Asus Essence One Headphone Amp/DAC (CeBIT 2011) - Page 82

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whit3Rav3n 

But then since it is only for power supply bypassing there is no need to go crazy on the quality because the capacitor is not in the signal path anyway. I think the lme49720/10 could also use some bypassing, i am going to test it later.

Don't think im going to use it on LME49710JA as there's barely any room between my heat-sinks for that, but if you find an improvement, i'll go out of my way for that.

As of now, just going to use them on AD797's in buffer stages to see if they sound good like the twin LME49710's.

I wonder if the bypassing would help on MUSES01's.

Tim

Quote:

Originally Posted by cssarrow 

Well Alex, i only went off by 6moons since at most times, they're reliable.

6moons supposedly sent those questions to ASUS in which they answered.

 

You're saying it can do 1.5W at 32Ω? Have you measured this yourself?

 

I would be glad to try, but i have no idea if it could be done using by using a multimeter.

 

Tim

 Tim & Whit3Rav3n,

Thanks for going about re-tesing 6moons results.  This is way beyond my abilities.  I just wanted to figure out if I could drive the HE-400 / HE-500 properly using the E1. 

Tim, I see that you own both of these... How do they sound on the E1?  Do you think the HE-500s are worth the extra coin?  

-Alex

Quote:

Originally Posted by jabbilabbi 

 Tim & Whit3Rav3n,

 

Thanks for going about re-tesing 6moons results.  This is way beyond my abilities.  I just wanted to figure out if I could drive the HE-400 / HE-500 properly using the E1. 

 

Tim, I see that you own both of these... How do they sound on the E1?  Do you think the HE-500s are worth the extra coin?  

 

-Alex

Well from a person who has both, it does drive the HP's fine. Could use a little more power though for people who listen at higher volumes than i (damaging levels). More power can also improve the SQ of the HE-500 a little since those are more "drive hungry'.

They both sound good. HE-400 more surprising than the cleaner presentation of the HE-500, thus i decided to keep both. HE-500 has a wider sound stage, treble is higher/more controlled along with improved realism and sound separation. With an improved cable, they're not too far apart, and the HE-400 makes up the slack.

HE-400 for when you feel more hype and high on adrenaline, HE-500 for when you just want a nice laid back clean presentation on a calm Sunday afternoon.

I would not be able to choose one over the other. If i can't have both of them, i'd rather have neither and go for something like a Audeze LCD-2/LCD-3 or Sennheiser HD-800. HE-500 i wouldn't say is worth $300 more, but i would gladly pay for that again since to me, both is required.

Tim

Warning: Both 35V capacitors I've used for the AD797Bs have had one of the bunch fail, one quite spectacularly. The 50V ones I've put hours on with no problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sk1n5 

Warning: Both 35V capacitors I've used for the AD797Bs have had one of the bunch fail, one quite spectacularly. The 50V ones I've put hours on with no problem.

Sounds strange, my electrolytics i used before were just rated for 25v and none of them failed so far. Do the ad797-s still work? I tried bypassing on the 49720ha in the lpf with a 0,22uF wima mks 2 but it didn´t seem to do anything, sound and heat are the same as before.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whit3Rav3n 

Sounds strange, my electrolytics i used before were just rated for 25v and none of them failed so far. Do the ad797-s still work? I tried bypassing on the 49720ha in the lpf with a 0,22uF wima mks 2 but it didn´t seem to do anything, sound and heat are the same as before.

I had a 1uF/35V tantalum melt, and a 22uf/35V electrolytic explode(found the plastic bottom across the room). Put 0.1uF/50V ceramics on the two that experience the fault. Both opamps still work fine. I'm thinking that I just got a couple of bad capacitors, if it were a problem with capacitance/voltage capacity I believe more than one out of each group would have popped. One other data point, both failures happened within 10-20 seconds of application of power.

So I've done a bit more opamp swapping with the newly modded 797Bs. I've tried the following in the LPF stage with 797s in the I/V stage:

LT1028, LME49990, LME49720NA, OPA627AU, and OPA627BM.

The LT1028, LME49990, and LME49720NA all sound good.

However, the OPA627AU adds an extra level of detail to mids and highs.

The OPA627BM further improves on the OPA627AU by adding a slightly better sound stage, more bass impact, and lower bass extension.

I also tried modded AD797B, they sounded similar to the OPA627AU with one problem. A distinct wooshing sound when no audio is being played. To me this indicates that even with the mod the AD797 is still unstable in the LPF position.

Again this is just my opinion, everybody has different tastes/hears things differently.

Very informative. I added some 0.22uF to my AD797's today, and they were indeed less hot.

I'll try and listen for the "wooshing sound" and let you know if i hear anything.

Tim

Great to hear you like the sound! I'll be testing the LME49990 and the AD797BR very soon too.

Its looking like I'm going to invest in three more pairs of the OPA627BMs for the RCA and Headphone Buffer stages. Running 627AUs at the moment. I can hear a difference between the two in the LPF stage so here's to hoping I'll get further improvement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sk1n5 

 

I had a 1uF/35V tantalum melt, and a 22uf/35V electrolytic explode(found the plastic bottom across the room). Put 0.1uF/50V ceramics on the two that experience the fault. Both opamps still work fine. I'm thinking that I just got a couple of bad capacitors, if it were a problem with capacitance/voltage capacity I believe more than one out of each group would have popped. One other data point, both failures happened within 10-20 seconds of application of power.

This usually happens when polarized capacitors are connected wrong way - opposite polarity or too high voltage.

I've got the LME49990 installed now! Removing the stock opamps was a real pain in the a** without the proper tools! It almost took me an hour and I managed to twist almost every "noes" on the opamps >_>

I could immediately hear that the bass got more character to it now and the soundstage got wider too! Now I know what you guys mean by "oomphf" . It's like the bass is now "growling/talking" to me, haha! :D Fast, high-hat-heavy songs like metal and rock seem less fatiguing as the highs sound more seperated/balanced now. However, the diffrence is just "minor" but still...

Hopefully they aren't getting much hotter than the stock ones. As for now, the case is still in normal room temperature.

I'll be testing the AD797BR too and mix around a little bit as soon as I get them.

Update:

Meh, there appears to be noticable sibiliance with some vocals. That "sss" sound is just a bit louder than with the stock opamps :/

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenion 

I've got the LME49990 installed now! Removing the stock opamps was a real pain in the a** without the proper tools! It almost took me an hour and I managed to twist almost every "noes" on the opamps >_>

 

I could immediately hear that the bass got more character to it now and the soundstage got wider too! Now I know what you guys mean by "oomphf" . It's like the bass is now "growling/talking" to me, haha! :D Fast, high-hat-heavy songs like metal and rock seem less fatiguing as the highs sound more seperated/balanced now. However, the diffrence is just "minor" but still...

 

Hopefully they aren't getting much hotter than the stock ones. As for now, the case is still in normal room temperature.

I'll be testing the AD797BR too and mix around a little bit as soon as I get them.

 

Update:

Meh, there appears to be noticable sibiliance with some vocals. That "sss" sound is just a bit louder than with the stock opamps :/

You should of used a small flat-head screw driver and leaned it from side to side once you had it under the op-amp. It's an easier way.

What op-amp did you have before putting the LME49990 in?

LOL You also get that "sss" sound that i've been getting since day one.

For me, It only happens in a few specific songs and is pretty fatiguing since it's a little high pitch squeal. 

The "sss" isn't as bad when using NE5532 and AD797. With the LME49720NA and 49710HA, it's there, however less on the 10HA. 

But like i said, just a couple of songs, which EQ should fix.

As for case temperature, changing the PSU Heatsink's thermal paste really improves heat dissipation. The PSU is the hottest part of the Essence One.

After 1-2 hours of music listening, that was the only warm/hot for me. Every chip i touched on the Main PCB were barely warm.

Tim

Quote:

Originally Posted by cssarrow 

You should of used a small flat-head screw driver and leaned it from side to side once you had it under the op-amp. It's an easier way.

 

What op-amp did you have before putting the LME49990 in?

LOL You also get that "sss" sound that i've been getting since day one.

For me, It only happens in a few specific songs and is pretty fatiguing since it's a little high pitch squeal. 

The "sss" isn't as bad when using NE5532 and AD797. With the LME49720NA and 49710HA, it's there, however less on the 10HA. 

But like i said, just a couple of songs, which EQ should fix.

 

As for case temperature, changing the PSU Heatsink's thermal paste really improves heat dissipation. The PSU is the hottest part of the Essence One.

After 1-2 hours of music listening, that was the only warm/hot for me. Every chip i touched on the Main PCB were barely warm.

 

Tim

I have been using the stock opamps before. My original intentions were to use the AD797BR's in the I/V and the LME49990 just for messing around. I really like the NE5532. They seem to add some body and bass to the music and tame the highs on the HD 800's. However, I've heared only good things about both opamps. Especially the AD797BR, they seem to sound more "analog" and smooth but I haven't test it myself. Can't wait to get my hands on them (maybe tomorrow they arrive? )

Exactly my thoughts! That hiss somehow appears only on specific songs and most often with vocals. Really annoying

I got no problems using an EQ, however I want it to keep it as a last resort :)

I'm using the E1 with the LME49990 a couple of hours now and so far I can feel some more warmness right where the PSU/Coil is located. I think it's a tad warmer then before, when I was using the stock opamps in the I/V.

Also worth to mention: I just recently replaced my stock 6,35 mm cable. My old stock cable broke just where the plastic isolation is right near to the socket on one side (as an example where: http://s7.directupload.net/images/130123/oszlu4bn.jpg ) . It's a complete mystery for me how that happend^^. However, Sennheiser replaced that cable for me for a new one. Charge free, no communication needed and super fast (afaik a stock cable replacement usually cost around 200 € ), really generous of them I must admit . So the cable im using now is still new and may/or may not require some more burn in

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenion 
Exactly my thoughts! That hiss somehow appears only on specific songs and most often with vocals. Really annoying

I got no problems using an EQ, however I want it to keep it as a last resort :)

 

I'm using the E1 with the LME49990 a couple of hours now and so far I can feel some more warmness right where the PSU/Coil is located. I think it's a tad warmer then before, when I was using the stock opamps in the I/V.

 

Also worth to mention: I just recently replaced my stock 6,35 mm cable. My old stock cable broke just where the plastic isolation is right near to the socket on one side (as an example where: http://s7.directupload.net/images/130123/oszlu4bn.jpg ) . It's a complete mystery for me how that happend^^. However, Sennheiser replaced that cable for me for a new one. Charge free, no communication needed and super fast (afaik a stock cable replacement usually cost around 200 € ), really generous of them I must admit . So the cable im using now is still new and may/or may not require some more burn in

Agree with you 100%. The "sss" comes from vocals that sings/says any word that starts or ends with an "s".

EQ is also a last resort for me, thus i chose to ignore those certain songs. When the volume is lower, the squeal is no longer fatiguing. 

Glad the new cable is working out for you, just be careful about the heat of the op-amps. 

Tim