Aune T1 USB Tube DAC+ SS Amp Discussion Thread ***See first post for FAQ--Updated on 02/14/15***

[SpiderNhan]

   
Maybe you have a weak tube because mine is QUITE bassy. Fantastic low deep bass. Much more so than other tubes I used.
 
I'm not the only one who mentioned this, so my suggestion would be to perhaps look for a stronger-testing Amperex 7308 OG tube to replace the current one you're using.

It's possible. I bought them as a used pair on eBay. They both tested well and sound pretty much the same. Mine are Amperex 6DJ8 OGs, if that makes a difference. They're not bass-light in the sense that they don't have much bass, but compared to my other two tubes, the EH6922 and my Bugle Boy 6DJ8, they have the least bass presence and impact. They also have the sweetest mid-range and widest (read: colossal) sound stage and the signature pairs very well with my bass-heavy V-MODA M-100, so the "lack of bass" in my case is a plus.

 

[penmarker]

   
Again, shouldn't factor in in any way. It's all digital. Either it works or it doesn't. Any differences are self-injected.

I'm just gonna put this possibility on the table here. (as explained by my friend)
 
All cables have inductions and resistance, and data transferred in digital formats are in binaries. Music has frequencies towards both ends of the audio spectrum where its too slow for us to be able to hear, and too fast for us to be able to hear.
Now, inductance is when bits of binary data is too fast and too many but suddenly there's a little gap of 0. For instance: 1111111011111111. 
Since binary only has 1/0 or yes/no, and this data is transferred through power (electricity in the cable), there's a chance that the transferred signal is received as: 1111111111111111 because the cable's inductance bridged the 0 with electricity from the surrounding 1.
That's inductance.
 
Resistance is when 0000000010000000 gets transferred as 0000000000000000 because the cable's resistance rendered the single bit to 0.
 
That's only one bit of data. We got lossless format now, wonder how many million/more bit of data transferred per second.

 

[milan616]

But most data transmission is encoded (e.g. 8/10b) to avoid long single value problems. To get corruption that makes it sound better for more than a microsecond is practically impossible with such encoding as it would have to look correct to the receiver mathematically. It would be akin to winning the lottery everyday for the rest of your life.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8b/10b_encoding

 

[NCSUZoSo]

It is pretty damn simple guys, a digital signal is either on or off (light switch) unlike an analog signal that can be anywhere from too low to too high vs. the expected value causing distortion of some sort (lantern).

 

[Strat-Mangler]

  I'm just gonna put this possibility on the table here. (as explained by my friend)
 
All cables have inductions and resistance, and data transferred in digital formats are in binaries. Music has frequencies towards both ends of the audio spectrum where its too slow for us to be able to hear, and too fast for us to be able to hear.
Now, inductance is when bits of binary data is too fast and too many but suddenly there's a little gap of 0. For instance: 1111111011111111. 
Since binary only has 1/0 or yes/no, and this data is transferred through power (electricity in the cable), there's a chance that the transferred signal is received as: 1111111111111111 because the cable's inductance bridged the 0 with electricity from the surrounding 1.
That's inductance.
 
Resistance is when 0000000010000000 gets transferred as 0000000000000000 because the cable's resistance rendered the single bit to 0.
 
That's only one bit of data. We got lossless format now, wonder how many million/more bit of data transferred per second.

 
Your friend needs to get educated in the stuff he spouts off about.
 
With respect, the speed at which data is sent is but a fraction of what the cable is able to support. That's point #1.
 
Secondly, if that were true, that would result in data corruption. Just a slight corruption of archived data (such as a ZIP file, for instance) would result in the file's ID and data content to change. There are keys that are sent to validate such data constantly. If there's a mismatch, you would be alerted. You could perform a copy or move operation a million times over and you would never be able to reproduce data corruption that would be traced back to the cable.
 
See, the problem with repeating stuff like this is that misinformation can be read and transmitted to a whole slew of people who will believe it just because there are words in there that this person might not understand. It's critical to be aware that there are some error-correction schemes in order to prevent any of that stuff from occurring.
 
Let's stick to the topic of the Aune T1 because seeing a dead horse being beaten (again) like this especially in this thread isn't interesting, nor is it helpful in any way to people here.
 
This will be my last msg in this thread about this topic.

 

[hdtv00]

Yea back on topic... I'm wondering if it's best to set gain to 0 on this and have it 95% on volume knob or is it better to go up to the 10db gain and have volume at 55%-60%. Anything have any thoughts on this, trying out my new HD 700's.

 

[NCSUZoSo]

You try them both and pick what sounds the best to you, there are no magic numbers.

 

[hdtv00]

Well yea I get that but doesn't leaving it in low gain introduce less distortion?

 

[NCSUZoSo]

I have mine completely wide open on gain and I have yet to hear any distortion with around 300 hours of use.

 

[sandab]

  Yea back on topic... I'm wondering if it's best to set gain to 0 on this and have it 95% on volume knob or is it better to go up to the 10db gain and have volume at 55%-60%. Anything have any thoughts on this, trying out my new HD 700's.

My HD650s sound best on 16dB gain and lower volume.  They're plenty loud on lower gain but sound flatter and less dynamic.  It's ever so slightly tinny on medium gain, but it's quite subtle on the HD650s.  On my coworker's Grado RS2i's it was rather pronounced.  More so with the stock E-H 6922 than the Amperex 7308.
 
The easiest is to just try it.  You can change gain while listening.  See what you prefer and report back.

 

[hk1388]

So my Rockets finally came in yesterday, but I'm having some issues. The sound is not what I expected at all. While I didn't have high expectations, I didn't expect it to sound this bad. It makes my HE-400 sound like they have broken drivers. There is a thick veil over the sound and the bass is extremely muddy and not textured at all. Is this just a bad pairing with the HE-400 or did I get bad tubes?

 

[mikoss]

So my Rockets finally came in yesterday, but I'm having some issues. The sound is not what I expected at all. While I didn't have high expectations, I didn't expect it to sound this bad. It makes my HE-400 sound like they have broken drivers. There is a thick veil over the sound and the bass is extremely muddy and not textured at all. Is this just a bad pairing with the HE-400 or did I get bad tubes?

What were you using before for tubes? It's possible the rockets need some burn in time... It's also possible they don't sound as clear as your previous tubes.

I'd give them 20 hours burn in and see if your impressions change. I personally find them to be less resolving than my Amperex tubes, but they do have a fun/exciting sound to me.

 

[hk1388]

What were you using before for tubes? It's possible the rockets need some burn in time... It's also possible they don't sound as clear as your previous tubes.

I'd give them 20 hours burn in and see if your impressions change. I personally find them to be less resolving than my Amperex tubes, but they do have a fun/exciting sound to me.

 
I was using Amperex Orange Globe.
 
How do go about burning in tubes?

 

[mikoss]

   
I was using Amperex Orange Globe.
 
How do go about burning in tubes?

Play music through them 

 
See if you notice any changes in the clarity... I personally believe there is a burn-in period where the sound changes (maybe 1-2db or more) and it will definitely affect my impressions of tubes. It may also be your brain "adjusting" to the presentation of the tube.
 
20 hours should be enough to notice any changes. It's much like burning in new headphones... some headphones sound crappy when they're new. Some manufacturers even burn in their equipment for about 100 hours before delivery. My personal opinion on NOS tubes is 20- 40 hours should be plenty of time.

 

[sandab]

 
How do go about burning in tubes?

Just leave it playing music overnight with headphones plugged in.