[GourouLubrik]

Hi,
 
You PMed me about my current Rig : Ath-W1000X + Audio GD Fun
 
First let me apologize for my approximative english, as it's not my mother language.
 
Because the FUN hardware changed a lot, I precise that it's the latest A version - Wolfson wm8741 - low jitter 24/96 DIR 9001 modules
I bought OPA Earth and Sun - Earth is grounded as it should be - and still did not tested the Sun, but I really should.
I Use both USB & Coaxial (with Audio GD Canare cables)
 
Source is usually a computer, foobar 2000 as source, Wasapi throught USB, or Asio through Essence STX coaxial
used Equalizer: +2Db @ 55hz / +1 Db @ 77hz / -1 Db @ 3.5khz / -1 Db @ 5khz
Oversampling @ 96khz when I use Essence STX coax + Asio - Unfortunately, Fun doesn't support 88.2khz !
 
There is not much too say about it, it's quite good but not flawless.
 
The biggest flaw imho is the background noise at high volume (imho > 40% volume without gain). More noise than the Essence... It don't know if it's my rig, the Earth OPA, W1000X sensibility... but no matter which computer, which input, it's still a tad too high for my taste, and getting rid of that is the number 1 thing to do to get a better sound.
 
Compared to the stock Essence STX, there are some big improvements in the low end (I guess I should thanks the OPA Earth here), and less sibliance near the 3.5k -> 5khz spectrum. Some tracks could give me some headache when 5khz reach -20dba level
 
I tested Essence RCA output => FUN RCA input... just don't do that, no improvement whatsoever
I tried bigger power cable, no improvement detected either.
 
As a good point, it should be noted that I carry both Fun & W1000X to work every day... Fun enclosure is tough... w1000x must be handled with lots of care...
 
I Guess my next move will be toward getting a fully balanced rig...
 
Hope that helps, can PM me again if you got other questions.

 

[Mercuttio]

Hmmmm, thanks for your thoughts! I suppose the noise bit worries me... So even with the gain set for low impedance cans, you are getting a lot of background noise? Could this be a flaw with your particular audio-gd, or does anyone know if this is a common issue?

 

[afrobat]

From what I've read, the Audio-GD does not tend to make much noise with most headphones, but the W1000X seems to be very sensitive to hum for some reason. Most of the threads I've read in the price range either is known to have hum or hums with the W1000X...
 
GourouLubrik, does the Fun hum with any of your other headphones?

 

[Mercuttio]

What's strange is that my uDAC-2 is absolutely dead silent with them, and it's really inexpensive. The Total Bithead I had also had no hum to speak of. My experience with the W1000X so far is that they're generally pitch black with anything I've plugged them into, short of my horrible computer motherboard. 
 
Quote:

From what I've read, the Audio-GD does not tend to make much noise with most headphones, but the W1000X seems to be very sensitive to hum for some reason. Most of the threads I've read in the price range either is known to have hum or hums with the W1000X...

 

 

[afrobat]

lol maybe it's just the ones I'm looking at )= I was contemplating the Nuforce Icon HDP for quite a while, but apparently that too has hum unless the volume knob is from 11:00 onward, so I'm actually somewhat surprised that the Icon 2 doesn't make a sound. My Fiio E7/E9 combo hums quite a lot with these headphones.
 
I'm currently looking into the Musical Paradise MP-301. It's a $200 Transformer coupled amp, so that might be a good match for the W1000X. This is the Mark 2 and it's on pre-order right now. I don't know what differences it will have  from the original, but I guess it's worth checking out
http://www.musicalparadise.ca/mp/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=75
 
I also just discovered there's something called the Ebtech Hum X which claims to get rid of humming caused by ground loop hum. I'm not really reading pretty much anything from head-fi about the product, but it might fix any hum problems.

 

[GourouLubrik]

Well, just tested my Akg K272HD ... and confirmed something that I suspected but couldn't believe...
 
In fact, My music looks to be the thing to blame... I found few tracks that did not product disturbing noise even 50% volume - (I wouldn't listen more than 10 minutes at that level)
Can't believe that so much tracks have background noise.. including some of my favorite albums that I listen @ loud volume... I begin to suspect the FlacRip quality.
 
Latest Black Eyed Peas The beggining proved to be much less noisy that Red Hot or Daft Punk albums...
 
I guess it's that revealing that I didn't really catched this before...
 
gonna retry with the Essence STX... but main rig is out of order at the moment.
 
 

 

[Mercuttio]

So you're saying that when you have the Audio-GD on with no music coming through, it's silent over the W1000X? Even with the volume knob turned up?

 

[afrobat]

That would really be a relief lol. I actually asked in the Audio-GD Fun thread about any hum a couple weeks ago and they said there is none so if that is the case, that would be awesome.

 

[Mercuttio]

I mean, I just have a really hard time believing that the W1000X is much more of a hum monster than a Grado. I've heard humming even on iPhones / iPods on Grados at high (beyond listening) volumes, and it's just not there on the W1000X.  I can understand some sibilance on cheaper equipment, but I really can't classify them as sibilant headphones.
 
If I can get confirmation that the FUN has no hum when no music is playing and the volume is up with the W1000X is plugged in, I'm totally going to bite the bullet and order one.
 
 

 

[francisdemarte]

Head Direct EF-5 which is a hybrid amp wonderfully fat, warm, tube sound. Powerful enough to drive just about anything, easy op amp and tube rolling. I love it with my W1000X.

The Matrix M-Stage/Lovely Cube is pretty nice too if you listen to a lot of fast rock or electronic music, but you don't get the tube sound.

 

[Mercuttio]

Cool! That seems like a really good option too; nice to know there are tubes that do play well!
 
Personally, I'm really sold on the Audio-GD with the Moon adaptor... but this is tempting too!
 
Quote:

Head Direct EF-5 which is a hybrid amp wonderfully fat, warm, tube sound. Powerful enough to drive just about anything, easy op amp and tube rolling. I love it with my W1000X.

The Matrix M-Stage/Lovely Cube is pretty nice too if you listen to a lot of fast rock or electronic music, but you don't get the tube sound.

 

 

[GourouLubrik]

Quote:

I mean, I just have a really hard time believing that the W1000X is much more of a hum monster than a Grado. I've heard humming even on iPhones / iPods on Grados at high (beyond listening) volumes, and it's just not there on the W1000X.  I can understand some sibilance on cheaper equipment, but I really can't classify them as sibilant headphones.
 
If I can get confirmation that the FUN has no hum when no music is playing and the volume is up with the W1000X is plugged in, I'm totally going to bite the bullet and order one.
 
 

Tried it without music: very few noise until 40%, more noticeable 40-55%, noisy @ 55-75%, very noisy after 75%. 
I guess that some could listen @ 55%... but not much higher with a w1000x as it would begin to damage our precious ears ^^... 
 
I'd be curious to test a 600ohm beyerdynamic on the Fun Amp.

 

[tk3]

The M³ is a good choice too, and there are some for sale at the classifieds too.

 

[afrobat]

Quote:

Tried it without music: very few noise until 40%, more noticeable 40-55%, noisy @ 55-75%, very noisy after 75%. 
I guess that some could listen @ 55%... but not much higher with a w1000x as it would begin to damage our precious ears ^^... 
 
I'd be curious to test a 600ohm beyerdynamic on the Fun Amp.

 
Do you have the volume on your music player maxed and is there any sweet spot on the fun? On my current amp, I need to turn down the volume on iTunes to almost 0 for me to actually get to the sweet spot on my amp.

 

[GourouLubrik]

Volume maxed in foobar - through Asio or Wasapi mode or even Directsound - Noise is different from USB & Coaxial when not playing music.
Tried desactivating replaygain, Eq, Oversampling
 
 
I guess that the way it's meant to be played (this is not an Nvidia ad ) - 0Db in foobar should be lossless...
 
Conclusion is rude, most of my music contains clearly audible noise...
 
I did very instructive testing BTW : I generated 30s blank flac using audacity... tested through Fun coax & Essence headphone output tested with an extreme volume (that could damage the headphone if I outputed something else than silence)
 
44.1khz/16bits is a bit noisy ... 96/24bits is not.
 
Conclusion is simple:
 
1. Essence is dead silent in 24/96 - Fun always has a noticeable noise at higher volume
2. Most of my music, even in Flac-accurip or whatever, has noticeable noise
3. CD quality 44.1khz-16bits must die
4. You avoided me unececessary futur upgrade - but now I feel like needing opamp rolling on the Essence
5. Still, even with the few added noise, I prefer the Fun + OPA Earth ! (Better bass, fuller sound, reduced high sibliance)