Review : AUDINST HUD-MX1 DAC/amp - a promising newcomer (compared to Audio-gd FUN, AMB Gamma2) - Page 18

thanks, but i can say that it sounds also a little bit fuzzy. but all in all it sounds more natural than my x-fi music.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexRoma 

Tell me please what kind of power do you use ? The stock wall power, the direct USB connection, one or you've got something else ? I use the stock wall power (15V~1A).  I've got 1000+ hours on it, but trebles are still to bright and harsh..

Which headphones are you using? Maybe that could be the case? With my re0s, its definitely a warm sound. My grados will pick up some sibilance if its there.

DT990 , Head-Direct RE0, Igrado, Koss UR20...

The same treble harshness on the 10khz region... E-Mu-s are much, much warmer sounding, for instance... 

Sorry to interrupt the harshness dicussion (I think there is a bad batch of audinsts out there).

I was bored and wanted to play, but my friends didn't want to go to the playground. So I replaced the AD8397 HP driver with TI's new TPA6120a2 and it's insane. The soldering part was very tricky because of the different housings and pin configurations, but thats not the point. The TPA has a dynamic range of more than 120db (the AD has 96db), so it fully plays out the WM8740's 117db. That lets it pick up every little detail. The linearity is close to perfect. It's like the amazement again when I first upgraded to the audinst and heard all those new details in the music. A whole new range of details. This however makes it awful to listen to bad recordings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisc0 

So I replaced the AD8397 HP driver with TI's new TPA6120a2 and it's insane.

 wow! that must be alot of work... TPS6120 is current feedback opamp... how do you replace voltage feedback opamp with current feedback opamp? with additional buffer in front?

Yes and it works fine as long as you don't use the line out. Something in my design isn't correct. The euphoria was a little premature.

Edit: Got it now. Well, half at least. The TPA worked but crosstalked with the line-out opamp on the power rail and I couldn't find a solution. So I crunched some data sheets and found out that the opa1612 will drive my AKGs without buffer on the audio frequencies. Soldered, listened, enjoyed. Works very well for me, hope it doesn't get too hot. No problems with oscillation by the way.

Originally Posted by AlexRoma 

Recently I have upgraded the amp section, I've purchased a Little Dot MKIII tube AMP . And you now what ? I think I have spend about 300$ in vain (200$ the amp, 50 shipment and about 50$ for tube rolling)! The difference in sound quality is definitely smaller than i expected, it got warmer, a little more lied back, but no detail, separation or frequency response improvement compared to the stock amp, in other words, the Little Dot amp did only 'equalizer cosmetic job' instead of a substantial quality enhancement (even for some High Impedance Headphones like my DT990-s 250ohm).. So my conclusion is, Audinst has a really nice stock amp that does a good job for it's own, and any cheap upgrades in the amplification sector are not justified.  

If you intend upgrade the amplifier, you should buy a really good one, preferably High-End, like Burson SS (700$) or the WooAudio 6 (620$) tube amp to get some noticeable improvement over the stock. As for me, I'm gona sell Little Dot MKIII and save money for the Burson HA160D dac/amp. It is somehow expensive (1150$), but they say, in this league Burson dac/amp is an overall winner.  It should put a solid end to my dac/amp upgradings. Till then, I'll be happy using Audinst HUD MX1 as it is.

Very much appreciate this info Alex, it's precisely the answer I was looking for !

I've been tossing & turning, reading feverishly about the LD MKIII & Audinst the last couple of weeks trying to decide which one to buy.  I've always wanted to try a tube amp.. apart from them looking visually stunning (glowing tubes, etc.), the LD MKIII has quite the reputation.  I was intrigued by the ability to roll tubes too if I desired a change in sound.

Equally impressive, was the lesser known but praised Audinst MX-01.  Everything I've read plus the terrific reviews say it's a solid, neutral, opamp-swappable, dac/amp combo that makes it a great fit for a variety of phones.

Whichever amp I got, it was going to serve as my desktop amp.. hooked up to my PC bypassing the integrated SC (I've got the fantastic Headstage Arrow 3G for portable needs).  The fact that the MX-01 has a built in DAC via USB (which has also received quite a bit of praise) gave it the edge.  The reputation and reviews about the MKIII were too impressive to ignore.

I began thinking about buying both the MX-01 for it's excellent, neutral DAC section and the MKIII for it's great amp section.  While this would definitely go over my budget at the moment, it would give me some great synergy with any phones I purchase in the future (added warmth with the MKIII in chain or a more neutral, analytical flavor with the Audinst DAC/AMP alone) plus the ability to experience tube amps.

Did I want my wallet to punch me in the face for trying to gain ultimate versatility by buying both or will the MX-01 be able to do it all for the most part w/o another amp?  Thanks to your opinion, I decided to go with Audinst MX-01 alone.

I see you've bought other tubes and such for the MKIII.. did your opinion of the MX01 dac + MKIII amp (vs. the MX-01 dac/amp alone) change after playing with the sound?; or did you simply end up selling your MKIII & remaining satisfied with your MX-01?

Thanks for your impressions.. I'm very much looking forward to my MX-01..

BTW:  I ordered/paid for these at 4:45pm today via their eBay store.. and got an email stating it was shipped 4 hours later.. WOW.

I've got the most apreciated bang-for-buck tubes on LittleDot MKIII -> Mullard CV4010 M8100 (neutral, lush midrange) and Russian 6J1P-EV Groove (bass burst, lush mids). I've also got about 1000+ hours burned-in on both, Audinst and Little Dot MKIII.

  To tell the story short : a single desktop Dac-Amp like Audio GD FUN (350$) with Earth OpAmp did overall better job then the Audinst HUD-MX1 (200$) + littleDot MKIII (~250$) combo (no metter what tubes used). There was simply more substance in Audio GD's sound..

         They say, there are even better DAC+AMP combos like Yulong D100, with a good price, but I had no chance checking this one... So, I wouldn't go for another dedicate amp in the near future, i'm gonna improve my source unit with nice amp section on board... High-FI / High-End dac+amp combos gave me much more satisfaction and bang-for-buck sound then separate units. This conclusion refers to Audinst HUD-MX1 dac/amp too !

   But this is my IMHO... I don't have that much experience like those Headphone Supremus guys, so, take this in consideration too... I was talking only about my personal experience with DT990 (250ohm) and SRH840 headphones...

   I still don't find LittleDot mkIII a noticeable improvement over stock Audinst Amp, but I haven't sold it because I want to try Beyerdynamic DT880 (600ohm) Premium Headphones, and tube amping is vital needed here..

Don't judge hardly Audinst, until you reach at least 100 hours burned. Audinst amp section, in my case, had changed it's quality very noticeable in two weeks.. All those crackings had been completely cured and cleared in 2 month...

 I really hope you'll be satisfied with Audinst.. Buy the way, what headphones do you use ? If you had not bought one , be careful not to choose Beyerdynamic DT-line.. Their synergy with MX1 is so-so...
      And I do not really find Audinst Hud MX1 neutral sounding.. It is closer to the brigh-sounding gear.. E-mu-s / RME-s, even Audio GD FUN (Earth) are noticeably softer in the treble region. I think I'm gone upgrade the power supply in time.. They say, it could make it sound better, I hope it gonna work... 

Originally Posted by AlexRoma 

I've got the most apreciated bang-for-buck tubes on LittleDot MKIII -> Mullard CV4010 M8100 (neutral, lush midrange) and Russian 6J1P-EV Groove (bass burst, lush mids). I've also got about 1000+ hours burned-in on both, Audinst and Little Dot MKIII.

  To tell the story short : a single desktop Dac-Amp like Audio GD FUN (350$) with Earth OpAmp did overall better job then the Audinst HUD-MX1 (200$) + littleDot MKIII (~250$) combo (no metter what tubes used). There was simply more substance in Audio GD's sound..

         They say, there are even better DAC+AMP combos like Yulong D100, with a good price, but I had no chance checking this one... So, I wouldn't go for another dedicate amp in the near future, i'm gonna improve my source unit with nice amp section on board... High-FI / High-End dac+amp combos gave me much more satisfaction and bang-for-buck sound then separate units. This conclusion refers to Audinst HUD-MX1 dac/amp too !

   But this is my IMHO... I don't have that much experience like those Headphone Supremus guys, so, take this in consideration too... I was talking only about my personal experience with DT990 (250ohm) and SRH840 headphones...

   I still don't find LittleDot mkIII a noticeable improvement over stock Audinst Amp, but I haven't sold it because I want to try Beyerdynamic DT880 (600ohm) Premium Headphones, and tube amping is vital needed here..

 

Don't judge hardly Audinst, until you reach at least 100 hours burned. Audinst amp section, in my case, had changed it's quality very noticeable in two weeks.. All those crackings had been completely cured and cleared in 2 month...

 I really hope you'll be satisfied with Audinst.. Buy the way, what headphones do you use ? If you had not bought one , be careful not to choose Beyerdynamic DT-line.. Their synergy with MX1 is so-so...
      And I do not really find Audinst Hud MX1 neutral sounding.. It is closer to the brigh-sounding gear.. E-mu-s / RME-s, even Audio GD FUN (Earth) are noticeably softer in the treble region. I think I'm gone upgrade the power supply in time.. They say, it could make it sound better, I hope it gonna work... 

Interesting.. the FUN was another dac/amp I was considering.. it would have probably been what I went with instead of the  MX1 + MKIII if I was going to spend $300-500.. so many choices!  It will probably be the next step up if the MX-1 doesn't make enough of a difference for the desktop setup.  How's the FUN's toslink/optical implementation vs. the USB implementation?  Any difference in SQ?

I'm right there with you on going with a very good amp/dac combo vs separate dac & amp units.. primarily because of the source/equipment I'd be using in the rest of the chain (HQ audio files, mid-hifi phones/iems).. plus, I'm not sure how much of an improvement I'll see by spending an exorbitant amount on a separate dac & amp units.  I like a tidy desktop too :-)

Re: phones, I'll be listening with the FA-003, DBA-002, Senn HD598, & Silver Bullet primarily.. the 003 & DBA are quite neutral sounding.. same with the SB but it's on the warmer side (along with the 598).. so a neutral/brighter amp should pair well with those too.

Alex, did you get a better PS for your Audinst MX-1 (instead of using just the USB or supplied wallwart) ?  If so, did it improve the sound as much as others have been stating in this thread?

Appreciate the info..

I am sorry not to be able to answer this :

I used USB only with both device.. Had not even tried other output's but USB. In any case, there are lots of threads here discussing Audio GD FUN, you'll definitely find the needed answer.. 

Would you mind sharing the exact specs on the parts?
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisc0 

Hi, I just now registered to this forum even though I read a lot about the mx1 here. I'd like to share some impressions on my audinst:

It sounded good straight out of the box, but restless as I am, I had to change/add some things. At first I noticed that the analog part of the wm8740 is powered via USB. Thats very bad, because the USB power usually has a lot of ripple. To solve this I put a ADuM4160 and a regulated 5V PSU in the USB line. Next I swapped the DAC output opamp for a pair of OPA827s. Then I did the same with the line out buffer, because I mainly use the line out. Finally I swapped the opamp caps for Silmics, because I didn't trust the Sam Youngs.

Here is a photo of the result:

 

Was it worth it? Yes. The ADuM4160 enhances clarity and reduces some sqeeling noises from the computer's PSU. The new DAC out OPA827s enhance the sound in every aspect: dynamics, precision, linearity, soundstage, ... The new line out buffer OPA827s haven't got the HF harshness of the original OPA2134 and add even more soundstage and precision. With the new caps the sound gets cleaner and has a much better dynamic range.

 

PS: I use the original external PSU from Audinst. I don't think a better PSU would enhance the sound quality, but I will try when i get a chance.

 

 

@borez: I tried the OPA2227. It sounds much better than the LME, but won't give it much more warmth. I had the OPA2227P and it worked fine. There is a sonic difference between the HP and the RCA out. The headphone out has more bass.

Hey guys, I don't know much about opamps, but long story short I'm not using a free OPA627AU at the moment (selling my M-Stage) and I was wondering if this would be a simple plug and play maneuver for the HUD-MX1? Here is a link to exactly what I have > http://coolfungadget.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=82

Halp