D7 Sidewinder....Initial impressions

[kwatch]

Can anyone compare D7 Sidewinder to Audioengine D1?

 

[clone1008]

Nice write up!

 

[Leobrioschi]

Hey guys, sorry to bump it up, but i was thinking about getting the D7 as my first dac.

But i've been reading the posts, and it seems some notebooks have some problems with it, mainly with delivering enough power through USB. I don't have a desktop anymore, so i'm kinda worried it won't work at all.. I also don't have any USB 3.0 on my notebook(which usually are able to drive more power...) 

any thoughts/ideas? 

 

[Migou67]

Normaly you can use a powered usb hub to avoid this problem, maybe be you dont have this issue, for what I remember some persons just receive a warning and can use the DAC normally. I don't have this problem on my "old" laptop.

 

[Leobrioschi]

Quote:

Normaly you can use a powered usb hub to avoid this problem, maybe be you dont have this issue, for what I remember some persons just receive a warning and can use the DAC normally. I don't have this problem on my "old" laptop.

Thanks! I deff need a usb hub anyway... (my notebook has an eSata port, so they only put 2 usb ports...)

 

[sbattalio]

Quote:

d7 good match for ultrasone pro 900s (40 ohm)? read somewhere ibasso sounds good with ultrasones. anyone confirm/deny? ty

YES! The D7's amp section is on the warmer side, and it totally mellows out some of the sibilance and piercing quality the highs can have.  Mids sound great, clear, totally enjoyable (and I also have a p-51 mustang, which is known for its mids, and its totally competitive in this regard).  I find the D7 actually makes the pro 900s not fatiguing at all, which definitely wasn't the case before. 
 
For the first  few hours of play, the bass was so uncontrolled and overpowering that the headphones were shaking on my head. To hear any definition I had to HOLD them steady lol, and even then it was boomy.  But after a few hours it calmed down and the bass sounds fantastic.  The soundstage also sounds amazing after burn in as well, really really impressive.

 

[stuckonsound]

Quote:

Hey guys, sorry to bump it up, but i was thinking about getting the D7 as my first dac.

But i've been reading the posts, and it seems some notebooks have some problems with it, mainly with delivering enough power through USB. I don't have a desktop anymore, so i'm kinda worried it won't work at all.. I also don't have any USB 3.0 on my notebook(which usually are able to drive more power...) 

any thoughts/ideas? 

On the macbooks it gives a message when you first turn on the D7, but it doesn't interfere with the units performance. Actually I've used my D7 on one port, while charging and using my iphone as a mobile hotspot on the other. No problems. I think it creates a temporary current surge when you first turn it on. Maybe it's charging the capacitors?

 

[Leobrioschi]

Quote:

On the macbooks it gives a message when you first turn on the D7, but it doesn't interfere with the units performance. Actually I've used my D7 on one port, while charging and using my iphone as a mobile hotspot on the other. No problems. I think it creates a temporary current surge when you first turn it on. Maybe it's charging the capacitors?

Yeah i read that, but i don't have a mac, and "win" laptops are built in variety of ways, different motherboards, powersupplies/battery and i'm a bit worried it won't play well with my laptop (an old Dell Studio 14) anyway i'm almost set with it, just waiting a bit to optmize my finance... 

Good thing about macs is that their hardware is pretty much "standarized" so if it works with someone, it must work in someone's else if it was released in the same year (even if they are different models, they still are much alike) 

 

[uelover]

If I am not wrong, the error message only appears on Mac and not on Windows. Mac will pop up a warning whenever a USB device draws more than 500mah current but its USB port is able to supply more than 2000mah when required.

 

[nehcrow]

Crap, I broke my volume knob... now I've only got a stick lol

 

[stuckonsound]

Quote:

Crap, I broke my volume knob... now I've only got a stick lol

Do you mean the knob came off, or did it actually break? If it just came off there is allen screw that just needs to be tightened.

 

[nehcrow]

Quote:

Do you mean the knob came off, or did it actually break? If it just came off there is allen screw that just needs to be tightened.

It just came off, thanks for info man, thought I had to return for a repair
So the screw would be inside the enclosure right, it just needs an allen key to tighten it?

 

[dannytang]

I connecting the D7 to my iPad 2 and iPhone 4S (jailbroken with CameraConnector installed) today using the CCK and a powered USB hub. While it worked, it was different from other DACs I've tried, namely the Nuforce uDAC and Headstage/Headphonia USB DAC cable (new version). Normally the volume is controlled by the external DAC/AMP setup, but with the D7, the iPad maintains control of the volume (volume slider in music app) and turning the volume knob does on the D7 nothing. This happens with both the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S. I was wondering if anyone could comment on this.

 

[darinf]

Quote:

I connecting the D7 to my iPad 2 and iPhone 4S (jailbroken with CameraConnector installed) today using the CCK and a powered USB hub. While it worked, it was different from other DACs I've tried, namely the Nuforce uDAC and Headstage/Headphonia USB DAC cable (new version). Normally the volume is controlled by the external DAC/AMP setup, but with the D7, the iPad maintains control of the volume (volume slider in music app) and turning the volume knob does on the D7 nothing. This happens with both the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S. I was wondering if anyone could comment on this.

According to all the information I could find in this thread and other sites, I was under the impression that the D7 will not work with the iPad or iPhone using the CCK and a powered hub.
 
You got it to work? Cool. Are you using a genuine Apple CCK or a generic one? I am going to get a CCK and try it...
 
As far as the volume goes, which output are you using to connect your headphones? I think the "line out" will be a fixed level so the D7 volume knob will not have any effect. The same goes for the analog out RCA connectors on the back. The only output that the volume knob works is the "phone" out on the front. Is that the output you're using?

 

[dannytang]

thanks for pointing that out, I may have plugged my IEM's into the line out my accident, I just tried it again and made sure I plugged it into the headphone out and the volume knob works fine now! And the volume slider in the music app can control volume still, so dual control! As for the CCK, I have the genuine Apple CCK. The whole process is very much hit and miss... I had to connect, disconnect, reconnect and restart the music app a few times to get it to recognize the D7, but it does work for me!