CEntrance DACmini DAC/Amplifier Official Thread - Page 3

Wow! The combo of the DACmini & LCD-2 is really something. It has plenty of headroom on my stock mini & even more on the "tuned" model. But the extra volume is really only needed with the Beyers & HE5LEs. Now whether it will have the power for the HE6 as it sets I don't know. I haven't heard the HE6 & to my knowledge this is the only mini produced so far they've done this on - thought they'd have to confirm that. I know headphone addict had suggested they give it more volume when he heard it at their booth. He too loved it, but with his Orthos, but said it needed more power for them & phones like the T1. Anyway, to anyone considering a single ended amp for the LCD-2. This one is hard to beat. Best I've heard be it ss or tubed & I have a bunch of the more popular amps. It is very tube like & I admit to a tube bias! Anyway, 2 bigs thumbs up for the combo.

The UE triplefi X10vi like mine has an impedance of 32 ohms!

 

So on both the old & "tuned" mini's I'm able to run 32 ohms with a totally black background, no hum & also play my 600 ohm Beyer 880s, but with a bit more of the needed headroom on your tuned model. Again, my LCD-2s sound great on either & have plenty of headroom.  The HE5LE does better on this "tunded" up model - again more headroom!  I'd like someone with the HE6 to check out the one with the additional gain.  Oh well....

 

So far I've tried all the following IEM's on the new mini with no problem:

 

UE triplefi X10vi

Moster Turbines & Monster Turbine Pro Coppers

Etymotic hf5s, er6, er6i & er4s

Klipsch Image X-10i

Shure se530

Westone 3

 

Regarding full-size headphones:

Ultrasone hfi-700

Shure srh840

Senn. HD650

AKG K702 & K701

Grado RS-2 & sr325is

Beyerdynamic DT 880

Hifiman HE5LE

Audez'e LCD-2

 

On the original unit, both the HE5LE & 880 were a bit underpowered.  On the increased gain unit, both played pretty well, though I think the HE5LE would like even more power. On it I don't think 5 or even 6 volts would be too much.  I hear the same is true of the HE6 (even more so) but at least I don't feel it is really underpowered.

 

I can't tell any tonal differences in the two units & that is a good thing.  I think all your DACmini's ought to have the gain set at least as high as the one you sent me & not a tick or two higher. I know Michael still won't agree, but I don't think you are going to be selling most of your units to IEM users.  This is a desktop unit & at this price & quality, people with T1s 880s & 990s; HD6XXs & HD 800s; HE5, HE5LE, HE6s; LCD1s & 2s are going to be your target buyers.

 

You guys need to get a beefed up DACmini to Headphone Addict, & Skylab ASAP for review.  Headphone Addict said that he loved your demo model at one of the shows but said he told Michael that it needed more gain.  I think the gain on the one you sent me is good, but even a tick or two more gain would be better. But I'm happy with mine since my primary headphone from this point on will be the LCD-2. When you come out with your pre-amp models, I'd like to see you do two things:  1) Up the power even a bit more & 2) add at least one set of balanced inputs & both a 3 pin & 4 pin output. If so, I'd be first in line to buy & I'd sell a ton of other gear.  Oh & also add a 32 bit sabre chip to the dac while you're at it.  Need to keep up with the "Jones" & that 32 bit dac chip makes an audible difference.

 

Thanks guys for sending me the modded second unit. I'll return the unmodded one this week.  I'd like a little more comparison time as the new unit gets broken in.  I'd like to do more comparisons with my other dac/amp combos. I'm thinking I can greatly simplify my dac/amp gear now with this unit meeting most if not all my ss needs other than keeping my Phoenix for my Balanced headphones (at least until you guys produce a balanced amp)! I'll still keep some of my tube amps, cause I'm a "tube" kind of guy, but I feel sure my go to dac/amp when I'm on the PC will be this new DACmini.  Very impressed with the sound & finally, with the additional power! I'm a happy camper!  Thanks again!  THAT IS CUSTOMER SERVICE!

 

It is there. Go to the web store & the DACmini CX is there for sale. They do need to update their web site I think to make getting to everything easier.

 

If you Google the DACmini it will lead you to the product page for a little more info. 

Here is part of a comment HeadphoneAddict (Larry) made on the "Amps for the LCD02" in response to something I'd said.

 

"I loved my LCD-2 with the DACmini at RMAF.  While the HDP is a nice match for the LCD-2, the DACmini was more refined, smoother and more transparent sounding with the LCD-2 (and as a bonus much smoother sounding with the HD800, and still a good match for my HE-5 LE)."

 

True this dac/amp is brand new, but if you read the professional reviews of the DACport, which has been around much longer, you'll see these guys know their business.  Now that CES is over I hope Michael & the guys will get key folks here on HeadFi to do some reviews. I know he told me that he planned to do that. NOW wouldn't be toooooo soooooon IMHO!