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[ongbenghui]

Hi folks, I am curious exactly what does the gain setting do ? Does it increase the Vpp from output when I set from L to Hi ? or increase power or ??

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Hi folks, I am curious exactly what does the gain setting do ? Does it increase the Vpp from output when I set from L to Hi ? or increase power or ??

 
It's just controlling how the power is delivered, kind of like gear ratios on a transmission. If you don't have a car that you tweak for that, play some GranTurismo or Forza, and play around with the Final Drive ratio. Higher number is high gain, lower is lower gain. 

 

[WayTooCrazy]

I also have a X5iii "power driving" question. I'm discussing with a someone how much power is needed to drive a pair of headphones that I have. They continually say that I need more power than what the X5iii is presenting to the headphone. I then purchased the Schiit Jot and found that it drove the headphones "louder", but detail-wise... I didn't get any "more" information with the greater driving power. So, I felt that the X5iii drive those headphones well enough. 
 

Above, is the power requirements of the headphone at different listening levels.

This is the output from Fiio's site of what the X5iii outputs. I'm not sure how "Vp-p" relates to Vrms... but if they are similar... then I should not have any trouble driving these headphones out of the X5iii, correct?

 

[mandrake50]

  Hi folks, I am curious exactly what does the gain setting do ? Does it increase the Vpp from output when I set from L to Hi ? or increase power or ??

The most common way to change gain is by adding a gain stage between the input and the amp. Basically the amp get driven with more or less signal depending on the settings. I have seen some cases where the voltage available to the amp stage is also increased to give it more headroom in high gain mode. I believe that the X5 II did this. But don't take that as gospel.
 
Take a look at this thread,
http://www.head-fi.org/t/406293/what-exactly-does-the-gain-switch-on-the-amp-do
Post number 11 is a pretty good one.
If you want a compressive discussion (disregard the person doing the writing), check this link.
http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/09/all-about-gain.html

 

[mandrake50]

  I also have a X5iii "power driving" question. I'm discussing with a someone how much power is needed to drive a pair of headphones that I have. They continually say that I need more power than what the X5iii is presenting to the headphone. I then purchased the Schiit Jot and found that it drove the headphones "louder", but detail-wise... I didn't get any "more" information with the greater driving power. So, I felt that the X5iii drive those headphones well enough. 
 
 
Above, is the power requirements of the headphone at different listening levels.
 
This is the output from Fiio's site of what the X5iii outputs. I'm not sure how "Vp-p" relates to Vrms... but if they are similar... then I should not have any trouble driving these headphones out of the X5iii, correct?

http://www.referencedesigner.com/rfcal/vrms-to-vpeak-conversion.php/
 
I agree the X5 III should be able to drive the headphones at least adequately. Actual power requirements for a given output level seem to be a bit of a mystery to some. Of course, as we have discussed recently here, there are many aspects of and amplifier that make a bigger difference to the quality of the sound than maximum output power.

 

[Dobrescu George]

  I also have a X5iii "power driving" question. I'm discussing with a someone how much power is needed to drive a pair of headphones that I have. They continually say that I need more power than what the X5iii is presenting to the headphone. I then purchased the Schiit Jot and found that it drove the headphones "louder", but detail-wise... I didn't get any "more" information with the greater driving power. So, I felt that the X5iii drive those headphones well enough. 
 

Above, is the power requirements of the headphone at different listening levels.

This is the output from Fiio's site of what the X5iii outputs. I'm not sure how "Vp-p" relates to Vrms... but if they are similar... then I should not have any trouble driving these headphones out of the X5iii, correct?

 
The information above doesn't take the impedance into account. 

For the record, the current presented on output power 3 is equal to volume 120/120 in X5-3, that is a maximum, not a mean.
 
In theory, X5-3 should be able to drive anything until HD600 well, I would purchase HD600 to use with X5ii for a portable rig if I didn't have a stronger amp. Adding an amp will sometimes improve sound, sometimes to a considerable degree. There's also the advantage of longer battery life, and stacking is like a hobby, it is kinda my thing, I like to see stacks 

 
X5-2 and X5-3 both look awesome with either A5 or iDSD BL. 
 
If your question is for pure volume, try to find a demo unit of HD800 and listen to it 

 Only you can decide if it is loud enough for you. I do think that I would need more volume for certain songs, and I also do think that I would want an iDSD to drive HD800, especially because of HD800's 6.3 connector so I don't put a strain on the 3.5mm headphone output of either X5 or A5, but that's just me. (physical strain)
 

 
The most common way to change gain is by adding a gain stage between the input and the amp. Basically the amp get driven with more or less signal depending on the settings. I have seen some cases where the voltage available to the amp stage is also increased to give it more headroom in high gain mode. I believe that the X5 II did this. But don't take that as gospel.
 
Take a look at this thread,
http://www.head-fi.org/t/406293/what-exactly-does-the-gain-switch-on-the-amp-do
Post number 11 is a pretty good one.
If you want a compressive discussion (disregard the person doing the writing), check this link.
http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/09/all-about-gain.html

 
I go by the rule of always using as high as possible with everything 

 
This is usually because I avoid ReplayGain and with some tracks I will need more than 120 for loudness since some tracks (even whole albums) are really quiet.  

 

[mandrake50]

 

  I also have a X5iii "power driving" question. I'm discussing with a someone how much power is needed to drive a pair of headphones that I have. They continually say that I need more power than what the X5iii is presenting to the headphone. I then purchased the Schiit Jot and found that it drove the headphones "louder", but detail-wise... I didn't get any "more" information with the greater driving power. So, I felt that the X5iii drive those headphones well enough. 
 

Above, is the power requirements of the headphone at different listening levels.

This is the output from Fiio's site of what the X5iii outputs. I'm not sure how "Vp-p" relates to Vrms... but if they are similar... then I should not have any trouble driving these headphones out of the X5iii, correct?

 
The information above doesn't take the impedance into account. 
 
 

I think it is information specifically for the headphone he is interested in. Meaning the impedance is for that headphone and is explicit for that case.
Why don't you like replay gain?  I wish that the X5 III would do it. I use it whenever I have it available.
As you mention recordings vary widely in the level that they are recorded. As I use shuffle over all songs quite a bit, I find reaching for the volume control every time a song changes very inconvenient.  Having a new song start and getting blasted to the point of being concerned for my ears and equipment is not a good thing!! Replay Gain does not completely solve that problem, but it helps considerably.

 

[sjb57]

  I also have a X5iii "power driving" question. I'm discussing with a someone how much power is needed to drive a pair of headphones that I have. They continually say that I need more power than what the X5iii is presenting to the headphone. I then purchased the Schiit Jot and found that it drove the headphones "louder", but detail-wise... I didn't get any "more" information with the greater driving power. So, I felt that the X5iii drive those headphones well enough. 
 

Above, is the power requirements of the headphone at different listening levels.

This is the output from Fiio's site of what the X5iii outputs. I'm not sure how "Vp-p" relates to Vrms... but if they are similar... then I should not have any trouble driving these headphones out of the X5iii, correct?

 
I recall asking a similar question when I first joined this thread, back in December. Someone kindly gave me a link to a spreadsheet (sorry, I do not have it handy) which calculated that kind of stuff and I was amazed at how few mW are actually needed for say 32Ohmn/99dB headphones. I guess your chart is from http://www.digizoid.com/power.php and automates the spreadsheet. My conclusion (and now real-life findings) is that I have not needed anymore power if I use High Gain and Volume ~ 65.

 

[Photoman]

I hope @fiio atleast giving us a few new features since we thought the firmware was planned to come out the week before last.

 

[mandrake50]

I hope @fiio atleast giving us a few new features since we thought the firmware was planned to come out the week before last.

Everyone seems to be in a hurry to get the next firmware. I would like it too, but would rather wait until it has been completely tested before they release it. I don't need or want new problems to deal with.
BTW, Fiio has specifically declined to commit to any schedule for firmware releases. This means that there was no due date of "the week before last". This expectation seems to have come about due to speculation and wishful thinking on our part.

 

[Dobrescu George]

  I think it is information specifically for the headphone he is interested in. Meaning the impedance is for that headphone and is explicit for that case.
Why don't you like replay gain?  I wish that the X5 III would do it. I use it whenever I have it available.
As you mention recordings vary widely in the level that they are recorded. As I use shuffle over all songs quite a bit, I find reaching for the volume control every time a song changes very inconvenient.  Having a new song start and getting blasted to the point of being concerned for my ears and equipment is not a good thing!! Replay Gain does not completely solve that problem, but it helps considerably.

 
Oh yes, RG is a truly great thing when doing Random play! I need to study more what RG does and how to properly set it up as last time it made some songs too loud compared to their original levels. I'm sure it was my mistake, but didn't have the time then to correct that mistake. 
 
 

 
Everyone seems to be in a hurry to get the next firmware. I would like it too, but would rather wait until it has been completely tested before they release it. I don't need or want new problems to deal with.
BTW, Fiio has specifically declined to commit to any schedule for firmware releases. This means that there was no due date of "the week before last". This expectation seems to have come about due to speculation and wishful thinking on our part.

 
I agree with waiting until it is ready! Why rush when we can get the best experience when they are fully ready to release the firmware 

 

[Photoman]

Everyone seems to be in a hurry to get the next firmware. I would like it too, but would rather wait until it has been completely tested before they release it. I don't need or want new problems to deal with.
BTW, Fiio has specifically declined to commit to any schedule for firmware releases. This means that there was no due date of "the week before last". This expectation seems to have come about due to speculation and wishful thinking on our part.

wishful thinking. Not. They sent me text messages each of those weeks planning to release within those weeks if everything thing goes right. I guess it didn't

 

[Karendar]

Everyone seems to be in a hurry to get the next firmware. I would like it too, but would rather wait until it has been completely tested before they release it. I don't need or want new problems to deal with.
BTW, Fiio has specifically declined to commit to any schedule for firmware releases. This means that there was no due date of "the week before last". This expectation seems to have come about due to speculation and wishful thinking on our part.

Not really wishful thinking, mostly coming from Fiio, but with a grain of salt as previously mentionned. I don't mind if they're late on this firmware myself, just wondering what they're up to.

 

[mandrake50]

 

Everyone seems to be in a hurry to get the next firmware. I would like it too, but would rather wait until it has been completely tested before they release it. I don't need or want new problems to deal with.
BTW, Fiio has specifically declined to commit to any schedule for firmware releases. This means that there was no due date of "the week before last". This expectation seems to have come about due to speculation and wishful thinking on our part.

wishful thinking. Not. They sent me text messages each of those weeks planning to release within those weeks if everything thing goes right. I guess it didn't

Interesting. Fiio contacted me to test the OTA speed that I have had issues with. They said they would notify me as soon as they knew that next firmware would be available. I have heard nothing yet.
Yes, software development is painstaking. Make changes then test. Find bugs, squash them, retest, do it all again. It is extremely difficult to project any specific completion date. It is easy to understand this when the fact that they are dealing with thousands if not hundreds of thousands of lines of code is the situation. Much of it interdependent.

 

[sjb57]

wishful thinking. Not. They sent me text messages each of those weeks planning to release within those weeks if everything thing goes right. I guess it didn't

A pity we do not know what the delay is. At this stage, I think most people would prefer a stream of relatively minor fixes rather than (possibly / hopefully) long delays between big steps. They must have some stuff ready & tested (say, getting rid of the Chinese characters) but want to bundle it with something that is harder than they thought? For example, they wanted to issue a fix to USB sound & in-car system?
Hopefully, key staff are not off sick because they ate all of that cake at the party!