wordsworth
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2002
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A review of X-Feed
X-Feed has been designed and built by PinkFloyd (head-fi.org member)
X-feed as you might have guessed is a crossfeed device. What makes this different to other crossfeed devices is that it works as a passive (not power supply needed) standalone device and has nothing fancy, simply RCA in and RCA out. The X-feed is also small and very sturdy.
My test kit is:
Philips 963SA (Upsampled to 192)
Supermini v5 12 volt walwart
HD580
Ety ER4P
Cambridge Audio “Pacific” 1m Interconnect
Thor 3m interconnect
Test Music
Beatles - “the blue album” 1967 -1970
Michael Nyman – The Essential Michael Nyman Band
Doves – The Last Broadcast
Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble – Officium
As this is a “quick” review it will only be selected tracks from the above. And of course all my views are based on my equipment with my own ears. Please also take into account that the Thor interconnect and Cambridge audio interconnect sound very different and having to use them together could effect the overall sound.
The Essential Michael Nyman Band and The X-Feed Effect:
First up is The Essential Michael Nyman Band. If you are unfamiliar with his work, he wrote the piano soundtrack and is considered a “minimalist” composer. He uses amped instruments along with violins, cellos and saxophones. The music tends to be very rhythmic and pulsing. The instruments tend to play overlapping tunes in a repetitive fashion which leads to very complicated music.
With the x-feed the sound becomes lighter more airy with a more cohesive feel. However the sound does not push at you like before or extenuate individual instruments reducing a small amount of detail. The sound no longer craves your attention so much and becomes less heavy and pressurised. You honestly feel you could listen for hours. So if you are reading a book or working you can have great sounding music that doesn’t distract you quite as much. With The Essential Michael Nyman Band you do lose a little of the feel for the rhythmic pulse and complexity of the music but it becomes easier it listen to for prolonged periods. However if you want to listen to just the music and hear every detail and feel the push and weight of the music then you will enjoy it more without the x-feed
Doves – The Last Broadcast and The X-Feed Effect:
The last broadcast is a rhythmic indie sound. Again like Nyman it has repetitive themes. The drums and guitar are quite important in this type of music as it is used to create the infectious rhythm.
With the X-feed you can notice a slight reduction in volume, however in my case this could be down to using 2 differing interconnects. With The Last Broadcast some of the darkness it lost and you do miss some of the forcefulness of the music. Again you get the benefits of reduced separateness of the instruments, but you do miss the effect of the drums and guitar working in harmony to create the driving rhythms. I feel you are less likely to feel the benefits of the x-feed with this type of music. But the x-feed does reduce the likelihood of headphone fatigue.
Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble – Officium and The X-Feed Effect:
Officium is Gregorian Chart sung by The Hilliard Ensemble with Jan Garbarek playing Saxophone. I always enjoy the mix of the 2 sounds. The group harmonies of the vocals with the almost freeform of the sax. I always felt it had an almost eastern sound that relaxes whilst still making you pay attention to the music.
When you add the X-feed the sound of the Hilliard Ensemble and the Sax seem to come more together, not just positionally but harmonically. The sound is smoother and loses some of that eastern feel. But the sound is gentler which soothes and relaxes. However I feel the X-feed has changed the vocals, leading to a loss in much of the echo that comes from singing in a large cathedral. Personally I believe the music is better without the x-feed.
Beatles - “the blue album” 1967 -1970 and The X-Feed Effect:
Well most of you should know the Beatles so not much of an introduction. However it is important to remember that the Beatles material is recorded in the early days of stereo and so it suffers from quite an extreme form of stereo with overlapping sounds happing in isolation through both channels.
Well this is where you thank god for the x-feed. It truly comes into its own with extreme stereo recordings. The instruments suddenly become closer and more harmonious. The instruments still come through on the channel they were on before but seem to be now at the front of soundstage (head) instead of at the sides. Truly these pieces of music have to be listened to with a crossfeed, it just makes them so much more enjoyable and gives a greater feel for the music as a whole. I definitely recommend the x-feed when used with music containing extreme stereo.
Conclusion:
Well I have hoped to show a rounded view with different types of music though I am aware that some of the negative elements I noticed with the x-feed could have been produced by having to use the Cambridge Audio interconnect.
What is apparent from the results to me is that using a crossfeed is very beneficial to certain types of music, namely those from the sixties that contain more extreme stereo. But also that using the x-feed can also depend on your environment and whether you wish to make the music less distracting and reduce headphone fatigue, as would often be the case at work.
What makes the x-feed special is that it is standalone, very solid, passive, can work with any amp or source and importantly the cost. Buying a specialist amp with crossfeed can cost a bit and limit you to using that amp, however with the x-feed the cost is only £35 (about $55 - $60, at time of writing) shipped and it has no dependency on any one amp. For what it offers in sound and flexibility it is a great buy and I believe everyone should have one tucked away somewhere ready for use on those fatiguing albums or for work. All in all I thoroughly recommend it.
Thanks for reading this, it is not the best review but I am sure others that have bought the x-feed will add there own comments and probably articulate them much better.
In an attempt to explain how it changes the sound I have included 2 very basic images representing the sound of Eleanor Rigby without x-feed and with x-feed.
Wordsworth
X-Feed has been designed and built by PinkFloyd (head-fi.org member)
X-feed as you might have guessed is a crossfeed device. What makes this different to other crossfeed devices is that it works as a passive (not power supply needed) standalone device and has nothing fancy, simply RCA in and RCA out. The X-feed is also small and very sturdy.
My test kit is:
Philips 963SA (Upsampled to 192)
Supermini v5 12 volt walwart
HD580
Ety ER4P
Cambridge Audio “Pacific” 1m Interconnect
Thor 3m interconnect
Test Music
Beatles - “the blue album” 1967 -1970
Michael Nyman – The Essential Michael Nyman Band
Doves – The Last Broadcast
Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble – Officium
As this is a “quick” review it will only be selected tracks from the above. And of course all my views are based on my equipment with my own ears. Please also take into account that the Thor interconnect and Cambridge audio interconnect sound very different and having to use them together could effect the overall sound.
The Essential Michael Nyman Band and The X-Feed Effect:
First up is The Essential Michael Nyman Band. If you are unfamiliar with his work, he wrote the piano soundtrack and is considered a “minimalist” composer. He uses amped instruments along with violins, cellos and saxophones. The music tends to be very rhythmic and pulsing. The instruments tend to play overlapping tunes in a repetitive fashion which leads to very complicated music.
With the x-feed the sound becomes lighter more airy with a more cohesive feel. However the sound does not push at you like before or extenuate individual instruments reducing a small amount of detail. The sound no longer craves your attention so much and becomes less heavy and pressurised. You honestly feel you could listen for hours. So if you are reading a book or working you can have great sounding music that doesn’t distract you quite as much. With The Essential Michael Nyman Band you do lose a little of the feel for the rhythmic pulse and complexity of the music but it becomes easier it listen to for prolonged periods. However if you want to listen to just the music and hear every detail and feel the push and weight of the music then you will enjoy it more without the x-feed
Doves – The Last Broadcast and The X-Feed Effect:
The last broadcast is a rhythmic indie sound. Again like Nyman it has repetitive themes. The drums and guitar are quite important in this type of music as it is used to create the infectious rhythm.
With the X-feed you can notice a slight reduction in volume, however in my case this could be down to using 2 differing interconnects. With The Last Broadcast some of the darkness it lost and you do miss some of the forcefulness of the music. Again you get the benefits of reduced separateness of the instruments, but you do miss the effect of the drums and guitar working in harmony to create the driving rhythms. I feel you are less likely to feel the benefits of the x-feed with this type of music. But the x-feed does reduce the likelihood of headphone fatigue.
Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble – Officium and The X-Feed Effect:
Officium is Gregorian Chart sung by The Hilliard Ensemble with Jan Garbarek playing Saxophone. I always enjoy the mix of the 2 sounds. The group harmonies of the vocals with the almost freeform of the sax. I always felt it had an almost eastern sound that relaxes whilst still making you pay attention to the music.
When you add the X-feed the sound of the Hilliard Ensemble and the Sax seem to come more together, not just positionally but harmonically. The sound is smoother and loses some of that eastern feel. But the sound is gentler which soothes and relaxes. However I feel the X-feed has changed the vocals, leading to a loss in much of the echo that comes from singing in a large cathedral. Personally I believe the music is better without the x-feed.
Beatles - “the blue album” 1967 -1970 and The X-Feed Effect:
Well most of you should know the Beatles so not much of an introduction. However it is important to remember that the Beatles material is recorded in the early days of stereo and so it suffers from quite an extreme form of stereo with overlapping sounds happing in isolation through both channels.
Well this is where you thank god for the x-feed. It truly comes into its own with extreme stereo recordings. The instruments suddenly become closer and more harmonious. The instruments still come through on the channel they were on before but seem to be now at the front of soundstage (head) instead of at the sides. Truly these pieces of music have to be listened to with a crossfeed, it just makes them so much more enjoyable and gives a greater feel for the music as a whole. I definitely recommend the x-feed when used with music containing extreme stereo.
Conclusion:
Well I have hoped to show a rounded view with different types of music though I am aware that some of the negative elements I noticed with the x-feed could have been produced by having to use the Cambridge Audio interconnect.
What is apparent from the results to me is that using a crossfeed is very beneficial to certain types of music, namely those from the sixties that contain more extreme stereo. But also that using the x-feed can also depend on your environment and whether you wish to make the music less distracting and reduce headphone fatigue, as would often be the case at work.
What makes the x-feed special is that it is standalone, very solid, passive, can work with any amp or source and importantly the cost. Buying a specialist amp with crossfeed can cost a bit and limit you to using that amp, however with the x-feed the cost is only £35 (about $55 - $60, at time of writing) shipped and it has no dependency on any one amp. For what it offers in sound and flexibility it is a great buy and I believe everyone should have one tucked away somewhere ready for use on those fatiguing albums or for work. All in all I thoroughly recommend it.
Thanks for reading this, it is not the best review but I am sure others that have bought the x-feed will add there own comments and probably articulate them much better.
In an attempt to explain how it changes the sound I have included 2 very basic images representing the sound of Eleanor Rigby without x-feed and with x-feed.
Wordsworth
Mike (Pink Floyd) has created an amazing little gadget which really and truly works. Well Done PF , every headphone user should have one of these 
