[MonkCanatella]

Oh this is more UPS' fault than Massdrop. I wish I would've told them not to require a signature earlier. I'll try to retrieve them, but if they get sent back to Massdrop, I'll just get a refund and try something else. Plenty of options out there.

 

[GraceDesign]

If you don't have any luck picking it up from UPS, maybe you can just leave a signed and dated note on your door for the UPS person saying you are at work and if they can leave the package somewhere? 

 

[MonkCanatella]

If you don't have any luck picking it up from UPS, maybe you can just leave a signed and dated note on your door for the UPS person saying you are at work and if they can leave the package somewhere? 

I most definitely did and I was on the phone and online chat for hours in the last two days, trying to make that happen, but they were resolute.


Luckily some nice lady signed for me while I was at work today. I was ready to get my refund when it was shipped back to massdrop, but now that's it taken care of, I'm excited to hear it.

 

[NeoWilson]

I most definitely did and I was on the phone and online chat for hours in the last two days, trying to make that happen, but they were resolute.


Luckily some nice lady signed for me while I was at work today. I was ready to get my refund when it was shipped back to massdrop, but now that's it taken care of, I'm excited to hear it.

Why didnt you get it shipped to work?

 

[MonkCanatella]

I just got out of work and got to finally hear this thing, and it. is. amazing. The only thing I have to compare it to is my Cayin C5, which was my first amp, and made me truly believe how much an amp could improve sound quality. I haven't done any a/b testing yet, but the difference is just immediately immense. This is like how I felt hearing my headphones through the Cayin C5 for the first time, but even more impressive to me. 
 
Unless you have only ever listened to headphones through a Cayin C5, this might seem all hype, so just keep in mind this is coming from a cheap portable amp vs a $500 dac/amp combo. 
 
Initial impressions:

Nas - One Love

I have seriously never heard this song like this. It's an entirely more 3D, lifelike story. The voice especially sounds better through this amp. I've actually never heard it quite like this. It really feels like i'm sitting there in the studio. What I was missing on the LCD2 (rev2f) was a proper amp. In retrospect the Cayin C5 only did an ok job with these. But the difference is just insane. It'll take some time before I can objectively say that this amp truly has this effect and it isn't just from the pure excitement and relief of finally listening to this thing. 
 
The soundstage is so much better than I could have imagined coming from the C5/soundcard. I'm wondering if I'll have to take down my classified for the LCD2s because I'm hearing these in an entirely different way. It sounded so muddied before. I seriously thought the "dark" sound was supposed to evoke being choked by thick velvet curtains.
 
Tom Waits - Red Shoes
I'm hearing more 3D sounds from this song. It seems more cohesive in a way. Tom Waits has this incredible knack for making you "feel" a song, or the atmosphere of a song can just be so tangible in his music. These do such a great job rendering this aspect of his music. 
 
Flako - Sun Ba
Again, the immense improvement to the soundstage completely changed my perception of my LCD2s. While I love this song no matter what, even through ipod earbuds, through the m9xx > LCD2s, I noticed subtle things that I'd never heard before. The soundstage definitely sounds more 3D than L&R panning.
 
Andy Stott - Luxury Problems
The bass just isn't doing it for me like it usually does with this song. It's like it's not quite prominent enough, which is strange considering this HP's reputation. The bass hits me more through my earbuds than through this combination. I would've expected this to feel this in my brain. I would almost say that this is just a bad combination for this song. Weird. 
 
Valentine - Tricky - (Andy Stott Remix)
Immediately hit me with details I never noticed before. Voice sounds great, placement in the mix sounds way different than I've noticed before. Everything about this remix is starting to make more sense now. Andy Stott was definitely trying to make a realistic 3D soundstage here. I had never noticed it before in any headphones. My sony SA5000s represented the sounds well, but they didn't give them their space so elegantly. This song is a serious, serious win for the m9XX and LCD2.
    This song is also giving me insight into the phrase "effortless separation" that I heard so much regarding the Flare R2A IEM. I noticed it through the R2As but only slightly. Through the m9XX, the LCD2s effortlessly give every sound it's own place in the mix. Even bad mixes sound great on these
 
miscellaneous note - through this amp, these headphones become even more forgiving to poor mixes/bad recordings. I don't listen to much heavily produced music, so this is a really important quality to me in a headphone.
 
Galantai Tancok - Zoltan Kodaly - Neeme Jaarvi
First off, this is an incredibly underrated piece of classical music. While the sounds of each instrument are by far, more separated than I've heard before, they don't quite fill the same space they did before. It's a trade off between clarity and succulence. Do you want those fat notes, or do you want to hear them dancing around.
 
Alright these are just an hour of impressions, take it with a brick of salt and the expectation that my reception to these will cool down after the excitement wears down. But what an incredible first impression. I'll add more if people are interested

 

[JakiChan]

I have two of these badboys now.  One for work and one for home.  I'm being told that doing that was insane.  Was it?  I just didn't wanna hassle with carrying them back and forth on the bike.  They're telling me I should have saved the money and spent more on cans...

 

[Ormia]

In addtion to all of its sonic prowness, I purchased the m9xx because it is trans-portable, which allows for me to bring this device to and from work easily. In terms of my acquisition strategy, instead of purchasing a second identical unit, I used the money towards the HE-560 and I'm loving it! If I had more slush funds to spend, I think my next purchase would be an amp that allows for tube rolling (Lyr 2), or a separate dac/amp setup with a totally different sound signature. This is my preference and yours will likely be different.

 

[JakiChan]

It *is* fairly portable, but I ride a bike to/from work about 20 miles each way. It was extra weight I didn't want to hassle with, even if I bought an extra cable/power supply for each location.  I suppose, if my situation changes, I should be able to sell one of them off.

 

[JakiChan]

 
Oh this is more UPS' fault than Massdrop. I wish I would've told them not to require a signature earlier. I'll try to retrieve them, but if they get sent back to Massdrop, I'll just get a refund and try something else. Plenty of options out there.

 
I tried to have my redirected but failed.  However, the weekend before it arrived I had just installed my new Ring video doorbell.  The guy rang the doorbell, I talked to him, and he signed for it and left it hidden on my porch.

 

[Michgelsen]

I have a question about the digital volume control of the m9XX, to which I couldn't find the answer anywhere:
 
How is this digital volume control implemented? Does it use truncation or dither, and if it uses dither, what kind of dither (with noise shaping, of what type?) is used?

 

[a1right]

I hate to as a question right after another question but how does the toslink on the m9xx work? is it compatible with spdif at all? I was hoping to pick up a ps3 but I wouldn't know how to connect it to the amp. I think they are both optical outputs too. Their connections look similar I just don't know what to make of them.

 

[ViperGeek]

  I hate to as a question right after another question but how does the toslink on the m9xx work? is it compatible with spdif at all? I was hoping to pick up a ps3 but I wouldn't know how to connect it to the amp. I think they are both optical outputs too. Their connections look similar I just don't know what to make of them.

 
As you probably know, TOSLINK is a hardware spec while S/PDIF is a software spec.  Typically, S/PDIF runs over coax, although I've read that the software protocol that runs over TOSLINK can also be S/PDIF.
 
I've used the TOSLINK optical input on the m9XX with several devices including an OPPO Blu-ray Disc player and a Chromecast Audio.  You mentioned the PS3 has an optical output which should work fine with the m9XX's optical input.
 
- Dave

 

[fjrabon]

  I have a question about the digital volume control of the m9XX, to which I couldn't find the answer anywhere:
 
How is this digital volume control implemented? Does it use truncation or dither, and if it uses dither, what kind of dither (with noise shaping, of what type?) is used?

It uses a hybrid system combrised of two amp stages and 32 bit digital.  0-90.5 are in the primary 0dB gain amp stage.  Then it turns on the second +10dB gain stage at 91-99.5.  The second stage requires high power mode to be engaged in order to use it.  Theoretically this high bit rate combined with multi-tiered gain means that it wouldn't specifically need dithering.  However, Grace has long used their own proprietary dithering shaping, and I would guess they do here as well.  They previously used their own in-house designed ANSR for 16 bit dithering, and my guess is they are either using no dithering because it's 32 bit or they're using a 32-bit updated version of their ANSR randomizing algorithm.  I'd lean towards the second option because that would jive with what they've said about borrowing technology from their microphone pre-amplifiers.  What I can say with near certainty though is that if they are using dithering it's their own designed algorithm.

 

[Solarium]

It uses a hybrid system combrised of two amp stages and 32 bit digital.  0-90.5 are in the primary 0dB gain amp stage.  Then it turns on the second +10dB gain stage at 91-99.5.  The second stage requires high power mode to be engaged in order to use it.  Theoretically this high bit rate combined with multi-tiered gain means that it wouldn't specifically need dithering.  However, Grace has long used their own proprietary dithering shaping, and I would guess they do here as well.  They previously used their own in-house designed ANSR for 16 bit dithering, and my guess is they are either using no dithering because it's 32 bit or they're using a 32-bit updated version of their ANSR randomizing algorithm.  I'd lean towards the second option because that would jive with what they've said about borrowing technology from their microphone pre-amplifiers.  What I can say with near certainty though is that if they are using dithering it's their own designed algorithm.

Wait so this means that if I don't use over 90% volume that the 2nd USB power does not get used at all? I might have missed the earlier thread discussions. So 75% volume with or without the 2nd USB is the same volume? If I don't ever use higher than 80% then I shouldn't be using the 2nd USB cable right?

 

[Michgelsen]

 
It uses a hybrid system combrised of two amp stages and 32 bit digital.  0-90.5 are in the primary 0dB gain amp stage.  Then it turns on the second +10dB gain stage at 91-99.5.  The second stage requires high power mode to be engaged in order to use it.  Theoretically this high bit rate combined with multi-tiered gain means that it wouldn't specifically need dithering.  However, Grace has long used their own proprietary dithering shaping, and I would guess they do here as well.  They previously used their own in-house designed ANSR for 16 bit dithering, and my guess is they are either using no dithering because it's 32 bit or they're using a 32-bit updated version of their ANSR randomizing algorithm.  I'd lean towards the second option because that would jive with what they've said about borrowing technology from their microphone pre-amplifiers.  What I can say with near certainty though is that if they are using dithering it's their own designed algorithm.

 
Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. However, your answer raises new questions.
 
I've read about the hybrid volume control, but it's still not clear to me where the digital volume control operates. Mostly, I don't get what's so 'hybrid' about it. Let's forget the second gain stage for a while. Let's say I'll never be using that part, because I only go up to 90.5. I assume then that the 0-90.5 dB are controlled fully in the digital domain, correct?
 
And what do you mean by theoretically it wouldn't need dithering? Assuming a realistic maximum of 20 bits of SNR (= 120 dB), this would leave 12 bits for volume control, = 72dB. This is less than 90.5, so if there wasn't any dithering done, there would be truncation, right? Or am I missing something?