Apex Glacier amp/dac review and appreciation thread

[zenpunk]

What about Xperia Z? Any android phone with USB support should work?

 

[taz23]

Quote:

What about Xperia Z? Any android phone with USB support should work?

I don't think so, for your second question.  You might find more information on the thread on Android Phones and USB DACs (such as http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/2010#post_9317569).

 

[taz23]

I just like to report here that I have been using my Apex Glacier for more than a month now, and I absolutely love it.
 
I particularly adore it for the "wet" sound.  Previously, I relied heavily on the app USB Recorder Pro to get that natural sound (think decay on a good piano); now I could get that same characteristics off PowerAmp on my S3 with Apex Glacier.  Very detailed and wide soundstage too.
 
The thin stack is sexy and very portable.  My only quip is the lack of a nice right-angled micro USB OTG to right-angled micro USB which I could afford (since it seems that Toxic is the only one making such a cable currently).  If anyone knows of where to get such a cable, please give me a shout.
 
Happy listening!

 

[TekeRugburn]

Quote:

I just like to report here that I have been using my Apex Glacier for more than a month now, and I absolutely love it.
 
I particularly adore it for the "wet" sound.  Previously, I relied heavily on the app USB Recorder Pro to get that natural sound (think decay on a good piano); now I could get that same characteristics off PowerAmp on my S3 with Apex Glacier.  Very detailed and wide soundstage too.
 
The thin stack is sexy and very portable.  My only quip is the lack of a nice right-angled micro USB OTG to right-angled micro USB which I could afford (since it seems that Toxic is the only one making such a cable currently).  If anyone knows of where to get such a cable, please give me a shout.
 
Happy listening!

use this otg and this usb cable 
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PAIR-left-right-90D-Angled-Micro-USB-B-male-to-USB-female-Host-OTG-adapters-/321102144884?pt=US_USB_Cables_Hubs_Adapters&hash=item4ac32de574
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-2-0-A-Male-Left-Angle-90-Degrees-to-Micro-Right-Angle-M-Cable-Cord-20cm-/290884843011?pt=US_USB_Cables_Hubs_Adapters&hash=item43ba167603
 
or 
 
this regular otg and this adapter
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-2-0-A-Female-to-Micro-B-Male-Converter-OTG-Adapter-Cable-For-Google-Nexus-7-/160970681665?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item257a99ad41
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Flexible-swivel-USB-A-male-to-Micro-B-connector-adapter-/350746244037?pt=US_USB_Cables_Hubs_Adapters&hash=item51aa1af3c5
 
have on made http://www.cablestogo.com/custom-and-oem/overview

 

[namaiki]

Can anyone who has tried both the Apex Glacier and the CEntrance DACport please advise me of which they thought had more punch and/or PRaT factor and anything else of note. Thanks.

 

[daniel_hokkaido]

Got my S3 today! Got TTVJ usb micro cable also. Great to finally have a portable audio solution plus a smart phone. Nice upgrade from
my 2nd hand old nokia. I reckoned it was the best investment all round...over ak100 for example. 
 
Dan 

 

[daniel_hokkaido]

Quote:

Can anyone who has tried both the Apex Glacier and the CEntrance DACport please advise me of which they thought had more punch and/or PRaT factor and anything else of note. Thanks.

 
http://www.headfonia.com/supersharp-apex-glacier/
 
Mike seems to rate the glacier v highly for PRaT. 

 

[turokrocks]

Quote:

Can anyone who has tried both the Apex Glacier and the CEntrance DACport please advise me of which they thought had more punch and/or PRaT factor and anything else of note. Thanks.

 
 
The Glacier has the better "fun" factor.
Both are wonderful at what they do, but the glacier is the winner in my opinion, as it has this in your face sound, but with a touch of warmth .

 

[daniel_hokkaido]

Given how lively and sharp the Glacier is, any recs for a wetter sounding iem to my current ety er4s? I find it a great combination for classical and v v well recorded material..but the etys + glacier
can make some rock, electronica quite flat and unengaging. 
 
Im interested in the new cardas iems. Steve Guttenberg said they were 'juicy' .. seems they are delaying again as george is changing the driver again. 
 
my budget is 300-500 bucks. not interested in customs. compatibility with comply foam tips would be a bonus. 

 

[fuzzy1969]

Difficult one, I got the glacier from the review as being mid forward with a lot PRaT after I got the frogbeats c5 customs which have a V shaped sound signature, I almost think it was designed for fun in-ears, It seemed to have the effect of turning the c5's into a less of a V shaped sound with more forward and fuller mids. Maybe if you borrow someones westone 4(r) or triple.fi and see how it sounds.

 

[lololololo]

Hi there anyone knows how this sounds with Sennheiser IE800s? thanks..

 

[daniel_hokkaido]

I tried it with the ie800s from the dac of an ak100. Yeah they are ok. like mini hd600s 
 
BTW Is it possible to transfer data via usb to the s3's external sd card? carmeras do this all the time. But when I plugged my S3 into my mac it charged only
and didn't mount a HD on my desktop. Thanks! 

 

[fuzzy1969]

It is possible with windows 7, its a pain it the butt because I use linux and the s3 external sd card has exFAT format on it, so I have to get my win 7 netbook out to do it. The easiest way for me most of the time is to copy the files to a pendrive, plug the pendrive into the OTG cable on the s3 and use esfile explorer to copy the files/music over to the sdcard. edit if you want to use to es file explorer method with a pen drive you have to go into settings > Root settings > upto root (tick) then the sdcard can be found from >/mnt/extSDCard also the Pendrive is in one of the USB directories under /mnt.

 

[Decreate]

How is the EMI shielding of the amp? I recently got a Xduoo XP1 and whenever I receive a whatsapp message, a call or anything that requires an internet connection, I could hear quite a bit of noise.

 

[fuzzy1969]

I think it can happen with any dac/amp, I put my s3 into airplane mode for this reason.