[kunalraiker]

Quote:

Was slightly constrained by budget, and the OCD in me wanted the case size to be the same. Either way, I can already hear a significant difference between my Little Dot combo and the Audio-gd. MUCH larger soundstage and the detail and clarity has really improved, as has the separation of instrumentals. Wasn't expecting a massive difference, but as soon as I turned it on, I actually double-took because of the imaging. I thought someone had come up behind me.
 
Embarrassing thing was, I couldn't get the Phoenix to work, until I realised (about an hour later), that I'd pressed the preamp button which bypasses the headphone jacks on the front. It looks exactly like the power button on the Ref5 and the top part of the phoenix, and without thinking switched it on along with everything else. Also tried the Ref5 with the Little Dot MkIV SE and again, found a sizeable increase in imaging and soundstage. Really looking forward to putting some more hours on it. You'll definitely enjoy it!

Did Kingwa give you the option of the new usb chip,i was told if I wanted the new chip it would take about 10 business days more, this was after my unit was ready, now there seems to be some festival in China which ends tommorow, then only they can ship, do you feel there is a double standard.

 

[JesseDodds]

I just assume it has the new chip considering when I purchased it said "USB input had upgrade to support 24Bit/96KHz" I assumed that was the newer chip. Hmm... I'll be pissed if it isn't. Is there an easy way to find out?

 

[.Sup]

Thanks for the pics Jesse

 

[kunalraiker]

Quote:

I just assume it has the new chip considering when I purchased it said "USB input had upgrade to support 24Bit/96KHz" I assumed that was the newer chip. Hmm... I'll be pissed if it isn't. Is there an easy way to find out?

listen some 24-bit music in itunes.get a sample from hdtracks website.

 

[JesseDodds]

If anyone's interested, I can take in my DSLR to work tomorrow (where my rig is), and take some decent pics if anyone wants. Any takers?

 

[JesseDodds]

Quote:

listen some 24-bit music in itunes.get a sample from hdtracks website.

 
I have a couple of Massive Attack albums in 24bit ALAC which I had a listen to today. Would it not play if it didn't support 24/96?
 

 

[kunalraiker]

Quote:

 
I have a couple of Massive Attack albums in 24bit ALAC which I had a listen to today. Would it not play if it didn't support 24/96?
 

that is right, unless you are using some plugin in itunes to re-sample the songs.

 

[JesseDodds]

Quote:

that is right, unless you are using some plugin in itunes to re-sample the songs.

Explains why I can't sync those albums to my iPhone/iPad then *taps nose*. I'm assuming I have the newer chip then?

 

[Lord.Warlock]

Quote:

If anyone's interested, I can take in my DSLR to work tomorrow (where my rig is), and take some decent pics if anyone wants. Any takers?

The Phoenix and Reference combination looks great Jesse.
Always interested in pictures 
 
A this point it seems my waiting is also over this weekend, I've orderd the Phoenix and Reference 5 about 3 weeks ago from amp city.
My reference 5 is on with 2 optical and a coax, just because I won't be using USB, and it wasn't available at the time I was ready to order..

 

[JesseDodds]

Kingwa was nice enough to throw in plenty of cables with the Ref5 and Phoenix. USB cable, decent looking optical cable, (i paid the extra $20something for the ACSS, which are very very nice cables to behold), as well as the male/female XLR kit which he normally charges an extra $30 for and plenty of other bits and bobs. Reckon it's worth transitioning to optical? Both my MacBook Pro and iMac have optical out through a 3.5mm jack. I've got one of those pissy little 3.5mm to toslink jiggers, so I'll give it a go and see if I notice any difference tomorrow.

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

Did Kingwa give you the option of the new usb chip,i was told if I wanted the new chip it would take about 10 business days more, this was after my unit was ready, now there seems to be some festival in China which ends tommorow, then only they can ship, do you feel there is a double standard.

There is ALWAYS a festival in China.  They have more holidays than any people on Earth.

 

[Lord.Warlock]

With my previous setup, a Headroom balanced desktop en power supply, the sound from a wadia i170 connected via coax was clearly better than the sound from my macbook pro connected with optical. If this will be the same with the phoenix and reference 5, I don't know.
 

 

[vlach]

Quote:

With my previous setup, a Headroom balanced desktop en power supply, the sound from a wadia i170 connected via coax was clearly better than the sound from my macbook pro connected with optical. If this will be the same with the phoenix and reference 5, I don't know.
 

For what it's worth, the sound from my Squeezebox Duet via coax sounds better than optical out of my mac mini, both going to my DAC19mklll, and the same music files in WAV format are used in both cases. I "wanted" the mac mini to sound better in order to streamline my set up and use only one device/platform (and use my iTouch as a wireless remote to control & navigate my music collection), but it didn't. I'm not saying the difference between the two is huge or even significant, however it is noticeable enough for me to keep the SB. Like many audiophiles, anything that squeezes an extra drop in SQ earns real estate in my set up

 

[TigzStudio]

Hey all so I am making a custom ACSS cable with an extra cable/set of connectors from Kingwa, and I have noticed it uses 3 wires for 4 connectors. 
 
So I am making a pure silver (homegrown) version for the heck of it.  
 
In case anyone is wondering on the pinout on the cable that Kingwa sends us has:
 
pin 1:  Black (shared/foil shielding)
pin 2:  Red 
pin 3:  White 
pin 4:  Black (shared/foil shielding)
 
The black cable is actually completely stripped and weaved as the shield, wrapped around the entire length of the cable.  So I am assuming the White is a ground?  Ideas?  Anyone make their own ACSS cable?
 

 

[.Sup]

Quote:

Hey all so I am making a custom ACSS cable with an extra cable/set of connectors from Kingwa, and I have noticed it uses 3 wires for 4 connectors. 
 
So I am making a pure silver (homegrown) version for the heck of it.  
 
In case anyone is wondering on the pinout on the cable that Kingwa sends us has:
 
pin 1:  Black (shared/foil shielding)
pin 2:  Red 
pin 3:  White 
pin 4:  Black (shared/foil shielding)
 
The black cable is actually completely stripped and weaved as the shield, wrapped around the entire length of the cable.  So I am assuming the White is a ground?  Ideas?  Anyone make their own ACSS cable?
 

Pics of the cable and connector?