[munce31]

I'm in Australia, so I don't think its free for us...
 
Btw since this is an audio gd thread, has anyone ever had the chance to sample the HE line of amplifiers (bottom of the product list)? Apparently they're better than Master Series. They're totally out of my price league, but still curious to hear what people have heard/seen.

 

[x RELIC x]

It's free globally.

 

[Rockin_Zombie]

  I'm in Australia, so I don't think its free for us...
 
Btw since this is an audio gd thread, has anyone ever had the chance to sample the HE line of amplifiers (bottom of the product list)? Apparently they're better than Master Series. They're totally out of my price league, but still curious to hear what people have heard/seen.

I think the HE line has a built-in power generator, that is the biggest difference. AFAIK HE line had some issues which Kingwa hasn't been able to fix it, that's why they are not that common. 
 
And the PP fee free essentially means a 3% discount. So I am guessing it will be 58.5 USD off of the MSRP. You are gonna pay in USD so doesn't matter where you pay from, your PP fee could be higher but I am guessing the discount will still be 3%. 

 

[cans4dessert]

i noticed the HE lineup only after I made my M11 purchase. I guess if i were to buy a separate power regenerator i should get similar results?
I have been looking at Monarchy AC regenerator. Anyone have any prior experience with this?

 

[munce31]

Makes a lot of sense to buy from a reputable seller of this kind of technology. 
 
I'm no engineer, but wouldn't a battery or computer UPS have the same effect. Some people have utilised UPSs and have achieved darker background noise.
 
BTW does anyone know what's the point of the HDMI option?

 

[pervysage]

So after about a month of using the M11 through the single-ended out, today is my first REAL listening session through the balanced out (I say real listening session because I did try the balanced out a couple weeks back but it ended up being a bad experience due to the Ebay cable I used). That cable was returned the next day and I went back to single-ended listening.
 
I just got my TH900 modded with HD800 connectors and got the stock TH900 cable terminated with 4-pin XLR and HD800 connectors (the TH900 is known to already have a very good quality copper cable). I just sent off my Sennheiser stock cable to be reterminated today so I can't do direct comparison with that, but wow! the TH900 cable sounds great on the HD800. I had the left over single ended connector turned into an adapter so it was easy to do A-B comparison of the M11's balanced and single ended outputs.
 
Anyone who is running M11 single-ended for whatever reason needs to try out the balanced out and get your headphones reterminated if need be. There is significant improvement to be had. Greater soundstage, instrument separation and clarity, and more authority in the sound. Before hearing the balanced out, I thought single-ended was already very clear but balanced takes it up a notch. I'll use the cliche saying: it's like a veil gets lifted. All the instruments that were originally further & fainter in the background have more authority and can be heard a lot clearer and with more separation. 

 

[socks mk2]

[redacted]

 

[defbear]

Could it be those results are partially due to a lessened bass quantity in the frequency response? The rest likely being a balanced amp designed for balanced use outperforming it's single ended output.

I've been told that bass response tends to be a little lighter in balanced operation depending on the headphone and amp. I think the DT990 and TH900 are excellent candidates for this exact reason.

I ask out of curiosity if those statements/testimonies match your newfound impressions [specifically with the Master 11].

Nope! It's just that balanced sounds better. Bass sounds better too. "Try it, you'll like it"

 

[cans4dessert]

i'm gonna reterminate my stock HD800 cable with switchcraft xlr next week so i can try out balanced!

 

[munce31]

Nope! It's just that balanced sounds better. Bass sounds better too. "Try it, you'll like it"

I see in your signature that you have the LCD-2F's. Has the bass been increased in balanced mode with the M11?

 

[defbear]

I see in your signature that you have the LCD-2F's. Has the bass been increased in balanced mode with the M11?

Yes! It's not just more bass or bigger blob, the quality of the bass is enhanced as well. Someone mentioned "I can't quit you baby" from Led Zeppelin's first album. They thought the bass was 'astounding'. I thought yes great album, nicely recorded for the times. I have an original copy from when it first came out. So I listened to I can't quit you baby and was astounded. In the second measure of the song, JPJ's bass really comes in. It's very organic sounding in single ended mode. In balanced operation. I not only get the note but can hear the string and the big thumps coming from his huge Acoustic bass amp. For me, balanced sounds fuller, richer and more authoritative. Not just louder. So yes, you will have a wonderful time with lcd-2's on the master 11 as I do.

 

[munce31]

Yes! It's not just more bass or bigger blob, the quality of the bass is enhanced as well. Someone mentioned "I can't quit you baby" from Led Zeppelin's first album. They thought the bass was 'astounding'. I thought yes great album, nicely recorded for the times. I have an original copy from when it first came out. So I listened to I can't quit you baby and was astounded. In the second measure of the song, JPJ's bass really comes in. It's very organic sounding in single ended mode. In balanced operation. I not only get the note but can hear the string and the big thumps coming from his huge Acoustic bass amp. For me, balanced sounds fuller, richer and more authoritative. Not just louder. So yes, you will have a wonderful time with lcd-2's on the master 11 as I do.

Excellent. I've always thought, and I'm sure others can attest to this, that the fazor LCD-2s are more neutral sounding and have lost a bit of that bass punch that the LCD-2s pre-fazor were renown for. When in actual fact, the bass is still there, it just needs to be exploited with the right set-up. These testimonies are what make me push towards the m11. 
 
I've emailed Grace, but something tells me that they don't work on Sundays in China. I am keen as, to get myself a m11 now.

 

[pervysage]

I was wondering about the outputs on the back of the M11. Say I got a power amp such as the Precision 1 for my speakers. I would hook the M11 DAC portion to it through the ACSS outs. Would I be able to hook up a powered subwoofer to the RCA outs. So basically have signal coming out of both the ACSS out and RCA out for a 2.1 speaker system?

The other option would be just running extra speaker wire from the speaker amp posts and using speaker level inputs on the subwoofer instead of line level inputs.

 

[munce31]

Has anyone tried the 3 pin XLR balanced outputs? Any differences in sound quality between the 4 pin?

 

[Rockin_Zombie]

I was wondering about the outputs on the back of the M11. Say I got a power amp such as the Precision 1 for my speakers. I would hook the M11 DAC portion to it through the ACSS outs. Would I be able to hook up a powered subwoofer to the RCA outs. So basically have signal coming out of both the ACSS out and RCA out for a 2.1 speaker system?

The other option would be just running extra speaker wire from the speaker amp posts and using speaker level inputs on the subwoofer instead of line level inputs.

Shouldn't you hook the subwoofer up to the Precision 1? my setup is simpler since I have powered monitors, and my subwoofer has high-pass out. So it goes M11 -> subwoofer -> powered monitors.