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Fostex HP-P1 Portable Amplifier and DAC for iPod/iPhone (Short REVIEW and Impressions Thread) - Page 36

post #526 of 1009
6/20/12 at 6:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lillee View Post

 

By silver I meant your cable Qusp. Isn't it silver? Let me rephrase to be clear:

 

I noticed definite improvement using Qusp's aftermarket cable compared to the stock cable, but I am skeptical that there is a big difference between Qusp's regular silver(?) cable that he made for me or his Piccolino cable.

 

That is what I meant. Duck for cover was referring to avoiding the "cables make a difference for digital output" debate.

 

What Sydney meet???

 

yeah hey Lillie, not a problem mate, dont read me the wrong way, that was simply a political reply =) I took your meaning as you meant it, but I cant comment subjectively on my product in here and stay within the rules. i'm pretty critical of MOTs breaking the rules in this way, so I gotta stay between the lines.

 

Your EMO version is TWSpc cryo UPOCC Silver plated copper

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post #527 of 1009
6/20/12 at 6:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lillee View Post

Oh THAT Sydney meet! Yeah can make it nearly for sure (depending on venue an date)

 

cool, i'll most likely be there like every year; might see you there. the date is pretty much solid at 18th or 19th of August

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by slwiser View Post

Before spending some big money check out Moon Audio's IEM Silver Dragon doc to usb that I used for my HP-P1. I thought it was a great value and gets away from the stock cable which has been known to produce some volume imbalance.

 

I find that really confusing! really really confusing since L and R are transmitted along with all other data in a twisted pair differential +/- signal. one is a mirror of the other but both contain the same information; just in opposite phase to keep error low, in much the same way as for balanced audio connections. there should be no way to cause imbalance as there is no left or right wire.

 

but i've seen more than one person say this confused_face.gif, unless its just the same report gone viral


Edited by qusp - 6/20/12 at 6:26am
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post #528 of 1009
6/20/12 at 6:16am

combined above


Edited by qusp - 6/20/12 at 6:21am
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post #529 of 1009
6/20/12 at 8:35am
Thanks, Slwiser. I will have a look at amazon.co.uk for the Moon...
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post #530 of 1009
6/20/12 at 4:39pm

I had a good listen yesterday with my ATH-CK10s, very nice. Enjoying my Fostex more and more.

 

What gain do people use? I use the lowest which should be suitable for 32ohm, but the middle setting seems to give it more `body`.

 

Also I am torn between the two filters, I would like to use filter 1 because its seems the flat default but am finding myself more drawn towards filter 2 lately.

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post #531 of 1009
6/20/12 at 5:55pm

I use it on gain 1 because any other setting hisses on the SE535ltds, besides that on gain 1 I am only at about 9-10 oclock on the volume dial, so on gain two the volume will be so low that it may be detrimental?.

 

I am sure it will be the same when I get the ES5's. It hisses with the DT1350's and SRH940's too. For me reserve gain 2 and 3 for very hard to drive headphones.

 

I prefer filter 2 but some have reported it sounding unnatural(?) on certain headphones (Ultrasone Edition 8's) with filter 2. To me filter 1 sounds 2D very closed. Filter 2 is spacious and open. 


Edited by Lillee - 6/20/12 at 5:57pm
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post #532 of 1009
6/20/12 at 8:27pm

Filter 1 here on Ed8 yes but also on my es10's.  Not sure but maybe even with my JH13, i usually use my HM801 with those though.....very lush wonderful sound but pain dealing with swapping out music and limited capacity as well as interface.  Also doesn't have a good amp, though i have the GAME amp in it for iem's and it works well with the 13's so there you go.   Got a bit side tracked thereredface.gif aahhh filter 1 yeah.

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post #533 of 1009
6/22/12 at 2:46am
Just did some blind tests of 1) ipod classic 160g with HD25 directly and 2) ipod classic 160g thr hp 1 and HD25. Sadly only guessed 50percent correctly...

Is it my ear or it is because the dif is so small?rolleyes.gif
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post #534 of 1009
6/22/12 at 3:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by yosment View Post

Just did some blind tests of 1) ipod classic 160g with HD25 directly and 2) ipod classic 160g thr hp 1 and HD25. Sadly only guessed 50percent correctly...
Is it my ear or it is because the dif is so small?rolleyes.gif


I don't think the HD25 has enough resolution to make this distinction clear.  I have some other phones where this would be much more pronounced; i.e., Beyer DT1350, Westone 4r or my ES5, ATH-ESW10JPN or the HD800. The HD25 is a fun headphone but not highly resolving in my opinion.


Edited by slwiser - 6/22/12 at 3:18am
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post #535 of 1009
6/22/12 at 3:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by yosment View Post

Just did some blind tests of 1) ipod classic 160g with HD25 directly and 2) ipod classic 160g thr hp 1 and HD25. Sadly only guessed 50percent correctly...
Is it my ear or it is because the dif is so small?rolleyes.gif

 

In other words, a coin toss or same as guessing.  biggrin.gif  To quote the (long-lost) Uncle Erik:  "You can get to the point of diminishing returns quickly in this hobby - quite a few start out there."  And to my deaf ears, the HP-P1 is safely beyond that point.  Of course there are things to take into consideration in regards to how you did your test.  For me, the biggest factor in these comparisons is the recording.  I can sit down and do a similar comparison, go through my reference tracks, and not hear a single difference on all but one track... on a particular part.  And that's not to say that I will be able to do the same thing the next day with fresh ears.  So yeah- it's pretty subtle stuff for me too.  For most people, you take your average (but reasonably well-recorded) music, a set of headphones designed to be used on a portable player, no preconceived notions and a bit of honesty- add them all up and the results will be not far from yours.

 

Oh- and yes, it could also be your ears.  tongue.gif  Really, it could be any number of things- too many to list.   But just to address that part, some of this stuff does take practice to identify the differences.  Some people know how to analyze music well.  Sometimes it's practice, sometimes it's physiological- they just have an acute sense of hearing.  And then it comes down to describing what they hear.  In the end, one person's small difference is another person's day-and-night.

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post #536 of 1009
6/22/12 at 4:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by yosment View Post

Just did some blind tests of 1) ipod classic 160g with HD25 directly and 2) ipod classic 160g thr hp 1 and HD25. Sadly only guessed 50percent correctly...
Is it my ear or it is because the dif is so small?rolleyes.gif

 

After 6mths of listenning to HP-P1, when you go back to 160g direct, you will notice garanteed. I ran out of battery the other day and had to listen to ipod direct out and it was rubbish!

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post #537 of 1009
6/22/12 at 5:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by yosment View Post

Just did some blind tests of 1) ipod classic 160g with HD25 directly and 2) ipod classic 160g thr hp 1 and HD25. Sadly only guessed 50percent correctly...

Is it my ear or it is because the dif is so small?rolleyes.gif

 

What music did you use? Many headphones like the HD25s are designed to work well enough out of an iPod. Usually with the jazz or classical I like there will be some obvious harshness using headphones straight out of an iPod. Switching to a good amp or DAC/amp will remove this. I reckon there is quite a bit of music like which would be fine straight out of an iPod. I've been tossing up keeping a loaner pair of ESW10JPNs for this kind of music where I don't need a large amount of refinement.

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post #538 of 1009
6/22/12 at 6:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by yosment View Post

Is it my ear or it is because the dif is so small?rolleyes.gif

 

I've got the same setup as you (except I'm mostly using my 4S).

 

Are you using lossless files to start?

 

For me, it depends on the genre of music and the quality of the recording. But overall, I prefer listening via the HP_P1 than without it. Some tracks it's clearly obvious, with others it's less so.

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post #539 of 1009
6/22/12 at 7:28am

after listening to the fostex this week, I plugged straight into my ipod touch and it kinda seemed screechy now.

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post #540 of 1009
6/22/12 at 8:55am

Unless you can be sure both setups drive your headphones at the same volume level, you will find it very difficult to compare accurately. I have not tried a blind test, but I hear much better controlled bass (and less in-your-face) and more detail in the mids when using the HP-P1 with my HD-25s. I'm looking to upgrade to a better closed phone. Without the HP-P1, I don't like the HD-25 at all.

 

Edited by VandyMan - 6/22/12 at 8:56am
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