Fostex HP-P1 Portable Amplifier and DAC for iPod/iPhone (Short REVIEW and Impressions Thread) - Page 55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saraguie 

 OH man....there goes more dosh out of pocket. 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by longbowbbs 

Easier to carry around than a canoe!

Hahahaha.......true that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong 

I still have my HP-P1. I did borrow a friend's CLAS/RX3 rig to try and while it was impressive, I ended up getting the Leckerton UH6MKII and have a Pico Power on order.  I don't reckon I'll be carrying orthos with me when I travel (unless it is to a meet) and SE performance with borrowed cans or regular IEMs is more important at the moment. For IEMs, I can just use the HP-P1 by itself.

I've just started paying attention to that tricky spec called Impedance. I'm not quite sure about all of it so if I make a faux pas please excuse.

I've started looking at my gears and discovered that the HP-P1 has 10.22 impedance. My Miracles have 15.9, so if I use the rule of 8, then, they are not really compatible. I am trying to find the FT!334's impedance measurement (if anyone knows please say).

These are my travel rigs, and on paper they are not meant to be used together.  Any thoughts?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong 

I still have my HP-P1. I did borrow a friend's CLAS/RX3 rig to try and while it was impressive, I ended up getting the Leckerton UH6MKII and have a Pico Power on order.  I don't reckon I'll be carrying orthos with me when I travel (unless it is to a meet) and SE performance with borrowed cans or regular IEMs is more important at the moment. For IEMs, I can just use the HP-P1 by itself.

+1 for CIEM's and HP-P1 only!

Still using mine (with custom QUSP piccolino cable), often just with my home system.

Silver Poison's.....

Originally Posted by Currawong 

I still have my HP-P1. I did borrow a friend's CLAS/RX3 rig to try and while it was impressive, I ended up getting the Leckerton UH6MKII and have a Pico Power on order.  I don't reckon I'll be carrying orthos with me when I travel (unless it is to a meet) and SE performance with borrowed cans or regular IEMs is more important at the moment. For IEMs, I can just use the HP-P1 by itself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saraguie 

 

I've just started paying attention to that tricky spec called Impedance. I'm not quite sure about all of it so if I make a faux pas please excuse.

I've started looking at my gears and discovered that the HP-P1 has 10.22 impedance. My Miracles have 15.9, so if I use the rule of 8, then, they are not really compatible. I am trying to find the FT!334's impedance measurement (if anyone knows please say).

 

These are my travel rigs, and on paper they are not meant to be used together.  Any thoughts?

While waiting for you guy's comments, I did what any red-blooded, currawong fearing Head~FIer would do..........I bought more equipment just to make sure my already owned (good sounding) gear works like its supposed too    

At B&H Photo, Beyerdynamic 1350s for  $237 with free shipping CONUS (cost me $15.)

At 80 impedance it matches perfectly to the HP-P1~~~on paper.

Now its how it sounds, which of course is the whole point of all this... upgrade/spending-itice aside.

Quote:

Originally Posted by longbowbbs 

Easier to carry around than a canoe!

I just launched this it should reach you next week.......please put speaker on and return to sender 

Quote:

Originally Posted by justanut 

 

Not really true... Not a fan of balanced output. Preferred the convenience of the Fostex on the go, with the option of adding on a better amp if i'm feeling muscular that day~ Bought mine recently AFTER the CLAS -db was released. 

From what I've been able to gather, balanced is used for all intents and purposes to lower "noise floor" both in professional and consumer settings. Therefore it can be useless in particular configurations, but also useful depending on the system configuration. I have Etymotic ACS custom HF2 for isolation use only, there is a discernable hiss using it with the HP-P1.

On the 30pin=>USB A cable, I would be interested to read a shootout if anyone would be inclined to post it. The Apple (~1m length) vs Fostex (~10cm length) cable yields no signficant difference to me using SR325i.

Looks like the DT1350 are seeing huge price drops now. US$237 is getting close to half the AU$399 going rate. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saraguie 

 

I just launched this it should reach you next week.......please put speaker on and return to sender 

 

 

If I put speakers in that canoe it will sort of look like a Sonus Faber!

Birchbark is more our style here in the north woods. I am only a couple of hours from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area....

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExpatinJapan 

 

Still using mine (with custom QUSP piccolino cable), often just with my home system.

That QUSP piccolino is super cute. Lovely. Silver Poison is out of my reach. I don't want to make my own, looks too difficult and probably end up unsightly, bulky and not much cheaper.

I'll try the Furutech ADL iD30PA 10cm. This looks like a nice intermediate? quality cable albeit not as neat as a custom can be and it doesn't do anything for the P1's classic HiFi equipment front panel mojo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJHeadfi 

 

That QUSP piccolino is super cute. Lovely. Silver Poison is out of my reach. I don't want to make my own, looks too difficult and probably end up unsightly, bulky and not much cheaper.

 

I'll try the Furutech ADL iD30PA 10cm. This looks like a nice intermediate? quality cable albeit not as neat as a custom can be and it doesn't do anything for the P1's classic HiFi equipment front panel mojo.

Just a quick first impression for anyone who is interested.

iPod Touch 2G/8Gb -> Furutech ADL iD30PA 10cm -> Fostex HP-P1 -> Grado 3.5mm to 6.35mm -> Grado SR325is (G-Cush)

The new iD30PA-10cm interconnect arrived. It looks okay, not as nice as a custom can be obviously. It is unfortunately more volatile than the stock interconnect, that is it will disconnect and connect with a wiggle a lot more easily than the stock did. What has it done to the sound? Nothing! ... No it's added a degree of increased transparency. It seems like I've taken out something that was between the system and the headphones. Why? Not much idea, I suspect more data is getting to the HP-P1 from the iTouch, possibly some time based errors are reduced. It's only been a few hours, a/b testing doesn't do much for me.

The HP-P1 has really come into full bloom after ~300 hours, not that I remember well what it was like. The bass has improved, it's very controlled and descends to subsonic well. Thoroughly enjoyable and I don't have a desire to change headphones. Soprano voice and piano are superb. I don't expect improvement from "burn in" of the interconnect.

Recordings I'm particularly familiar with used : Generally I enjoy microphone recordings. Images straight from Google images.

Bank Shot - Old recording, typical L C R microphone. Very clear and crisp for AAD.

Ice Age - New recording of orchestral performance, awesome dynamics and imaging.

Guns N' Roses - Studio cleanly recorded rock. Left, right, centre imaging/or lack of is completely clear.

New Conceptions - The bass is very boom due to the mic technique, but the resolving power of the system keeps it from blooming too much.

The Duke - Studio jazz session. Beautifully captured and presented. Dynamic, clear and vivid. 

Bach Cantatas - Marvellous vocal solo. Amazing how well this system performs.

Angles - Studio rock-alternative. Very tight, superb control. Good dynamics.

I think old mono restorations would sound lovely on this system. I'm becoming more impressed with the HP-P1, I think it's a pinnacle of the product genre in every way so far ... yes even that bag thing for make the HP-P1 wearable is well though out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJHeadfi 

 

Just a quick first impression for anyone who is interested.

 

iPod Touch 2G/8Gb -> Furutech ADL iD30PA 10cm -> Fostex HP-P1 -> Grado 3.5mm to 6.35mm -> Grado SR325is (G-Cush)

 

 

The new iD30PA-10cm interconnect arrived. It looks okay, not as nice as a custom can be obviously. It is unfortunately more volatile than the stock interconnect, that is it will disconnect and connect with a wiggle a lot more easily than the stock did. What has it done to the sound? Nothing! ... No it's added a degree of increased transparency. It seems like I've taken out something that was between the system and the headphones. Why? Not much idea, I suspect more data is getting to the HP-P1 from the iTouch, possibly some time based errors are reduced. It's only been a few hours, a/b testing doesn't do much for me.

 

The HP-P1 has really come into full bloom after ~300 hours, not that I remember well what it was like. The bass has improved, it's very controlled and descends to subsonic well. Thoroughly enjoyable and I don't have a desire to change headphones. Soprano voice and piano are superb. I don't expect improvement from "burn in" of the interconnect.

 

Recordings I'm particularly familiar with used : Generally I enjoy microphone recordings. Images straight from Google images.

 

Bank Shot - Old recording, typical L C R microphone. Very clear and crisp for AAD.

Ice Age - New recording of orchestral performance, awesome dynamics and imaging.

Guns N' Roses - Studio cleanly recorded rock. Left, right, centre imaging/or lack of is completely clear.

New Conceptions - The bass is very boom due to the mic technique, but the resolving power of the system keeps it from blooming too much.

The Duke - Studio jazz session. Beautifully captured and presented. Dynamic, clear and vivid. 

Bach Cantatas - Marvellous vocal solo. Amazing how well this system performs.

Angles - Studio rock-alternative. Very tight, superb control. Good dynamics.

 

I think old mono restorations would sound lovely on this system. I'm becoming more impressed with the HP-P1, I think it's a pinnacle of the product genre in every way so far ... yes even that bag thing for make the HP-P1 wearable is well though out.

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

 

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to post, very clear and understandable.  Questions por favor?

What are the impedance of your Grado's?  What settings do you use on the Fostex? Gain and for the digital filter?

For everyone, do you use the digital filter and what differences does it make?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saraguie 

 

Thanks for taking the time to post, very clear and understandable.  Questions por favor?

What are the impedance of your Grado's?  What settings do you use on the Fostex? Gain and for the digital filter?

 

For everyone, do you use the digital filter and what differences does it make?

Thanks, it's holidays here. The Grado's are 32ohm, the Fostex is set to minimum gain.

Digital filter 2 for acoustic and most often stays there. I find the filter works pretty much as Fostex says it's intended to. I do like to switch it about sometimes, I don't think it's wasted on me. 

The HP-P1 demo is listed at $599.99 at moon-audio. But considering it is a demo unit, is it a good buy? Thanks!

I think it's basically a unit in new condition. So it's $50 off because it's not as new as an unopened box. I really like the HP-P1 I have, so take that into account.

There's a nice looking set going for the same price in the FS column...