[GrdironTrenches]

where can 12AX7VKA Russian tube. is it listed on Project Ember website

 

[Amish]

This thread is about the closest I've found to an dedicated Ember thread. I received mine today and just using the stock tube I'm pretty happy. I have a few tubes on order that I look forward to trying. The stock tube is very comparable to the sound my HK 3490 outputs via it's headphone port. The HK provides a bit more punch in the bass output but I actually prefer the the low freq. of the Ember even if it's a bit weaker with this tube. The stock tube provides a fairly clean, somewhat detailed sound and a little more open than my HK. Instrument separation is about the same. I look forward to rolling a few tubes to see what I prefer.
 
I'll toss in a shot of my Ember earlier tonight.
 

 

[ericr]

Nice!

It's a very impressive amp (especially for the price), isn't it.

There's an Ember tube rolling thread too.

 

[Amish]

Nice!

It's a very impressive amp (especially for the price), isn't it.

There's an Ember tube rolling thread too.

Yes it is! I've read through the tube rolling thread several times now. lol

 

[money4me247]

garage1217 is coming out w/ a new solid-state amp: project polaris!!! shipping july 21st!!
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/725896/new-from-garage1217-the-solid-state-project-polaris/15
http://www.garage1217.com/garage1217_diy_tube_headphone_amplifiers_013.htm
 
ps: you guys think they will refresh project ember anytime soon?

 

[kothganesh]

Hello everybody:
 
Just received the Ember. Using it with the Macbook Air (iTunes + Amarra) and the Schiit Gungnir DAC. HPs used for the last hour or so are the Fostex TH 900 and the HE 6. The amp drives both especially the former with ease. On the latter I do have to turn the volume pot to around 12-1 on the clock. Just playing with the stock tube for now. I have the Silver Voshkods and the Amperex Bugle Boy so got to get the tubes rolling this weekend. Any recommendations on "burn-in" ?
 
Glad to be part of the club.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Will be doing some switching between the Ember and Polaris via Schiit Sys (full volume as I'm using it in reverse 2 outs and 1 in). Running off the Yulong D100 as a DAC with a V/Link 192 transport using all CD FLAC and a few Hi-Rez files.

 

 

 

[smitty1110]

It will be interesting to hear your thoughs about the two. What tube(s) will you be using with the Ember?

 

[RedBull]

Can anyone compare the sound signature of ember and Vali? Thank you

 

[smitty1110]

Can anyone compare the sound signature of ember and Vali? Thank you

Unfortunately, Ember's sound is highly dependent on the tube. Everything else is fairly transparent, especially if you take the output caps out of the signal line. If you want some good impressions, head over to the Ember tube rolling thread.

 

[RedBull]

Thanks for the direction smitty. I will go there.

 

[smitty1110]

Another good thread (over at DIY AUdio Heaven) - http://diyah.boards.net/thread/366/
 
The real bonus on this thread is that solderdude is one of the G1217 guys.

 

[inphu510n]

Hi all,
 
Firstly thanks for all of the input you've provided about the Ember. I've gone over a lot of threads about the Ember and am fairly set on purchasing one in the not too distant future.
One thing that I'm concerned about (and I have emailed with Jeremy about) is the use of low impedance, high sensitivity cans with this amp.
Technically the Sunrise III would be better suited to cans like that.
I guess what I'm concerned about is using the low output resistance in order to achieve proper impedance ratios between the amp and the headphones. If you don't use low gain/high impedance, it's a lot easier to blow up your drivers.
I've seen people suggest using the lowest gain and highest output impedance for low impedance phones.
Wouldn't this severely screw up the FR of the phones? Some people have said it sounds superb that way. I'm confused because I've definitely heard the tubby, muddy bass and other bits caused by poor impedance matching.
 
That said, I'll be moving on to planars at some point so it seems wiser to get the Ember instead of getting the Sunrise III and wanting for wattage later on.

 

[Asr]

^ Low gain with low output resistance, plus a low-gain tube (like the 12AU7 or similar) provides for enough volume fine-tuning with low-impedance, sensitive headphones. I actually tried it with a really sensitive headphone (the Audio-Technica AD2000 which is 40 Ohms and 102 dB/mW).
 
You could also alternately get the Project Polaris instead which has an input attenuation module which effectively reduces the gain even more (and doesn't sacrifice anything in terms of the output power either).

 

[ericr]

Great question inphu510n.

When you order, ask Jeremy to do the 100K low gain mod. This drops the output of the low gain setting to be much more suitable for low impedance IEMs using the low impedance output setting. This mod along with tubes of lower gain as Asr recommends works great with my V6-Stage (22.ohms & 115 dB sens.)

The nice part is the mod doesn't affect the high gain setting at all, so my Ember drives my HM-560 very well also.

I don't know what it is with the Ember and low impedance IEMs - but it's an amazing combo I wasn't expecting. I was quite happy with my Asgard 2 with my IEMs but bought the Ember for its adjustable output impedance in order to better drive some high impedance full-size phones (T90 & T1). I wasn't expecting the Ember to improve on the Asgard 2 with my IEMs, but it makes the Asgard 2 sound flat, and slightly dull/veiled in comparison. Maybe it's a combo of the .1 (yes, that's 1/10th) Ohm output impedance along with plenty of stable power to handle the wide impedance swings of multi-driver IEMs. I was fortunate enough to have 4 days last week with the full Noble line-up and the Ember drove the K10 (10 drivers per side) very well too.