Light Harmonic Geek Out EM/1000 Impressions Thread
Apr 20, 2014 at 12:31 PM Post #301 of 2,322
I've only used iems a bit with GO1000, but it has such fine volume control, no problem using them. They do warn you not to put them in and turn it on without knowing the volume, rather check volume before putting them in, as it is very powerful, and could blow your ears out. I suppose it would be similar for efficient on or over ear phones
 
Apr 20, 2014 at 3:39 PM Post #303 of 2,322
  Interesting. Did you end up limiting the volume output of the MBA through Audirvana with the GO 1000? They confirmed that my 1000 is shipping this week and most people have stated that the GO 1000 is too powerful for IEMs. It makes sense that the GO 1000 would sound better overall since it has slightly better components and Larry did say that he spent more time fine tuning the 1000 than the others since it has a more complicated design.

With IEMs, I drop the Audirvana volume down to a bit over half and then use the Geek Out buttons to <really> lower the volume on it before playing the IEMs with them out of my ears first.
 
I recommend playing with your player and GO volume controls with a full-sized pair of headphones around your neck first to get the hang of things before trying IEMs with it.
 
Couple of things regarding IEMs:  There is the <slightest> hiss with UERM but it is just slightly there.  The 3D "Awesomifier" is good with HD800 but noisy with IEMs, whether the 450 or the 1000.  I can't use the 3D effect with IEMs.
 
Apr 20, 2014 at 4:12 PM Post #304 of 2,322
OK, latest in my sad tale. I shut down the PC for a while, see wah happened after reboot. In the meantime, I downloaded JRiver 18 for Mac, and learned that since I bought it, they upgraded and are now on 19. Macs are finicky, don't like to download non Apple store software, took me a while but downloaded, entered codes, upgraded to 19, imported media, plugged in GO 1000, nothing! (not completely true, music played through the computer speakers, but not through the GO. I thought the Mac version autoamically recognized GO and you didn't have to do anything, but I couldn't figure out how to get sound through the GO->headphones. (I have to say, I think documentation for this stinks-I can understand it from a Chinese company not set up in the US, but there is no excuse for the lack of guidance on this imo). Anyway, since I failed on the iMac, I went to see if the PC was behaving better since the reboot (remember, when I first got the GO, I installed the drivers to the PC and it was playing through JRiver fine, loved it in fact). The PC was now playing music through speakers (which it hadn't done before), but when I opened JRiver, tried to listen to music through GO, nothing. Not sure what to do next, getting frustrated. Any ideas? Thanks.
 
Apr 20, 2014 at 5:16 PM Post #305 of 2,322
Try this Mac set-up guide, it's well written. 

Make sure you select GO in AudioMidi and the Sound conttrol panel. I think the same goes for the PC, make sure the GO is select in  thecontrol panel and you have volume at 100%. My PC has 2 places to set volume..both have to be at 100%

http://geek.lhlabs.com/force/geekout/1040-geek-101-macintosh-set-up-guide.html

I think there is also a Jriver set-up guide at LH labs if you do a search. You'll need to locate drivers (PC version only) and it has it's own volume preference settings.
 
Apr 20, 2014 at 10:50 PM Post #306 of 2,322
OK, latest in my sad tale. I shut down the PC for a while, see wah happened after reboot. In the meantime, I downloaded JRiver 18 for Mac, and learned that since I bought it, they upgraded and are now on 19. Macs are finicky, don't like to download non Apple store software, took me a while but downloaded, entered codes, upgraded to 19, imported media, plugged in GO 1000, nothing! (not completely true, music played through the computer speakers, but not through the GO. I thought the Mac version autoamically recognized GO and you didn't have to do anything, but I couldn't figure out how to get sound through the GO->headphones. (I have to say, I think documentation for this stinks-I can understand it from a Chinese company not set up in the US, but there is no excuse for the lack of guidance on this imo). Anyway, since I failed on the iMac, I went to see if the PC was behaving better since the reboot (remember, when I first got the GO, I installed the drivers to the PC and it was playing through JRiver fine, loved it in fact). The PC was now playing music through speakers (which it hadn't done before), but when I opened JRiver, tried to listen to music through GO, nothing. Not sure what to do next, getting frustrated. Any ideas? Thanks.

 
I only have JRMC19 for Windows, and that machine is at my place of work right now. I'm not sure how different the Mac version is. I use Audirvana+ on the Mac.
 
You could always download the trial version of Audirvana+ just to see if you can get it up and going, but I'm sure if you've already paid for JRMC19 that's the way to go.
 
You can also get BitPerfect for all of $10, it really acts like a plug-in for iTunes, after the initial set-up you would just use iTunes as the controller app with BitPerfect running in the background.
 
But JRMC19 for Windows is a stellar app, I can't imagine the Mac version is very different even if still in beta.
 
Apr 20, 2014 at 11:24 PM Post #307 of 2,322
OK, latest in my sad tale. I shut down the PC for a while, see wah happened after reboot. In the meantime, I downloaded JRiver 18 for Mac, and learned that since I bought it, they upgraded and are now on 19. Macs are finicky, don't like to download non Apple store software, took me a while but downloaded, entered codes, upgraded to 19, imported media, plugged in GO 1000, nothing! (not completely true, music played through the computer speakers, but not through the GO. I thought the Mac version autoamically recognized GO and you didn't have to do anything, but I couldn't figure out how to get sound through the GO->headphones. (I have to say, I think documentation for this stinks-I can understand it from a Chinese company not set up in the US, but there is no excuse for the lack of guidance on this imo). Anyway, since I failed on the iMac, I went to see if the PC was behaving better since the reboot (remember, when I first got the GO, I installed the drivers to the PC and it was playing through JRiver fine, loved it in fact). The PC was now playing music through speakers (which it hadn't done before), but when I opened JRiver, tried to listen to music through GO, nothing. Not sure what to do next, getting frustrated. Any ideas? Thanks.


I remember on my Windows machine there was an LH Labs control panel of some sort that was automatically pinned to my Start menu after the driver installation.
 
Do you see that on your Windows machine and if so does it recognize the GO is connected?
 
Apr 21, 2014 at 8:38 AM Post #308 of 2,322
Not sure how close the Mac and Wildows JRiver is, the PC seems to have connected to DO again (not sure why), have to go through the set up again on the Mac. I would pay for new software for the Mac (though I did buy JRiver already), if it's worth it, in functionality, sound quality,ease of use. I see Audirvana is a common one. Got an offer for Amarra at discount fromsome site as well. Any ideas how they compare and if they would be better/easier than JRiver?
Thanks for the help
 
Apr 21, 2014 at 10:06 AM Post #310 of 2,322
Not sure how close the Mac and Wildows JRiver is, the PC seems to have connected to DO again (not sure why), have to go through the set up again on the Mac. I would pay for new software for the Mac (though I did buy JRiver already), if it's worth it, in functionality, sound quality,ease of use. I see Audirvana is a common one. Got an offer for Amarra at discount fromsome site as well. Any ideas how they compare and if they would be better/easier than JRiver?
Thanks for the help

 
Both Amarra and A+ have free trials, if you used these up before you can request another generally.
A+ has a better UI, is easier to use, and has some nice extra features, especially with oversampling. Both have great SQ and are within a hair of each other which likely comes down to personal preference.
 
Apr 21, 2014 at 10:45 AM Post #311 of 2,322
OK, latest in my sad tale. I shut down the PC for a while, see wah happened after reboot. In the meantime, I downloaded JRiver 18 for Mac, and learned that since I bought it, they upgraded and are now on 19. Macs are finicky, don't like to download non Apple store software, took me a while but downloaded, entered codes, upgraded to 19, imported media, plugged in GO 1000, nothing! (not completely true, music played through the computer speakers, but not through the GO. I thought the Mac version autoamically recognized GO and you didn't have to do anything, but I couldn't figure out how to get sound through the GO->headphones. (I have to say, I think documentation for this stinks-I can understand it from a Chinese company not set up in the US, but there is no excuse for the lack of guidance on this imo). Anyway, since I failed on the iMac, I went to see if the PC was behaving better since the reboot (remember, when I first got the GO, I installed the drivers to the PC and it was playing through JRiver fine, loved it in fact). The PC was now playing music through speakers (which it hadn't done before), but when I opened JRiver, tried to listen to music through GO, nothing. Not sure what to do next, getting frustrated. Any ideas? Thanks.

Hello,
 
What software do you use in Windows?  JRiver as well?
 
I think you also posted about this on the LHLabs forum.  Here what I posted there in case you are not the same person.
 
I think depending on if you turned on your PC with the GO plugged in or not, Windows may set the GO as the "Default Sound Device". You can check that in the Windows mixer. An easy way to go into the mixer is to right click the speaker on the taskbar and select "Playback Devices". There you should see the GO along with the PC's internal soundcard. If it is there, then Windows recognizes the GO is connected.

Now in Jriver, make sure that you select the GO as your output device. You have to go to Tools > Options > Audio > Audio Device. Click on Audio Devices and select the GO from the list. There might be different configurations available for the GO, like the following,

GeekOut (WASAPI)
GeekOut (Direct Sound)
GeekOut (HD Audio 1V0)

You need to select GeekOut (HD Audio 1V0) or GeekOut (WASAPI). Similar to Junker's post for the Mac. Now, Once this is done it doesn't matter if the GO is the default sound device for Windows or not, since it will always output to the GO and you should hear music on the GO. Actually, I would leave the PCs sound card as the default sound device and select the GO as the output on JRiver. This way, JRiver will use the driver installed to bypass the Windows sounds from the computer and you would get "bit perfect" playback. And whatever sounds you get from your computer like beeps or whatever will sound through your PC's speakers because Windows will use your PCs soundcard that was selected as the Default Playback Device in the Windows Mixer. If you have problems getting it to work, select GEEK OUT (Direct Sound). This will handle the sound to Windows and it will output to the GO. It is not reccomended because Windows will resample the music to whatever it has it configured, and it will degrade sound quality and it is not what this is about. But it is the guaranteed method for it to work.

If you want everything to sound on the GO, for like watching YouTube or Netflix, and experiment with the Awesomeifier for videos, or listen to Pandora or Spotify etc, then set the GeekOut as the default device on the Windows Mixer. Just click it and then click "Set Default". Now your PC will output everything to the GO. This does not affect JRiver's settings.
 
 
Apr 21, 2014 at 12:14 PM Post #313 of 2,322
 
+1, leave the default sound device for Windows system sounds as the computer's own sound card/internal speakers.
 
The only difference I have to the above in JRMC19 for Windows is I am using the "Light Harmonic (ASIO)" driver.
 
I also use the ASIO drivers for the Resonessence Labs Herus, and CEntrance M8 DACs too. ASIO seems to be best for me with all 3 DACs and JRMC19 for Windows, no glitches or weird malfunctions of any kind.
 
I plug the DAC into the computer first, then launch the JRMC application, however I don't remember if that was the same for the initial set-up, or only after that configuration has been completed.

 
Thank you! You might be right on that.
 
I don't have the Geek Out, I am waiting for a Pulse myself. So I don't really know exactly how JRiver "sees" the GeekOut after driver installation. I was guessing from what I saw on another post.
 
So it shows "Light Harmonic (ASIO)"  instead of GeekOut (HD Audio 1V0)?  or do you see both options?  
 
I guess "Light Harmonic (ASIO)" is the universal driver that can also be used for the Pulse and DaVinci?
 
In any case, doctorjazz, the message is to make sure you use the ASIO driver!!
 
Apr 21, 2014 at 1:55 PM Post #314 of 2,322
   
  So it shows "Light Harmonic (ASIO)"  instead of GeekOut (HD Audio 1V0)?  or do you see both options?  
 
I guess "Light Harmonic (ASIO)" is the universal driver that can also be used for the Pulse and DaVinci?
 
In any case, doctorjazz, the message is to make sure you use the ASIO driver!!

Yes that's correct, ASIO is the only choice available for the GO on my Windows 7 system in JRMC19, whereas the driver installation for the Resonessence Labs Herus DAC yields two options, ASIO or WASAPI.
 
I believe the Light Harmonic ASIO driver is universal/used for their Pulse and DaVinci too.
 
Both the CEntrance HiFi-M8 DAC, and the Musical Fidelity V-Link192 S/PDIF converter also only give JRMC19 options for ASIO after their drivers are installed. I'm not sure this is automatically the case in all versions of Windows however.
 
Apr 21, 2014 at 2:06 PM Post #315 of 2,322
 
I remember on my Windows machine there was an LH Labs control panel of some sort that was automatically pinned to my Start menu after the driver installation.
 
Do you see that on your Windows machine and if so does it recognize the GO is connected?


Footnote on this, I'm at my workplace using the Windows machine now, and I still see the aforementioned Light Harmonic Control Panel pinned to my Windows Start menu, however it is non-functional on my system.
 
I can open it, but it displays "no devices connected" under USB Audio Device, even though I am connected and playing music via JRMC19.
 
Additionally, it has a display field for Current Sample Rate, that field is blank.
 
Maybe this item, which was pinned to my Start menu automatically after the driver installation, is only meant to be used in Direct Sound mode?
 
I don't actually care because I can monitor the sample rate for any given track within JRMC19, but it is a small curiosity as to why this was pinned to my Start menu, but doesn't actually function in my configuration.
 

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