Update! Price drop from $725 to $675! Hello all! Up for sale is my beloved Yulong DA8 DAC and Amplifier. If you have done your research into DAC/Amp combos, the Yulong DA8 is one of the most impressive units. With the flagship ES9018 Sabre DAC, the Yulong DA8 is packing serious horsepower. The...

Thanks! Any other suggestions?

Hey all, Been a while since I've posted here. I am looking for an IEM that goes past the first curve in the ear (i.e., a true canal-type IEM). However, the housing of the IEM can't be a "shell" type. The reason being, the housing rubs against my ear and causes irritation. I'll be using these...

Proud owner of an HE-500 with Yulong DA8 as both a DAC and Amp:    

  Yes, it does work when I do it slowly. Just a bit disappointing considering the price of the unit.     I actually adjust the volume on the DA8 quite a bit, as I use WASAPI in exclusive mode and cannot adjust the volume from my PC (bit-perfect data stream).

Do you all have any issues with the volume knob on the DA8? When making 1 - 0.5 dB changes, the volume knob does not step so well, and goes 1 or 2 dB instead of 1 dB. The increments are not consistent when fine-tuning, basically. This can be alleviated if I turn the knob extremely slowly to get...

I couldn't fix the issue with 1 second skipping at the beginning of a song, so I'm just living with it (as a natural progression from one song to the next does not incur this problem, only sometimes).   If one day I can fix the issue with WASAPI on Winamp/Foobar, I'll be 100% content, though...

For me, the 1 second delay does not occur when I use the standard Yulong output via USB. However, if I am trying to do something "fancy" like WASAPI or ASIO, the delay exists.   So there can't possibly be an issue with my unit, can there?

The funny thing is, I'm not playing DSD files and I'm still getting the 1 second lag. But it goes away if I skip WASAPI or Asio (but then I have to go through Windows upsampling which I do not want).

  I built my computer and I'm quite aware of how to install drivers and such. It's not my computer.   The USB cable supplied was lackluster. Sometimes my computer would not detect the Yulong. If I removed the USB cable and inserted the cable back in multiple times, it would eventually work...

I am also getting a 1-1.5 second lag whenever I start playing a new song. I am using WASAPI on Winamp. Note: this lag does not exist if I am using Nullsoft DirectSound Output. Can anyone help? Also noticed that this happens in "Exclusive" mode. However, if I choose "Shared" mode, then the Yulong...

  That's great to hear! I can't wait to receive my HE-500 and Yulong DA8.   What are the differences that you hear between the Yulong DA8 and WA7? Obviously you'll hear differences as time goes by, but what struck you immediately?

Just pulled the trigger on this beauty in black!!! With the D230 power cord! Before my HE-500's arrived, too. I guess I'll try the DA8 out with my AKG K702's before my HE-500s arrive! Can't wait! 

Wow, beautiful pictures!     And where would you say the DA8 amp pushes the HE-500 to (in terms of %)?

  I'm planning on using an old home theater amp I have which sounds great: Yamaha RX-V1200 (specs here).

  Eh, I was thinking of having someone build the cable. I would love to learn how to use an external resistor on the amp, but having never done so, I wouldn't know where to start, what to buy, and how to attach it to the speaker terminals on my amp. And I have a myriad of floating questions...

Is it possible to build a resistor right into the cable for an HE-500 going straight into an 80W + 80W @ 8 ohms speaker amp?

  Ouch, that sucks! Hope they replace it.

  Thanks for the help. Looks like for this amp, I should go with a 2 ohm for Resistor 3, and 6 ohms for Resistor 2. This reaches the effective speaker load of 7.9 ohms which is nearly 8 ohms.   This creates an attenuation of -12.37 dB, which I think should be sufficient.   Can this even be...

Since we're talking about speaker amps here, I was wondering what type of resistor would be sufficient for the HE-500 running on the speaker taps of the Yamaha RX-V1200 (see specs here). They list the Main output at 80W + 80W @ 8 ohms.   Since the HE-500s are 38 ohms, how much of a resistor...

Even though the HE-500 is not an HE-6, it is still a planar magnetic headphone. I do not doubt those who say that a speaker amp drives the HE-500 with more authority than they've heard headphone amps drive them. That's why I'm trying to get a speaker amp to go with my HE-500's when the DA8 amp...

Yes, I did mean the HE-500's. At this point I am beginning to think only a speaker amp will do the HE-500 justice.

Curious where/how you've heard it sound better?

  So would you describe the bass on the WA7 as linear and not well textured with the HE-500s?   I am thinking about getting the DA8 and the mini-X a-100 if the WA7 can't drive the HE-500s to optimal performance...although the WA7 seems promising, I am seeking absolutely no bottleneck...

Hmmmm...DA8 or Woo Audio WA7 for driving HE-500s? Keep in mind that if I get the WA7, I probably won't upgrade the DAC for at least several months. But I have heard that the WA7 pairs extremely well with the HE-500.