Fostex HP-P1 Portable Amplifier and DAC for iPod/iPhone (Short REVIEW and Impressions Thread) - Page 22

Currawong ; I'm kind of surprised that you even found the onboard sound of the iPhone's dac worth comparing to the Fostex's dac. While the dacs that Apple puts in their devices are "acceptable" they really are'nt in the same category when it comes to portraying fine detail in well recorded & losslessly encoded files. While you may get a close approximation of these same files you are'nt able to hear much of the low level inner detail that is present. There is nothing "wrong" with the straight Apple sound, it's just that it rarely sounds much better than MP3(or maybe MP4) level standards

 Danny Bai : By all means use a desktop amp when using the HE-500s with the HP P1, but there is absolutely no necessity to use anything more than an actual amp(desktop or other) with the Fostex as I believe a lot of you have the description of the HP P1 a bit reversed. This is a potable dac that has an included amp . A simple 3.5mm mini to dual rca connectors will do the trick very nicely. (I would have taken the digital output a little more seriously if a digital coaxial output was available, but the dac is pretty exceptional so I don't know why you really need to use the digital out) I'm curious how  many CLAS owners use the "digital out" option ? (In which case I believe they would have been better off using a Wadia dock instead, & saved a little if they're not using the dac)

There's obviously an overall benefit using the HP-P1 overall, but I thought it worth taking a few minutes to compare the DAC performance since it's not cheap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong 

There's obviously an overall benefit using the HP-P1 overall, but I thought it worth taking a few minutes to compare the DAC performance since it's not cheap.

Okay, I've got you, but like I've said the whole strength of the HP-P1 is that it's dac was designed to have musical response characteristics based on the designers knowledge of how certain chips will work in a proven circuit. It comes down to the difference of items that are mass marketed & "after market" items that exist because of specific part selection chosen by a designer. I'm always reminded of the story of Gibson Guitars. The founder of Gibson Guitars was a very talented luthier, but unfortunately he had an unstable life. He was'nt a good businessman & eventaully became an alcoholic. Gibson was bought by the Harmon Corporation the Gison name was retained & they built their reputation based o the talent of this handbuilder's fame. If you can find a knowledgeable acoustic guitar collector he can assure you that a Gibson acoustic guitar is but a shadow of what the original Gibsons were. (Sorry, if I bored anyone, but I've always thought it was an interesting story(& I studied guitarmaking for a short time about a "half a lifetime" ago)
 

Sorry if this has been asked already but...

Given the iPad 3 is coming out soon, and I'm going to get one, it's made me realise it seems kind of uneconomical to get a Touch as well to use with the HP-P1. It's also made me think about the DX100... I'm definitely getting the iPad as I want it for the commute and some other applications, so... tempting as it is, I should probably get the HP-P1 and say that's it!

Anyway, the actual question. What's the battery life of an iPad like w/an HP-P1? Also, I presume when the HP-P1 is mains-charged, I can use the iPad indefinitely? As I sometimes work nights it'd be nice to spend the night with it plugged in next to whatever computer at work I'm sat at, providing me with tunes and other things for 12 hours.

Don't know if it's been asked before in the thread but I'll do it anyway.

How do you upgrade the firmware on your HP-P1?

How do you check which version it got?

Thanks!

Fostex have to do it for you, as far as I know. My theory behind why we can't do it ourselves is that it has to do with restrictions set by Apple when licensing the ability to do iPod and iPhone digital output.

This is one thing that bugs me. I don't think Fostex even have an office in the UK, just distributors. I'd wager they probably wouldn't even be able to tell you what version an HP-P1 was running on. Sigh.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong 

Fostex have to do it for you, as far as I know. My theory behind why we can't do it ourselves is that it has to do with restrictions set by Apple when licensing the ability to do iPod and iPhone digital output.

To be fair though, the CLAS has to be upgraded by ALO and the Go-Dap need to be upgraded by VentureCraft too. Seems to be a common trend with portable DAC/Amp for iDevices.

Hello,

Not sure if I should paste it here or link to it but here is my mini review of the Fostex HP-P1, as well as comparing it to iPhone 4S, DIYMod and RSA Tomahawk: 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/596755/fostex-hp-p1-vs-gen5-5-imod-rsa-sr-71b-balanced-output-now-with-fostex-hp-p1-review-page-2/15

Enjoy!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lillee 

Hello,

 

Not sure if I should paste it here or link to it but here is my mini review of the Fostex HP-P1, as well as comparing it to iPhone 4S, DIYMod and RSA Tomahawk: 

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/596755/fostex-hp-p1-vs-gen5-5-imod-rsa-sr-71b-balanced-output-now-with-fostex-hp-p1-review-page-2/15

 

Enjoy!

Wow, it seems you guys have to "jump through hoops" finding things that will work with your IEMs. It seems like most of them were designed to sound their best by compensating for the flaws of the average DAP, I'm just glad I never became a fan of them. (IEMs & average PDAPs that is. Buying the best IEMs & then using them with most portable set-ups, reminds me of people buying very good loudspeakers & putting them into to a system that is'nt going to sound better(in fact it may sound a little worse) because you've made the lack of source resolution easier to hear.Unless they've "compensated" the speakers/IEMs to overcome the source flaws. This sounds like a putting "The cart in front the horse" philosophy to me & an incredible amount of work to get it right. A lot of you do seem to get it right, but it seems like a lot more effort to find the right balance to me.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by knowhatimean 

Wow, it seems you guys have to "jump through hoops" finding things that will work with your IEMs. It seems like most of them were designed to sound their best by compensating for the flaws of the average DAP, I'm just glad I never became a fan of them. (IEMs & average PDAPs that is. Buying the best IEMs & then using them with most portable set-ups, reminds me of people buying very good loudspeakers & putting them into to a system that is'nt going to sound better(in fact it may sound a little worse) because you've made the lack of source resolution easier to hear.Unless they've "compensated" the speakers/IEMs to overcome the source flaws. This sounds like a putting "The cart in front the horse" philosophy to me & an incredible amount of work to get it right. A lot of you do seem to get it right, but it seems like a lot more effort to find the right balance to me.
 

 

There's some truth in what you say, but what you leave out is that when you get it right, the results can be very rewarding.  IEM's and even more so, CIEM's (I've recently been discovering with ES5's) can be mercilessly revealing of source and amp.  The differences between various DAP's become far more pronounced than ever.  I don't think it requires an incredible amount of work though - just a bit of research and care in choosing your components.  Again, I think those doing it are probably driven by the rewards of doing it right, rather than what may or may not come in between. 

I just want the best out of the most portable solution. I dunno about you but carrying a 3 or 4 box unit and giant headphones on non-air conditioned trains is just ridiculous and headphones far too hot for Australian conditions (84 degrees outside every day this week). Sweaty ears anyone?  

"Jumping through hoops" I am not sure I know what you are referring to? are you saying that there is an industry standard that everyone should abide by when it comes to portable music and anything else is "jumping through hoops?" Or are you saying that all music should not be portable and confined to the home and desktop?

I have a Luxman 2 channel amp hooked up to KEF floor standers and a turntable at home. I've used it... once this whole year. In contrast I listen to my portable setup nearly 8 hours a day.

Actually I am struggling to find the point you are making?

Something strange and unnerving just happened. The unit while playing music suddenly turned off and now will not turn on under battery power? It was plugged in the hole day that I've been using it so not sure what's going on? Isn't the fostex supposed to be able to be charged while using it? Strange first time it's happened. Maybe my usb connection is dodgy...

Quick question. Has anyone been successful in using an ipod with Rockbox installed with the HP-P1?

I have an old ipod photo and I installed Rockbox so I could use my flac files, but when it in the Fostex the ipod thinks I'm plugging it into a computer and I can't send the digital signal out to the Fostex.

1) won't work, needs Apple software to do the digital handshake

2) HP-P1 is only compatible with the following (although I think using a 5/5.5G iPod will work but only as a jukebox on shuffle)

Touch 2, 3, 4 G

iPod classic (so 6G and newer)

iPod nano 4, 5, 6 G

iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4, 4S

iPad 1 2