[LSD25]

I've been playing around with Parametric equalizer more and more these days, using HD800 with E1.
And I gotta say, I'm very pleased with the results I get from it!
I used the NE5532s in buffer slot 2 for more powerful bass.
 
 
Oh and about the USB giving unpleasant noise, I have that problem as well (I'm using Windows 8 64-bit)
When I play a high bit rate flac file, and if i listen carefully, I definitely hear noise. Makes the sound less detailed and "rusty" (for the lack of a better word)
At first I thought it was just the file, but when I switched to the TOS connection, there was no noise at all!
 
Maybe its because the driver for windows 8 is still in beta stage?
or it might be noise caused by the USB cable since the cable is relatively thin (not sure if those ferrite beads on the cable do anything), and the back of my computer is a nest of wires.
 
 
Thing that sucks now though is that my soundcard's (creative xtremegamer x-fi) maximum output is 96Khz on s/pdif.
And I really don't know If I should consider buying a new sound card...
and I dont know how much of an impact a different sound card's digital output will make, since It's just digital signal, and the DAC does all the conversion...
Any thoughts on that?
 
Edit: I think I might use the onboard sound card's (Realtek) digital coaxial.

 

[Archimago]

Hi LSD.
 
Curious which parametric EQ you're playing with and what settings you're ending up with for the E1 + HD800?
 
I noticed that the USB noise actually is gone now for me after the firmware update to USB 111. Even before I updated the MCU firmware to 1.27 so I suspect the Win8 driver is OK and the old firmware was the problem. I'll have a better listen tonight for small anomalies.
 
I'm of the opinion that USB cables are unable to add small levels of distortion due to the digital nature - if 24/192 works then there should not be a problem at lower bitrates. Of course many would debate this.
 
Hey, could someone summarize the functions of the OpAmps for those of us neophytes? What does I/V mean, what does the buffer do? Which of these positions are most sensitive to opamp quality?

 

[LSD25]

Quote:

Hi LSD.
 
Curious which parametric EQ you're playing with and what settings you're ending up with for the E1 + HD800?
 
I noticed that the USB noise actually is gone now for me after the firmware update to USB 111. Even before I updated the MCU firmware to 1.27 so I suspect the Win8 driver is OK and the old firmware was the problem. I'll have a better listen tonight for small anomalies.
 
I'm of the opinion that USB cables are unable to add small levels of distortion due to the digital nature - if 24/192 works then there should not be a problem at lower bitrates. Of course many would debate this.
 
Hey, could someone summarize the functions of the OpAmps for those of us neophytes? What does I/V mean, what does the buffer do? Which of these positions are most sensitive to opamp quality?

 
I just use the EasyQ VST plugin from here: http://www.rs-met.com/freebies.html
Its easy to work with, it is not too over the top, gets the job done. (Using Foobar btw)
Though I want to get my hands on the Dynamic EQ VST plugin by Melda
 
The equalization really depends on the type of song you're listening to. You can pretty much make the HD800s rumble your head with tight bass, if you do it properly. I just figured it out by trial and error, playing around with the steepness of the curves. left part is the bottom end sound, right is the high end dealing with treble.
 
I'm still unsure about the noise on USB.. for some reason when I used the USB cable that Asus provided (which is thicker and shorter than the printer usb cable i used earlier), the noise disappeared. But for now I think I'll stick with the digital coaxial signal
 
 
and I wanna know about those question as well. I just followed the instructions in the manual to switch the opamps lol

 

[Archimago]

Cool plugins on that site LSD.
 
Will play when I have time
 
Picked up the LM4562's... Spent a little more money locally through the distributor to make sure I get the genuine National parts. I hear eBay often sells knock-offs (?relabeled NE5532's?).
 
Will have fun doing the retrofit tonight.

 

[LSD25]

Quote:

Cool plugins on that site LSD.
 
Will play when I have time
 
Picked up the LM4562's... Spent a little more money locally through the distributor to make sure I get the genuine National parts. I hear eBay often sells knock-offs (?relabeled NE5532's?).
 
Will have fun doing the retrofit tonight.

I got my NE5532s from the Texas Instrument website, they were free samples, and I'm sure they are probably genuine.

 

[Archimago]

LOL

So far, enjoying my E1 'LM4562 Edition'. Replaced all the NE5532's. Very spacious, clean sound. I like it so far and at least theoretically, these guys should be good

 

[ASUSXONAR]

Hi,
 
 
Which USB and MCU firmware version are you running?
 
 
 
Quote:

I've been playing around with Parametric equalizer more and more these days, using HD800 with E1.
And I gotta say, I'm very pleased with the results I get from it!
I used the NE5532s in buffer slot 2 for more powerful bass.
 
 
Oh and about the USB giving unpleasant noise, I have that problem as well (I'm using Windows 8 64-bit)
When I play a high bit rate flac file, and if i listen carefully, I definitely hear noise. Makes the sound less detailed and "rusty" (for the lack of a better word)
At first I thought it was just the file, but when I switched to the TOS connection, there was no noise at all!
 
Maybe its because the driver for windows 8 is still in beta stage?
or it might be noise caused by the USB cable since the cable is relatively thin (not sure if those ferrite beads on the cable do anything), and the back of my computer is a nest of wires.
 
 
Thing that sucks now though is that my soundcard's (creative xtremegamer x-fi) maximum output is 96Khz on s/pdif.
And I really don't know If I should consider buying a new sound card...
and I dont know how much of an impact a different sound card's digital output will make, since It's just digital signal, and the DAC does all the conversion...
Any thoughts on that?
 
Edit: I think I might use the onboard sound card's (Realtek) digital coaxial.

 

[ASUSXONAR]

Hi Citraian,
 
The only hardware difference is the addition of a gain jumper for sensitive IEMs in the MUSES edition. Other than that, it's just the MUSES op-amps in the I/V and LPF sections.
Quote:

 
 
Has anybody tried the MUSES op-amps yet? I'm thinking of replacing all stock op-amps to match the configuration in the MUSES edition, basically turning my stock Essence One into a Muses edition Essence One. Will this work or are there any other hardware changes in the new edition?

 

[LSD25]

Quote:

Hi,
 
 
Which USB and MCU firmware version are you running?
 
 
 

 
Shows this on my information:
And I'm using Windows 8 64-bit
 

 

[ASUSXONAR]

Hi,
 
Can you try different USB ports and see if the noise persists? If it does, please provide a list of all components and setup so that I can pass to HQ for replication. Did you have this issue on Windows 7 also?
 
 
Quote:

 
Shows this on my information:
And I'm using Windows 8 64-bit
 

 

[cssarrow]

Has anyone been using the MUSE01 Op Amps with their essence one?

How does it compare to other op amps? Do you think Asus is right for picking this op amp for their muses edition?

I only have MUSE01's in my Essence One and haven't tried others so i can't tell.

- Tim

 

[ionicle]

got one of those babies myself, just noticed they released new drivers and firmware - FW is already installed, just one question regarding the drivers: Do I have to uninstall the previous ones first before installing the new ones?

 

[ASUSXONAR]

Quote:

got one of those babies myself, just noticed they released new drivers and firmware - FW is already installed, just one question regarding the drivers: Do I have to uninstall the previous ones first before installing the new ones?

Yes, uninstall the old driver first. Follow any prompts for a system restart if requested.

 

[nicholars]

I was interested in this DAC a while ago but I sort of forgot about it as it took so long to come out....
 
Without me reading through the whole 61 page thread can someone tell me if this turned out to be any good?
 
What is the sound like?

 

[cssarrow]

I was interested in this DAC a while ago but I sort of forgot about it as it took so long to come out....

Without me reading through the whole 61 page thread can someone tell me if this turned out to be any good?

What is the sound like?

There are many reviews to be found on google, theres really none on headfi. I ran this thing stock (the original one version, not pro or muses edition) and it sounded superior to my $449 Nuforce HDP. Its mids are more defined, soundstage is larger, not as smooth as the hdp but thats what makes it more transparent (life like).

I went ahead and bought 6 MUSE01 op amps which are the flagship (best) from JRC (new japan radio co.) poped them in, and now its light years ahead. I can say that its as good as the benchmark dac1 which ive also had the chance to hear recently with my system. I have not yet compared it to the nuforce d-100 but would like to.

So yeah, at $550-590 for the essence one its a very good value. Especially since it has a linear power supply, fully balanced xlr output, preamp, amp, 24bit/192khz DAC, headphone amp, and its 8x upsampling does balance out my sound nicely.

My HDP only does 24/96 and doesn't have the 32bit DSP that the essence provides.
You can always upgrade it later on to the MUSE01 or MUSE 8920 op amps which will make music more transparent and well seperated.