Feliks Audio ENVY

[CharlyBrown]

When i think about it: That is the ultimate power move: Having two of the exact same tube TOTL amp just for directly comparing your tube rolls...

Telling you that would be the next logical move in your journey to perfection would be evil. So I’m not doing this!

 

[leftside]

When i think about it: That is the ultimate power move: Having two of the exact same tube TOTL amp just for directly comparing your tube rolls...

I specifically got a preamp with multiple inputs and outputs so I could compare different DACs and different amps. And also vinyl vs DAC.

Having two of the same amps to compare tube combos is an interesting idea.... You would also need two of the same headphones for the ultimate convenience.

 

[CharlyBrown]

I specifically got a preamp with multiple inputs and outputs so I could compare different DACs and different amps. And also vinyl vs DAC.

Having two of the same amps to compare tube combos is an interesting idea.... You would also need two of the same headphones for the ultimate convenience.

I think two amps are sufficient. Switching XLR from left to right is more convenient than switching headphones imho.

 

[Elect37]

So I have the Poseidon DAC (Tube DAC)
Which is 6v out using XLR Or 3V out using RCA it does have a preamp built in but I put into bypass mode I am using XLR right now but into a Zahl HM1 then into the Envy using RCA’s
so I can use the Envy as a preamp as well which at the moment does not really work well??
I think the Envy even on low gain is too much for the HM1 I need to keep the Envy Vol so low that the HM1 has no volume?

Any thoughts???

 

[Doug2507]

So I have the Poseidon DAC (Tube DAC)
Which is 6v out using XLR Or 3V out using RCA it does have a preamp built in but I put into bypass mode I am using XLR right now but into a Zahl HM1 then into the Envy using RCA’s
so I can use the Envy as a preamp as well which at the moment does not really work well??
I think the Envy even on low gain is too much for the HM1 I need to keep the Envy Vol so low that the HM1 has no volume?

Any thoughts???

DAC-Zahl-Envy?

 

[Elect37]

DAC-Zahl-Envy?

Yes

 

[nfandi]

Yes

Both the HM1 and the Envy have preamp capabilities so in theory using one as a pre and the other as the power should work both ways. One of the aspects of the Envy you should be aware of is something learnt last year when Alex from Raal 1995 could not initially get a good sound with the Immanis/Envy combination; too much distortion. The Immanis being ultra-low impedance Alex assumed the right setting would be low gain (bearing in mind on the earlier Envy’s this ‘wobbly knob’ was labelled ‘impedance’). What was found was that even at relatively low volumes the tubes would go into ‘overdrive’, that distortion beloved by electric guitar players. Setting the gain to ‘mid’ caused the tube overdrive to begin at a much higher volume and setting it to ‘high’ gave the most volume headroom before tube overdrive kicked in. It might be counter-intuitive but have you tried changing the gain to mid or high?
The other thing to note is that some tube amps when used in preamp mode only engage the driver tubes but with the Envy the power tubes are also in the preamp circuit.
I use my Envy as a preamp into my Raal HSA-1b and I can set the HSA to about 2 o’clock and control the volume with the Envy. It sounds perfectly good to my ears. I am also considering adding the HM1 to my set-up so I am very interested in how your issue is resolved.

 

[Elect37]

Both the HM1 and the Envy have preamp capabilities so in theory using one as a pre and the other as the power should work both ways. One of the aspects of the Envy you should be aware of is something learnt last year when Alex from Raal 1995 could not initially get a good sound with the Immanis/Envy combination; too much distortion. The Immanis being ultra-low impedance Alex assumed the right setting would be low gain (bearing in mind on the earlier Envy’s this ‘wobbly knob’ was labelled ‘impedance’). What was found was that even at relatively low volumes the tubes would go into ‘overdrive’, that distortion beloved by electric guitar players. Setting the gain to ‘mid’ caused the tube overdrive to begin at a much higher volume and setting it to ‘high’ gave the most volume headroom before tube overdrive kicked in. It might be counter-intuitive but have you tried changing the gain to mid or high?
The other thing to note is that some tube amps when used in preamp mode only engage the driver tubes but with the Envy the power tubes are also in the preamp circuit.
I use my Envy as a preamp into my Raal HSA-1b and I can set the HSA to about 2 o’clock and control the volume with the Envy. It sounds perfectly good to my ears. I am also considering adding the HM1 to my set-up so I am very interested in how your issue is resolved.

Ok that’s some really good info did not know any of that. What Alex was experiencing sounds like the same issue.
I have the ZMF Atrium open, Modhouse Tungsten DS and the Focal 2022’s
I was going from the HM1 to the Envy XLR and changed it to RCA which I believe helped alittle
So the only XLR being used in the chain is from the DAC to the HM1 which gives it 6v
I might of tried mid with the XLR probably not High which I never use or try
With the RCA’s I don’t think I tried the mid gain
But I will later on today for sure based on what you have said would definitely make sense to try both mid and high now for sure

 

[nfandi]

Ok that’s some really good info did not know any of that. What Alex was experiencing sounds like the same issue.
I have the ZMF Atrium open, Modhouse Tungsten DS and the Focal 2022’s
I was going from the HM1 to the Envy XLR and changed it to RCA which I believe helped alittle
So the only XLR being used in the chain is from the DAC to the HM1 which gives it 6v
I might of tried mid with the XLR probably not High which I never use or try
With the RCA’s I don’t think I tried the mid gain
But I will later on today for sure based on what you have said would definitely make sense to try both mid and high now for sure

I have the Holo May which outputs 5.8V XLR and 2.9V RCA so it’s very close to your DAC. I do need to add a preamp so that I can run the Envy at a higher volume (currently I’m between 8 and 9 o’clock and it’s plenty loud enough). I was thinking of getting the HM1 to use as both a preamp and for the full SS ‘taste’ but I’m also considering the Holo Serene which whilst being at a much lower price point will also give me remote control of the volume.

 

[Doug2507]

Quite unusual to run SS as pre into tubes (but not unheard of).

So dac - envy - zahl is a no go due to envy output? What gain? Was the xlr or rca from DAC to envy? Envy is 5vrms@600ohm so not particularly 'hot' at max capable output

 

[CharlyBrown]

Ok that’s some really good info did not know any of that. What Alex was experiencing sounds like the same issue.
I have the ZMF Atrium open, Modhouse Tungsten DS and the Focal 2022’s
I was going from the HM1 to the Envy XLR and changed it to RCA which I believe helped alittle
So the only XLR being used in the chain is from the DAC to the HM1 which gives it 6v
I might of tried mid with the XLR probably not High which I never use or try
With the RCA’s I don’t think I tried the mid gain
But I will later on today for sure based on what you have said would definitely make sense to try both mid and high now for sure

For the Utopia, I‘d suggest to use the following path (if possible): DAC -> RCA -> Envy RCA or XLR-> HM1

The Utopia is very sensitive and you will get a little noise from the Envy, even on low gain. I guess the HM1 will be quiet.

And if you DAC has a built in preamp, I would definitely try that because it will lower the output voltage from the DAC:

(Option 3 just to compare if sound quality is the same between DAC preamp and HM1 as preamp)

Option 1: DAC/preamp (start with low volume) -> RCA -> Envy (volume at about 12 o‘clock) -> Headphone
Option 2: DAC/preamp (start with low volume) -> RCA -> Envy (volume at about 12 o‘clock) -> HM1 -> Headphone
Option 3: DAC w/o preamp or preamp to max -> HM1 (start with low volume) -> Envy (volume at about 12 o‘clock) -> Headphone

 

[Elect37]

Quite unusual to run SS as pre into tubes (but not unheard of).

So dac - envy - zahl is a no go due to envy output? What gain? Was the xlr or rca from DAC to envy? Envy is 5vrms@600ohm so not particularly 'hot' at max capable output

So I am going from the DAC XLR (6v) to the HM1 from the HM1 to the Envy RCA then from the Envy back to the HM1 also RCA
The Envy then can be used as a preamp into the HM1 or both used individually

 

[nfandi]

So I am going from the DAC XLR (6v) to the HM1 from the HM1 to the Envy RCA then from the Envy back to the HM1 also RCA
The Envy then can be used as a preamp into the HM1 or both used individually

My first thought, though not necessarily correct, is that I wouldn’t do it that way. I’d have a direct connection from the DAC to each of the amps for the shortest possible route to each amp when you don’t want a preamp in the chain. Then I’d connect the preamp out from the Envy to one of the inputs on the HM1 and the same from the HM1 to the Envy. This way you only ever have a max of 2 amps in the chain; in your scenario you go from HM1 to Envy and then back to HM1 and that just doesn’t seem right to me. Maybe I’ve misunderstood something but that’s my first thoughts about what you’ve written.

 

[AudioFanX]

Do you mean that in the AE version of the amp Feliks are using the SR Purple instead of whatever fuse they put in the Performance and basic version of the amp ?

SR Purple in AE was my individual wish which was fulfilled by the company.

 

[Elect37]

My first thought, though not necessarily correct, is that I wouldn’t do it that way. I’d have a direct connection from the DAC to each of the amps for the shortest possible route to each amp when you don’t want a preamp in the chain. Then I’d connect the preamp out from the Envy to one of the inputs on the HM1 and the same from the HM1 to the Envy. This way you only ever have a max of 2 amps in the chain; in your scenario you go from HM1 to Envy and then back to HM1 and that just doesn’t seem right to me. Maybe I’ve misunderstood something but that’s my first thoughts about what you’ve written.

Good points not sure if your aware that
the HM1 is specifically designed with a throughput