[Onik]

My SB X7 Control Pannel not working while connected to my S5 or is this App only works with Bluetooth?

 

[ColinMacLaren]

I tried some OPAMP-Rolling. The AD797 sound very detailed to me, but less shrill then the standard Amps.

Still I am wondering wether or not I should keep the X7. Doing a highly subjective A/B-Test with a Sennheiser GSX-1000 + O2:

Take, for example, a pure piano track. The musician hits a note, I am hearing the sound of this note while it is slowly fading away. In the meanwhile he hits the next note. The combination of the current note and the slowly fading last note creates the sonic image. With the GSX I am consciously perceiving the sound of both notes at the same time. On the X7 however the most dominant current part of the track is distinctly in the foreground of my perception. The other sounds are there if I put a conscious effort into concentrating at them. But if I don't my brain filters them out. This results in a lack of "groove", there is no feet tapping, I don't get carried away by the music. Furthermore I have a harder time placing the instruments around the room or hearing the exact location of my enemies while playing Overwatch. The latter was tested in training mode while standing still an the same spot only switching between soundcards in Windows.

Is this all in my head, does the GSX-1000 have a warmer sounding or are there real differences to be heard?

 

[Yethal]

I tried some OPAMP-Rolling. AD797 sound very detailed to me, but less shrill then the standard Amps.

Still I am wondering wether or not I should keep the X7. Doing a highly subjective A/B-Test with a Sennheiser GSX-1000 + O2:

Take, for example, a pure piano track. The musician hits a note, I am hearing the sound of this note while it is slowly fading away. In the meanwhile he hits the next note. The combination of the current note and the slowly fading last note creates the sonic image. With the GSX I am consciously perceiving the sound of both notes at the same time. On the X7 however the most dominant current part of the track is likely massively in the foreground of my perception. The other sounds are there if I put a conscious effort into concentrating at them. But if I don't my brain filters them out. This results in a lack of "groove", there is no feet tapping, I don't get carried away by the music. Furthermore I have a harder time placing the instruments around the room or hearing the exact location of my enemies while playing Overwatch. The latter was tested in training mode while standing still an the same spot only switching between soundcards in Windows.

Is this all in my head, does the GSX-1000 have a warmer sounding or are there real differences to be heard?

Wait till you get to discrete opamps rolling.

My SB X7 Control Pannel not working while connected to my S5 or is this App only works with Bluetooth?

works over USB if Sound Blaster Services are installed.

 

[ColinMacLaren]

Is the standard power supply sufficient for driving the XM7 speakers?

 

[Onik]

Thanks just realised Creative services wasn't running, just installed and now it's working perfectly.

Btw what exactly is Direct Mode??

Also anyone tried BURSON SS OP-AMPS on SB X7?

 

[Yethal]

Thanks just realised Creative services wasn't running, just installed and now it's working perfectly.

Btw what exactly is Direct Mode??

Also anyone tried BURSON SS OP-AMPS on SB X7?

Direct Mode bypasses internal processor so only one input is active at a time (either USB or S/PDIF) but audio is not altered by the DSP or resampled. Enable for music listening, disable for movies/gaming.

I have Burson SS opamps and I did try them with the X7. Overall, they're a big improvement over the stock ones although they make the X7 sound warmer.

 

[Onik]

Direct Mode bypasses internal processor so only one input is active at a time (either USB or S/PDIF) but audio is not altered by the DSP or resampled. Enable for music listening, disable for movies/gaming.

I have Burson SS opamps and I did try them with the X7. Overall, they're a big improvement over the stock ones although they make the X7 sound warmer.

Which one did you use? V5 or V6?

are you using E-MU XM7 Speakers with X7?

How do they sound? And do you need speaker stands for them to sound better?

 

[ColinMacLaren]

Is it really feasible to spend that much on opamps? The X7 is like 300 $/EUR. If I spend the same amount on Opamps I could get a Schiit Jotunheim with DUAL AK4490 or a Tube setup for the same price which is likely to sound better.

 

[ColinMacLaren]

double post

 

[Yethal]

Which one did you use? V5 or V6?

are you using E-MU XM7 Speakers with X7?

How do they sound? And do you need speaker stands for them to sound better?

v5i. Regular V5 and V6 are much too tall to fit inside.

I am. They're rather average, if you manage to buy them for dirt cheap then go for it but personally I wouldn't recommend them based on their performance with the X7. Haven't tried them with speaker stands and haven't tried them with a different amp. It is possible that they become better once driven by class A/AB amp but I did not have an opportunity to test that.

Is it really feasible to spend that much on opamps? The X7 is like 300 $/EUR. If I spend the same amount on Opamps I could get a Schiit Jotunheim with DUAL AK4490 or a Tube setup for the same price which is likely to sound better.

The strength of the X7 lies not in its performance as a dac/amp but in it's universality. If you only want a dac/amp then there are several better products on the market (Jotunheim being one of them). However, if you need a decent dac/amp, speaker amp, adc/preamp for microphone and DSP then X7 is a pretty good option. And because all analog outputs are driven by the opamps, if you ever decide to add another amp and use the X7 as a DSP/DAC only then the benefits of upgraded opamps will not be lost.

 

[ColinMacLaren]

Thanks. Found a deal on a used X7 for 205 EUR (can still return the unit I bought at Amazon for 300) and ordered a full set of V5i Opamps.

 

[Onik]

Never tried V5i how did they perform compare to sparkos op amps?

I heard that Sparkoks op amps gives magnitude of class A bias current, does it not mean that upgrading to complete Sparkos op amps will make SB X7 a CLASS A amplifier?

 

[Yethal]

Never tried V5i how did they perform compare to sparkos op amps?

I heard that Sparkoks op amps gives magnitude of class A bias current, does it not mean that upgrading to complete Sparkos op amps will make SB X7 a CLASS A amplifier?

No, it's still a class D amp. But the Sparkos make it sound significantly better.

 

[ColinMacLaren]

Got the XM7 today. They sound decent. Not as good as my headphones, but better then the Creative T40 I was using before. However, they are LOUD. Usually 5-8/100 Volume is already sufficient. I am still wondering wether the biggere power adapter really makes a diffrence. Any alternatives availabe?

How about one of these: https://www.ebay.de/i/183024236017?chn=ps

 

[Yethal]

Got the XM7 today. They sound decent. Not as good as my headphones, but better then the Creative T40 I was using before. However, they are LOUD. Usually 5-8/100 Volume is already sufficient. I am still wondering wether the biggere power adapter really makes a diffrence. Any alternatives availabe?

How about one of these: https://www.ebay.de/i/183024236017?chn=ps

Switch the speaker impedance from 4 to 8 ohm by using the switch on the back (with device *unplugged*)