captblaze
Headphoneus Supremus
Would you like pictures?
Cayin RU7: 1-Bit Resistor Network Dongle DAC /Amp
- Thread starter Andykong
- Start date
captblaze
Headphoneus Supremus
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should work even without the external powerbank, no?Step 1
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- Joined
- Oct 6, 2013
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I was waiting for Step 7 with a picture of you trying to stuff all this in your pocket
captblaze
Headphoneus Supremus
It was for demonstration purposes onlyI was waiting for Step 7 with a picture of you trying to stuff all this in your pocket
I was waiting for Step 7 with a picture of you trying to stuff all this in your pocket
captblaze
Headphoneus Supremus
No need for the camera kit in that case. A good quality OTG cable that circumvents Apple’s current limitation and allows 5V from source to RU7.
I'm guessing @mikeypas use case is - he already has the camera kit, and doesnt wanna buy a separate OTG cable if he can make do
captblaze
Headphoneus Supremus
I tried, might have misunderstood something? I personally just strap a magsafe battery on the back of the phone and connect direct from source to RU7.
Some general first impressions:
Bought the RU7 after the RU6 caught my interest - was curious to try something R2R but the RU7 sounded like a nice middle ground (and I was hesitant to dive into something like a Denafrips Ares right off the bat - the Cayins being small and no additional power supply was a huge plus).
It just showed up today and the first 40 minutes or so with the RU7 comparing it to my Element III (Both going through the Piety via 3.5mm & JDS OL Switcher and listening on the ZMF VC and Auteur Classic) and I'm pretty impressed so far. I'm curious if it will change much as time goes on but right off the bat there's a noticeable expansion to the sound on the RU7. Like on the Element where the vocals feel like they're at a spot right in the centre of my head, the RU7 pulls them out so the space they occupy my full head and sounds beyond that are pulled out further. It's obviously kind of a nebulous thing but it feels like the sound expands by at least an inch or two around me. Sounds that were already behind me on the Verite Closed are pulled back even further and just creates a larger immersive space. Really cool. I don't notice much change in the FR, but I think it does feel smoother than the Element, especially on tracks with treble that verges on grating. Bass might be a tad punchier.
I was a bit dubious whether I was going to find the RU7 to be an improvement over the Element, but I'm pleasantly surprised. My only gripe now is I have to use the volume pot on the Piety which is just terrible compared to the Element...but my plan is get a more substantial amp (likely the JDS/ZMF collab coming up) and feed the RU7 into that through the 4.4mm and I'm now looking forward to that even more.
EDIT* Ok so I'm gonna update this as I had a bit of a confusing (and embarrassing) realization last night when I went to listen to some music and it's altered my feelings on the RU7 quite a bit, so I felt I should update this.
Some context; I had installed Peace EQ a month or two back out of curiosity, particularly in crossfeed. I noticed that enabling Peace EQ added a 'enable audio enhancements' menu in Windows sound settings under my Element 3. So I put a crossfeed filter in Peace, thought I noticed a change but toggled the audio enhancements on and off a few times (assuming that this enabled/disabled the EQ changes since it had only shown up when configuring Peace EQ). I didn't notice that much of a difference so I left it 'off' and kept Peace EQs settings on crossfeed so that I could easily toggle them back on if I wanted within the windows sound settings.
Since then I had acquired the VC, enjoyed them very much, then got the RU7 which I was comparing against the Element 3 and was initially blown away at the changes in the soundstage going back and forth between the two. Yesterday I decided I'd configure Peace EQ to include the RU7 output as well, in case I decided to mess with EQ on it. It was still on the crossfeed filter but swapped over to the RU7 instead of the Element output. All of a sudden when I did a couple switches between RU7 and Element outputs, the previous changes I'd noted were reversed. I think you see where this is going.
Turns out even though I had disabled audio enhancements in windows, my EQ crossfeed was still fully functional and had been enabled the whole time. Switching to the RU7 in my initial listening, it didn't have the crossfeed applied because it was running on a different output, so it sounded like a huge jump in soundstage width. It also means I had been listening to the VC since I got it, with a crossfeed in effect
So...how does the RU7 actually sound compared to the Element 3 now that I've actually properly disabled my EQ crossfeed. Well...I only did some minor A/B since discovering this, but, way more similar! I really don't detect a ton of difference between the two now, but will do some more back and forth when I get a chance. Overall I'm both disappointed that it's not as revelatory as I thought, but also relieved that I don't feel like I'm missing out utilizing my Element 3. But mostly I feel like a dope for getting super jazzed as a result of a testing goof (which I'm still not sure is a Windows bug, or a misunderstanding of the settings).
Bought the RU7 after the RU6 caught my interest - was curious to try something R2R but the RU7 sounded like a nice middle ground (and I was hesitant to dive into something like a Denafrips Ares right off the bat - the Cayins being small and no additional power supply was a huge plus).
I was a bit dubious whether I was going to find the RU7 to be an improvement over the Element, but I'm pleasantly surprised. My only gripe now is I have to use the volume pot on the Piety which is just terrible compared to the Element...but my plan is get a more substantial amp (likely the JDS/ZMF collab coming up) and feed the RU7 into that through the 4.4mm and I'm now looking forward to that even more.
EDIT* Ok so I'm gonna update this as I had a bit of a confusing (and embarrassing) realization last night when I went to listen to some music and it's altered my feelings on the RU7 quite a bit, so I felt I should update this.
Some context; I had installed Peace EQ a month or two back out of curiosity, particularly in crossfeed. I noticed that enabling Peace EQ added a 'enable audio enhancements' menu in Windows sound settings under my Element 3. So I put a crossfeed filter in Peace, thought I noticed a change but toggled the audio enhancements on and off a few times (assuming that this enabled/disabled the EQ changes since it had only shown up when configuring Peace EQ). I didn't notice that much of a difference so I left it 'off' and kept Peace EQs settings on crossfeed so that I could easily toggle them back on if I wanted within the windows sound settings.
Since then I had acquired the VC, enjoyed them very much, then got the RU7 which I was comparing against the Element 3 and was initially blown away at the changes in the soundstage going back and forth between the two. Yesterday I decided I'd configure Peace EQ to include the RU7 output as well, in case I decided to mess with EQ on it. It was still on the crossfeed filter but swapped over to the RU7 instead of the Element output. All of a sudden when I did a couple switches between RU7 and Element outputs, the previous changes I'd noted were reversed. I think you see where this is going.
Turns out even though I had disabled audio enhancements in windows, my EQ crossfeed was still fully functional and had been enabled the whole time. Switching to the RU7 in my initial listening, it didn't have the crossfeed applied because it was running on a different output, so it sounded like a huge jump in soundstage width. It also means I had been listening to the VC since I got it, with a crossfeed in effect
So...how does the RU7 actually sound compared to the Element 3 now that I've actually properly disabled my EQ crossfeed. Well...I only did some minor A/B since discovering this, but, way more similar! I really don't detect a ton of difference between the two now, but will do some more back and forth when I get a chance. Overall I'm both disappointed that it's not as revelatory as I thought, but also relieved that I don't feel like I'm missing out utilizing my Element 3. But mostly I feel like a dope for getting super jazzed as a result of a testing goof (which I'm still not sure is a Windows bug, or a misunderstanding of the settings).
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Firstly, thanks for your comparison between the RU7 and the GoBar. Secondly, out of interest and without wanting to derail this thread, what do you actually mean by a 'properly configured' GOBar?