It manages to drive HE-400i's - but doesn't have a lot of headroom with them.
Judging by this: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-sT3iyJVB6Hx/compare_818HE400I_884LCD3/HiFiMAN-HE-400i-vs-Audeze-LCD-3.html the LCD-3 is a lot more efficient (102 vs 93dB sensitivity) so it should drive them easily.
So, if I want to connect an amp to the M9xx and bypass the one in the Grace, and if the amp only has a standard 3.5mm input, I have to connect the two using an RCA to 3.5 cable right? Will it work connecting the two via their 3.5 jacks?
There's no such thing as bypassing the amp/output stage in the m9XX completely, but yes, your idea would work. Set volume to 90 when you do this. Yes, you can also use the 6.3mm (it doesn't have a 3.5mm) jack from the Grace.
Question to Mr. Grace or company. Hope you still frequent this epic thread...
In the early days of the first m9XX drop on Massdrop's discussion thread, before the first shipment to consumers ... Mr. Grace wrote a post describing the m9XX in great technical detail. In that he made mention of something that only has meaning for me today.
Because I'm now in the early days of trying to talk myself into dropping the serious plunk of change necessary to buy the m905 to serve as the center piece controller for my headphone rig, with digital passthru, unbalanced and balanced in, and can drive several amps balanced and control volume uniquely for each. And was awarded an A+ rating by Sterophile. But I digress...
What was said was that the amp in the m9XX was very similar (if not pretty much the same) to the one used in the m905. Wondering if someone can elaborate on this some more.
It's obvious the m905 has a more robust PS behind it which one assumes produces more power to the headphone out. Is that also thru the use of a discrete follower to provide more current? Does it swing a higher voltage too? Or any other differences worth mentioning are welcome. In comparison to the m9XX would help as I own that so have a frame of reference.
In regards to the DAC that gets a A+ from Stereophile. That pretty much stands on its own. But if you want to elaborate on what I could be in store for over the m9XX's vaunted performance, I won't dissuade you.
i haven't tried the LCD but I know for sure that "db" isn't an unit of sensitivity. It should be "dB SPL/V" or "dB SQL/mW" and there's a different between those two. And yes some manufacturer will keep it vague as "dB"...
i haven't tried the LCD but I know for sure that "db" isn't an unit of sensitivity. It should be "dB SPL/V" or "dB SQL/mW" and there's a different between those two. And yes some manufacturer will keep it vague as "dB"...
Fair call.
However using that sites metric:
"A sensitivity rating tells you how effectively the headphones convert power into volume. The higher the rating, the louder your headphones will play."
So - they are saying the LCD will be easier to drive than the HE400i, which I can confirm from experience is able to be driven by the M9XX.
If you can answer the persons question better please fee free to do so.
Hi m8oman,
The m905 headphone amplifier is very similar to the m9XX. We actually started with the m905 circuitry when beginning the m9XX development.
But given that the m9XX comes with size, power, and cost constraints we had to strip things down a bit.
The main things that changed are as follows.
Power supply:
The m905 has a bigger power supply and much more available current. This allows the m905 to deliver more power to current hungry headphones. The voltage rails are similar the the m9XX (when in high power mode) so there is not a big difference in power for high impedance phones.
Clocks:
The m905 contains our s-Lock VCXO (voltage controlled crystal oscillator) which is state of the art in low jitter low/phase noise PLLs. There was simply no room in the box or in the budget for this in the m9XX. Note that a pll is only needed when you are listening to SPDF, AES, or TO TOSLINK. Both products use asynchronous mode USB streaming so the DAC becomes the master clock and no PLL is required.
Amplifier:
While the amplifier topology is nearly identical between the two We spent some time researching how to get the output impedance really low on the m9XX.
Volume Control:
The since the m905 has analog as well as digital inputs the volume controls are in the analog domain. This does present a slight advantage over digital volume controls since the DAC can always be using the maximum number of bits. That said, the m9XX digital volume control works very well even at very low levels.
DAC:
The m905 DAC is based on the Burr-Brown PCM1796 and the THAT1570 dual transimpedance amplifier as the current to voltage converter. This is a very high performance circuit intended for the most critical monitoring in the music production environment. I think the m9XX comes pretty close to this level of transparency but I think you will be very pleased with the sound of the m905!
I hope this helps!
Michael
Michael, this helps immensely. Much thanks for taking the time providing the detail.
The only reason I didn't get on the horn with your shop after reading this is it is Mrs. M8o's birthday. Spending the significant chunk of change on myself on her special day, without warning no less, didn't seem ... wise. (well, that, and you were probably closed by then, hehe)
Actual Michael, I guess I do have one more question in regards to the m9XX related to the m905.
If using a short TOSLINK cable, I am able to stream 24bit/192Khz material from my DAP to the m9XX. It is temperamental, but it does work.
I notice the m905 does not list support for that bit depth and rate for the TOSLINK input. In reality is it the same tho? It is temperamental and dependant on the cable, but can usually work. Or should I not expect it to work, ever?
Hi All - I have a M9xx on the way, very much looking forward to it! Will be connected to a desktop pc running Win10 with Foobar2000, flac files, 16/44. I believe just plug&play from usb will be sufficient considering my headphones -- using Grado225, Shure 840 and Senn HD700.
Now - I'm not good with cables... if I wanted to try how the M9xx sounds on my Fiio X5 (1) - what cable do I need to buy? X5 has a line-out and a coax-out (I presume audio-out can't be connected to M9 [?] ).
Sorry to say but you can't use that as a source dap. The M9XX doesn't have an analog line in. It also does not have a s/pdif coax input. It has a s/pdif optical / toslink input only. That was a major contributing factor for why I bought the Opus #1 dap, not one of the FiiOs.
Hi All - I have a M9xx on the way, very much looking forward to it! Will be connected to a desktop pc running Win10 with Foobar2000, flac files, 16/44. I believe just plug&play from usb will be sufficient considering my headphones -- using Grado225, Shure 840 and Senn HD700.
Now - I'm not good with cables... if I wanted to try how the M9xx sounds on my Fiio X5 (1) - what cable do I need to buy? X5 has a line-out and a coax-out (I presume audio-out can't be connected to M9 [?] ).
Great choice you will enjoy the m9xx, particularly in your desktop environment.
I believe the Fiio X5 (if its like my X3) player has only a coax output via its provided adapter cable. The m9xx only input other than USB is an optical input. You would need a coax to optical adapter and of course the associated coax (RCA) and optical cables. Realize the m9xx will still require USB power as well, which can come from its provided AC power adapter or a USB/battery source.
Thanks guys! Hmm - not what I wanted to hear ... so it's not a matter of just buying the right cable for $10 to test X5 and Grace (?) -- wont be a regular setup anyway, would just be interested how it sounds.... anyway, if anyone has an idea let me know - otherwise not to worry.
All the best!
Oh dear - second hand M9 arrived in the mail today.... plugged in - nothing is happening. No automatic driver installation notice, no music with any of the installed players. I disconnected speakers and other amp/dac ... no change. Grace is connected via usb, lights are on, set to 60 volume ... all dead.... in Foobar I get this message
Unrecoverable playback error: Incorrect function. (0x80070001)
Have restarted pc, changed default programs, switched headphone ports, tried mp3 and flac, different bit rates. Audio devices shows the Grace as the default but 'fails' to play test tone ... totally dead, no hissing, no nothing (well, it 'clicks' when plugging it in, can hear in headphones).. very disappointing - what am I doing wrong?? Help please.
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(well, that, and you were probably closed by then, hehe)
