but still.
i upgraded from a bithead running the usb off my macbook pro
to a portable micro amp w/dac, connected to my macbook via optical.

the difference is not small for sure. wow this thing sounds great.
now connecting it via an analog connection there is still marked improvement
but you have to listen for it.

the difference between the 2 dac's is huge. even using usb it is better.
but with the toslink cable i am really pleased.

i am impressed and feel i got my monies worth from headroom.

scott
Sorry for digging this up so much later, pirate6955, but can you please elaborate on the quote you wrote above? Can you comment on things like detail, soundstage, dynamics, bass, smoothness, and any other noted sound characteristics you can think of? It would kind of help me decide whether I want to essentially copy your setup (because It seems pretty good to me, and I've already got the macbook).

Thanks

M
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post #11 of 16
4/28/08 at 12:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeg88 View Post
Sorry for digging this up so much later, pirate6955, but can you please elaborate on the quote you wrote above? Can you comment on things like detail, soundstage, dynamics, bass, smoothness, and any other noted sound characteristics you can think of? It would kind of help me decide whether I want to essentially copy your setup (because It seems pretty good to me, and I've already got the macbook).

Thanks

M
wow, pretty much everything you have mentioned is much improved. its a bigger more open soundscape for sure. effortless is one way to describe the sound. no matter how complex, nor however many things are happening at once its never strained. the voices in movies are lifted and very present.

when there is nothing playing its dead quiet. if there is nothing that would be playing from a tweeter it sounds like there are no tweeters. the dynamics are great. surely alot has to do with the dac electronics themselves, but the optical connection i think has as much or more to do with it. the more i use the portable d/amp the more its like a swiss army knife. i connect it to everything. headphones, iem's, small 3 piece systems, big amps with big speakers, even a bose portable sound dock. and of course my pod via line out.

as a side note ... i am miffed that i cant connect my ipod to my macbook pro and use it as an external drive with my library on it, playing through my itunes. maybe i am doing something wrong. but i try to select it as a library in itunes on the mac while it is connected via usb and none of the music shows up. i dont keep any music on my mac its all on an external drive. i wanted to take the macbook, micro d/amp, and sound dock as a portable system and get the tunes off my ipod. but that dont work.... and there is no digital out on the pod. i guess if i did not use itunes for my library this would be a non-issue but i live by smart playlists so that is not an option really.

the battery life on the micro is killer too. understated for sure by headroom.
i really could not imagine you not liking a micro portable. surely it is not the definitive final statement in audio.. but that said, i doubt you can ever end the quest for sonic nirvana. spending big bucks for incremental steps in quality. the money spent on a micro portable is efficient. there is a good performance for dollar from this setup. i think you would be happy with the mac and micro.

now honestly most of the stuff i listen to probably doesnt qualify as killer source material. it was recorded on tape to start with so how far can you really go?? i'm a rock guy. early grand funk, country joe, hawkwind, right on up through 12 stone, pod, incubus... but not really analytical stuff eh?

but its what i like. and i never thought it could sound this good. i've been dumping bux into stereo gear since the late 70's. and only since i got the micro have i ever really achieved the sound i was trying to get. and i can get it from almost anything i can jack into now.

impressed has become amazed. it's just me though. others would surely differ with my opinion. and most likely they are correct. but this works for me and works well. i hope to add some open headphones to my setup next...
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post #12 of 16
4/28/08 at 7:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pirate6955 View Post
wow, pretty much everything you have mentioned is much improved. its a bigger more open soundscape for sure. effortless is one way to describe the sound. no matter how complex, nor however many things are happening at once its never strained. the voices in movies are lifted and very present.

when there is nothing playing its dead quiet. if there is nothing that would be playing from a tweeter it sounds like there are no tweeters. the dynamics are great. surely alot has to do with the dac electronics themselves, but the optical connection i think has as much or more to do with it. the more i use the portable d/amp the more its like a swiss army knife. i connect it to everything. headphones, iem's, small 3 piece systems, big amps with big speakers, even a bose portable sound dock. and of course my pod via line out.

as a side note ... i am miffed that i cant connect my ipod to my macbook pro and use it as an external drive with my library on it, playing through my itunes. maybe i am doing something wrong. but i try to select it as a library in itunes on the mac while it is connected via usb and none of the music shows up. i dont keep any music on my mac its all on an external drive. i wanted to take the macbook, micro d/amp, and sound dock as a portable system and get the tunes off my ipod. but that dont work.... and there is no digital out on the pod. i guess if i did not use itunes for my library this would be a non-issue but i live by smart playlists so that is not an option really.

the battery life on the micro is killer too. understated for sure by headroom.
i really could not imagine you not liking a micro portable. surely it is not the definitive final statement in audio.. but that said, i doubt you can ever end the quest for sonic nirvana. spending big bucks for incremental steps in quality. the money spent on a micro portable is efficient. there is a good performance for dollar from this setup. i think you would be happy with the mac and micro.

now honestly most of the stuff i listen to probably doesnt qualify as killer source material. it was recorded on tape to start with so how far can you really go?? i'm a rock guy. early grand funk, country joe, hawkwind, right on up through 12 stone, pod, incubus... but not really analytical stuff eh?

but its what i like. and i never thought it could sound this good. i've been dumping bux into stereo gear since the late 70's. and only since i got the micro have i ever really achieved the sound i was trying to get. and i can get it from almost anything i can jack into now.

impressed has become amazed. it's just me though. others would surely differ with my opinion. and most likely they are correct. but this works for me and works well. i hope to add some open headphones to my setup next...
Pirate6955, you're awesome. That's the sweetest response ever - exactly what I needed to hear - and more. You've definitely tipped the scales for me on this one!
With regard to your iPod issue - there should be no problem playing the iPod through iTunes, on one condition - which is that the iPod's music content has to have been uploaded to it through that same copy of iTunes on that same computer which you wish to play it through. Also - if you have formatted your iPod or reinstalled iTunes since the upload of the music content to your iPod, you may need to start fresh. My advice was going be to tell you to just factory reset your iPod - but that's a bad idea since you'd have to then put all your music back, and it's not even in your iTunes library!
So my advice would be to contact your nearest apple store (or email them online) because the apple support folks are very helpful.
Good luck, and happy listening!

M
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post #13 of 16
4/28/08 at 8:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheemo View Post
Hopefully Apple will include an optical out on the ipod one of these days. Sheesh, I'm still waiting for the new gen nano with atleast 16GB or even 32GB. I'm not so keen on the iTouch.
few remarks;

1) iMac's and probably the others have also optical inputs. (edit: oops already mentioned)
2) looking at my friends iphone headphone socket, i noticed that at does not look like a normal headphone socket. At the end it seems to be a led, so i am guessing that there is already a optical out on the iPhone.... Also, looking at a thread of the Wadia ipod dock, it seems that with the latest line of iPod, there is a spdif/I2S signal present in the dockout, if you have the verification chip to unlock it, that is.

About the optical out from a headphonejack, My sony discman has a lineout-optical out combo. I bought once a optical cable that can change from jack to a toslink connector and back by swivelling the connector.
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post #14 of 16
4/29/08 at 12:27am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeg88 View Post
Pirate6955, you're awesome. That's the sweetest response ever - exactly what I needed to hear - and more. You've definitely tipped the scales for me on this one!
With regard to your iPod issue - there should be no problem playing the iPod through iTunes, on one condition - which is that the iPod's music content has to have been uploaded to it through that same copy of iTunes on that same computer which you wish to play it through. Also - if you have formatted your iPod or reinstalled iTunes since the upload of the music content to your iPod, you may need to start fresh. My advice was going be to tell you to just factory reset your iPod - but that's a bad idea since you'd have to then put all your music back, and it's not even in your iTunes library!
So my advice would be to contact your nearest apple store (or email them online) because the apple support folks are very helpful.
Good luck, and happy listening!

M
cool. i know you'll be pleased. now about the ipod, thats exactly what i thought too. it is the same itunes it is sync'd with, same library, yada yada. but when i start itunes with the option key so i can select a library, and browse to the ipod, i see all the stuff on the pod, pictures, etc..., but not the music directory. like its hidden. weird. irritating. but like you say there must be a simple answer that i can get from the genius bar, or maybe the tiki bar....
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post #15 of 16
4/29/08 at 12:34am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jelle Schrijver View Post
few remarks;

1) iMac's and probably the others have also optical inputs. (edit: oops already mentioned)
2) looking at my friends iphone headphone socket, i noticed that at does not look like a normal headphone socket. At the end it seems to be a led, so i am guessing that there is already a optical out on the iPhone.... Also, looking at a thread of the Wadia ipod dock, it seems that with the latest line of iPod, there is a spdif/I2S signal present in the dockout, if you have the verification chip to unlock it, that is.

About the optical out from a headphonejack, My sony discman has a lineout-optical out combo. I bought once a optical cable that can change from jack to a toslink connector and back by swivelling the connector.

i sure would like to tap into that spdif output. i have an apple dock so that should have the chip in it, it's the one made for the current ipods. i have the 160 gig. that would really make life easy. the battery life between the port micro and the ipod would allow for days of tunes without touching the grid.
using the macbook as a passthrough i would be limited to 4-5 hours max.
i almost want to say the bosedock gets this kind of signal out of the ipod from the way it sounds. but i have no info to substantiate that other than the sound i hear..... i had read about the wadia and picked up on that output but never saw any other devices claiming that. so i filed it away in my mind.
which is a very small place to file anything..........
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