[grizzlybeast]

Exactly one week has passed since I started to burn in the Geek Pulse Xfi.

Bass has CLEARLY improved, from absolutely zero impact to within a stone's throw to my Sony UDA-1, but not quite.

So far the one real positive I can say about the Geek Pulse Xfi is that it is completely silent even with HD800 and that is with the switching power supply. My Sony UDA-1 however has this tinniest of humming sound on the HD800 that frustratingly only I seem to be able to hear, albeit quiet enough that it's only noticeable when you turn the unit on and off.

I guess I might be expecting too much for the Geek Pulse Xfi to beat Sony UDA-1 handily, I think this says more about the Sony than the Pulse, still there's more room to improve, l'll see what another week or two of burn in will do.

Why is that expecting too much. Given all of the hype, price paid, retail price etc the difference should be night and day. Try and give it some more AB time. Once your brain picks up differences it's never the same. The differences keep adding up until later they are extremely obvious.

In this case the xfi should stomp the Sony. If it doesn't then it sucks for the price. Diminishing returns play a role but even so...

 

[jbr1971]

For the people that receive their Pulse already and updated to version firmware 2.29, what is the lowest volume setting? If I turn it all the way to the left it goes to about -127.5.

 
2.29 is the new version of the Windows driver. The latest firmware is 1V5 (1.50) if you look in the Light Harmonic Control Panel, Info tab (or Sound preferences in OS X).
 
-127.5 dB is the lowest volume and -0.0 dB is the highest.
 
Jody

 

[doctorjazz]

The Sony really sounds better than the XFi? I find it hard to believe, but haven't heard either (have a Geek Out Special Edition, waiting on a Vi Tube Dac Special Edition). If true, would be really disappointing. Of course, "better" depends on the taste, SQ preferences, etc of the rater.

 

[miceblue]

So far the one real positive I can say about the Geek Pulse Xfi is that it is completely silent even with HD800 and that is with the switching power supply. My Sony UDA-1 however has this tinniest of humming sound on the HD800 that frustratingly only I seem to be able to hear, albeit quiet enough that it's only noticeable when you turn the unit on and off.

I was going to say, if your amp has a hissing sound with the 300-ohm, fairly insensitive HD800, then the amp is pretty darn flawed. Then I saw humming sound and that makes much more sense.

The X Infinity is basically dead silent to my ears, and I'm sensitive to background hiss.

 

[gikigill]

Yup, the XFi is dead silent too despite using it with over a dozen cans and trying to find fault. My pet hate is a noisy amp and the XFi is fortunately pitch black.

 

[atsq17]

Why is that expecting too much. Given all of the hype, price paid, retail price etc the difference should be night and day. Try and give it some more AB time. Once your brain picks up differences it's never the same. The differences keep adding up until later they are extremely obvious.

In this case the xfi should stomp the Sony. If it doesn't then it sucks for the price. Diminishing returns play a role but even so...

 
I think it may depend on the users subjective preference on what is "better". Also, I think the XFi really comes to its own when you start using it as a standalone DAC. The headphone amp on it is a decent unit to hold you while you're in between amps but it's definitely no end game unit. 
 
I've found the XFi handily beats out any DAC under $1000 (and like you said it should; well it does!) in a very noticeable way when pairing it with my amps (BH Crack and HeadAmp Dynalo; as well as a Dynahi that I borrowed from my friend). 
 
I was previously very heavily invested in Audio GD DACs and those units are still excellent but I'm happy to know that the XFi sounds better (to me anyway). I also had a Concero HP and the XFi is clearly superior both out of headphone out and as a DAC (again to me, and the friends I got to help me A-B).

 

[grizzlybeast]

 

Why is that expecting too much. Given all of the hype, price paid, retail price etc the difference should be night and day. Try and give it some more AB time. Once your brain picks up differences it's never the same. The differences keep adding up until later they are extremely obvious.

In this case the xfi should stomp the Sony. If it doesn't then it sucks for the price. Diminishing returns play a role but even so...

 
I think it may depend on the users subjective preference on what is "better". Also, I think the XFi really comes to its own when you start using it as a standalone DAC. The headphone amp on it is a decent unit to hold you while you're in between amps but it's definitely no end game unit. 
 
I've found the XFi handily beats out any DAC under $1000 (and like you said it should; well it does!) in a very noticeable way when pairing it with my amps (BH Crack and HeadAmp Dynalo; as well as a Dynahi that I borrowed from my friend). 
 
I was previously very heavily invested in Audio GD DACs and those units are still excellent but I'm happy to know that the XFi sounds better (to me anyway). I also had a Concero HP and the XFi is clearly superior both out of headphone out and as a DAC (again to me, and the friends I got to help me A-B).

Is this all with the LPS as well? It almost reads as if it is a must to have around here but initially the xfi was supposed to benefit from the LPS less than the pulse. 
 
I agree with the bold as well as me having a hunch that that was the users impressions. I just kinda assume that people can communicate what is objectively of more fidelity irregardless of preference. 

 

[nudd]

The humming may be a ground loop issue as i had a very difficult time eliminating the ground loop that was only audible on my very sensitive iems like the Shure se500.

I had to buy a lps (not the lhl one) to bring the hum down to an acceptable level (i think the lps acts also as an isolating transformer...). I also agree it seems a bit bass light (or there is mild elevation in the treble) so depending on taste it may not be for everyone.

 

[atsq17]

  Is this all with the LPS as well? It almost reads as if it is a must to have around here but initially the xfi was supposed to benefit from the LPS less than the pulse. 
 
I agree with the bold as well as me having a hunch that that was the users impressions. I just kinda assume that people can communicate what is objectively of more fidelity irregardless of preference. 

 
I use LPS almost all the time with my XFi but there was once when I did not for a few days and I still enjoyed the sound very much. I've never bothered to A-B with and without (and I'm too lazy to do so since I own an LPS4 for each of my unit) so I can't help out that much on that. 
 
I do try to communicate what I THINK is objective but even what I think is OBJECTIVE is itself subjective. I usually get a handful of other people to join me in the testing and we only share our results at the end. When we independently and unanimously come to the same conclusion then I am fairly confident that it would be a relatively objective conclusion. 
 
I think that equipment matching plays a huge part too. I've actually sold items I later realized I really liked in a different setup. In fact I found my HD800 + BH Crack needing a touch more punch with the XFi until I changed the RCA interconnect then I found it to be perfect. Until that stage, I was actually considering selling the HD800 and BH Crack since the XFi sounded awesome with my Ethers. Now I can't decide which one to sell (HD800 or Ether) and might end up keeping both for the time being. 

 

[grizzlybeast]

 

  Is this all with the LPS as well? It almost reads as if it is a must to have around here but initially the xfi was supposed to benefit from the LPS less than the pulse. 
 
I agree with the bold as well as me having a hunch that that was the users impressions. I just kinda assume that people can communicate what is objectively of more fidelity irregardless of preference. 

 
I use LPS almost all the time with my XFi but there was once when I did not for a few days and I still enjoyed the sound very much. I've never bothered to A-B with and without (and I'm too lazy to do so since I own an LPS4 for each of my unit) so I can't help out that much on that. 
 
I do try to communicate what I THINK is objective but even what I think is OBJECTIVE is itself subjective. I usually get a handful of other people to join me in the testing and we only share our results at the end. When we independently and unanimously come to the same conclusion then I am fairly confident that it would be a relatively objective conclusion. 
 
I think that equipment matching plays a huge part too. I've actually sold items I later realized I really liked in a different setup. In fact I found my HD800 + BH Crack needing a touch more punch with the XFi until I changed the RCA interconnect then I found it to be perfect. Until that stage, I was actually considering selling the HD800 and BH Crack since the XFi sounded awesome with my Ethers. Now I can't decide which one to sell (HD800 or Ether) and might end up keeping both for the time being. 

Thanks for the response bud. You may have just saved my incoming xfi from the FS sign. 

 

[lobehold]

The humming may be a ground loop issue as i had a very difficult time eliminating the ground loop that was only audible on my very sensitive iems like the Shure se500.

I had to buy a lps (not the lhl one) to bring the hum down to an acceptable level (i think the lps acts also as an isolating transformer...). I also agree it seems a bit bass light (or there is mild elevation in the treble) so depending on taste it may not be for everyone.

 
****, so that's what it is - ground loop!
 
I compared both of them head to head again, and there's no mistaking it - the Pulse Xfi is missing a LOT of bass, esp. that thick sense of presence, it's completely missing and makes the Pulse way less engaging.
 
Detail wise, I seriously can't really tell after 15 minutes back and forth with them. Perhaps I need more time to learn the intricacies between them, but for the (retail) price difference, Pulse got clobbered at the moment.
 
Only time (and burn in) will tell if it will surpass the Sony UDA-1, I'll give it a week or two more to prove itself.
 
One thing's for certain, the Pulse's build quality is a joke compared to the Sony, a sad pathetic joke.

 

[grizzlybeast]

The humming may be a ground loop issue as i had a very difficult time eliminating the ground loop that was only audible on my very sensitive iems like the Shure se500.

I had to buy a lps (not the lhl one) to bring the hum down to an acceptable level (i think the lps acts also as an isolating transformer...). I also agree it seems a bit bass light (or there is mild elevation in the treble) so depending on taste it may not be for everyone.

any links yo this lps. there was a comparable one earlier on in the thread but is buried

 

[greenkiwi]

   
****, so that's what it is - ground loop!
 
I compared both of them head to head again, and there's no mistaking it - the Pulse Xfi is missing a LOT of bass, esp. that thick sense of presence, it's completely missing and makes the Pulse way less engaging.
 
Detail wise, I seriously can't really tell after 15 minutes back and forth with them. Perhaps I need more time to learn the intricacies between them, but for the (retail) price difference, Pulse got clobbered at the moment.
 
Only time (and burn in) will tell if it will surpass the Sony UDA-1, I'll give it a week or two more to prove itself.
 
One thing's for certain, the Pulse's build quality is a joke compared to the Sony, a sad pathetic joke.

That sony looks pretty cool.  Nice that it has a speaker amp too.  The build quality is definitely quite nice on the Sony.

 

[Verloren]

  any links yo this lps. there was a comparable one earlier on in the thread but is buried

 
I think it was Jay's Audio.

 

[miceblue]

I'm not really getting the whole "missing a lot of bass" thing. You make it seem as if the DAc/amp has a -20 dB roll off at the bass frequencies or something. XD

I don't really notice any serious lack of bass compared to anything else I've heard minus the Yggy or warm amps/DACs.