Day 4 impressions/experience.
I caveat all below with two notes. First, while I do use lossless files and have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express, my stock iPod 5.5G and 48-year-old, ex-military-pilot ears create both source and receptor limitations. Second, I only have a few hours on the amp, and meaningful SQ judgment awaits full burn-in. That said:
- The new battery took about 6 hours on the wall charger the first time, before the light went out.
- Shadow sounds great out of the box. Frankly my Tomahawk impresses in that it gives the Shadow a run for its money…so far. However, through the UM3X, Shadow already has an edge in definition and clarity. I have not listened critically with my office G1As, but it seems to drive those very well too. And it’s a keeper for the form factor improvement.
- I’m getting used to the volume control. New routine is switch unit on, hold volume to full increase for 3 potatoes, start music, then fine adjust. I miss my tactile TH knob…but I am guessing that a commensurately sized tiny knob here would not satisfy in the same way. And I sure like the silent precision of the digital control.
- I knew this going in, but I’m not thrilled with the input jack being on the back end of the amp. Would rather the headphone jack be down there…but you can’t have everything
- In an utterly silent listening environment, my Shadow exhibits a
very slight background hiss through the UM3X even with volume zeroed (whether plugged or unplugged from source). I have to say, though, it is significantly less than that of my Tomahawk, even with the TH gain on Low—and, of course, way less than through the iPod headphone jack. So I’m very happy with the Shadow’s sound “floor.”
- In the same silent listening environment with UM3X, I have noticed my Shadow picks up a minor electronic interference when strapped to the back of the iPod. It’s a super-faint whine that sounds like maybe hard drive circuitry winding up and winding down occasionally, as I start the iPod or switch among tracks. I’ve carefully verified that it is not my ears picking up mechanical noise, and that it’s not coming through the LOD/input (can hear it in the IEMs when the LOD cable is disconnected). Volume setting has no effect. The Tomahawk does not exhibit such pickup at all.
I am not concerned about this—the interference is very faint, only occasional, and completely eliminated by sliding the Shadow from behind the touch wheel to behind the screen. But I’m glad to have found it now, before ordering a custom LOD cable—it will change my carrying configuration and required cable length. I’m curious to know if others notice the same phenomenon.
All told, I’m finding The Shadow to be a very nice product for SQ and for convenience of a long-haul bus commuter, overseas flier, and cubicle-dweller. Hats off and many thanks to RSA.
