Apex Glacier amp/dac review and appreciation thread

[daniel_hokkaido]

hmm dont know if its idevice compatible man. I doubt it, as you have to pay apple for the privilege

 

[Rexgabriel]

I'm getting lots of negative vibes about wether or not it will be compatible. I did however read somewhere (wish I could find it again) that iPhone 5 supports the "USB Audio" standard. Alas no-one in my town has a USB female/Micro USB male adapter in my town. I've ordered one from Seattle (I'm in the Midwest) and it should be here sometime next week. If it doesn't work then fortunately TTVJ has a thirty day return policy.

How are others connecting their devices?

Waiting on that of course was not possible, so I went straight from the headphone jack.
On the sound so far, it controls my Hippo Shrooms better than the iPhone mini jack, reducing sibilance (though not eliminating), and playing them louder with less distortion. I know these are not worthy of this amp so I've got some AD2000's coming early next week as well. I'm looking forward to a transformation!

PS. I like metal to be "In the white"

 

[AnakChan]

Had a chance to play with this product for quite some time today. No doesn't work USB doesn't work with iDevice, I brought my iPad's CCK along even.

Anyway, I have to be honest I've not really heard or spent much time eith the TTVJ slim but this Glacier packs a punch - more particularly so with the V-Moda M-100. I only used it in amp mode with my iPhone & iPad so never tested the CL DAC but the amp feels fast , energetic & was great on the bass of the M-100.

If i have time I may go back tomorrow & bring my ALO Rx Mk3 to do a side-by-side.

 

[turokrocks]

Quote:

Had a chance to play with this product for quite some time today. No doesn't work USB doesn't work with iDevice, I brought my iPad's CCK along even.
Anyway, I have to be honest I've not really heard or spent much time eith the TTVJ slim but this Glacier packs a punch - more particularly so with the V-Moda M-100. I only used it in amp mode with my iPhone & iPad so never tested the CL DAC but the amp feels fast , energetic & was great on the bass of the M-100.
If i have time I may go back tomorrow & bring my ALO Rx Mk3 to do a side-by-side.

 
 
Great....

,  now I am more interested.

 

[AnakChan]

Quote:

Had a chance to play with this product for quite some time today. No doesn't work USB doesn't work with iDevice, I brought my iPad's CCK along even.
Anyway, I have to be honest I've not really heard or spent much time eith the TTVJ slim but this Glacier packs a punch - more particularly so with the V-Moda M-100. I only used it in amp mode with my iPhone & iPad so never tested the CL DAC but the amp feels fast , energetic & was great on the bass of the M-100.
If i have time I may go back tomorrow & bring my ALO Rx Mk3 to do a side-by-side.

 
Tested the Rx Mk3 side-by-side with the Glacier today. Power-wise, the Rx Mk3 still has an edge over the Glacier, but having said that the Glacier still has plenty. The Glacier still has an impactful bass in comparison to the Rx Mk3 - and I tried the bass boost on the Rx Mk3 too. All else above comments (fast, energetic, etc.) still stands.

I'm quite impressed by this DAC/Amp.

P.S. For fun we tried hooking up an iPhone 5 to the Glacier via the Lighting microUSB adapter + VentureCraft MicroUSB <-> MicroUSB cable (built for the Samsung Galaxy S3 + VentureCraft's Go-DAP X actually). Unfortunately it didn't work. The iPhone 5 failed to recognise the Glacier. :-
 
 

 

[seraphkz]

How does this compare to O2/ODAC?

 

[rmappita]

Hi AnakChan,

I had the first bat of MK3-B and I sold it because it did not work well with my customs IEMs ( hiss and channel imbalance), And I know that Alo changed that with the new amps. Now I need to buy a new portable amp for my JH audio IEMs and the UM Merlin, I am trying to decide between Alo Rx Mk2, RSA 71-A and the TTVJ Glacier. Could you give some impressions about The glacier vs IEMs?


Thank You,
Rodrigo

 

[AnakChan]

Quote:

How does this compare to O2/ODAC?

 
Unfortunately I don't have the ODAC/O2. I think one Japan Head-Fi member was building the ODAC (not certain if complete) and another has a completed O2.
Quote:

Hi AnakChan,
I had the first bat of MK3-B and I sold it because it did not work well with my customs IEMs ( hiss and channel imbalance), And I know that Alo changed that with the new amps. Now I need to buy a new portable amp for my JH audio IEMs and the UM Merlin, I am trying to decide between Alo Rx Mk2, RSA 71-A and the TTVJ Glacier. Could you give some impressions about The glacier vs IEMs?
Thank You,
Rodrigo

 
I actually have one of the first (if not the first ) Mk3. I actually had Ken reduce the low gain further to get pass the channel imbalance and in general have been quite happy with it since. I can't comment on the Rx Mk2 nor the SR-71A (but have the SR-71B).
 
Yesterday I tried the Glacier with the V-Moda M-100 but today I tried it with my UM SE530x8 custom tuned. I don't recall hearing any hiss on the Glacier and it drove the SE530x8 well (but then again the SE530x8 doesn't really need that much grunt).  I wish I brought my FitEar TO GO! 334 'cos that is very sensitive to picking up hiss. If I get a chance with the Glacier again, I'll try it with the TG!334.
 
Sorry, wish I could provide more feedback.

 

[Kunlun]

I'm hearing a very nice black background on Heir Audio 6.A and 8.A.
 
The DAC is very nice, too.

 

[turokrocks]

Quote:

I'm hearing a very nice black background on Heir Audio 6.A and 8.A.
 
The DAC is very nice, too.

 
How does the gain switch work?

 

[seraphkz]

I'm trying to buy a DAC/AMP combo for my K701 and Grado PS500.
I'm debating on either get
1) The glacier amp/dac
2) The O2/ODAC
3) The Pan Am
Anyone have suggestions? Comments?

 

[roma101]

sub'd

 

[Rexgabriel]

 AnakChan; did you set the amp to not request power when you connected it to the iPhone 5?
Turockrocks; it's basically a toggle switch.

 

[AnakChan]

Quote:

 AnakChan; did you set the amp to not request power when you connected it to the iPhone 5?
Turockrocks; it's basically a toggle switch.

 
Shigzeo helped in doing the reset but only when we were trying the iPhone 5, but not when I was trying the iPad (with CCK+USB cable). I could try the reset with the iPad again however the iPad/iOS limit is 20mA which is way below the 100mA in the instructions so I won't be getting my hopes up. But happy to try it for the folks here again next time I get a chance with the Glacier (this weekend).

 

[shinn]

Quote:

 AnakChan; did you set the amp to not request power when you connected it to the iPhone 5?
Turockrocks; it's basically a toggle switch.

To you guys who already own the Glacier, do you use USB type-A to mini-B USB cable for computer uses into the Glacier's DAC? Because it's written in the manual instruction above that it is "Micro USB port" while I initially thought that the Glacier's input is Mini-B USB port instead of Micro, judging from the photos provided. I might be wrong. Thanks.