Apex Glacier amp/dac review and appreciation thread

[esuhgb]

Quote:

 
The Glacier has wider soundstage compare to the HA4G, mid is more forward, bass is deeper and treble is more sparkle. In general, I see a better improvement when I am using the Glacier with my iems. However, the HA4G is cheaper than Glacier so it will depends on how much you are willing to spend on your portable rig to make decision.

Thanks for the impressions, i already have the glacier, was just considering the 4g as a secondary amp for when am out and about.

 

[patlee]

Brutal with good equipment. Substituted the glacier with JH3 while charging DSP. Connected to iPod classic, CypherLabs Solo and mod JH16. Couldn't find left channel treble and overall sounded distorted. It does work ok with the Solo and hifiman R272’s, but can't drive HE400. Sorry I bought it.

 

[Dark Helmet]

Just got my glacier today 

.  It sounds great with my 5.5 Gen Ipod via LOD.  Excellent seperation but I wanted to run it with my Note 2 and I don't think the Note 2 sounds as good.  I'm hoping that the Devs get better USB audio and on board audio support for it.  The Ipod has a blacker background and sounds more intimate.  Looking forward to the sound when it breaks in.

 

[daerron]

Which player are you using with your Note 2? From the Note 2 thread it appears that some music players on Android can cause the sound to sound compressed unless some of their processing options are disabled. Keep me posted on your progress. I'm also looking at the Glacier to pair with my Note 2 and Westone 4s.

 

[Dark Helmet]

Which player are you using with your Note 2? From the Note 2 thread it appears that some music players on Android can cause the sound to sound compressed unless some of their processing options are disabled. Keep me posted on your progress. I'm also looking at the Glacier to pair with my Note 2 and Westone 4s.

Well I played it a lot last night and though I would like the Note 2 to be a bit blacker in the back ground everything else about it sounds better as a combo than the ipod with LOD. The key is to put it in airplane mode to eliminate any interference. It did get better even after a few hours. I love it. The thing that gets lost in translation here is that everyone gets caught up in the whole DAC/Amp thing. The transport (preamp is very important too). When that portiin of the Note2 is improved upon, this will truly be a wicked setup.

I'm using Neutron. Ialso have Poweramp but I prefer Neutron.

 

[barbes]

Quote:

One thing that shocks me is how good the Glacier sounds without the CLAS-db. Clearly the db is better, bbut its remarkably good sounding straight with my iPhone and JH5. Have you found that to be the case as well?

 Yes. Just as you say, the more elaborate setup is better, but not by as much as one might think.  With the better amps - this one, the Vorzuge, AHA-120, ones of that caliber - and the better iDevice line-outs, the result is remarkably good. 

 

[Poimandres]

Brutal with good equipment. Substituted the glacier with JH3 while charging DSP. Connected to iPod classic, CypherLabs Solo and mod JH16. Couldn't find left channel treble and overall sounded distorted. It does work ok with the Solo and hifiman R272’s, but can't drive HE400. Sorry I bought it.

I am having a hard time following you. Please elaborate.

 

[Sid-Fi]

Cool. It's nice to know that you have the same impression. I am going to be getting a new iPod classic soon to replace my iPhone 3G as my main portable player. I wonder if the line out is worse on the classic since it hasn't been updated in years now. I know it won't matter with the CLAS-db, but the idevice and glacier is so sleek on the go I'm still interested in the distinction.
Quote:

 Yes. Just as you say, the more elaborate setup is better, but not by as much as one might think.  With the better amps - this one, the Vorzuge, AHA-120, ones of that caliber - and the better iDevice line-outs, the result is remarkably good. 

 

[fuzzy1969]

I thought the he400's were easy to drive. One of the reviews of the apex paired with new cypherlabs dac does mention it is quieter than the apex's dac, Im not sure why they've done it but the line out on the cypherlabs dac is only 1.7v and not the true 2v line out.

 

[DigitalFreak]

I thought the he400's were easy to drive. One of the reviews of the apex paired with new cypherlabs dac does mention it is quieter than the apex's dac, Im not sure why they've done it but the line out on the cypherlabs dac is only 1.7v and not the true 2v line out.

People have been complaining about that so Cypher Labs will be upping the gain on future CLASs. They originally lowered the gain due to people with IEMs complaining about not getting enough headroom due to the CLAS having so much gain

 

[barbes]

Quote:

Cool. It's nice to know that you have the same impression. I am going to be getting a new iPod classic soon to replace my iPhone 3G as my main portable player. I wonder if the line out is worse on the classic since it hasn't been updated in years now. I know it won't matter with the CLAS-db, but the idevice and glacier is so sleek on the go I'm still interested in the distinction.

I'm not sure about the 3G phone, but the the Classic doesn't sound as good as my 4S phone or my Touch 4G.  It's not bad, but I'm happy with the Touch/Glacier, and I'm not with the the Classic/Glacier.

 

[Sid-Fi]

Thanks for sharing. That's what I was worried about. Bummer.

I'm not sure about the 3G phone, but the the Classic doesn't sound as good as my 4S phone or my Touch 4G.  It's not bad, but I'm happy with the Touch/Glacier, and I'm not with the the Classic/Glacier.

 

[dryvadeum]

Does anyone know what actual Cirrus Logic DAC chip the Apex uses?

 

[midnightwalker]

Quote:

Just got my glacier today 

.  It sounds great with my 5.5 Gen Ipod via LOD.  Excellent seperation but I wanted to run it with my Note 2 and I don't think the Note 2 sounds as good.  I'm hoping that the Devs get better USB audio and on board audio support for it.  The Ipod has a blacker background and sounds more intimate.  Looking forward to the sound when it breaks in.

Why don't you just buy the OTG cable to you both DAC/AMP sections of the Glacier? It sounds even better than pairing with your Ipod

 

[daniel_hokkaido]

Hi, 
 
I love my glacier/ety er4s combo for classical out of my macbook, but I felt Ak100 player's neutrality made listening unengaging. 
 
the ak100 glacier momentum headphones was quite good though. more bass etc. As the ak100 player is a great mobile option
could someone with er4s, glacier and ak100 experience give an opinion on whether the have a 2nd lusher amp or lusher iems. 
 
 I tried er4s with the furutech portable amp and found the bass pretty good with them. But the new cardas iems coming in april look great though.
Steve guttenberg raved about them calling them really musical and 'lush'