Altmann Tera Player - Page 7  

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenman345 

I'm glad I can also inspire you. Why can't you use your CIEM's?

 

I read an old post of Charles' about the natural and essential progression of upgrades and such that he seemed to feel necessary to being able to understand all the Tera Player has to offer. I think my AS-2's helped skip a few leaps. I think when people also get their hands on them they will find the same things I have, which is that low quality mp3's or other files of low quality sound like putting 96kbps mp3's through a multi thousand dollar speaker system and the file just being torn apart it as its not giving enough information to the drivers to reproduce the sound like it should. I pretty much go for lossless only, and while I have downloaded albums off the web in the past, I rather buy the CD or from a site with extremely high quality as I feel I can hear the difference between what others say is high quality on the web and what I get from as original and quality fueled source (CD or online stores) as possible. I've bought a few albums at least 5 times because of my venture for higher and higher quality. 

 

When I eventually get the Tera Player, I plan on enjoying it to its fullest, and after a month or two, will start my review. I like being very familiar with a device before I review or attempt to review it. I currently have only started writing reviews, so I am working on reviewing the gear I have and getting my process figured out before I review gear for companies where I have a limited amount of time with the item. my 240gb diyMod should be shipping to me today, very excited to hear that next bump in audio quality. Got a burn in station ready to go for it to be burnt in to the extreme. Testing it out right now as I burn in a new LOD. I can't wait till I have saved up enough to be able to sell some of my extra gear I dont need that will put me over the edge financially to purchase the Tera Player. I figure once i am set with the diyMod rig anything I dont need can be sold and used to finance such a large purchase. Kinda wish the Stealth model didn't cost so much more, would be cool.

 

I have a few DIY ideas for my Tera Player when I get it. Through all my audiophile adventures in the past year I have met some amazing people and I am pretty sure I am able to produce myself or get help from people in the community with advice and help in order to make some nifty things for the player. One idea is make a clip on attachment for the device that makes it into a watch with a thin Digital display to protect the front of the tera player. It actually might be a cheap watch in total, if you consider what else is out there in terms of watches.

Some medical condition.  Right ear is OK with dry earwax, but for some reason, I get moist earwax in my left ear.  So if I use IEMs, it pushes the wax down and eventually gets very solid.  So have to have a doctor vacuum it out or use special medicine.  Not worth the maintenance.

Do you rockbox your diyMod?  Not sure if people still Rockbox, that was years ago when I rockboxed my first iPod.  And of course, the iRiver H1X0 was made to be Rockboxed.

It would be nice if the Stealth model was pure black.  No word etchings at all.

I was thinking how great it would be to connect a iRiver remote to the Tera Player.  But WAV does not embed metadata.  And I think the remote is brainless without the iRiver player.

Here is a photo of the remote:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/542712/sold-iriver-h120-h140-lcd-remote-mint

I plan to just use mine in my shirt pocket if I am fortunate enough to get one.

But I have seen some mods here where they attach a DAP to the HP, then shorten the cable so much, that makes it look wireless.

I dont mean opening it up, I mean adding onto it. like, over the top of. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFlight 

As far as DIY mods, I would not recommend them as the Tera is assembled with security fasteners and if opened, the warranty is invalid.

.....that's not the entire idea, just a part of it......it seems when I say something here I need to be 100% precise, but that is not my plans. I am not going to elaborate on something I havent figured out yet. The clock is meant as protection of the casing and provide functionality when I'm not using it. Pretty much think flipping over the face of a watch to find a tera player....that enough detail?

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFlight 


Sorry, but there is no possible way to attach the an iRiver H120 remote to the Tera Player. As a matter of fact, the interface of the Tera is less complicated than that of the iRiver remote. If you place a plastic cover of some sort over it to try to make a watch, I don't see how you would access the control buttons. As simple as the UI on the Tera is, you can access the menu selections while it is inside a shirt pocket.

I haven't heard the Attraction DAC, but the person who introduced me to the Naim DAC was a big fan of the Attraction. My Leben/Naim setup sounds quite similar to the Tera.

I will say that the Tera has an organic rightness to it, probably due to its lack of distortion and jitter. And Charles did design it with long term listening in mind. You can listen to it for long periods and at dangerously high volume levels without even noticing. It's a transcendent product that could have only been designed by a genius with a single minded purpose.

I tried the Tera Altmann player today.

They had a memory card already loaded with classical music.

I enjoyed it, it does have a black background - which i didnt really understand what a black background was before I listened to it.

The sound was very clear and non-fatiguing as has been written before. The player is quite easy to use.

I did enjoy listening to it and can see why people are happy with it, a nice small form factor instead of carrying a brick hamburger.

Not a buy for me as I already have the Fostex hp_p1.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExpatinJapan 

I tried the Tera Altmann player today.

 

They had a memory card already loaded with classical music.

 

I enjoyed it, it does have a black background - which i didnt really understand what a black background was before I listened to it.

 

The sound was very clear and non-fatiguing as has been written before. The player is quite easy to use.

I did enjoy listening to it and can see why people are happy with it, a nice small form factor instead of carrying a brick hamburger.

 

Not a buy for me as I already have the Fostex hp_p1.

Wowsers, that was fast.  Thank you / Arigato for taking one for the team and for your impressions.

So jelly that you can just pop in and listen.

Sounds like a very positive experience.

Black background, non-fatiguing, organic, analogue, lack of jitter, resolving, dynamic, holographic, rich, heaven, nirvana, fantastic & fulsome.  I love those words.  Not trying at all to hype anything up, those are keywords I look for when making an expensive decision.

I am a little surprised by the ease of use, I figure there is a somewhat learning curve.

brick hamburger :)  I still remember lugging around a iRiver H140 => Old School Sysconcept Cable => Microdac => RnB LOD => SR-71 in a camera bag.  Not sure how to describe that, something > hamburger.  But that remote, I love the iRiver remote control, hanging outside the camera bag clipped to the straps.

Yes, small form factor is probably 2nd to SQ these days for I.

Yep, difficult to justify if purchases were recent.  I could not justify if I had a DX100.  I could, but it would not be easy considering the price point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vert 

 

I haven't heard the Attraction DAC, but the person who introduced me to the Naim DAC was a big fan of the Attraction. My Leben/Naim setup sounds quite similar to the Tera.

 

I will say that the Tera has an organic rightness to it, probably due to its lack of distortion and jitter. And Charles did design it with long term listening in mind. You can listen to it for long periods and at dangerously high volume levels without even noticing. It's a transcendent product that could have only been designed by a genius with a single minded purpose.

That's wonderful how you can even use your expensive Leben/Naim setup with this portable DAP in the same sentence.  It is a testament to this player.  I think the review @ Headfonia also used the expensive RSA Dark Star in the same sentence with this player.  It was a positive review at that site, but I do not trust that review as they used low-recording-sound-level WAVs for the review.  I cannot believe semi-professional audio reviewers can even make that mistake at that site.

Thanks for your impressions and congrats on getting your player at a good value.  Organic is probably my favorite keyword next to analogue.  The long-term and non-fatiguing also plays a factor.  That is one of the reasons why I picked up the Ultrasone E9's, along with SQ and portability.  That is one of the reasons why I may pick up a Tera Player.

Genius is great and all, but if genius did not produce results... we probably would of never heard of him.  I think genius produced here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFlight 


Sorry, but there is no possible way to attach an iRiver H120 remote to the Tera Player. As a matter of fact, the interface of the Tera is less complicated than that of the iRiver remote. If you place a plastic cover of some sort over it to try to make a watch, I don't see how you would access the control buttons. As simple as the UI on the Tera is, you can access the menu selections while it is inside a shirt pocket.

No worries, that was at best, a pipe dream.  I use the iRiver H120/D10 in a tiny case on my belt and the remote clipped to my shirt.  I am more than sure you know this UI since you had more than your fair share of iRivers'/D1x.  Since I use the remote on my shirt, it will be no different than using the TP inside a shirt pocket.  I am already use to the Shirt UI.

I just imagine how great it would be to connect the two, since the TP lacks a display.  But even if that was remotely possible, it would probably add to the overhead and size.  In a perfect world, maybe the two can co-exists in the same small footprint.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFlight 


I would suggest emailing Charles regarding a payment method other than Paypal. He answers his emails very promptly.
Prior to ordering my Tera, I questioned Charles about whether v0 or v1 would be most appropriate for my needs. He suggested v0 and I am very pleased with my choice. I used my Tera mostly with IEM's, but also with my Sony F1 (24 ohms 100 dB/mW) and Thunderpants planars (50 ohms, 93 dB/mW). The F1 is driven with authority and I use nowhere near full volume. The Thunderpants requires full volume to deliver a volume level slightly more than my usual listening level.
For high-impedance phones, v1 would likely be the best choice, but as the Ed. 9 is pretty low impedance and fairly easy to drive, I would suspect v0 would suffice, however if you listen at high volume levels, v1 would probably deliver more volume. I would again suggest asking Charles. I do know that he normally recommends v0 unless there are specific challenges with headphones, such as using the HD600 or other hard-to-drive cans. Charles states that v0 is capable of 3x the volume of an ipod vs 5x for v1.
As far as DIY mods, I would not recommend them as the Tera is assembled with security fasteners and if opened, the warranty is invalid.

You are correct and thank you Sir, Charles is very responsive.

A bank transfer is my only option.  If anyone has had a successful bank transfer, please chime in.  Not a bit worried, just nice to have confirmations.

The Ed. 9's are around 32 ohms.  I will probably play it safe with v0.  Do not want to risk accidental hearing damage, since as you stated, the Ed. 9's are easy to drive.  Yes, I got the same answer from Charles, v0=3xiPod, v1=5xiPod.

I would not know where to begin with taking stuff apart.  The most I have done is battery, HD and your fabulous easy-to-install with good instructions topkits.  That is the most extent of my abilities.  I would of loved to try the Black Gates Cap mods, but way over my head and not necessary now since the TP is on my radar. 

My last ambition was to upgrade the H120 to a 128GB SSD, but could not justify with new DAPs on the horizon and because of high cost.

And now I can fit that in my shirt pocket with > SQ, less heat, energy consumption for the size of 2 9V batteries that I use in the SR-71 that plays 24/96 & 24/192?  Want!!

Happy to report that I am 1/4 of the way there. Hopefully should have all the money within 5 weeks or less. 

I've finally heard this player yesterday. I think out of all of the audiophile DAPs that I've auditioned so far including the DX100 and HM-801, this one is clearly superior and the one that really temps my wallet seriously. No matter how good the other audiophile DAPs sound, they are simply too big and clunky for general use and therefore, the Tera's small form-factor is a breath of fresh air. 

In terms of the sound, I find the Tera to be quite neutral at least when compared to the HM-801, HM-602 and HM-603 which can lean to the dark side and the DX-100 which was simply too bright for me. Detail-retrieval is pretty good, although overall not as revealing as the DX-100. The stand-out thing for me though is the immensely pitch-black background that rivals my desktop source setup which is pretty damn impressive in its own rights and therefore, this helps instruments and vocals to really pop out and sound very real. If I have to nitpick, this DAP sounds a bit to the lean side and I could definitely use a tad more bass but as it is the Tera is best audiophile portable music player that I've heard yet.