[bobjew]

cmascatello: Hey you're up early cause its 1AM here! Yes, lets join forces for the next round! Sorry if things got negative at this point but I must admit it didn't come from me. This is supposed to be fun, Jeez.

 

[cmascatello]

Bob, I am actually on the West Coast (LA) on the trip mentioned in Xin's message about taking the prototypes. FWIW, I took Xin's post(s) about "grabbing off the bench" as a mention of seeing you in person and your enthusiasm with getting testing started -- similar to the old "flying off the shelves" saying. I would not take it as any sign of displeasure on his part, especially considering htat he is sending out new testers and explicitly names you as a recipient.

Now the bigger issue that remains is: When do we get these better sounding models???? I need it NOW!

 

[bobjew]

nevermind

 

[bobjew]

cmascatello: I guess I had a long day.

 

[lindrone]

Bob came over, and we tried out a couple of things today.. one of which is the SuperDual alongside the Shure E5c.

SuperDual is definitely overall, a more balanced, better amp than the previous Xin efforts. The sound is fuller, richer, more of a balance between lows and highs, and more controlled than previous versions.

Would I say it's better than the likes of XP-7, PPA, or even a maxed out Meta? Not really... It's still impressive for an amp to sound this good from this small size, but it's all relatively to the size. However, if it does sell for $99, it'll be very, very competitive with other amps in its range (it should be better than most of them).

There's still a slight "hissing" problem with the Shure E5c, but it's much more subdued. It's less than the level outputted by the SuperMicro, and the Supermini. To the point where it's almost completely noticeable even during music playback with black notes. It's definitely still there though.

The combination of the SuperDual and the E5 though... just produced some of the biggest bass out of any amp+headphone combination that I've ever heard. If you're a basshead, you're just going to love this combination. This is definitely a quantity of bass, not as much quality as higher level amps will provide. However, at the proposed price, this is very, very impressive yet again.

One glaring problem though, both Bob and I hope this was some sort of a bug in the amp. The cross-feed switch doesn't seem to be working or doing anything. In fact, it seems like everything is completely and fully crossfed. What does this mean? I have couple of songs I use specially to test 3d imaging, and all the sound that used to come from the different sides has now all been moved to completely front of me. Which also means.. it's almost like this amp is giving me a mono signal!!! There's no left and right separation whatsoever, and regardless of what we did with the crossfeed switch, it doesn't do anything.

Just for the sound itself, there's definitely a good quality to them, and I can't really think of an amp at this price range that really offers the same type of performance and portability. I'm hoping what we found was a bug of some sort.

Overall, this amp isn't bad, considering price, size and performance. It is definitely not a high class amp though, not anywhere near the class of XP-7 or PPA or anything alike. However, if it so turned out the 3d imaging problem isn't a bug.. then I would stay away from this amp completely, complete lack of stereo image is not acceptible.

cmascatello, did you experience the 3d imaging problem as well?

 

[penbat]

Thanks for input Lindrone, although it sounds like significantly better sounding prototypes will be available shortly so at least some of your reservations will be resolved.

Who knows, maybe the new prototypes may be closer to the XP-7 ?

 

[penbat]

Xin says regarding the new prototype compared to the old prototype:

"I guarantee you to hear a huge difference on bass, punchiness and image. "

http://www.xintechs.com/talk/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=40

 

[lindrone]

Quote:

Who knows, maybe the new prototypes may be closer to the XP-7 ?

And that would be mostly hype rather than the truth. You've got to recognize the fact that there's a reason $450 amps go for that price. For $99, the SuperDual would be a very good value, but there's no way it compares to the XP-7.

Compared side-by-side with a stock XP-7 (not even opamp rolled to anything else), there's just no way SuperDual compares to the XP-7 at all. Unless SuperDual becomes a completely different amp between now and final version release, it will not be "close" to the XP-7.

Although it might be "closer"... but then again, moving an inch towards the West from anywhere in England gets you an inch closer to United States, right?

 

[adhoc]

so lindrone, just how many inches is it away?

 

[scottder]

I agree with lindrone here, it's not really a fair comparison. I would be more interested in comparing it to other amps in it's price range, like say MINT based amps.

Scott

 

[lindrone]

Quote:

so lindrone, just how many inches is it away?

How many inches can you buy with an extra $350? That's how far away it is... and perhaps even farther than that if you really want to be cruel and criticial.

Quote:

I would be more interested in comparing it to other amps in it's price range, like say MINT based amps.

I don't think I've heard any other amp in this price range that offers as much fullness in the sound as the SuperDual. Especially in conjuncture with the E5... it has enough bass to satisfy any bassheads. Although I think it's actually got way too much bass with the E5, took the original balance of the E5 out of whack a bit.

So for the $100 and less range, this is probably about as good as it gets for a portable amp. (There's really no desktop amp in this price range now, is there?)

 

[scottder]

Quote:

Originally posted by lindrone I don't think I've heard any other amp in this price range that offers as much fullness in the sound as the SuperDual. Especially in conjuncture with the E5... it has enough bass to satisfy any bassheads. Although I think it's actually got way too much bass with the E5, took the original balance of the E5 out of whack a bit. So for the $100 and less range, this is probably about as good as it gets for a portable amp. (There's really no desktop amp in this price range now, is there?)

Only 'desktop' I can think of is the Headsave MiniMe, and it's MINT based. Those are the only ones that really come close price-wise.

Scott

 

[penbat]

As i understand it, one reason why the SD is so cheap is the manufacturing method and that fact that the parts are from China. While the XP-7, for example, has a more hand-crafted, manual manufacturing method.

Anyway it will probably cost $150 rather than $99.

 

[lindrone]

That's true, seeing that even the SuperMini or SuperMicro cost more than the SuperDual, and the SD definitely sounds better. So there are some cost reduction relating to manufacturing and such.

However, still doesn't make it anywhere near "comparable" to other portable amps that I really think is worthy of using alongside the E5.

In short, if that's all you got to spend on an amp.. go for it. If you got more money, don't think you're getting away with much by spending much less.

 

[adhoc]

Quote:

How many inches can you buy with an extra $350?

NOT quite ENOUGH for the ladies!

i would like to take some time to warn everyone not to get expectation-syndrome. this may or may not turn out to be a giant killer.

remember, pessimism means you never get disappointed.