[sleepkyng]

so, crossfeed...

don't know too much about it.

is it good, bad, so so?

 

[john_jcb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleepkyng so, crossfeed... don't know too much about it. is it good, bad, so so?

It can be all of those depending on who you are asking. My opinion is that it helps with some recordings from the dawn of stereo where the engineers went a bit overboard with the effects, you know where it feels like a sledgehammer is going from ear to ear. The down side is that I feel it alters the character of the music. On the better Headroom amps they add circuitry to compensate for this degradation. Most of the time I don't bother to use it. When I delve back into the roots of rock it becomes more essential IMO.

 

[go_vtec]

Quote:

It can be all of those depending on who you are asking.

That is so true. I know my wife loves crossfeed but I pretty much never used or required it (I owned Headroom Max and currently owned Corda HA-1 both cross-feed capable). To me, crossfeed is only needed for early very stereo recording with EXTREME stereo seperation, like piano playing on left and bass on the right channel. Then again, I was conditioned and used to not using crossfeed for past 20 years or so (since my high school days).

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleepkyng so, crossfeed... don't know too much about it. is it good, bad, so so?

Well, if you don't feel that you strongly need it, then you probably don't.

Try it out and see if you like it. It's not for everyone. Plus with your amp, you may not even need it.

-Ed

 

[tortie]

I personally love crossfeed and never listen to headphones without it. The crossfeed projects the sound to be in front of me instead of inside my head. It also enables me to listen to headphones longer. Try it out, you'll never know if you'll love it or hate it until you try it

If your good with soldering stuff, Pinkfloyd's site has a good DIY page in how to make Jan's crossfeed. I like the x-feed better than Headroom's version.

http://www.rock-grotto.co.uk/x-feed.htm

 

[rawhit]

I feel that it depends on a quite a few factors. When I was using the meta42 as my main amp I preferred to keep the crossfeed engaged for 80% of the recordings. On recordings with extreme channel separation its almost a must for me. For example the 'Kill Bill 1 Sound Track - Bang Bang' is unlistenable without crossfeed.

Currently with MPX3 amp and Grover SR cables there is a 3Dness in sound that makes me miss the crossfeed a lot less. It still wont compensate for recordings with extreme channel separation but on normal recording it does quite well on its own.

Btw using modified linkwitz crossfeed on battery driven amps reduces the time for which the amp can be run on a single recharge. My maxed out meta42 lasted about 8 hrs on dual 9V per recharge. This might be an issue for some folks.

cheers
Rohit

 

[acs236]

My general thoughts are that the overall effect of cross-feed is pretty minimal (as it should be, in my opinion). That being said, I really like it for some recordings -- as others have said, particularly those with severe stereo separation. For example, just about any pop/rock album from the 60s. Cross-feed makes listening to those a lot more pleasant.

 

[Hirsch]

I've found that as amp quality goes up, the need (or desire) for crossfeed goes down. I suspect that those of us that have had good stereo speaker setups, where we're used to combining the sonic input from two transducers into a three-dimensional image, are likely to want crossfeed less. It seems to me to be an artificial way of doing what should be happening naturally in the listening experience. I have yet to hear a crossfeed device that does not have some negative impact as well. On the best of them, the negative effect is negligible, though.

 

[acs236]

Hirsch,

Could you explain a bit more about your speaker comparison. I always thought of cross-feed as a way of simulating a stereo speaker set up, because, in a speaker set up, your right ear will hear the left speaker as well as the right. This is not so with headphones, so the cross-feed attempts to simulate that very effect. What you've said makes it seem as if you think your brain sort of fills in the cross-feed because you're used to listening to your stereo speaker set up. But isn't cross-feed precisely what your stereo set up has but what headphones do not provide you with?

 

[ipodstudio]

My post here is probably not too helpful as I don't have the experience to comment, but I'll tell you why I didn't ask for a crossfeed device to be fitted to my PPA: I decided to construct a sytem that was as neutral as possible to begin with and go from there. Knowing my personality and knowing the way I normally like my music to sound, the crossfeed just didn't appeal to me. I also removed the standard bass boost which Larry's amps are fitted with and replaced it with a gain switch (thanks GSferarri for the tip)
I'll eventually listen to someone's crossfeed at a meet somewhere and if it should appeal to me then I'll go ahead and have it fitted, but for now neutrality is what I'm after. Why? Gut instinct mostly and the fact that I need to find a base to start at. To me, it seemed logical to start with as neutral a sytem as possible and go from there...

 

[ServinginEcuador]

It would seem that you should try it and see how you like it. Build a Meier Crossfeed as shown on PinkFloyd's site. Can't cost more than about $40, including the soldering iron, so why not build one and see if you like it first. Then, if you like it, look for a professionally made one, or an amp with one in it.

 

[sbulack]

Before even going as far as to build your own crossfeed unit, foobar has a crossfeed processor in it, which will enable you to try crossfeed for the cost of a download/install. Just be sure to download the special version to get the one which includes the crossfeed processor.

 

[ipodstudio]

Pinkie's site has a simple crossfeed design posted. I can't recall the link, now but he'll probably chirp in soon and post it. Other good stuf there, too, as I recall.

Pinkie, what's ya URL?

 

[reeseboisse]

Sorry, needless reply.

 

[NeilPeart]

ipodstudio,
tortie provided the link earlier in the thread:

http://www.rock-grotto.co.uk/x-feed.htm

I really enjoy crossfeed on my Corda HA-2 (it really is different from HeadRoom's crossfeed), and I might build the device myself and connect it to the MPX3 (or just buy Jan's device).