Asus Essence One Headphone Amp/DAC (CeBIT 2011) - Page 71

Quote:

Originally Posted by turokrocks 

Guys, thank you for your heads up.

Now I am 90% sure what my next purchase will be, guess what????

Tim, what cable should I order for my HE-500 to amp it with the asus muse? Preferably from Toxic..., a link or picture of the cable is appreciated

If it's the Essence One then it will be solid.

A Taiwan computer manufacturer (5th largest) started to target the audio industry, of course with their enormous capital resources along with the fact that so many electronic parts come from Taiwan, they'll be able to make a high quality parts for cheap. Let's not forget they're known for making motherboard PCB's, so to create a multilayer audio pcb, they're already on top of the hill. They have their own Audio Team of engineers for creating audio equipment. Thus, they do not talk to other teams, and focus mainly on the job at hand

I've used regular OFC (Canare), Silver Plated OFC, OCC Copper, OCC Silver Plated Copper, and is about to use a Pure Silver Cable (much like the silver dragon and silver poison).

It's all thanks to HeadphoneLounge.

I have a few OCC Copper and OCC SPC left for the HE-500, so if you'd like, we can work something out.

To me, i've noticed OCC headphone cables sound better than the standard stock cables. (not that subtle at all)

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4Real 

 

So would you say that 5% is worth the extra £300 as I'm seriously considering getting the Essence One and HE-400, also how do they sound with the stock op-amps?

 

Also whats the launch date for the Muses edition or has it already been launched as I cant make up my mind whether to get the muses edition or just upgrade the op-amps with the MUSES01

I would say it's worth it if your music genre is more focused on vocals and instruments.

For  music listeners like me who prefer the upbeat hip hop and pop songs, the HE-400 does better, HOWEVER, sometimes i like to hear the vocals more forward and separated, which is where the HE-500 comes in. Thus when i want to have fun flare, i'll use the HE-400 and when i feel less energetic i'll grab the HE-500. That is why i chose to own both. instead of selling one off.

The HE-400 comes very close to the HE-500 when you're using a high quality wire. The bass and treble Improves greatly, so you're getting the best of both worlds.

The HE-400 is already bass heavy, so with the stock cheap $1 op amp (NE5532) the bass is very boomy and harsh when using the HE-400. I'm pretty sure they were made to be swapped out right away, or for those computer gamers who knows nothing and think that sound quality requires a "fat" bass and nothing more. This boomy bass helps add a little more realism in games, specifically for gunfires and bomb sounds. I've found that the running sound, closing a vehicle door, etc sounds extremely fake with the NE5532.

Muses has already been launched, if you go back 3-6 pages, one of the ASUS members gave a buying like, you'll also noticed that i recommend buying the Original Essence One and Muses01's separately as it is cheaper. Grab the MUSES Edition if you ever feel as though you'll be using In Ear Earphones with them, the MUSES Edition has a gain switch so it will not out blast IEM's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Averruncus 

 

+1

Yea, that has been bugging me too with my HE500/E1 combo. Absolutely fantastic for live recordings, but almost unbearable with aggressive pop/rock songs, it's too "in your face". Maybe it'll be better with closed cans...

 

Also, thanks for the ebay links! I got the premade ones from Thailand, hopefully they'll be here soon since Thailand is pretty close to my country. Only have 2 pairs though, so I'll probably replace the headphone buffers.

WOW, REALLY? You have the same problem as me! I thought i was just the one, no matter how many times i've listened (must be 100x) the aggressive pop/rock are always too forward, but live recordings does give you center stage seats which are, like you said, AWESOME.

I've noticed the LME49710HA improves it a bit, maybe because they're metal can edition which are, like what the creators say, just plain better. They have less current and noise/distortion than the LME49720NA that are in the headphone buffer so that may attribute to something.

Do not forget to buy the gold pin DIP8 sockets, you need to raise your adapter higher as it will hit your components on the Essence One PCB.

Also use the gold pin DIP8 sockets that you buy instead of the one that comes with the Thailand's as those are not fully gold plated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pippin76 

It seems that Asus has changed the opamps in the standard edition after the release of the Muses edition. This is from Asus' spec page:

 

Operational amplifier:

●Balanced/Un-balanced I/V:4 x NE5532
●Balanced/ Un-balanced LFP: 2 x NE5532
●Balanced /Un-balanced Buffer: 3 x NE5532
●Headphone: 1 x I/V: NE5532; 1 x LPF: NE5532; Current Buffer: LME49600
 

Mine, which I bought in May, only had Ne5532's in the I/V and LFP stages, the rest are LM4562/LME49720. I replaced the 5532's with 4562's a couple of weeks ago, with good results.

 

I'm thinking about doing as Cssarrow and installing LME49710HA in headphone stage.

I thought it was going to be like that too, until they came and the XLR/RCA were LM4562's, Headphone were LME49720NA's.

I have the LME49710HA's in both the headphone stage and RCA buffer. XLR i don't use as my speakers do not have that input.

Quote:

Originally Posted by citraian 

Hey guys,

 

Did any of you try the MUSES 02's or know how do they compare against MUSES 01?

I wonder how they sound like, i doubt they will sound as good as the MUSES01 since ASUS has already tried both and preferred the 01.

It would be nice if someone gave it a shot, too bad it's $300 just for a sneak peek.

Tim

There is also this site where you can buy the muses 01 for 18$, that makes an upgrade a lot cheaper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whit3Rav3n 

There is also this site where you can buy the muses 01 for 18$, that makes an upgrade a lot cheaper.

Aliexpress is known for many sellers making fake items.

I doubt that comes from New Japan Radio Co.

Even ASUS states that the cheapest (authentic) they're found was $50 on Digikey.

Tim

In this case it is pretty expensive to get 6 muses op-s right now since digikey has only 1 in stock and if you want more you have to order at least 105 more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whit3Rav3n 

In this case it is pretty expensive to get 6 muses op-s right now since digikey has only 1 in stock and if you want more you have to order at least 105 more.

Yes, if you're really serious about rolling to MUSE01, just wait until digikey has more.

MUSES01 and LME49720/10 emphasizes more on mid and high frequencies.

Tim

I have soldered capacitors on the power supply pins of the OP-s. This should give them more stable and cleaner power. I did notice a difference in sound, it became clearer with better separation. The results of this mod will be pretty different depending on the sensibility of the OP on the power supply but it is very cheap so i think it is worth trying out. I also changed the power supply capacitors to Panasonic FC.

Nice mod, what Capacitor uF did you use on the power regulator pcb? I did notice when i opened it that it that the capacitors wasn't so good at soothing ripple.

I will try the power supply capacitor mod but i don't like tampering with my op-amps because i use heatsinks on them so i won't be doing those.

Tim

I used the orinal capacities because using bigger capacitors can have a negative effect on the power regulator circuit. So i just changed them for higher quality ones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whit3Rav3n 

I used the orinal capacities because using bigger capacitors can have a negative effect on the power regulator circuit. So i just changed them for higher quality ones.

Ah really, that's what i would of done too.

Did you compare the leak current, ripple current, etc to the stock capacitors?

How much did the capacitors cost you? (Panasonic FC) 

If you could let me know the uF of the stock capacitors so that i can buy them without having to open my Essence One.

Tim

Sadly i don´t hahe the measuring equipment so i coudn´t measure the difference. I can tell you the capacitor types you need though: 

1x 2200µF 16v
2x 1500µF 25v
2x 330µF 25V 
1x 470µF 16v 

It cost me around 5€, so it was a pretty cheap mod as well. I had to leave the capacitor legs a bit longer because the legs are further apart on the Panasonic one-s, also the smaller capacitors are wider so they don´t quite fit next to each other. But this should not be an issue.

Or if you mean compare the capacitors by technical sheet, it is also not really possible because the original one-s are some OEM types without branding. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whit3Rav3n 

Sadly i don´t hahe the measuring equipment so i coudn´t measure the difference. I can tell you the capacitor types you need though: 

 

1x 2200µF 16v
2x 1500µF 25v
2x 330µF 25V 
1x 470µF 16v 

 

It cost me around 5€, so it was a pretty cheap mod as well. I had to leave the capacitor legs a bit longer because the legs are further apart on the Panasonic one-s, also the smaller capacitors are wider so they don´t quite fit next to each other. But this should not be an issue.

 

Or if you mean compare the capacitors by technical sheet, it is also not really possible because the original one-s are some OEM types without branding. 

Yeah that's what i meant, the OEM. That's a shame :(

Thanks for letting me know the µF and voltage.

Based on this chart: http://www-images.panasonic.com/industrial/components/pdf/ABA0000CE22.pdf

I went with the Panasonic FC with the highest ripple current.

http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=EEU-FC1E331virtualkey66720000virtualkey667-EEU-FC1E331

http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=EEU-FC1E152Svirtualkey66720000virtualkey667-EEU-FC1E152S

http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=EEU-FC1C222Svirtualkey66720000virtualkey667-EEU-FC1C222S

http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=EEU-FC1C471virtualkey66720000virtualkey667-EEU-FC1C471

I hope i got the lead spacing right, if not, i can just mod/fit it in with hot glue, no big deal.

While im at it, im going to buy some capacitors to replace the Chengx and Yihcon capacitors in my Audioengine A5+'s.

Tim

Try out LM6172 for I/V with MUSES01 in LPF and buffer. Solder 0.1uf stacked film caps between pins 4&8 (+&-) of the I/V opamps - try ebay for Siemens stacked film caps, you don't need large capacitance, just something to decouple at HF.

Class a bias could be worth exploring for heavy mod fanatics.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raja 

Try out LM6172 for I/V with MUSES01 in LPF and buffer. Solder 0.1uf stacked film caps between pins 4&8 (+&-) of the I/V opamps - try ebay for Siemens stacked film caps, you don't need large capacitance, just something to decouple at HF.

 

 

Class a bias could be worth exploring for heavy mod fanatics.

May i ask what the 0.1 uF stacked film caps do?

Enlighten me good sir.

And do you mean these ones? http://www.ebay.com/itm/20pcs-SIEMENS-EPCOS-Capacitor-0-1uF-100V-FILMCAP-/220770842421?pt=US_Amplifier_Parts_Components&hash=item3366f7b735

As for the LM6172, i'm broke now, don't think i'll want to try any more op-amps for awhile.

Tim

You want a low impedance at HF, that's why a small value. The idea is to lower the power supply impedance at frequencies where the regulator has a high impedance.  Any time one uses a high slew rate opamp such as the Lm6172 or even the sensitive AD797, HF decoupling directly on the opamp pins is a good idea- especially on socketed op-amps, where socket inductance is a factor. 

Those or these will do (these will be bigger so maybe go for the lower voltage, and shipping is also a consideration):

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10x-SIEMENS-0-1UF-100nF-400V-HI-END-STACKED-FILM-CAPACITORS-FOR-AUDIO-/170706857190?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item27beebe