[PinkFloyd]

Edited

 

[Duncan]

I received an X-Feed from Mike this morning...

You know what Mike... I hate you!! (in the nicest possible way

) Your little box has now confirmed what I feared... That I shouldn't have sold my Sennheiser HD600 & Cardas cable on...

I only have the HD565s now, and even with the X-Feed not being 'burnt-in' properly... this little box has really done some magic to the Sennheiser sound... They sound totally different, totally brilliant when compared to anything else that I have...

Great work on a great little package... Once its burnt in properly (probably next weekend) I'll add another review to the collection for this unit, but already I can tell its in my system to stay

 

[FCJ]

I've been using Mike's X-Feed for about a week now and it's a wonder. I've been using it with the Gilmore v 1.0 (Audioquest Corals in-between), the Philips 963SA, and either the Sony 3000 or the Sony 1700.

I'm familar with crossfeed in general, since I have the Corda HA-2 (and have had the HA-1 as well as a couple of HeadRoom units). Mike's unit brings similar results, in that overall listening is more relaxed (and can be done for longer periods of time with less fatigue). I agree with an earlier comment that the X-Feed mitigates detail a bit (especially given that the Gilmore is a detailed and neutral amp), but it's more of a "bloom" to the sound than anything really subtractive. Also, overall soundstage seems wider (which is tough to do with the 3Ks, since they have a wide soundstage to begin with). Overall, the X-Feed works as promised, and for the money presents one of the best price/value pieces of gear out there.

Great job, Mike! I may be coming back for a second one soon.

 

[wordsworth]

Agree with what Duncan (I mainly use the x-feed with the HD580's) and FCJ said. For me it is one of the best buys you can make to improve your listening experience. Personally I tend to leave the x-feed in all the time. When I don't use it I now find I can only listen to music with the HD580 for a short period of time.

Thanks Mike

Mark

 

[Duncan]

After allowing my X-Feed to burn in for the past 36 hours, things are really smooth now...

I can't believe how cool this little box is, listening to Garbage, Shirley Mansons voice is oh so sexy, and oh so integrated into the centre of the soundstage, with the instruments positioned more centrally in front of the head, but there is a new air there too... I can't quite describe it yet, I really need to think about this before I do my 'full review'... Hmm, definetly one of the best 'tweaks' i've ever tried though

I was always a sceptic of 'cross feed', thinking it would take away from the music... I have no idea how strong / weak this little box is, when compared to the HeadRoom / Corda / META implementations... but, whatever the score... I'm a new Cross-Feed convert!

 

[PinkFloyd]

Edited

 

[Nigel]

Wow, look what I found!!!



http://freespace.virgin.net/borders.break/xfmk3.htm

If that sounds as good as it looks, gimmee one now.

 

[wordsworth]

Looks pretty cool, slightly less portable, but the question will be how well it sounds. Just hope it doesn't sound too much better, as I am not sure what I would do with 2 x-feeds

Mark

 

[Gallaine]

I've been resisting getting any more stuff for my headphone rig, but you guys are just relentless with all the good reviews of PinkFloyd's X-Feed

. And now you have to tell me there is a new improved version!

I guess resistance is futile. I've just sent PinkFloyd a request for pricing and more info. At least his stuff is reasonably priced (well, I guess that is the understatement of the year). The problem is that I have to get another pair of HGS Silver Lace now. It just never stops

...

 

[Uncledan]

After I read the review of X-Feed, I want to try how X-Feed sound. However, I am worry about one thing, which is how does it effect the sound if we use 2 IC (even 3 IC if we have DAC in the system) in the headphone system?

If we include X-feed in our headphone system, we need:
CD player => IC => X-Feed => IC => amp => headphone

If we have DAC, then it become:
CD player => IC => DAC => IC => X-Feed => IC => amp => headphone (woow, lots of cable!!)

I am also wondering, do you guys think internal crossfeed will give better result? (such as, CORDA HA-2) Since it does not need one more IC in the system.

Maybe it is stupid to ask above question.

 

[Duncan]

UncleDan...

I'm currently running my system as so:

CD -> Optical Cable -> MD (DAC) -> IC -> X-Feed -> IC -> Amp

Lots of cabling, but I can't say that the quality of the sound is any lower... it hasn't just sloped away or anything...

although I guess it would help if both my ICs were the same

 

[dougbrad81]

uncledan,
i find an external crossfeed to be better than an internal one. the x-feed is a truly remarkable little device, as it doesn't seem to reduce the sound quality one bit. the internal crossfeed in my meta is to pronounce, and seems to affect the sound quality significantly.

 

[Uncledan]

Thanks for information!!!

dougbrad81, you have the crossfeed builded in your META42 right, had you try meier/headroom crossfeed?

I believe I will go get a X-Feed now. Oh god, after the bought of 963SA, I have to pay another $100 for X-Feed+IC. I don't want to get the bill from Visa next month.

 

[dougbrad81]

i've have never tried the meier/headroom crossfeed as i never had an amp by either sellers. but i do have a cmoy which has meier based crossfeed. the cmoy with crossfeed on was absolutly horrible to my ears. once again the crossfeed was just to pronounce. but i guess it all comes down to preference. I love the x-feed because it's effect is subtle, and the sound quality is not affected at all to my ear. the other crossfeed's i tried the effect was to pronounce.

 

[Uncledan]

Just ordered X-Feed.

I will write my review of this little device later.