[eac3]

Gavin confirmed the acrylic top is magnetically attached to the 2.0 chassis. We can replace it with custom tops without voiding the warranty

Encouraging! See what I can come up with

 
 

 

[eliwankenobi]

Hahaha! LOL!

 

[ms142]

  All depends on which Pulse unit I guess. I am not sure about the Oppo DAC, but really, a lot of differences between the different models.
 
From experience, If you can get a Standard Geek Pulse at the original IGG campaign price, that would be a nice bargain. (I believe it was $299-399 or something). If you have to pay full MSRP, then you may be disappointed with what you get. If you want Balanced output, then the cheaper you can get the higher end models, the more happy you will end up. I have had the X, X Fi, and recently had my X Fi changed out for an Infinity. I would say between the X and X Fi, you might not notice a difference at first, but the more you burn them in, then more difference you may find. Overall, I wasnt satisfied with the X Fi, so I got the Infinity. I use the X at work, and for the price I got it, it's perfectly fine. The X Infinity has been great straight out the box, but I have not yet put more than 10 hours on it, so I cannot say how it burns in yet but I have heard from others it gets much better. 

In all, I think the MSRP's of these units is generous. If they lowered each price down about 10-15%, it would be much closer to the right bang/buck ratio to justify the MSRP. Otherwise, it's just a label meant to make backers feel better about the price they spent. I get they calculate the MSRP on lots of variables but I think the Bang for your buck for the campaigns (at least the early ones) make it hard to see such a huge jump nowadays.
 
EDIT: BTW, I forgot to mention the LPS. That thing can upgrade the Pulse a bit. If you get the Standard, I wouldn't suggest getting it as it doesnt make sense, but the X Fi and X Infinity definitely belong with an LPS.

Saw this edit comment and just want to add a complementary view: Larry Ho the designer did mention that the LPS helps more with Pulse fi than with the Pulse Xfi or Sfi. Not sure about standard Pulse, but I'd think having a clean power supply should be more important than getting the noise averaged out with a parallel circuit or having separate left right channel. So Standard + LPS *might* beat XFi.
(I have a Pulse fi and Sfi with LPS myself) 

 

[digitalzed]

 
Saw this edit comment and just want to add a complementary view: Larry Ho the designer did mention that the LPS helps more with Pulse fi than with the Pulse Xfi or Sfi. Not sure about standard Pulse, but I'd think having a clean power supply should be more important than getting the noise averaged out with a parallel circuit or having separate left right channel. So Standard + LPS *might* beat XFi.
(I have a Pulse fi and Sfi with LPS myself) 

I can attest that a standard Pulse with an LPS is vastly improved in every aspect of dimension, space, presentation, and punch over a Pulse with no LPS. But still falls short of my Infinity with or without an LPS.

 

[Madeupword]

Reports of knob position are not meaningless, as we've come to appreciate 0dB and bit depth. Likewise, unless sources differ greatly, volume should not vary much. On my end, only a few albums require 3 to 6dB more to hit apt listening level.
 
Perhaps I should have been more elaborate in phrasing my initial question. Nonetheless, I reckon we would all consent to the notion to have the volume as close to 0dB with minimal gain setting, at a healthy listening level.

 

[mscott58]

Hey everyone. Remind me - if you want to use the Pulse just as a DAC using the RCA or XLR outputs you set the gain to 0.0 dB right? Thanks!

 

[eliwankenobi]

Yep!!

 

[mscott58]

Yep!!

Gracias

 

[Maelob]

For headphone listening I used the volume control in the Pulse, and normally have the amarra and computer volume max out.  If using Tidal and Amarra SQ I have the amarra sq volume until I start seen a little bit of red bars per their recommendation.
 
For speaker listening- after disconnecting the headphones, I crank the Pulse volume to 0 and use my integrated amp for volume control.
 
For headphone gain since I used Alpha Dogs which are semi hard to drive I found I could drive them either in Med or High Gain.

 

[valve5425]

  btw anybody got their Lightspeed 2G cables with their Infinity recently? They were out of stock when they sent mine so just wondering if they are back with it.

 

I upgraded my freebie to a 2 metre 2G and got it in June, shortly after my Xfi arrived. I figured we may have a long wait for the 1 metre! Guess I was right for once.

 

[mandrake50]

  Reports of knob position are not meaningless, as we've come to appreciate 0dB and bit depth. Likewise, unless sources differ greatly, volume should not vary much. On my end, only a few albums require 3 to 6dB more to hit apt listening level.
 
Perhaps I should have been more elaborate in phrasing my initial question. Nonetheless, I reckon we would all consent to the notion to have the volume as close to 0dB with minimal gain setting, at a healthy listening level.

 
I meant that reports of relative knob position on an amp without a digital readout.   An Example regarding say an H10. One user says he runs his settings at 10:00 and feels he has plenty of power on tap. Another says he runs at 3:30 and thinks the amp is running out of headroom. Without knowing the input levels Output Load, and measured output, these relative statement don't tell anyone very much.
 
Reporting a digital reading is considerably different. At least we know precisely what the attenuation level being applied is. We still know little about the real output levels involved without knowing the gain setting and the input level.
 BTW, we cannot "assume" that input levels are the same or even close. Source  outputs do differ greatly, they run all over the place. Some reference 1 volt, some 2 volts, some 2.5.. and balanced 4 plus volts  plus in some cases...
 
But yes, I would agree, using minimal digital attenuation is the best way to go. I do cringe a bit when people report running at - 30 DB and greater attenuation.

 

[Maelob]

So why add a volume control headphone amp to a DAC if used is going to affect sound quality? I know this is a topic for another thread on digital attenuation vs analog volume control.
 
But I guess in the perfect word I would like to see a volume control in my headphone amp/dac that does not affect sound quality of neither the headphone out or variable output if used as a preamp with speakers.

 

[greenkiwi]

@Maelob  It's tricky... analog volume controls add price and additional complexity.  And also can effect the sound...    I think that you could play a game with large analog steps and small digital steps and have a very good implementation.
 
That being said, small amounts of digital volume control have little effect.

 

[valve5425]

I've set 0db on the Xfi and just use the volume control on my Stax amp. I just make sure the amp volume is at max attenuation before switch on. Good practice anyway!
 
On another note, just had a quick visit to the Geek forum and was a little surprised to see how few posts there were. Is it in its last throes? Could it be that people are just happy to get their perks and run?

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Because the new forum format is just PITA.

1. Need to register AGAIN..
2. Format is too confusing and unfriendly, and editing tools are non existent.

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