[someyoungguy]

I picked up a RU6 locally last night and have noticed that playback stutters when adjusting volume. Anyone else experiencing this?

That's just the delay from the resistor ladder volume control isn't it? I think Cayin stated there would be a slight delay. I get the same, you press the volume change and half a second later it kicks in, or else hold down the volume button for a bigger change.

 

[Skev]

I picked up a RU6 locally last night and have noticed that playback stutters when adjusting volume. Anyone else experiencing this?

It's to mute the sound whilst switching resistors to prevent any clicking/popping come through I would imagine. Not an issue.

 

[named name]

That's just the delay from the resistor ladder volume control isn't it? I think Cayin stated there would be a slight delay. I get the same, you press the volume change and half a second later it kicks in, or else hold down the volume button for a bigger change.

It's to mute the sound whilst switching resistors to prevent any clicking/popping come through I would imagine. Not an issue.

Thanks for that, I didn't pick that up from Cayin / Andy's previous posts.

That’s annoying. What are you connecting the dongle to?

Have connected to iPhone, PC, Sony A105 & P6000.

Other than that, I like the sound so far for what it is, particular pairing with FiR M4. Keeps the details and treble extension and speed, whilst ever so slightly smoothing out some of the harshness.

 

[SHOOTINGTECHIE]

Here's a few thoughts after a day's listening:

• I love how it remembers the last settings between shutdowns/disconnects. Same volume, gain and mode; no more worrying about blowing my ears out when I reattach a dongle
• OS mode seems to give slightly sharper definition and edges to instruments and notes than NOS mode (as advertised). But even then OS doesn't sound over-etched or too precise or clinical as some sources can. I tending towards preferring OS.
• To me, low gain with higher volume sounds better than high gain with a lower volume (to achieve the overall same output intensity). I'm using B&W P7s, which are easy to drive over-ear headphones. Although easy to drive I usually use them on a mid-higher gain setting with most sources, as I tend to find higher gain usually suits me better. That's how I've been using the RU6 most of the day. Out of curiosity I tried lower gain this evening and was surprised to find bigger dynamic swings and a better sense of blackness and definition. I've gone back and forth a few times and I swear it can't just be placebo either. Maybe it's something to do with the resistor ladder volume and signal attenuation, but it certainly sounds better to me with lower gain and a higher volume setting.
• You can really listen quite loud with this thing \m/. Not that I've been purposely trying! But I've ended up unconsciously doing so; those dynamics can really drive up loud without the harshness that usually makes you reach for the volume down button. Fun times.

Could you please try it on PC and with some games too , to check on latency ?
Thanks

 

[Andykong]

Since you can see on how I’m having everything set up and will be able to charge the phone at the same time… how should I do the “burn in” process?? Certain sounds or frequencies at say medium volume for a few days, essentially? I don’t wanna turn the Laylas up all the way, cause I don’t want to mess them up… as they may not be in my hears during the initial burn in process. oh! And I’ll be running the 4.4mm 7 pin cable from JH also. I threw that in there today along with everything else.

Fair enough. I wish I knew the “thread hold”
Of these monitors… as I don’t want to have a failed driver due to being too loud.

What I mean is… would the IEMs themselves, be ok at 100% volume, in theory? Or no? That’s what I’m talking about. (My hearing isn’t 100%, so that’s partly why I’m asking). I don’t want them to distort, OR to hurt the amplifier… since that’s the topic here.

Or would this be appropriate for another topic area of discussion?

Nope, you cannot assume your IEM can sustain at 100% volume of RU6.

There is no such rule as the volume must pass 75% during burn in. Everybody is entitled to their opinion.

First of all, take a look at the functional diagram below (available at opening post). Only the Phone Amplifier and Unity Gain Amplifier are affected by the volume, the R-2R circuit, LPF, and Line Drivers are all 100% functional as long as there are designated signal processing.

Highly-integrated semiconductors don't need long burn in hours. They sounds good almost immediately. Give it a day or two normal operation, they are very stable already. That includes the LPF, Line Driver, Phone Amp. and Unity Gain Amplifier in the functional diagram.

Discrete circuit is the reason that RU6 required longer burn in time than other Dongle DAC. As explained above, you can set the volume at 10 and burn in the DAC circuit efficiently. There is another discrete circuit in RU6: the resistor array volume control, but since this is only a control circuit, burn in is relatively unimportant when compare to the discrete resistor ladder.

Again, don't turn your RU6 to 100 when connect to your IEM unless you have heard the playback and confirmed they are within normal operation condition, this is high risk.

 

[Andykong]

It's to mute the sound whilst switching resistors to prevent any clicking/popping come through I would imagine. Not an issue.

That's just the delay from the resistor ladder volume control isn't it? I think Cayin stated there would be a slight delay. I get the same, you press the volume change and half a second later it kicks in, or else hold down the volume button for a bigger change.

Thank you, your explanation is right on.

Thanks for that, I didn't pick that up from Cayin / Andy's previous posts.

Spoiler

Have connected to iPhone, PC, Sony A105 & P6000.

Other than that, I like the sound so far for what it is, particular pairing with FiR M4. Keeps the details and treble extension and speed, whilst ever so slightly smoothing out some of the harshness.

There were detail explanation regarding the volume control design and its short coming on the opening post , check it out if again when you have some free time, it is fairly informative.

 

[IgeNeLL]

I picked up a RU6 locally last night and have noticed that playback stutters when adjusting volume. Anyone else experiencing this?

It is for volume implementation. You can find the info in the offical website.

 

[deafdoorknob]

an interesting question is, how realistic is W2’s NOS emulation mode compared to the real thing @twister6 ?

Cirrus Logic’s whitepaper on their faux NOS is fascinating btw

 

[someyoungguy]

Could you please try it on PC and with some games too , to check on latency ?
Thanks

I was watching youtube on my PC with it and there's basically no lag. I wondered if perhaps a fraction of a second, but the sound seems almost, if not completely, aligned with speech.

 

[twister6]

an interesting question is, how realistic is W2’s NOS emulation mode compared to the real thing @twister6 ?

Cirrus Logic’s whitepaper on their faux NOS is fascinating btw

I can only analyze by listening with my ears, those are my only "tools", and I try not to pretend to be an expert since DAP/dac/amp measurements are not my area of expertise Regarding the effect of NOS implementation and how realistic it is in W2 (delta-sigma DAC) vs RU6 (discrete R-2R DAC), you probably will need a special setup to measure and analyze waveforms for comparison, and I still doubt it would be a fully objective comparison.

 

[someyoungguy]

Can provide some comparison between the 2?

I'll try, difficult to find the right words!

One thing that stands out to me with the RU6 and did also with the R01 is the way the whole mid-lower section is presented. It's not that the frequency range is necessarily emphasized, but it feels fuller - almost as if something about the way the dynamics and decoding of the R2R pushes out the sound is different. Of course that may sound crazy, as a sound wave is a sound wave, but they feel like they're pushing more air across the whole bass-mids, or there's more present in that part of the frequency spectrum than a typical delta-sigma DAC. In comparison, the Chronos sounds 'cleaner' or 'tidier' in its presentation in the bass and lower mids, as there's less fulling out the sound in those ranges - as if the instruments that are quieter in the mix are further down, allowing the more forward elements of the bass/mids to stand out more against a quieter backdrop, whereas with the R2R presentation instruments in the mids and lower, like guitars that are still ringing out, are further forward so that in general the R2R sound seems fuller. But one of the things I love about the Chronos is it has a very natural presentation of the upper mids and treble, so both actually come off with a lifelike timbre and natural sound, just in different ways.

In all honesty I'll probably keep both - the Chronos is great, has lower power draw and is a bit smaller for on the go use. RU6 - also great, in a slightly different way. Keep in mind I've still got plenty of burn to do on the RU6; if anything I suspect it will just get better.

 

[theory_87]

I'll try, difficult to find the right words!

One thing that stands out to me with the RU6 and did also with the R01 is the way the whole mid-lower section is presented. It's not that the frequency range is necessarily emphasized, but it feels fuller - almost as if something about the way the dynamics and decoding of the R2R pushes out the sound is different. Of course that may sound crazy, as a sound wave is a sound wave, but they feel like they're pushing more air across the whole bass-mids, or there's more present in that part of the frequency spectrum than a typical delta-sigma DAC. In comparison, the Chronos sounds 'cleaner' or 'tidier' in its presentation in the bass and lower mids, as there's less fulling out the sound in those ranges - as if the instruments that are quieter in the mix are further down, allowing the more forward elements of the bass/mids to stand out more against a quieter backdrop, whereas with the R2R presentation instruments in the mids and lower, like guitars that are still ringing out, are further forward so that in general the R2R sound seems fuller. But one of the things I love about the Chronos is it has a very natural presentation of the upper mids and treble, so both actually come off with a lifelike timbre and natural sound, just in different ways.

In all honesty I'll probably keep both - the Chronos is great, has lower power draw and is a bit smaller for on the go use. RU6 - also great, in a slightly different way. Keep in mind I've still got plenty of burn to do on the RU6; if anything I suspect it will just get better.

Thank you. I suppose for ru6 you are running on balance mode?

 

[If6was9]

When can I buy this in Germany? Looks very promising.

Mine was shipped today from Germany

 

[someyoungguy]

Thank you. I suppose for ru6 you are running on balance mode?

Just single-ended, haven’t got any balanced-input headphones at the moment.

 

[alota]

Mine was shipped today from Germany

Please can you write the seller? Thank you