[dynamics]

Quote:

That's awesome hahaha!
 
3 o'clock is good, as anything before 12 has a channel imbalance issue on speakers.
I set it at 3 just in case it needs any extra room to settle down the balancing problem.
 
How do you like your A5+'s with the Essence One?
Which op-amps are you using?
Seems to me, that whichever op-amp you use, A5+ has great smooth treble, and good bass impact.
The LME49710 & LME49720 which is suppose to be more centralized on sound stage/detail/separation/treble still sounds great on the A5+.
It's actually my preferred as i felt prior bass was too over the top, and the LME49710/20 fixed the issue nicely.
Makes it sound more neutral which is nice.
 
With NE5532 sitting in I/V and LFP though....it's bass becomes overly emphasized, and that ends up covering up all the other features that i preferred.
 
Just thought like sharing.

 
Tim

Thanks for the info man.  I don't know the technical aspects as much as you.  But I'm using the muses edition and I have changed nothing at all on it.  I didn't buy the Essence One and do all the modding, cause I don't know how to do all that.  I went ahead and bought Muses directly from ASUS.
 
I love the combo of the A5+ and Essence One Muses.  They work very well together.
 
I know Muses has the 6 opamps muse01.  Are there any other amps inside the unit that could be changed to the muse01 opamps and will there be any benefits?
 
Or the ones that are in there what would you recommend to change them too?

 

[cssarrow]

Quote:

Thanks for the info man.  I don't know the technical aspects as much as you.  But I'm using the muses edition and I have changed nothing at all on it.  I didn't buy the Essence One and do all the modding, cause I don't know how to do all that.  I went ahead and bought Muses directly from ASUS.
 
I love the combo of the A5+ and Essence One Muses.  They work very well together.
 
I know Muses has the 6 opamps muse01.  Are there any other amps inside the unit that could be changed to the muse01 opamps and will there be any benefits?
 
Or the ones that are in there what would you recommend to change them too?

I have 8 muses01 op-amps total, i put them in headphone buffer and rca buffer, but to me, they didn't sound as good as the LME49710HA's on adapter pcb.
 
I wouldn't recommend you doing any other upgrades besides changing LM4562 to LME49710, but you're not going to gain a significant improvement, but it's there, and you can hear it without "listening for it".
Would be better if you bought pre-made ones and just popped them in.
Real simple, takes no skill.
 
You'll hear more of the difference on headphones (Denon AH-D7000).
For speakers, not so much, but again, it's there.
The A5+ sure sounds more like studio monitors with the muses01's don't they. 

If only they had made the A5+ with less parts restriction (in order to market it at a lower price), it could of been wayy better sounding speakers.
That's why i had to change the parts on mine.
It wasn't doing justice to how it's hardware was made to sound.
 
If you don't use XLR, you should just ignore changing those op-amps.
I don't have any op-amps in my XLR buffer, i gave them to Turokrocks.
 
Tim

 

[endeeinn]

Is anyone using Jplay & Foobar2000 with the E1?   If so what is the foobar and jplay configurations?   I can't get it to play with the Jplay asio driver.
 

 

[dynamics]

Quote:

I have 8 muses01 op-amps total, i put them in headphone buffer and rca buffer, but to me, they didn't sound as good as the LME49710HA's on adapter pcb.
 
I wouldn't recommend you doing any other upgrades besides changing LM4562 to LME49710, but you're not going to gain a significant improvement, but it's there, and you can hear it without "listening for it".
Would be better if you bought pre-made ones and just popped them in.
Real simple, takes no skill.
 
You'll hear more of the difference on headphones (Denon AH-D7000).
For speakers, not so much, but again, it's there.
The A5+ sure sounds more like studio monitors with the muses01's don't they. 

If only they had made the A5+ with less parts restriction (in order to market it at a lower price), it could of been wayy better sounding speakers.
That's why i had to change the parts on mine.
It wasn't doing justice to how it's hardware was made to sound.
 
If you don't use XLR, you should just ignore changing those op-amps.
I don't have any op-amps in my XLR buffer, i gave them to Turokrocks.
 
Tim

Thanks for the info.
 
The muse01 that Asus put in, do they affect the XLR buffer or no?
 
I'm not planning to do any upgrades at all by the way.  I'm very happy with the way it sounds.
 
I remember you saying you had Schiit bitfrost and one of their amps, how do they compare with the muses?  Do you prefer the muses sound signature more?

 

[cssarrow]

Quote:

Thanks for the info.
 
The muse01 that Asus put in, do they affect the XLR buffer or no?
 
I'm not planning to do any upgrades at all by the way.  I'm very happy with the way it sounds.
 
I remember you saying you had Schiit bitfrost and one of their amps, how do they compare with the muses?  Do you prefer the muses sound signature more?

the 6 spots the muses01 were put in affects all outputs.
 
There's always happier. 

 
Schiit Bifrost was good, but i preferred the E-One as a DAC.
What i prefer more as a DAC, was the NuForce DAC-100.
 
Amp wise, Essence One is surly nearly at the top of my list (2nd place).
I've only found the Bottlehead S.E.X. to be better, and i've trialed a bunch amps, so glad to say the Essence One is awesome.
LYR i've gotten a chance to trail over again, but this time with higher end tubes.
I'd say it's better the the Essence One, but barely.
 
I've never heard the Denon AH-D7000, that is probably my next headphone to try.
 
Tim

 

[Gandah]

Finally found a working stereo balance plugin for Foobar when using ASIO that some peeps maybe also interested in. It's a graphic equalizer which also has channel balancing, unlike the default equalizer which doesn't

You access it the same way as the default equalizer, Menu>View>Graphic Equalizer
 
Linkage http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=88504&st=0&p=755011&#entry755011

 

[dynamics]

Quote:

the 6 spots the muses01 were put in affects all outputs.
 
There's always happier. 

 
Schiit Bifrost was good, but i preferred the E-One as a DAC.
What i prefer more as a DAC, was the NuForce DAC-100.
 
Amp wise, Essence One is surly nearly at the top of my list (2nd place).
I've only found the Bottlehead S.E.X. to be better, and i've trialed a bunch amps, so glad to say the Essence One is awesome.
LYR i've gotten a chance to trail over again, but this time with higher end tubes.
I'd say it's better the the Essence One, but barely.
 
I've never heard the Denon AH-D7000, that is probably my next headphone to try.
 
Tim

Do you know if the NuForce DAC-100 has channel balance issues as well?
 
I've heard it's pretty common with analog volume controls.  So I don't know.
 
Another DAC I've heard good things about is the Micromega MyDac.  I've been curious to check out that one.  Also, they released a headphone amp too called MyZic. I might just order them and give it a try.
 
Another question, do you upsample everything to 24 192 or do you play bit perfect?  I have mine set at 24 96 and I'm very happy with it so far.  I had it at 24 192 before, but someone said to leave at 24 96, it's considered the sweet spot for most DACs :s.

 

[cssarrow]

Quote:

Do you know if the NuForce DAC-100 has channel balance issues as well?
 
I've heard it's pretty common with analog volume controls.  So I don't know.
 
Another DAC I've heard good things about is the Micromega MyDac.  I've been curious to check out that one.  Also, they released a headphone amp too called MyZic. I might just order them and give it a try.
 
Another question, do you upsample everything to 24 192 or do you play bit perfect?  I have mine set at 24 96 and I'm very happy with it so far.  I had it at 24 192 before, but someone said to leave at 24 96, it's considered the sweet spot for most DACs :s.

DAC-100 doesn't have the issue.
 
Micromega MyDac looks like an old school X-Box. $369 ain't so bad, I'll check out the MyZic's spec and get back to you on that.
 
Upsampling i pretty much never use.
Just Bit-Perfect has better frequencies to my ears.
The only time i play 24/96 is with tracks that are made like that.
 
You should compare the upsample to the original as blind test it to see which you prefer.
Try not to trust too much on other's comments.
I take everything with a grain of salt.
 
Tim

 

[dynamics]

Quote:

DAC-100 doesn't have the issue.
 
Micromega MyDac looks like an old school X-Box. $369 ain't so bad, I'll check out the MyZic's spec and get back to you on that.
 
Upsampling i pretty much never use.
Just Bit-Perfect has better frequencies to my ears.
The only time i play 24/96 is with tracks that are made like that.
 
You should compare the upsample to the original as blind test it to see which you prefer.
Try not to trust too much on other's comments.
I take everything with a grain of salt.
 
Tim

Thanks once again.
 
Yes, don't let the looks fool you on the MyDac.  I heard it's a top notch performer and the plastic enclosure was by design to help with sound quality as well.  I'm really curious to give that a try.
 
I've always had it upsampled even with sound cards so I guess I prefer that way, lol.  Even though there may not be much of  a difference if anything that's audible.

 

[cssarrow]

Quote:

Thanks once again.
 
Yes, don't let the looks fool you on the MyDac.  I heard it's a top notch performer and the plastic enclosure was by design to help with sound quality as well.  I'm really curious to give that a try.
 
I've always had it upsampled even with sound cards so I guess I prefer that way, lol.  Even though there may not be much of  a difference if anything that's audible.

Plastic Enclosure help with the sound quality?
Never heard that one before, as plastic is not a metal, does not conduct, which ultimately doesn't shield audio components.
Perhaps it has a thin layer of foil or something underneath.
 
Some good things to have (but doesn't ring awesome, as it's generally used):

1. Asynchronous USB/
   SPDIF
2. 24Bits/192kHz
3. No driver implementation needed for MAC
4. Low Noise Linear Power Supply
    

Somewhat Awesome:

1. Extremely low power consumption for standby
2. No electrolytic capacitors in the audio section (Audio Path)
3. No electrolytic capacitors in the power supply section

 
Makes me wonder how they're not using electrolytics for the PSU section.
 
For the upsampling, i do notice it within the first 5 seconds, it has a smoother sound, which isn't for me, as i like more sparkle.
Self preference too i suppose. 

 

[dynamics]

Quote:

Plastic Enclosure help with the sound quality?
Never heard that one before, as plastic is not a metal, does not conduct, which ultimately doesn't shield audio components.
Perhaps it has a thin layer of foil or something underneath.
 
Some good things to have (but doesn't ring awesome, as it's generally used):

1. Asynchronous USB/
   SPDIF
2. 24Bits/192kHz
3. No driver implementation needed for MAC
4. Low Noise Linear Power Supply
    

Somewhat Awesome:

1. Extremely low power consumption for standby
2. No electrolytic capacitors in the audio section (Audio Path)
3. No electrolytic capacitors in the power supply section

 
Makes me wonder how they're not using electrolytics for the PSU section.
 
For the upsampling, i do notice it within the first 5 seconds, it has a smoother sound, which isn't for me, as i like more sparkle.
Self preference too i suppose. 

Well, you know more than I do about the technical side, but here is a quote from one of the makers regarding the plastic case, “The reasons for the plastic case are more than one. The plastic case is an important part of the design. By choosing totally non-magnetic material, we are able to control all fields at the board level. This is more predictable than a metallic case.”
 
If I do get it to try it out,  I'll let you know how it compares to the Essence Muses.
 
I've also thought about giving a try to Audiolab M-DAC.

 

[cssarrow]

Yes!
Do let me know!
I love the aesthetics on the M-DAC, pure simplicity!
 
Boo hoo, I've always wanted a DAC with a Sabre 9018 D/A chip.
 
LUCKY GUY!
 
Whatever your decision is, be sure to compare it to the Essence One, i'm always looking for an upgrade on the cheap.
 
Tim

 

[qqexpress]

Hey guys, don't want to sound like spam (and I know this isn't the for sale forums), but would anyone here be interested in buying the original Asus Xonar Essence One ($425 + 4% pp + ship)? I have one for sale in the amp section.

 

[Gandah]

Quote:

Hey guys, don't want to sound like spam (and I know this isn't the for sale forums), but would anyone here be interested in buying the original Asus Xonar Essence One ($425 + 4% pp + ship)? I have one for sale in the amp section.

Price is a bit on the high side considering you can pick the original E1 up for $387 band new with warranty. Not trying to make you feel bad or anything... but you did post in the E1 thread
 
http://www.shopbot.com.au/pp-asus-xonar-essence-one-price-354854.html

 

[cssarrow]

WOW!
 
Their price dropped tremendously.
Must be due to the Muses Release.
 
Makes me so angry that i bought mine for $550..
 
Tim