Cypher Labs AlgoRhythm Solo - Discussion and Impressions Thread - Page 61

I personally don't put too much credence in that high res rumour. People think that something would be desirable and suddenly there is a rumour that it is actually happening.

But I would like to be wrong.

Yes.  It is a difficult one.  I cant imagine that it would be all that difficult for Apple to implement a change to 24/96.  If it is like their Match function within iCloud it would mean that if you link to cloud then any of your music would be upgraded to hires even if your originals were only lower quality.

 

The ability to play higher res was part of the reason why I picked the CLAS over the Fostex.

 

As to how long I need to hang out for this dream....who knows???

Sorry if this has been asked before.

 

But what is the difference between this and the Camera Connection Kit -> External DAC if I'm using an iPad?

One major difference is that the CLAS reclocks the signal, while your external DAC may or may not do that.
 

Not all USB DACs work with the CCK, by the way.

 

 

Does anyone know if an ipad down samples high res music when importing, like an iPod does? I am looking forward to seeing if the CLAS plays high res off an iPad using the camera connection kit.

Would have done it already except in amongst my many USB cables I don't have one with standard USB on both ends.

You can't use clas with cck. Cck is for usb dacs and can play hires that way

Well after reading through this thread I suppose this will be a minority opinion, but here goes :

 

I have the CLAS with a well burnt in SR 71A with Tysonics  I am playing back uncompressed files from my iPhone 4s that are mixes and masters that i have personally mixed (am an engineer) in a commercial studio as well as some apple lossless commercial releases and am listening back on edition 8's, Akg 701s (recalled by moon) and some UE 11 pros.    My conclusion is that the Solo does not really add that much to my ears.  When I plug either of these cans directly into the iPhone 4s at the same volume levels,  I am even questioning my need for the SR 71A  --  I like the SR71A for the power and drive and it does have a nice sheen and tightness in the low end, especially through the UE11pros but that really only becomes evident to me at the moderate to louder volumes.  A/B ing over and over again with the Solo,  I am just not hearing its contribution.   One thing I have not tried is with mp3s - but with pristine audio coming off the iPhone 4s going through what i think are all very nice cans, i am struggling to understand why i have the solo and even what the benefit of carrying the whole rig really is.      Thoughts ?  poor component match ?  Should i try something different ?

I don't have the SR-71A but have the SR-71B instead. As with you I also have the Ed8's & CLAS.

 

At least to me, I find the SR-71B to be somewhat dark. When I switch to my Pico Slim I find I can hear the details better. Note I'm not confusing Pico Slim's more "brightness" to "detail" here as I used to have the HP-P1 too and would A/B the HP-P1 <-> CLAS but keeping the same Pico Slim & Ed8 in the chain. To me the CLAS was more clinical whereas the HP-P1 was a tad darker.

 

Do you have any other portable amps to try with the CLAS?

I too am not surprised if there isn't great synergy between the CLAS and an RSA amp. (Full disclosure: I don't greatly like RSA portable amps - an opinion restricted to the single-ended ones which is all that I have heard.) The Wolfsen DAC is inherently warmer and more organic than an iPod. RSA amps attempt a similar warming of an iPod's sound. It is the famous RSA house sound. It could be a poor match with the CLAS. The CLAS is a good match with a more neutral amp like the Stepdance.

 

IMHO YMMV...

How do you know if it reclocks it? I have an Audio GD ref 5.

 

My understanding is that in order for a device to do asynchronous transfer from an idevice then it needs to handshake with the device first. In order to do this it needs to have been through the Apple certification program and of course paid the fees.

Someone else may be able to add more detail or correct me. It is unlikely that any Audio-GD device can do asynchronous with an idevice. They can probably do asynchronous via USB though.

Hmm, I have to say that I find the CLAS/SR71-B a better match in terms of musicality and a slightly warmer more relaxed sound than I found with my Stepdance. Having said that I don't seem to want for detail, especially when using my final audio heavenS's

In balanced mode with my LCD's the sound is as near as I have come to experiencing similar sounds that you get from a tube pre amp and solid state power amp I have access to a friends Mac set up and we both have agreed that my portable set up, especially with the LCD's has a similar sonic signature to his McIntosh Tube pre SS power combo being fed by a Nagra CD player and Wilson sasha speakers. Now, obviously I am not say my humble portable goes head to head with that set up but it does have a similar sound signature.

Ian, like I said I have no experience or opinion on the SR71-B.

Edited by cooperpwc - 4/11/12 at 6:03am

Could it be that the CLAS helps other components scale up? By this I mean that if any link in the audio chain is not up to scratch that the effect of the CLAS may go unnoticed but if they are all capable then the CLAS helps everything pick up a level,

I am listening to some recently rewired Beyer DT1350 cans now balanced with silver plated copper wire through an iBasso PB2 with the HiFlight class a opamp kit and there is absolutely no comparison to what the iPod could put out by itself. The level of detail, the space and slam are all easily recognizable as inferior on the iPod. In fact I would go do far as saying that with the Angus and Julia Stone song Chocolates and Cigarettes, that Julia stone sounds like she is singing through a pillow case such is the loss in texture, detail and sense of being there.

IMO when I first bought the CLAS I wasn't expecting much of a difference at all. I was definitely pleasantly shocked. Now with a balanced amp that is taken up another level. Caveat, I haven't tried taking a line out of the iPod to the balanced iBasso yet though. But my expectation is that the CLAS will continue to make its presence felt in the same way as it did when I first tested without the CLAS to a single ended portable amp.

I finally got around to "funch-ing" my Solo today.  I've joined the two cell club...  Flying tomorrow and the only battery I'll need to worry about on the trip is the iPod Classic.

 

The install is as easy as it looks.  I didn't remove the double sided tape from the stock battery, I just fit the new one on top without adding any double sided tape to it.  It's VERY tight going back in, but if you go gently it will slide in there without any undue force and everything ends up snug as bug.