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JDS Labs C5 portable amplifier appreciation + discussion thread (check 1st post for review) - Page 47

post #691 of 1009
3/22/13 at 9:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by luisdent View Post

Oh!!!  I forgot to show you the incredibly sexy new faceplates they sent me!

 

 

 

AppleMark

 

AppleMark

 

AppleMark

 

 

AppleMark

 

AppleMark

Wow those look really nice! I like the Eye of Ra.

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post #692 of 1009
3/22/13 at 9:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by miceblue View Post

Wow those look really nice! I like the Eye of Ra.

 

For any APP fans :-)  My favorite is the stereotomy.  That is my actual use amp cover. It's so sexy in black.

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post #693 of 1009
3/22/13 at 11:56pm

Man, I'm loving the synergy between the C5 and the K 701. The C5's smaller soundstage does justice for the K 701's odd center imaging.

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post #694 of 1009
3/23/13 at 12:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jseaber View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by miceblue View Post

Nice impressions nOtEcH!

 

I have a question about the ISP programmer.

  • I soldered the ISP headers onto the C5
  • I attached the female end of the pocket programmer to the ISP header pins
  • I tried to go through the suggested downloads and workarounds for Windows 7 but none of them seem to come to any decisive conclusions and/or the download links for the drivers are unavailable
  • Trying to upload the plain, unaltered code to the C5 from Arduino's software (I have the C5's board selected in Tools -> Boards, I get the following error:

 

 

 

 

Try Adafruit's USBTiny drivers for Win7. I haven't had success with Sparkfun's drivers or workarounds on Win7 x64. Drivers are the biggest battle.

 

Switch C5 on after connecting the USBTiny. Then from Arduino, use File-->Upload Using Programmer. Its power light will remain off, but that supplies +5V power to the Atmega168.

I'm still having trouble getting the pocket programmer to work.

 

I installed the USBTinyISP driver for Windows 7 [64-bit] using the x86 .exe file in that zip folder, as well as re-naming and moving the .dll file to the directory specified in the README file.

I also installed the latest version of WinAVR just in case with the detailed instructions.

 

Opening Arduino and using File -> Upload Using Programmer, I get the following error:

[In Arduinio, the programmer I'm using is the AVR ISP under Tools -> Programmer]

 

Quote:
Binary sketch size: 4,914 bytes (of a 14,336 byte maximum)
avrdude: ser_open(): can't open device "\\.\COM1": The system cannot find the file specified.
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post #695 of 1009
3/23/13 at 1:44am

does anyone have any impressions on the combination of C5 with the M100s?  I am really interested in the C5 but i will be mainly using it with the M100s and I am unsure whether there would be a significant enough difference of using a portable amp with such easy to drive headphones... so you think there is a noticeable improvement of the overall sound or treble, mids in particular..? I don't think I would be using the bass boost much since i'm already more than satisfied with the bass sound the M100 delivers...

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post #696 of 1009
3/23/13 at 2:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jseaber View Post

The Blue LED is hardwired to an open-drain status output of the charging IC.

There's an empty spot for a second LED on the board. That pin supports PWM, so you can adjust LED brightness. We can provide a custom endplate and I'm sure I can dig up the code to go with it.

So you actually need to buy and solder the second LED than. So what's the LED used and where can I get one.

Quote:
Originally Posted by luisdent View Post

A few questions.  I've been double amping my apogee duet into my c5 with my ety er-4s.  It is simply phenomenal.  The duet is already phenomenal, but the 32 ohm impedance attenuates the bass.  No good.  So the c5 acts as an impedance corrector.  Anyway.  I notice that the duet sounds even better than the ipod line out.  Now, the itunes files are lossless and my ipod is 256aac, HOWEVER, i've done a double blind test of lossless vs aac on my ipod, and although i could tell the difference, it was not as big as the difference between the two devices.  It was very hard to tell the difference in most cases between formats.  The devices are easy to tell the difference between.  I don't mean that the differences are great, but rather it's just easier to hear them than the format comparison.

The bass is yet again a little more "firm" and there appears to be more body and thickness to notes, but this time, unlike the ipod, the quality is an improvement.  It doesn't hinder the spaciousness or anything.  It's like it's identical quality wise, but everything almost sounds more speaker like.  I'm just almost in shock at how absolutely awesome the er-4s bass sounds with this setup.  It's still awesome with the ipod, but it's just a bit more firm which really makes it sound great.  Any idea why this would be the case?  Is it possible the duet DAC is that much better than the ipod?  Would an objective DAC maybe give me the same results?  Just curious.  I'm content and loving both setups completely, but the duet/c5 combo is just awesome.  I'll throw some lossless files on my ipod later and listen for a while, but I really don't think it is that (maybe i'm wrong).
I've actually tried comparing the C5 with my home stereo speaker/headphone amp that I use for home listening and though the C5 might not be as powerful, level matched it sounds the same! and I was glad that going portable I would still get the same or similar sq. Add the UD-100 DAC that I've compared and sounds even better than my desktop DAC the Citypulse Audio DA-2.03e II, I don't even miss my home setup.It's not only the bass that gets better defined or smooth sounding,the mids and highs all gets much more clearer or louder like you've said.The whole sound just blends so well that you just get into musical listening bliss.This is with the vmoda m-100 though as no matter how good IEMS are, you can't really get the impact,smoothness and sub level sound that full size cans gives you. So IMO, going with a good DAC will definitely improve things.Not all will agree with me on this as some say that adding a better DAC just gives you minor improvements but I'm a believer of the garbage in,garbage out saying so if your source is good than a great amp will just give you good sound but if you've got great source than amplifying with a great amp would definitely yield you great sounding music....the only flaw being it's not forgiving on bad source.


Quote:
Originally Posted by luisdent View Post

Oh!!!  I forgot to show you the incredibly sexy new custom cases John sent me.
I'm jealous..those are nice!
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post #697 of 1009
3/23/13 at 4:45am
Double post.
Edited by rckyosho - 3/23/13 at 4:47am
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post #698 of 1009
3/23/13 at 11:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by darkportent View Post

does anyone have any impressions on the combination of C5 with the M100s?  I am really interested in the C5 but i will be mainly using it with the M100s and I am unsure whether there would be a significant enough difference of using a portable amp with such easy to drive headphones... so you think there is a noticeable improvement of the overall sound or treble, mids in particular..? I don't think I would be using the bass boost much since i'm already more than satisfied with the bass sound the M100 delivers...

The C5 sounds great with the M-100's. the soundstage opens up a bit, not to the extent of the O2 but it's still pretty spacious. Like what rckyosho said, the bass gets more defined and the mids are moved a bit more forward from my listening experience. The highs gain a little more definition too. These comparisons are between the C5 and the iPhone 4S since that's how I use the M-100's (AKA as a portable/mobile setup).

The bass boost is too much, for me, when sitting down in a quiet environment, but it actually works really well when there is a lot of background ambient noise (i.e. in a bus, waiting outside near a busy street, etc.).
Edited by miceblue - 3/23/13 at 11:07am
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post #699 of 1009
3/23/13 at 1:16pm

My first post. I made an account so I could review the c5.

 

This is my first headphone amp. I had been considering the HP-P1 and some other much higher priced gear, but realized that I'm not likely to be a serious headphone enthusiast at present, so I got to looking at other options. The c421 got excellent reviews and the early reviews of the c5 were good, so I bought one.

 

Most of my serious listening is of 96/48 upsampled digital files ripped from CD via XLD to my Mac mini and played through my Sony DA777-ES and my PSB Synchrony 2 towers. I realized some time back that I couldn't sync my iPhone to my Mini library because all the high def files wouldn't sync. So, I started over and coverted the high def files to 48/16 and that's what I have on my iPhone.

 

I got my c5 and then realized I couldn't buy a LOD anywhere, so I waited until my Fiio showed up before reviewing things.

 

My portable set up is my iPhone 4s 64G -> LOD -> c5 -> Klipsch Image One headphones which I picked up a couple of years ago for when flying.

 

 

The Image Ones are a little light on the bass, and the c5 with the bass boost on the lowest setting works remarkably well at filling out the bass just right.

 

Here are some of the pieces I listen to when evaluating my music equipment

Spin Doctors - Two Princes

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band - Blue On Black

Five Finger Death Punch - The Bleeding Acoustic

Foo Fighters - Everlong Acoustic

Pachelbel - Canon in D

Harry Connick Jr - Blue Light, Red Light

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge

Stevie Ray Vaughn - Life By The Drop

 

The highest compliment that I can give to the c5 is that it makes everything better, but that I otherwise don't notice it. Run through the c5, my music does a very good imitation of the sound I get from my home system, and that's ultimately what I'm after.

 

Second best audio purchase ever after my PSB speakers.

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post #700 of 1009
3/23/13 at 1:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by miceblue View Post

The bass boost is too much, for me, when sitting down in a quiet environment, but it actually works really well when there is a lot of background ambient noise (i.e. in a bus, waiting outside near a busy street, etc.).

 

I agree on both points.  At work I don't find the bass boost that bad.  Really intently listening at home at night and it's simply too much.  Let's all get John to make the next model with a two option +3 +6 switch ;) ;)

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post #701 of 1009
3/23/13 at 2:05pm

Well, I think I've come to a satisfactory situation with my ipod/c5 physical placement/connection.  The store allowed me to exchange my lightning adapter for the adapter with no cable length on it.  That works a lot better.  The fiio cables still tend to stress outwards and don't allow a perfectly straight connection where I can lay the device on the amp easily.  However, I fixed that by using a wide removable zip tie that I cut the ends off of.  So now both ipods sit well on the c5.

 

In some configurations the volume is very difficult to get to.  I don't like blocking anything on the front with the device input.  I realize connecting on the back might make the cable situation worse as the bottom of the device is usually the line-out, at least with ipods.  So, I'm not sure what the best fix would be.  Perhaps there is no better way...?  Volume on the side might be nice.  That would actually be very nice, maybe on the front right side on the right plane.

 

Anyhow, here are some photos if you're considering using an ipod and a fiio adapter.

 

This wouldn't be bad if the volume wasn't blocked.  Deal breaker for me.

 

 

This would be good, but there is a reasonable amount of strain if you want the device straight on top of the c5.

 

 

Same as the first, but with an ipod classic.  Again, perfect if it didn't block the volume.

 

 

Solution?  Straight line-out cable with a thick zip tie with ends cut off.  This keeps the strain off the jacks.  It might not be perfect for the cable (although it seems fine), but I'd rather buy another $12 cable than a $189 amp.  The newest ipod touch is longer and the adapter increases the overall length, but it still sits on the c5 with no problem.

 

 

Side view.

 

 

Zip tie cable with the ipod classic = best situation.

 


Edited by luisdent - 3/23/13 at 2:08pm
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post #702 of 1009
3/23/13 at 4:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by luisdent View Post

Well, I think I've come to a satisfactory situation with my ipod/c5 physical placement/connection.  The store allowed me to exchange my lightning adapter for the adapter with no cable length on it.  That works a lot better.  The fiio cables still tend to stress outwards and don't allow a perfectly straight connection where I can lay the device on the amp easily.  However, I fixed that by using a wide removable zip tie that I cut the ends off of.  So now both ipods sit well on the c5.

 

In some configurations the volume is very difficult to get to.  I don't like blocking anything on the front with the device input.  I realize connecting on the back might make the cable situation worse as the bottom of the device is usually the line-out, at least with ipods.  So, I'm not sure what the best fix would be.  Perhaps there is no better way...?  Volume on the side might be nice.  That would actually be very nice, maybe on the front right side on the right plane.

 

Anyhow, here are some photos if you're considering using an ipod and a fiio adapter.

 

This wouldn't be bad if the volume wasn't blocked.  Deal breaker for me.

Photos (Click to show)

 

This would be good, but there is a reasonable amount of strain if you want the device straight on top of the c5.

 

 

Same as the first, but with an ipod classic.  Again, perfect if it didn't block the volume.

 

 

 

 

Solution?  Straight line-out cable with a thick zip tie with ends cut off.  This keeps the strain off the jacks.  It might not be perfect for the cable (although it seems fine), but I'd rather buy another $12 cable than a $189 amp.  The newest ipod touch is longer and the adapter increases the overall length, but it still sits on the c5 with no problem.

 

 

Side view.

 

 

Zip tie cable with the ipod classic = best situation.

 

Nice. I might have to go with a zip-tie as well. I thought I was the only one with the FiiO cable fiasco, hahaha.

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post #703 of 1009
3/23/13 at 7:58pm
I think if you guys just get a longer LOD cable and turn the IPOD the other way round the cable would easily go under the IPOD and between the C5 and would not cause any stress and accessibility would be better no?
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post #704 of 1009
3/23/13 at 11:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rckyosho View Post

I think if you guys just get a longer LOD cable and turn the IPOD the other way round the cable would easily go under the IPOD and between the C5 and would not cause any stress and accessibility would be better no?

 

That was essentially the cable I had.  The problem was that it either covered the ipod screen, was between the devices keeping the ipod from sitting on the amp flat or under the amp keeping it from sitting flat on the surface it's on.  Plus it was just a bit more of an unruly cable situation. just because it was more cabling in general.  The shorted cable is working nicely with the zip tie. :)

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post #705 of 1009
3/24/13 at 12:42am

I'm using the Fiio L9 between the iPod Classic and C5 for now.  I may get the ALO Audio Cricket, but it's kind of expensive.

CREATOR: gd-jpeg v1.0 (using IJG JPEG v62), quality = 90

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