[kawaivpc1]

I'm going to buy Vi DAC Xfi.
Can you compare other DACs to Pulse?
I think Benchmark DAC 2 has the highest quality I've heard so far.
Can Pulse compete with Benchmark or Grace Design, Hilo?

 

[AxelCloris]

  I'm going to buy Vi DAC Xfi.
Can you compare other DACs to Pulse?
I think Benchmark DAC 2 has the highest quality I've heard so far.
Can Pulse compete with Benchmark or Grace Design, Hilo?

 
If you're buying the Vi DAC Xfi then then why try to get comparisons of the Pulse to the Benchmark?
 
Your Vi DAC will be a Pulse Xfi and an LPS in a single enclosure. Nobody outside of the LH Labs design team has heard it yet. LH Labs reports that it should have some improvement over the Xfi/LPS combo since they're designing the enclosure with better dampening and reflection as well as better power since there's a shorter distance for the power to travel.
 
So if you're wanting to know how the Vi DAC Xfi will compare to the Benchmark DAC2 then you'll have to wait until people have them to compare.

 

[FraGGleR]

My Xfi arrived a little earlier today.  Only about an hour of run time so far, but pleased thus far.  Very refined, black background, good balance along the frequencies.  Perfect size, good, understated looks.  Doesn't really look like a super premium device to match the retail price, but so far I dislike all the Vi and upgraded enclosure concepts, so doesn't really matter to me.  Only issue with the device itself is that it isn't showing the right rate on the display a 24/96 track is displaying 44.1k.  I will dig deeper later.  
 
Will report back more in depth in a couple weeks when the electrolytics and femto clocks have had a chance to settle in as Larry mentioned.  

 

[Mannytorres]

I would like to know what audio playback software is being used Fraggler, thank you!

 

[SilverTrumpet999]

I would like to know what audio playback software is being used Fraggler, thank you!

Good point - certain software/operating systems will resample everything down to 44.1 or 48 unless expressly disabled. Definitely the first thing to rule out.

Interested in serial numbers for those units, to compare with prior deliveries, if either of you would be willing to share !

 

[Currawong]

  I'm going to buy Vi DAC Xfi.

 
You can't buy one. You can only pledge support for the funding campaign, which doesn't guarantee what you'll get or when you'll get it, or even if you get it at all. Unless I missed it, on the campaign page it doesn't state when they intend to complete the Xfi, so if you're comfortable with the possibility it might be a year or two before you get it, then by all means pledge support. If you change your mind though, you can't get a refund.

 

[jexby]

Interested in serial numbers for those units, to compare with prior deliveries, if either of you would be willing to share !

 
can we give up on the completely unscientific attempts to find out "where am I in the shipping queue" based on random sampling, of an unknown customer base size, from a product that has so many other factors affecting shipping times?
 
it's a waste of bandwidth and proves nada.
open a ticket with LH Labs if you are so worried about "that guy got their Xfi before me".

 

[SilverTrumpet999]

By that metric, all of the big data mining being done by the largest players in the world must be completely useless and worthless, no? Pretty stupid of them. Any data is more data than we have now. It is far from useless. 
 
You're dramatically misinterpreting my intent. I'm curious. And as previously stated in the thread, I'm not concerned about fulfillment delays. 

 

[FraGGleR]

I would like to know what audio playback software is being used Fraggler, thank you!

Using Foobar2000 on a Windows 8.1 pro computer at the moment. USB input. I didn't do any setup beyond getting music playing, so if you have any suggestions, I'm all for it.

 

[jbr1971]

Using Foobar2000 on a Windows 8.1 pro computer at the moment. USB input. I didn't do any setup beyond getting music playing, so if you have any suggestions, I'm all for it.

 
If you are playing FLAC or MP3 files then all you should have to do is install the LH Audio Driver, configure the Windows sound settings to use it as the Default driver, and configure Foobar2000 to use the Pulse as the Output Device.
 
If you are going to play DSD files there is some more configuration to be done.
 
The Foobar2000 Setup and User Guide for use with the Geek Pulse can be found here for reference:
 
http://support.lhlabs.com/support/solutions/articles/5000556094-using-foobar2000-with-geek-pulse-setup-and-user-guide
 
Jody

 

[jexby]

  You're dramatically misinterpreting my intent. I'm curious. And as previously stated in the thread, I'm not concerned about fulfillment delays. 

 
ok, if my guessed intent for this data gathering was that far off - then proceed at your own whim.
 
suspecting by the time you collect enough "big data" to draw a valid conclusion, all Pulse's will be shipped.   

 

[alvin1118]

Guys, I just got information from Jay's Audio that LPS25VA 12VDC/2A can be used for Pulse HPA based on the following information stated in the Indiegogo campaign of the Pulse HPA power supply requirement:
 
 
Pulse Headphone Amplifier comes with low noise 12VDC switching power supply. And we recommend you use Pulse HPA and Pulse Tube HPA with our Geek LPS4. Pulse HPA needs one 1.2A 12V output from LPS4 (or LPS). And Pulse Tube HPA needs one 1.2A 12V, one 500mA 12V output from LPS4.

Again, HPA could work with Geek LPS or LPS4. Tube HPA needs LPS4 to provide one 500mA 12V (for Tube heater), and one 1.2A 12V supply (for the rest of the circuit)

 

[gyx11]

Rather counterintuitively (in my case), I have decided to go for the Infinity + ESS Chip Upgrade perks. I still have some misgivings with LHL, but I've seen enough recently to have justifiable optimism that everything will pay off in the end. I have no idea what I'm doing because this has rendered me absolutely broke. Perhaps I fell victim to their blitzkrieg marketing strategy. Ouch.
 
Although I'm dead last in the queue, I'm just thankful that Manny sent a separate invoice allowing me to commit to the perks even though the deadline has closed, probably out of sympathy for my idiotic misreading of information. Oh and the response time to my ticket in total took slightly over 48 hours. That's the fastest I've experienced so far, and I hope that with the recent spate of improvements that they continue moving in the right direction.

Anyway, can anyone please educate on how naked resistors improve the sonic performance of an audio system? I did some self-research, and from what I gathered, naked resistors are supposed to lower the noise floor and reduce distortion for a cleaner audio signal path. This is somewhat different from what I browsed through in the Geek Force forums, where Larry supposedly mentioned that there is no tangible benefit in terms of measurements, only in terms of perceived audio quality. Can anyone chime in on this?

 

[pedalhead]

Rather counterintuitively (in my case), I have decided to go for the Infinity + ESS Chip Upgrade perks. I still have some misgivings with LHL, but I've seen enough recently to have justifiable optimism that everything will pay off in the end. I have no idea what I'm doing because this has rendered me absolutely broke. Perhaps I fell victim to their blitzkrieg marketing strategy. Ouch.

Although I'm dead last in the queue, I'm just thankful that Manny sent a separate invoice allowing me to commit to the perks even though the deadline has closed, probably out of sympathy for my idiotic misreading of information. Oh and the response time to my ticket in total took slightly over 48 hours. That's the fastest I've experienced so far, and I hope that with the recent spate of improvements that they continue moving in the right direction.


Anyway, can anyone please educate on how naked resistors improve the sonic performance of an audio system? I did some self-research, and from what I gathered, naked resistors are supposed to lower the noise floor and reduce distortion for a cleaner audio signal path. This is somewhat different from what I browsed through in the Geek Force forums, where Larry supposedly mentioned that there is no tangible benefit in terms of measurements, only in terms of perceived audio quality. Can anyone chime in on this?

Personally, I think we're well into inaudible differences here, but my understanding is that the resistors are indeed meant to lower the (already low) noise floor even further. I still went for the Infinity perk, but simply because of my "in for a penny, in for a pound" theory with the Pulse, which if nothing else eliminates the "what if" feeling of not having all the upgrades. I'll at least get a fluffy feeling knowing it's the top model (ignoring the super limited and expensive SE). Oh, and the inclusion of the 2G cable was a nice touch to provide some extra value.

 

[Alan1954]

  Received my Xfi today.  My initial excitement is tempered by a disturbing sound I experience when changing tracks that have different sampling rates - several seconds of static, primarily in the left channel.  Changing between albums/tracks that have the same sampling rate is fine. I'm curious to find out if anyone else is having the same experience.  I get the feeling that I have a defective unit.
 
Edit:  Ran into an additional issue - volume spike!  This occurred after changing to a track that had a different sample rate, experiencing the static for a few seconds, then the volume spike to what appeared to be max volume.  I'm hesitant to use my Xfi after this - going back to my vanilla Pulse until this can be addressed.

I'm having a similar problem, a loud pop when switching sample rate, seems to be both channels. Worse with line out than headphones. Ticket open for 10 days now....