iBasso PB-2 Pelican fully balanced portable, DB-2 Dac . . HiFlight recommended op amps page 16. . - Page 55

Quote:

Originally Posted by zilch0md 

 

Soon we will know if the original battery is junk or if there's a problem with the PB2 charging circuit.  Either way, it was nice of iBasso to send you a free battery.

 

Tick, tock, tick, tock....

 

Mike

This is true, I really hope its just the battery. I'll know on Tuesday, I called the post office and it's there but I'm at work today :(

Got the battery in the mail today, iBasso actually gave me two replacement batteries. The PB2 works perfectly as it should now!

Finally have my rig together with the new opamps and buffers too :D

 

You may now leave the temple, Grasshopper!  

Seriously!   Check it out! 

You've got the the maximum permissible 16-Volts supplied to the iBasso PB2 from an inline voltage regulator that allows the 5-cell, external LiPo pack to discharge from 21V when fully charged, to 16V - all the while pushing the amp at its maximum performance (with a constant 16V).  

Not only do you have performance that's begins better than possible with the fully charged 12.6V internal battery, it ends at the same voltage where it started - 16V!

Yeah boyeeee!  

Maximum possible power, all the time, while portable!  Add to this the qusp and SpudHarris recommended combo of LME49990s and HA5002s, and you've got a really nice portable amp.

But it gets better.  The Sony PCM-M10 Line Out plays up to 96kHz/24-bit files with gap-less playback, through Sony's proprietary delta-sigma DAC that a couple of Head-Fi members (other than myself) have judged to be in the same league as the HM-801 or HRT Music Streamer II (with less warmth).  And you are surely one of very few Sony PCM-M10 owners who knows how to adapt a 64GB microsSDXC card for use in the PCM-M10 (vs. the 32GB limit of the microSDHC cards).   

Toss an iBasso DB2 in there for ready use with desktop sources and you are definitely ready to leave the temple!  

Congrats on getting two free batteries from iBasso!  That's excellent service, for sure.  

So, you've done your homework and pulled it all together...  How does it sound?

Mike

DAMN I SHAT BRIX.
 

Mike you have no idea how pleased I am that my rig is finally complete and I have my Mad Dogs back! I never rolled opamps before but man what a difference it made, everything is so much more dynamic and open. So far the battery seems to be working properly and I don't think it's going to give me trouble. I'm also thinking about throwing in a pico slim or something for my IEMs some time down the road.

Couple questions:

- How do I know that the Energizer pack is On? Should the blue lights be lit up always when it's on? If I keep the Wily cable connected to the Energizer pack and the PB2 will it use the battery even if the PB2 is off?

Check this out. So I haven't been using the PB2 because I didn't have a good battery and I didn't have any full size cans while I was waiting for my Mad Dogs so I've been using just the Heir 4.Ai's with the PCM-10. Anyway, I got my Mad Dogs back from BTG audio two days ago and plugged them into the PB2 with the order of PCM-10 -> Milian interconnect -> to PB2 and my Mad Dogs were playing sound out of the left headphone only. Immediately I had thought that it was my Mad Dogs because Brian had told me that he could use the Hirose connector for me but had no way to test it. So I emailed Brian and started making plans to send the headphones back to him. I went back into my room and started messing with my gear. After some troubleshooting I came to the conclusion that it was the Milian Acoustic interconnect. So I emailed Brian and let him know it wasn't the Mad Dogs. Then I emailed Maxwell and said once in a blue moon this happens and immediately shipped me out a replacement cable the next day!! So I should get the cable today but I work until 10PM but I'll let you know how it works out. The point of that little story is that MIlian Acoustics support is very very good 

Erich,

Quote:

Originally Posted by kskwerl 

[snip]

Couple questions:

 

- How do I know that the Energizer pack is On? Should the blue lights be lit up always when it's on? If I keep the Wily cable connected to the Energizer pack and the PB2 will it use the battery even if the PB2 is off?

 

[snip]

The Energizer XP8000 is always "on," but it won't lose any power unless you attach something to it that pulls a load (just like any battery).  

The red LED on the Willy Cable WI15 will be lit whenever the voltage coming from the battery is high enough for the regulator to send 15V out to your PB2.  If the LED on the WI15 goes out (not lit), then it's time to recharge your XP8000.

The blue LEDs on the XP8000 are never on when using the battery.  They only come on when you are charging the battery, or when you press the little test button next to the blue LEDs!  Had you noticed that button?  If all four LEDs light up, the battery is fully charged.  If none of them light up, it's time to recharge the battery.

By the way, you'll get a lot more mileage out of your XP8000 if you top off the charge frequently, rather than deep-cycling it.  So, it's up to you - you can enjoy the convenience of waiting until it quits before recharging every time - or - you can stretch your money a little further before having to buy a replacement XP8000, by recharging it after every use.  That thinking applies to all rechargeable batteries.  Deep-cycling them shortens their life.  Shallow-cycling is less convenient, but extends their life. 

Lastly:  You should always unplug the WI15 cable from the XP8000 when you are not using it.  The WI15 cable's red LED will drain the battery, slowly, but it will drain it just the same.  When you are ready to use the amp, just plug the WI15 back into the XP8000.  The LED will light up and you will be good to go.

Quote:

Check this out. So I haven't been using the PB2 because I didn't have a good battery and I didn't have any full size cans while I was waiting for my Mad Dogs so I've been using just the Heir 4.Ai's with the PCM-10. Anyway, I got my Mad Dogs back from BTG audio two days ago and plugged them into the PB2 with the order of PCM-10 -> Milian interconnect -> to PB2 and my Mad Dogs were playing sound out of the left headphone only. Immediately I had thought that it was my Mad Dogs because Brian had told me that he could use the Hirose connector for me but had no way to test it. So I emailed Brian and started making plans to send the headphones back to him. I went back into my room and started messing with my gear. After some troubleshooting I came to the conclusion that it was the Milian Acoustic interconnect. So I emailed Brian and let him know it wasn't the Mad Dogs. Then I emailed Maxwell and said once in a blue moon this happens and immediately shipped me out a replacement cable the next day!! So I should get the cable today but I work until 10PM but I'll let you know how it works out. The point of that little story is that MIlian Acoustics support is very very good.  

Yes, Milian Acoustics (Maxwell) offers great support, indeed, but here's the part that kills me:  His quality control must be poor to non-existent because that's EXACTLY what happened to me when I ordered my interconnect from him!   I'm not kidding.  What a shame.  I didn't even think it worth mentioning to you when I recommended Milian Acoustics, but wow...  I can't believe you got a cable with a dead channel, too!   All's well that ends well, I suppose, but you've had more than your fair share of warranty work, lately!

Where did you get that brown cable seen in the photos, above?

Meanwhile - I'm really glad to find out you're thrilled with the sound.  You can't imagine how lucky you are to have fast forwarded past all the hurdles I jumped through to settle down on using a rig like the one you're using now.  SpudHarris helped me tremendously with rolling op-amps and yet I actually ignored his advice regarding the LME49990 / HA5002 combo for TWO months because I thought they were too expensive!  It turns out they are a steal, even at several times the price of other op-amps - a no-brainer.    

Thanks,

Mike

Quote:

Originally Posted by zilch0md 

Yes, Milian Acoustics (Maxwell) offers great support, indeed, but here's the part that kills me:  His quality control must be poor to non-existent because that's EXACTLY what happened to me when I ordered my interconnect from him!   I'm not kidding.  What a shame.  I didn't even think it worth mentioning to you when I recommended Milian Acoustics, but wow...  I can't believe you got a cable with a dead channel, too!   All's well that ends well, I suppose, but you've had more than your fair share of warranty work, lately!

 

Where did you get that brown cable seen in the photos, above?

 

Meanwhile - I'm really glad to find out you're thrilled with the sound.  You can't imagine how lucky you are to have fast forwarded past all the hurdles I jumped through to settle down on using a rig like the one you're using now.  SpudHarris helped me tremendously with rolling op-amps and yet I actually ignored his advice regarding the LME49990 / HA5002 combo for TWO months because I thought they were too expensive!  It turns out they are a steal, even at several times the price of other op-amps - a no-brainer.    

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

Mike, I think this may be to how fast he is able to get these custom cables out. Thanks for the info about the battery and deep-cycling/shallow-cycling! I'm very glad I didn't jump through all those hurdles, that's why I love head-fi! Thanks for turning me onto the LME49990/HA5002 combo as well, I'm very happy with my rig for now. I have one final thing to do and that's to send my Mad Dogs (which I just got back :(  ) to Dan so that he can put on the earpad upgrade I purchased.

As for that brown cable, that's a Norse Audio Norn v2 I got made from Trevor. It's OCC trilevel litz, out of all the MOT Trevor from Norse Audio is the best. 

The DB-2 will have a new competitor, new CLAS!!! :D

The price should be $699 fixed versus $299 while the inputs and outputs are quite different.

Personally I would rather pick DB2 up for cheap and match that with with The Intruder from RSA.

That could be a nice combo to drive HiFiMAN HE-6 and my Colorfly C4 Pro would feed DB2 via coaxial input.

Spending 700 bucks for balanced portable DAC might not be my cup of tea.

Since DB2 is powered by its own battery, someone with an iPod Touch 4G / iPhone 4 / iPhone 4S could try the USB input with this Camera Connection Kit trick:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/622311/iphone-4s-hooked-to-external-dac-yep-its-working

If that were working with DB2, we are going to have balanced portable rig for cheap with an iDevice as source.

Suppose that CCK trick might not be OK with DB2, I could fool around with that USB input of The Intruder instead.

Lots of fun on the horizon since there will be so many new toys by Christmas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamato8 

I have been using the optical out of the AK100 with the PB2 and the DB2, using HA5002 buffers in the PB2 with really fine results. Going balanced to my LCD-2 is a real treat. Very fine clarity and solid bass.

Which op-amps are you using at the moment with the HA5002 buffers (in the PB2) ?

Thanks,

Mike

Just ordered a PB2 and Hiflights Topkit with the AD8599 op amps. Balanced cables for my HD650 are being made over at BTG audio and a adapter from DHA to go back to SE.

My iMod Ipod will be going to a 64GB SC card this weekend.

Really looking forward to this new portable setup

Yay!

I have received the PB2 and the Topkit from Hiflight. I let it burn in for about 24hrs with the HA5004 and the AD8599. That combo sounds great on my HD650, just not enough oomph. I am running it at 3o'clock on the knob and it only goes to 5o'clock. I realize there is more power running balanced, but my cables have not come in yet from BTG. I did move the 4 connectors over inside the amp to hi gain.

So what set of amps and buffers will give me the most power in my PB until my cables come in?