[uelover]

Quote:

Well I figured out my problem, it was the cable.  I have a nice gold plated thick USB cable I use for about everything, but I guess not the D7, as soon as I used the supplied cable it was recognized.  First time I've ever had that happen to me with USB.

I think it just means that your USB cable is not as well constructed to meet the requirement of a USB class 2 compliant cable.
 
But, nice to hear that your D7 is working fine now!
 

 

[RodSmith]

Got mine today. Downloaded and installed the drivers first. It then asks you to connect the device. I connected the device (and switched on) and all installed ok. I then went to the control panel , Hardware and sounds  (Windows 7 32 bit ultimate) then manage devices and set XMOS XS1-L1 as default.
 
It all works fine at this end.

 

[desertblues]

I took the plunge and ordered the D7 this morning - can't wait to compare it to my D6! I'll be back...

 

[xxhaxx]

Quote:

Got mine today. Downloaded and installed the drivers first. It then asks you to connect the device. I connected the device (and switched on) and all installed ok. I then went to the control panel , Hardware and sounds  (Windows 7 32 bit ultimate) then manage devices and set XMOS XS1-L1 as default.
 
It all works fine at this end.

Jealous 

, UPS isn't shipping mine till tomorrow since it is  presidents day
 
 

 

[RodSmith]

Quote:

Jealous 

, UPS isn't shipping mine till tomorrow since it is  presidents day
 
 

Shouldn't take much longer...      Mine only took 5 days but worth the wait. 

 

[jchandler3]

Pretty pleased with the performance of mine. Gives great dynamics. I would say slightly warm. 
 
A few usability, convenience things:
 

1. Plugging in headphones does not disable the line out. That's a disappointment to me (though certainly not a dealbreaker)
    
2. I'm running a line out to powered speakers. OSX and my powered speakers both have volume control, which I find a bit annoying. With my old D3, it disabled OSX's volume control. Also, it didn't need to be turned on for the line out to work. I have to turn the D7 on for my speakers to get a signal.

 
Those are my only complaints and they're small ones. What do I expect? It's still a terrific bargain and it's not like it's meant to be some magical desktop media hub. It's a great little amp.

 

[tomscy2000]

Just got it an hour ago --- just over one week from when I pressed 'order now'. If you guys are wondering why I got it so quickly, it's that I live in Taiwan. Technically, it only takes one day to ship from Shenzhen to Taipei, but I had to wait out the weekend.
 
How long does it take for the caps and stuff in the D7 to 'warm up' or 'burn-in' ? When I first turned it on, I heard some sibilance control issues that I didn't hear on another person's D7. It's a little better now.
 
Yes, I would agree with the above that the tonality is very slightly warm, but not overly warm. The dynamics are quite good, especially for its size. It makes my DBA-02 (known for its crunched dynamics) sound more spacious.
 
I'm running it with Foobar through WASAPI, buffer turned down to the lowest latency (50 ms) to minimize spectrogram lag. I had a few problems with Windows complaining about power output through the USB ports and shutting themselves down, but they're resolved now. I'm outputting it through the single USB 3.0 compliant port on my notebook (which by all likelihood runs off a separate bus than the other two USB 2.0 ports) and I'm having no problems. The single USB 2.0 port that shut itself down is still off, however. I'm going to have to figure out how to turn it back on.
 
I'm also running SoX resampler in the DSP chain, resampling 44.1 to 192 kHz. 176.4 kHz doesn't work natively either (odd, considering that 88.2 works), so I'm also upsampling that. XMOS takes in the signal (no errors in Foobar) but no music comes out.
 
However, I'd say that, on equal terms, straight from a USB output, the DACPort still has a blacker background and sounds slightly more refined. Perhaps the D7 will improve with time. For its price, however, the D7 is already no slouch --- quite the value.

 

[uelover]

Don't be too quick to post your impressions because it is really different from what it was out of the box.

 

[tomscy2000]

Quote:

Don't be too quick to post your impressions because it is really different from what it was out of the box.

Well, I trust that the D7 will indeed improve with time, as most things do. However, I don't think 176.4 will suddenly start working, or that the basal hiss levels will tone down (they're not bad at all, just detectable). I'm sure it's very, very good, and that's the reason why I bought it. I don't usually buy things just to sell them off weeks later.
 
Might I ask what specific improvements you've noticed since getting them? I've read through some of your comments, but it's hard to collate through everything.

 

[uelover]

Quote:

Well, I trust that the D7 will indeed improve with time, as most things do. However, I don't think 176.4 will suddenly start working, or that the basal hiss levels will tone down (they're not bad at all, just detectable). I'm sure it's very, very good, and that's the reason why I bought it. I don't usually buy things just to sell them off weeks later.
 
Might I ask what specific improvements you've noticed since getting them? I've read through some of your comments, but it's hard to collate through everything.

I don't have DSD files to test if 176.4khz works on my Mac. I am not sure if it is a software or hardware limitation.
 
As for hiss, I experience zero hiss. The background on my D7 is totally black. I would suspect that it is the USB port that is dirty. Are you using the stock USB cable that comes with the D7?
 
Telling you the outcome after burn-in kills the fun. The discovery in itself is an enjoyment that I should not rob you of =)
 

 

[SLCanhead]

 
Quote:

Got mine today. Downloaded and installed the drivers first. It then asks you to connect the device. I connected the device (and switched on) and all installed ok. I then went to the control panel , Hardware and sounds  (Windows 7 32 bit ultimate) then manage devices and set XMOS XS1-L1 as default.
 
It all works fine at this end.

Same here, with the exception that I right-clicked on the volume icon at the bottom right of my toolbar, selected "playback devices", and set the default there.
 

 

[tomscy2000]

Quote:

I don't have DSD files to test if 176.4khz works on my Mac. I am not sure if it is a software or hardware limitation.
 
As for hiss, I experience zero hiss. The background on my D7 is totally black. I would suspect that it is the USB port that is dirty. Are you using the stock USB cable that comes with the D7?
 
Telling you the outcome after burn-in kills the fun. The discovery in itself is an enjoyment that I should not rob you of =)

It could very well be a software limitation of Foobar; however, I refuse to use something like J-River just to test it out. I'm fine with resampling.
 
I'm plugging it straight into the laptop, into the USB 3.0 port. It runs off a separate bus (I checked) than the other two ports, so on a theoretical level, it should be quieter. The hiss isn't a bother at all, and in fact it barely registers, but I can indeed hear it, at around 9 o'clock on the pot. I'm not too picky about hiss, so I don't care much. I'm sure even with more hiss-sensitive IEMs, I wouldn't be bothered with it.
 
I am currently using the short stock cable, yes.

 

[uelover]

Quote:

 
I'm plugging it straight into the laptop, into the USB 3.0 port. It runs off a separate bus (I checked) than the other two ports, so on a theoretical level, it should be quieter. The hiss isn't a bother at all, and in fact it barely registers, but I can indeed hear it, at around 9 o'clock on the pot. I'm not too picky about hiss, so I don't care much. I'm sure even with more hiss-sensitive IEMs, I wouldn't be bothered with it.

I think someone else here mentioned that he heard hisses too until he changed to another computer. I have no idea how to achieve a quiet USB port but I am thankful that mine is quiet =)
 
My D7 is quiet with my ES5 which has a sensitivity of 120db spl/mw. I don't think there are many iems are there at the moment that is more sensitive than that.

 

[RodSmith]

Quote:

I think someone else here mentioned that he heard hisses too until he changed to another computer. I have no idea how to achieve a quiet USB port but I am thankful that mine is quiet =)
 
My D7 is quiet with my ES5 which has a sensitivity of 120db spl/mw. I don't think there are many iems are there at the moment that is more sensitive than that.

No hiss on my ancient Dell Vostro 1500's USB 2 ports. HD650 headphones

 

[SLCanhead]

No hiss with my laptop or netbook, either, which I am thankful for. I do have a bit with my uDAC-2, but nothing that makes it "grating".
 
Hopefully those who have it can source/eliminate the issue.