[jseaber]

Quote:

 
Neat!  Is that the case with the C421 as well, that the bass boost curve is different in low and high gain modes?

 
Yes, the inflection point changes on c421 also.
 

im diggin the black and red. really gives it a nice look.

 
Surprised to see this much positive feedback for the Red+Black look. Feel free to request black plates when ordering C5.

 

[d marc0]

Surprised to see this much positive feedback for the Red+Black look. Feel free to request black plates when ordering C5.
[/quote]

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind. Will be ordering the c5 in the next couple of weeks!

 

[luisdent]

Quote:

 
Yes, the inflection point changes on c421 also.
 
 
Surprised to see this much positive feedback for the Red+Black look. Feel free to request black plates when ordering C5.

 
I for one just never thought of putting the two together.  It reminds me of this guy.  hahahaha
 
You must click to see his C5 face. haha
 
 

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Quote:

 
A note about the sound. I was doing some walking around the city today and I noticed that bass boost + low gain sounded different from bass boost + high gain. I'm not sure if it's due to a higher distortion, but the bass boost + high gain seemed to be less fatiguing and the bass was a bit boomier compared to the bass boost + low gain. Of course volume matching is hard to do if you're mobile listening, so it might be due to my inability to properly volume match.

 
The bass boost curve changes between low and high gain. You're hearing a genuinely different frequency response!

Ah okay. It's good to know that I'm not going crazy, hahaha.

---

 
I tried to install the TinyUSB drivers again but on my 32-bit Windows 7 Intel architecture MacBook and I encountered the same issue of Arduino not recognising the device (C5). Again, I selected the C5 board and switched the programmer to the "USBtinyISP."
 

 
I used the website you linked to earlier: http://www.ladyada.net/make/usbtinyisp/usbtinyisp_libusb-win32_1.2.1.0.zip

1. I renamed the x86\libusb0_x86.dll file to libusb0.dll, as instructed in the README file
2. Ran installer_x86.exe
3. Manually placed x86\libusb0.dll and x86\libusb0.sys since the installer didn't do that for some reason
4. Installed the latest Arduino software

 
The recommended SparkFun Electronics pocket AVR programmer has a switch on it; I have it set to "Power Target," although switching it to "No Power" doesn't do anything. The product page has this next to the driver download:
Quote:

based on USBtiny (type 'make all' in the spi directory)

I'm not really sure what the spi directory is.
 
Do you think the problem is with the cut/trimmed programmer headers?
 
 
I found an almost *I think* working solution. Instead of the above zip file, which doesn't seem to do anything useful, I found this: http://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17112
 
Downloading the file from the SourceForge link, I used the inf-wizard.exe file and that somehow installed things to get Arduino to recognise the ISP programmer.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/libusb-win32/files/
 
The previous .zip file that you suggested had this in the README file and the executable file was never in it:
Quote:

  x86\inf-wizard.exe: inf-wizard application with embedded libusb-win32
    v1.2.6.0 binaries.

 
However even with these steps taken I still can't completely communicate with the C5:

 
Proof that the drivers are installed now, but the device cannot be started:

 

[miceblue]

Woah. I got it to work in OS X [10.8.4].
I increased the volume delay to 500 ms just so I can make sure the uploaded code works, and it does!

 

 
I was browsing through some of the discussion posts on the SparkFun Electronics' Pocket AVR webpage and one person indirectly suggested downloading "CrossPack for AVR Development" for Mac:
http://www.obdev.at/products/crosspack/index.html
 
I installed it, downloaded the latest Arduino programming environment for Mac, placed "boards.txt" in the correct directory, opened the C5's Arduino file, modified the volume delay, picked the C5 board in Tools -> Boards, picked USBtinyISP in Tools -> Programmer, uploaded using programmer, and it works now.
 
I'll probably spend the next few days tweaking with the code to see what else I can do and I'll write my Head-Fi review afterwards.
 
If anyone has a Mac and was interested in re-programming some of the C5's code, hopefully this helps.

 

[jseaber]

Frequency response of C5 is measurably flat (see below). It sounds like you're comparing your line out source to the MUSE DAC, and that's where your audible difference originates. Have you tried C5 + MUSE PD1+?
 

 

[d marc0]

Quote:

Frequency response of C5 is measurably flat (see below). It sounds like you're comparing your line out source to the MUSE DAC, and that's where your audible difference originates. Have you tried C5 + MUSE PD1+?
 

 
Wow! That is impressive! I can't wait to finally purchase the C5. Saving takes time...

 

[chengsta]

Quote:

Got my C5 today. Prefered the combo C&C + MUSE PD1+. I had unbeleavable treble from the MUSE. Almost "organic". I think C5's treble is a bit recessed. Not exactly what I was expecting. Any way I could prefer the C421 AD8620? I'm not really amazed by the C5. It's good, it's very good, but I'm not wow'ed. My friend loved it, including the treble, but I was expecting a MUSE with bass (MUSE has no Bass Boost).
 
EDIT: The A829's internal amp compensates a bit the recessed treble of the C5. So, no LOD seems to be the solution for my actual setup.
 
Does SQ improve with burn-in?

It sounds like the c5 is very transparent.  It picks up the warmpth from the poor quality interconnect cable + nano. 

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Got my C5 today. Prefered the combo C&C + MUSE PD1+. I had unbeleavable treble from the MUSE. Almost "organic". I think C5's treble is a bit recessed. Not exactly what I was expecting. Any way I could prefer the C421 AD8620? I'm not really amazed by the C5. It's good, it's very good, but I'm not wow'ed. My friend loved it, including the treble, but I was expecting a MUSE with bass (MUSE has no Bass Boost).
 
EDIT: The A829's internal amp compensates a bit the recessed treble of the C5. So, no LOD seems to be the solution for my actual setup.
 
Does SQ improve with burn-in?

When I first read your post, I thought you were referring to Muse, the band.

 
Which C&C amp are you using? I found the BH's treble to be a bit more sparkly compared to the C5 from my listen.

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Quote:

That was going to be one of my re-programmed things. Blue LED for high gain, green for low gain.

 
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.

Is this the spot you were referring to? (circled in magenta)

 
I don't think my soldering iron's tip is small enough to handle surface mount components.
I see in your changeGain() code that you do refer to the changeLEDs() function, but there is no code within that function for changing the LED upon a change in gain.
 
As for changes I've made so far, I changed the gain delay to 500 ms and the volume delays to 200 ms. I also commented out the EEPROM.write code so that the C5's gain and volume settings start off at low and 1 (attenuation = 62) respectively whenever I turn on the C5.

 

[Emospence]

Quote:

Frequency response of C5 is measurably flat (see below). It sounds like you're comparing your line out source to the MUSE DAC, and that's where your audible difference originates. Have you tried C5 + MUSE PD1+?
 

Wow. You had my curiosity but now you have my attention

 

[chengsta]

The bass hump says 80 hz, but I know it's probably a typo.  They probably meant 8 hz because only with the c5 can I feel a really low, earth shaking, balance-disorienting, silent bass in certain tracks which I have never heard even with my 15 inch subs + rockford fosgate amp.

 

[luisdent]

Quote:

The bass hump says 80 hz, but I know it's probably a typo.  They probably meant 8 hz because only with the c5 can I feel a really low, earth shaking, balance-disorienting, silent bass in certain tracks which I have never heard even with my 15 inch subs + rockford fosgate amp.

 
Isn't is awesome? haha.  I think the 80hz is the peak where it is the most centered and powerful.  However, it still extends much lower than 80hz in a boosted state, but rolls back down to normal above 80hz up smoothly into the 500-1000hz range.  But with the peak and majority of the boost in the 80hz and lower you get mostly deep bass response.  Listen to "doin' it right" by daft punk on their new album with the boost on.  When the sub bass comes in, listen to the third bass note, the deepest note.  It's insane. haha  It even makes the er4s sound insane (in a good way)

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Quote:

If that's right, and the c421 page is also correct in saying "Bass Boost, +8dB peak", then that means the C5 bass boost is less aggressive than the C421's?  Is that right?  I quite like the bass boost on my c421, I leave it on almost all the time and rarely find it too powerful, so I'm not sure I'd like the 1.5dB reduction.  John, is the c421 centered at 80Hz as well?
 
EDIT:  replaced "dac" with "opamp" above.

 
Bass boost of C5 is actually stronger. Neither amp's bass boost curve is centered at 80Hz; c421's "peak" was below 80Hz. You can find the curve on our release article.

 

[chengsta]

I bought a cheap sansa clip zip and rockboxed it.  It sounded really weak on my sony xba 40's which is 8 ohms.  But the zip sounds just awesome with the jh16's at 18 ohms and the really crazy thing is that the jh16's are 2x easier to drive than the supposed lower impedance of the 40's.  Anyway match the zip up with the jds labs c5, and I don't think you really need anything else besides a high end iem/hp if you don't already have one.