[barid]

Quote:

 
Wow Barid! 
 
I'm really excited to read your comparison of the DACmini PX headphone amp vs. the Burson Soloist!   I've been comparing the DACmini CX to the Soloist for seven months, now, and I couldn't agree more with your impressions.  Seriously!

 
Yeah I have to kind of temper my opinions on new gear because I tend to have a always prefer the old sound I'm more familiar with.  When I moved from the 106D to the Soloist I hated the presentation, but came to appreciate its strengths.  Same notion holds true for the DACmini vs Soloist, I find myself noticing some grain/etch in the treble on the DACmini that makes it more fatiguing over time, and also more mid-range detail in the Burson.  These things aren't really swaying my choice though as I find the differences minor.  The more time spent with the gear you just happen to pick up these little idiosyncrasies. 

 

[kabukix]

Can anyone compare mini to violectric v800 ?

 

[barid]

Anyone here using the centrance drivers on windows rather than just plug and play?  Notice any difference?

 

[Bostonears]

Anyone here using the centrance drivers on windows rather than just plug and play?  Notice any difference?

I'm using the CEntrance Universal Driver on a Windows 7 PC. I haven't noticed any difference in sound quality. However, with the standard plug and play driver, the DACmini seemed to get confused by the PC shutting down, and in that situation the DACmini would often lock up, requiring that I pull the power plug on it to temporarily to reset it. With the CEntrance driver installed, the DACmini turns itself on and off properly when the PC gets shut down or started up.

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

I have channel imbalance with L>R when using Dacmini RCA Line OUT to other amps. I posed this question to Centrance support and was told that their engineers have never encountered this problem. I wonder if any Dacmini owners have had the same problem and/or if anyone can suggest a solution that I may have overlooked. If not, I'll have to send it in for repairs at $100/hour.
 
Here's the description and thanks in advance!
 
The problem is channel imbalance with L>R when using Dacmini as the DAC and feeding other amps via Dacmini's RCA Line OUTs.  The imbalance is approximately 70:30 such that the sound stage is shifted to the Left.
 
The Right RCA Output is not totally "out."
There is no distortion.
The Left side works fine.
I have tried 3 different RCA cables, Glass Toslink from MacBook Pro to Dacmini, and USB from MacBook Pro to Dacmini with the same results.
I have tried 2 different amps with the same result.
I do not have variable Out in my Dacmini.
The Dacmini 1/4" headphone Out jack - the SE TRS plug - works fine with no imbalance.
 
I also tried:
 
1. Reversing the cables (Red cable to White Dacmini RCA Out, and vice versa with the same results.
 
2. Bypass the Dacmini and use my MacBook Pro's Headphone Out > mini TRS to RCA Y-splitter > Same 2 Amps as above and there's No imbalance. 
 
3. Bypass the Dacmini and use my iPhone 4S as DAC > mini TRS to RCA Y-splitter > Same 2 amps as above and there is No imbalance.
 
4. MacBook Pro or iPhone as DAC > mini TRS to RCA Y-splitter > Dacmini Line In > Dacmini Headphone Out and there is No imbalance.
 
5. MacBook Pro or iPhone as DAC > mini TRS to RCA Y-splitter > Dacmini Line In > Dacmini RCA Line Out > Same 2 amps and there Is channel imbalance.
 
I don't know if it matters, but there seems to be less resistance when inserting an RCA plug into the Dacmini Right Channel Line In....probably does not matter since there is no imbalance with #4, above.
 
I believe I've narrowed it down to the Dacmini Right RCA Line Out unless I'm missing the obvious.
 
I can't think of anything else to try. 

 

[zilch0md]

I've never heard of this either, but it sounds as if you're no where near imagining the problem.  I suggest sending it in to CEntrance for repair.

 

[thegrobe]

I have not encountered such a thing myself or heard if it. Looks like repair...$100 an hour? Ouch. Guess it's not under warranty. Well, I guess the upside is that those guys are good and will probably find/fix it quickly. (Low repair hours)

 

[dparker83]

I have the exact same issue with the headphone output when listening at very low volumes.  Image shifts to the left, right channel drops several dB.
 
Would you mind testing your unit's headphone output to see if you experience my issue at low volume?
 
Thanks

David

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

Quote:

I have the exact same issue with the headphone output when listening at very low volumes.  Image shifts to the left, right channel drops several dB.
 
Would you mind testing your unit's headphone output to see if you experience my issue at low volume?
 
Thanks

David

If you're talking about very low volume, yes, but the SPL is too low to matter in my case.
 
The channel imbalance I'm having just started a week ago and present at all volume settings IF another amp gets its analog feed from the Dacmini RCA Line OUTs. It's odd. I haven't dropped, spilled, or otherwise done anything that can account for this.

 

[Armaegis]

How odd... I just hooked mine up to do some testing and at first thought there was a change when I flipped between sources, but then I realized I had my L/R flipped on one of my cables 

 
I can't detect any imbalance on mine. Checked through rmaa as well. 

 

[Bostonears]

 
The channel imbalance I'm having just started a week ago and present at all volume settings IF another amp gets its analog feed from the Dacmini RCA Line OUTs. It's odd. I haven't dropped, spilled, or otherwise done anything that can account for this.

Maybe a passive component, like a resistor or capacitor, crapped out in the DACmini. If so, that should be easy for CEntrance to repair.
 

I have the exact same issue with the headphone output when listening at very low volumes.  Image shifts to the left, right channel drops several dB.

That's probably due to imbalance in the volume control itself. (Many potentiometers have imbalance at very low volume.) That wouldn't be the case for bluemonkeyflyer, though, since his unit doesn't have variable output on the RCA jacks, i.e. the volume control doesn't affect the Line Out.

 

[mgoodman]

Please send to us for repair. I don't see more than one hour of work here.

Michael

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

Kenny sent me a RMA number. I plan to send it tomorrow. Thanks, Michael and Kenny.

 

[Armaegis]

Might as well upgrade to the PX model 

 

[muzic4life]

Anyone knows is there any difference between px and cx in the dac section alone?