Amp3 Pro2 and the STUDIO - Page 36

Initialising Cards

I have installed both the standard version of the FW and the US version and have found no problems with my 8gb micro sd card initialising. Once initialised the amp3 plays everything fine and seems to be very quick in random play. I have not got a 16gb card as yet to try.

Craig,

I hate to ask but I have to, any word on when the Studio One will ship to us patient and deserving customers?

I have re-downloaded the US version and will try again. Perhaps my first download was corrupt.


UPDATE: I re-downloaded the US version of the PRO.2 firmware update, and re-installed it, with the format box checked. This time after resetting and re-copying my internal files, the player recognized and initialized my 8gb card. I have not yet tried it with the 16gb card which I am currently using in my PRO.1.

The SQ and volume both seem to be satisfactory, with the SQ (US version) being and improvement over my PRO.1. In Random Play mode, it takes anywhere from a few seconds to about 30 seconds to cue the next song. I suspect that the time between tunes depends upon where the randomly selected file is located in the Playlist.

I did also test whether one can now select a song from Resource Manager without the player locking up. I am pleased to say that it has been working fine, even in Random play mode. I find that in Random mode, it takes anywhere from 3-4 seconds to about 30 seconds to access the next selection. I surmise that the time depends upon the position of the randomly selected file in the initialized playlist.

My only 2 nitpicks now are that the player still boots to the Pause mode and when accessing the main menus via a long press, a sub-menu of Resource Manager appears, requiring 2 back clicks to exit to the main Menu screen.

Boot time with my nearly full internal memory and 3/4 of my 8gb card filled was only 1 minute in the Random Play mode, a huge improvement. It also booted to "last playing" rather than the first song in the playlist as it did when I first received the PRO.2.

All in all, the US version of the PRO.2 firmware update is a very great improvement in nearly all respects!!!

Ron

Wanted to ask, the manual states 10mw power at 32 ohms, what is it at 300 ohms? And what's the maximum voltage? I was thinking of using my pro2 as a source directly into a power amp which has a sensitivity of 1-2 volts @ 20k ohms. Would this work?

I have installed the american version of the 5.42 FW on my Pro.2 (with my 16GB card removed) and with the format data area checked. To cut to the chase, when I reinserted my (untouched by the upgrade) 16GB card into the updated Pro.2, the Pro.2 initialized it, and could select and play any song on it via the Source Manager. Since my external card has pretty much only .wav and untagged .flac files stored on it, I use the Source manager more or less exclusively to access its content. And, so far, that's all been good.

I like the added volume with the US version 5.42 FW. Now I can use my HD650 with the AMP3-Pro.2 directly, without having to use my iBasso D10, even for music recorded at a low level. The added volume level with the US version of the 5.42 FW is enough to satisfy my ear with the HD650. It's just barely enough - with low-level music, I've got the Pro.2 on 30 or 31 - but it IS enough, and I'm happy with it. After the update, I am noticing being hit a bit harder with big bass hits. This, too, makes me happy. My winter ears (which settle in as the weather gets colder) tend to like bigger bass and more texture than my summer ears. This effect could be the result of taking the D10 out of the rig and plugging the 650's directly into the Pro.2, rather than an SQ difference in the update, though. I'll be able to tell more about that later when I use my usual buds to listen with the updated Pro.2.

So, for me and my Pro.2 (and selection of headphones): this US version of 5.42 FW, so far, is a real winner! I get the extra volume I was hoping for without losing the use of my 16 GB microSDHC card (and without having to process it - for example, a format and re-load - in any way). And flac files played from the 16 GB card sound as nice as before the update - even nicer with the HD650 plugged directly into the Pro.2.

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I initially missed HiFlight's post-redownload update above.

The above is my update following re-downloading and re-installing the US PRO.2 firmware update. Apparently my first downloaded US version was corrupt in some manner as to prevent initialization of my external cards. I am also pleased that one does not need to reformat the external cards.

I can now highly recommend this version as a big step forward!

Ron

I'm sorry that I missed your update before I most recently posted. I've edited my post accordingly. Glad to read that you're back on track with your Pro.2.

I have an amp3 pro2 running FW 5.41. I've been folllowing this thread, but I can't figure out how to download the updates. I read that craig emails them to you, but I sent craig at whiplash an email a week ago requesting the updates but haven't gotten a reply. Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere, but I did a search and found nothing.

dana789

One cannot use the DAC portion of the AMP3 as an output, but you could easily use the headphone output jack to feed your external amplifier. It would work, but since you would be amping an already amped signal, it is hard to predict exactly what the results would be. My guess is that it would sound just fine using the AMP3 as your amplifier source via the headphone output.

You will, of course, have to experiment a bit with the volume setting of your AMP3 to find the best compatibility between your AMP3 and your external amplifier.

So far, the PRO.2 firmware updates have been distributed to some beta testers for testing to ensure that it has no snags or unforeseen undesirable functions.

I am sure that it will be released for general distribution in the near future.

thanks, I'll stay tuned.

I've noticed one problem with my amp3 pro2 with fw5.41. Sometimes (less than half the time) when I start a track (flac or ~250kbit mp3), the track stutters a bit. If I rewind back to the start and replay, no skip. So it doesn't seem to be a problem with the files. Probably some sort of buffering bug. Is there an established place to file such reports?

dana789

No established bug site AFAIK, but my Pro.1 does the same thing after updating to FW v5.41. So far, I haven't noticed that happening on the PRO.2 with the new firmware.

I look fwd to the new firmware, thanks for testing it for the rest of us. I'm very happy with the amp3 pro2 and I'm enjoying testing it with my headphones and iems.

Would it have made any sense for highsoundaudio to base the software on rockbox? Maybe some of these software problems might have been avoided. And of course we could hack our own players! Come to think of it, that's probably a temptation I could do without.

dana789

Looking forward to it. I would like to install it on my Pro2. And also looking forward to any new Studio I info.