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Meier Audio StepDance (Obsolete)  

post #1 of 55
2/28/10 at 1:11pm
Thread Starter 
Has anyone checked this one out? Looks like an enhanced 3Move with better circuit design.
post #2 of 55
2/28/10 at 3:15pm
No crossfeed? Hmmm...
post #3 of 55
2/28/10 at 3:36pm
or its just a dac ...!?
post #4 of 55
2/28/10 at 3:39pm
If it is a DAC then it won't need the line-in.
post #5 of 55
2/28/10 at 9:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by vkvedam View Post
Has anyone checked this one out? Looks like an enhanced 3Move with better circuit design.
I give up, how did you know that?

All I can see on the web page is a drawing.
post #6 of 55
2/28/10 at 10:42pm
Thread Starter 
^Just speculation my friend, nothing serious.
post #7 of 55
3/3/10 at 8:46am
Dear Headfellows,

The STEPDANCE is a portable amplifier with a minimum of sonic compromises towards weight and size. Its functionality is very basic. No crossfeed and no USB-DAC. Just an analog input and an analog output. There are also some gain-switches, accessible through the battery opening.

The amp is relatively big considering its low functionality and also current consumption is rather high. (25 or 50 mA depending on current consumption mode).

Yet this amp is something very special.

First of all it uses the concept of active balanced ground. This concept offers many of the advantages of pure balanced headphone connections but without the need of recabling your headphones.

Secondly, volume control is discrete. An AD-converter measures the position of the volume-potentiometer and controls a number of electronic switches that set the gain. This not only eliminates any channel imbalances but also results in a clearly more detailed and cleaner sound.

Thirdly, internally the 9V battery voltage can be doubled, resulting in a 18V power line, which offers superior driving capacity in comparison to internal Li-ion batteries. Also the power supply has a total of 6000 microF filtercapacity (Nichicon Audio-grade).

This amp is thus ment for those people who simply wants the best sound on the road and therefore gladly accept the disadvantages of a slightly larger size, a higher than average current consumption and the absence of an internal rechargeable battery.

Cheers

Jan
post #8 of 55
3/3/10 at 8:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Meier Audio
The STEPDANCE is a technically very sophisticated amplifier. Unlike the equally sized 3MOVE this amp has no crossfeed filter and no USB-DAC. However, this amp was designed to provide the best possible portable sound with a minimum of compromises towards size and current consumption.

The amp not only has active balanced ground but also has a discrete volume control (32 positions). This volume control is not a standard industrial solution but uses a concept in which the position of an analog potentiometer is measured using a low-power ADC and in which the output of this ADC is used to control electronic switches that set the volume level. The result is a very clean and detailed sound without any channel imbalances.
Nice! I made a post a few months ago saying Dr.Meier should definitely try to make an amp with active balanced ground and it seems like a dream comes true! Time to save up the money for this.
post #9 of 55
3/3/10 at 9:09am
I was wondering when there would be a new Corda portable amp

If I might ask some questions:

Is this amp made for IEM's or are you aiming to power larger headphones?

Battery life?

Any idea on price?

Steven
*start saving now*
post #10 of 55
3/4/10 at 12:59am
Price?




Better amp......but no dac or crossfeed. Same price? More? Less?
Same case. Hmmm.......

Better than a Lisa lll ? IQube? SR71?


Waits......
post #11 of 55
3/7/10 at 10:42pm
ACK! I just got a 3Move from Jan! Oh, well I am thoroughly enjoying it and I wanted the DAC.
post #12 of 55
3/7/10 at 10:50pm
I listened to the prototype - and thought it sounded absolutely terrific. If the final production version sounds as good as the prototype, then it should be a very special portable amp, indeed.
post #13 of 55
3/8/10 at 12:35am
I'm looking forward to seeing the final production and reading user impressions.

...hold tight wallet.
post #14 of 55
3/8/10 at 12:58am
Any reason why crossfeed was left out? Jan's crossfeed implementation is excellent, very subtle and allows for hours of non-fatiguing listening.
post #15 of 55
3/8/10 at 2:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by flargosa View Post
Any reason why crossfeed was left out? Jan's crossfeed implementation is excellent, very subtle and allows for hours of non-fatiguing listening.
answer...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jan Meier View Post
The STEPDANCE is a portable amplifier with a minimum of sonic compromises towards weight and size. Its functionality is very basic. No crossfeed and no USB-DAC. Just an analog input and an analog output.
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