Portable amp for LCD2 - Page 5

Mike's right. I'm your person to ask, googleli.

Shoot me a pm with the specific questions possible and I'll pour out my knowledge unto you :P and don't worry about bothering me. I actually want to help you, as I've done my share of bothering people;)
I don't think I should be making comparisons not in favor of some amps publicly as it might possibly affect said company's sales...

 

Hi grokit,

 

 

I'm guessing, but given that googleli used the words "digital out to iBasso" in between "CLAS/Fostex" and "Balanced out to SR71B"...  I'm thinking he must be talking about using either the iBasso DB1 Boomslang or the iBasso DB2 Boomslang2 (portable DACs) to supply the SR71B with a balanced input, feeding the Boomslang(2) with digital out from the Solo - which would mean he intends to bypass the DAC inside the Solo to provide the SR71B with a balanced input from the Boomslang's DAC.  The Solo would only be there to provide the Boomslang with S/PDIF from an iDevice. 

 

My hunch is based in part on discussions I've had with GG regarding his/her research, but I don't know for sure what googleli has in mind.  

 

What say ye, googleli?

 

Mike

Interesting...

 

So if googleli connects like this:

 

HP-P1 (digital out) -> DB2 (digital in) -> DB2 (balanced analog out)  -> SR71b (balanced analog in) -> balanced ALO cable -> LCD2

 

... he will be skipping the great AKM dac from HP-P1 to use the wolfson from DB2 to balance the signal...

 

hmm.. not so tempting

 

I think googleli wants to go iPhone -> LCD2 100% balanced

 

I hear you!   Whether he uses the CLAS or the Fostex, he'll be bypassing some great DACs just to get S/PDIF from his iDevice of choice, but in the case of the Fostex, he'd be paying for an amp that's bypassed in addition to bypassing its DAC.   There's got to be a less expensive, less bulky way to supply the SR71B with a balanced analog input, that's portable - but I don't know what that would be.  The whole exercise would have me seriously questioning the value of having a balanced source in addition to balanced output.

 

Mike 

WHICH IS WHY my conclusion to the fully balanced input/output [trans]portable rig is this:

iPod - CLAS - RSA Portable Balanced DAC - RSA SR71B - LCD2

Ray Samuels' new portable balanced DAC will be coming in 3-4 months, so wait until then.



There's more to CLAS than it being just a DAC... but I do feel the fostex HP-P1 will be a very redundant purchase, and it will just add weight and a bigger box to the stack...
Edited by Girls Generation - 9/19/11 at 9:45pm

 

I hear you there, it's something I would want to demo first to see if it's worth it for sure. Two DACs in a portable rig = nuts  !

 

But this is a crazy hobby sometimes...

Edited by grokit - 9/19/11 at 10:09pm

Which is why I concluded that one, who's getting this rig, is to wait for the RSA portable balanced DAC. I'm positive Ray will be using a superior DAC.

But will it extract digital out of an iPod?

We would still be using the CLAS in this stack.

If you count the one in the Idevice that is three dac in a portable rig=a cracked nut.

 

Edited by Jalo - 9/19/11 at 10:26pm

I'm saying to myself: "stay with LOD -> Fiio E7 -> headphones"

 

haha...

 

This is insane... but fun.

 

I'm going to buy LCD2 and Edition 8 next month, so I will out of cash for a while, but seeing which portable amp I can use is very, very fun.

 

I started with arrow, then stepdance came, then this balanced thing with sr71b, then this fostex/clas

 

Damn... I must ban myself from here...

don't forget the nuforce ido... you can use that and a xp8000 too

 

hahah :)

Just to clear things up:

This is what I concluded to be the best portable system as of as soon as the RSA DAC comes out. :-)

iPod - CLAS - RSA Portable Balanced DAC - RSA SR71B - LCD2

Then come cables, and I recommend Double Helix Cables' UPOCC copper Nucleotide Molecule wire, or Norse Audio's new Norn. If you really want to customize your cables, to the point of aesthetics, I recommend Double Helix Cables (Peter/scootermafia) as he seems to be the most flexible in customizing cables.

Hahahaha, coincidentally I am going to sell my LCD2 and ED8 LE next.  Interested  ;-)

 

I'm not sure why everyone here gets so excited about balanced vs. single ended, but I have to tell you, both paths are just a means to an end, and there are many single-ended solutions that offer the clarity and power of balanced units.  The place where balanced matters most, IMHO, is low-level interconnects where this really reduces noise-coupling from power or RFI.  For amps, the better ones may rival the better single ended, but topology, construction and other factors may make one execution better for a user/phone combination than another...  Just saying...

 

(for the record, I'm not biased against balanced; I have a Theta Dreadnaught amp in my home theatre, 2000+ Watts of real power, all fully balanced, and I love it.  But I have heard some great single ended amps I like as well)