[Crazy*Carl]

Quote:

 
i thought that was a bad way to try to judge that though

Ya, my ipod can get my HD580s quite loud.
 
But, the assumptions on the sparrow are correct.  It can put out 10V, which is alot.  Same power as a little dot MKII and just a little under a little dot MKIII.  The sparrow stomps the EF2 (which only puts out about 6V), and almost any portable I presume.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

These amps need to run warm as they are biased heavily into Class A. That warmth is a byproduct and a necessity for proper sound quality (for this design topology). The transistors have to warm up before they begin to sound their best
 
Peete.

 

[miyinan]

I contacted them a couple weeks ago trying to order the basic version with usb and was told that it was out of stock. But I guess it leaves me sometime to read a little more here. Anyways, a few questions about it:
 
1. Is the ACSS only used on the A version or both? If it is only on A version, how much difference will it actually make?
 
2. Does it only support up to 48/16 via usb? If so, then Version A wouldn't make much difference than the Basic version if I only use them via usb and keep them stock, would it?
 
3. If they can't get the usb chip in stock soon enough, I'll probably just order one without usb and use my udac as a usb to coxial converter. My question is that, because the udac only supports up to 48/16, will it limit the Sparrow to only 48/16 as well?
 
4. On its website, it says that it is okay to use the headphone jack (with the adapter) as preamp out. Has anyone tried this? Can I use it with my powered speakers? (I have a pair of computer speakers that I sometimes listen to as well)
 
5. To set it up, do I just plug it in and it will replace the inernal sound card automatically and that's it? Any driver that I will need to install?
 
A lot of questions....sorry I am only new to this hobby....
 
Thanks

 

[Crazy*Carl]

Quote:

I contacted them a couple weeks ago trying to order the basic version with usb and was told that it was out of stock. But I guess it leaves me sometime to read a little more here. Anyways, a few questions about it:
 
1. Is the ACSS only used on the A version or both? If it is only on A version, how much difference will it actually make?
 
2. Does it only support up to 48/16 via usb? If so, then Version A wouldn't make much difference than the Basic version if I only use them via usb and keep them stock, would it?
 
3. If they can't get the usb chip in stock soon enough, I'll probably just order one without usb and use my udac as a usb to coxial converter. My question is that, because the udac only supports up to 48/16, will it limit the Sparrow to only 48/16 as well?
 
4. On its website, it says that it is okay to use the headphone jack (with the adapter) as preamp out. Has anyone tried this? Can I use it with my powered speakers? (I have a pair of computer speakers that I sometimes listen to as well)
 
5. To set it up, do I just plug it in and it will replace the inernal sound card automatically and that's it? Any driver that I will need to install?
 
A lot of questions....sorry I am only new to this hobby....
 
Thanks

 
1. Both
2. Yes, only 16/44.  Don't worry about this, 16/44 is much better than you actually need unless your a really crazy audio nut.
3. Not sure, but I think the uDAC 16/44 is referring to the actual saber dac's capability.  You can also use the optical or coaxial out found on most motherboards.  This is what I do.
4. Yes, as long as the speakers have an amp, though this unit really isn't made primarily for that purpose.
5. Yup, no drivers.  You just enable the right device in your sound properties and thats it. Plug and play.  If you have an trouble setting it up, there are many people in this thread who can help
 
 
It was said by the makers of audio gd themselves that the audio differences between A and B are minimal.  They said that if you were using custom cabling, you may hear the difference.  The A version just uses better parts.  If you just want some good sound for good headphones, Sparrow Basic is probably the best price to performance DAC/AMP around.
 

 

[les_garten]

 
Quote:

I contacted them a couple weeks ago trying to order the basic version with usb and was told that it was out of stock. But I guess it leaves me sometime to read a little more here. Anyways, a few questions about it:
 
1. Is the ACSS only used on the A version or both? If it is only on A version, how much difference will it actually make?
 
2. Does it only support up to 48/16 via usb? If so, then Version A wouldn't make much difference than the Basic version if I only use them via usb and keep them stock, would it?
 
3. If they can't get the usb chip in stock soon enough, I'll probably just order one without usb and use my udac as a usb to coxial converter. My question is that, because the udac only supports up to 48/16, will it limit the Sparrow to only 48/16 as well?
 
4. On its website, it says that it is okay to use the headphone jack (with the adapter) as preamp out. Has anyone tried this? Can I use it with my powered speakers? (I have a pair of computer speakers that I sometimes listen to as well)
 
5. To set it up, do I just plug it in and it will replace the inernal sound card automatically and that's it? Any driver that I will need to install?
 
A lot of questions....sorry I am only new to this hobby....
 
Thanks

 
 
1)  ACSS is used on both versions.  The difference in the version is Version B is Good Quality Components(Caps & Resistors) Version A is Premium Quality Caps & Resistors
 
2)  Don't know for sure.  But I would thing 48/24 bit
 
3) Don't know, I really don't fool with USB much
 
4)  Haven't done it, but I'm sure it will work perfect with your Powered speakers as a Pre-amp.
 
5)  YES, sort of.  It will add itself as a SC, you will then have an additional SC present.  The installed and the USB.  You may have to fool around with what output is being used.
 

 

[miyinan]

@ Crazy*Carl and @ les_garten: Thanks so much for your inputs. I wish my T400 thinkpad has either the optical or coxial audio output. But if I am not mistaken, it doesn't unless I guess putting in another Express card. Any T400 or other thinkpad users here?

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

@ Crazy*Carl and @ les_garten: Thanks so much for your inputs. I wish my T400 thinkpad has either the optical or coxial audio output. But if I am not mistaken, it doesn't unless I guess putting in another Express card. Any T400 or other thinkpad users here?

Looks like you can do SPDIF w/ the advanced dock
 
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkPad_Advanced_Dock
 

 

[haloxt]

miyinan,
 
4. Kingwa says not to worry about sound degradation from using headphone out as preamp, just keep it at 10 to 2 o'clock. He even says that on the FUN it may sound better than RCA out due to the ACSS gain modules in the headphone amp section. I use it with recabled computer speakers and think it sounds good.
 
5. It's a good idea to go with a bit-perfect driver like WASAPI, KS, or ASIO, that way you can bypass windows kmixer and resamlping. There's many variables that may cause one to give you difficulties, but I suggest just trying out newest foobar version with WASAPI or KS plugin. If you want to try ASIO, you need to get the plugin from the foobar site and also download either ASIO4ALL or USB-audio (this one costs money, or beeps every 30 seconds, but sounds a bit better than asio4all). With all these you will have to enter foobar preferences and change the bit-size to one the plugins like, and also raise the millisecond latency whenever you hear clicks or static from doing things on the computer and playing music simultaneously. Pm me if you need any help, these software can be finicky sometimes.

 

[tim3320070]

With all my gear, I am still not certain I have my computer output  set correctly.
 
-Internal soundcard disabled
-System sounds off
-I run MediaMonkey with the Wave output, volume at 100%
-USB to my Ref-3
 
Am I missing anything? Sorry to ask in this thread.

 

[Crazy*Carl]

Quote:

With all my gear, I am still not certain I have my computer output  set correctly.
 
-Internal soundcard disabled
-System sounds off
-I run MediaMonkey with the Wave output, volume at 100%
-USB to my Ref-3
 
Am I missing anything? Sorry to ask in this thread.

If your hearing sound through the DAC, then its working.  You don't have to disable the soundcard or system sounds.  I leave those on because I like them (one reasons using wasapi is a pain).  Just make sure that you have the DAC set as the active sound device in the sound control panel.

 

[tim3320070]

Thanks- just looking to maximize SQ going to my zillion dollar gear....

 

[haloxt]

No tim what are you doing?!?
 
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=62905
 
Only get asio4all+asio plugin, OR just kernal streaming plugin. I think getting just KS plugin would be easiest to setup. The reason you want bit-perfect is that windows resampling actually takes away 1-2 bits from the music.

 

[Crazy*Carl]

Quote:

No tim what are you doing?!?
 
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=62905
 
Only get asio4all+asio plugin, OR just kernal streaming plugin. I think getting just KS plugin would be easiest to setup. The reason you want bit-perfect is that windows resampling actually takes away 1-2 bits from the music.

Ya, bits you dont need.  I notice no difference between DS and WASAPI/ASIO
 
I heard a bit drop sample once from 16 down to 0 and significant degradation wasn't apparent until about 9 bits.
 

 

[transient orca]

Quote:

Looks like you can do SPDIF w/ the advanced dock
 
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkPad_Advanced_Dock
 

Actually the advanced mini dock has spdif, too. All the newer model docks (for T410, T510, and W510) don't have digital audio out anymore though.

 

[haloxt]

Crazy'Carl, no one really knows just how many bits are required to cross the threshold of audibility (conscious or unconscious), but to be safe, we can take easy, cost-free precautions to preserve all the bits.
 
 
Quote:

Regular CD audio is 44.1 kHz. Many times, due to poorly written drivers, sound cards that will interact with the KMixer will cause this 44.1kHz data to be resampled to 48kHz. Obviously this will result in an undesirable result when trying to achieve the utmost in sound quality. The mixing algorithm as implemented by Microsoft has been shown in many cases to only have a signal to noise ratio of about 92dB. CDs have a signal to noise ratio of about 96dB (technically 97.5dB).

 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/221237/asio4all-explanation