[koover]

Next time, try resetting one thing at a time to try and pinpoint the issue. If you let it fix itself, you can never find out what the problem might be. Could be anything.

By no means am I an expert and have not been into this hobby that long, but I "feel" I'm experiencing the same thing. When you say reset it, do you mean turning off and unplugging from my powerstip?

 

[Tuneslover]

By no means am I an expert and have not been into this hobby that long, but I "feel" I'm experiencing the same thing. When you say reset it, do you mean turning off and unplugging from my powerstip?

Sorry for the confusion, when I say reset I mean physically switching the toggle switch on the back of the Mimby off for a about 30 seconds and then switching it back on again. Once switched back on the Mimby takes about 15 seconds to cycle (or reboot) before it becomes functional. As a side note, apparently this has been the practice of a number of headfiers to clear up periodic DAC "quirkiness" issues. It's like rebooting your computer when it starts to operate strangely.

However I didn't have any "quirkiness" issues with my Mimby yesterday, in fact it has been sounding terrific for quite some time now. Because I was cleaning the floor where the surge protector and power cables are I thought it would be best to first turn off the Mimby and headphone amp and then remove their plugs from the surge protector so that I could properly and quickly clean up the accumulated dust on the floor around the cables and surge protector. The cleanup took less than a minute. Thereafter I plugged the amplifier 3 prong plug back into the surge protector (because the amplifier has a 3 prong plug it can only fit into the surge protector receptacle 1 way). The Mimby however has a 2 prong wall wart that can be plugged into a receptacle one way or the other way. I didn't even consider which way I plugged the wall wart into the surge protector, I just plugged it in. I then physically switched on the power switch on both the Mimby and the headphone amp and once both components concluded their startup routine I began to listen to music again.

As I stated in my initial post, the sound was muddy and lacking soundstage. My system definitely did not sound the way it did prior to cleaning. Then it occurred to me that perhaps when I plugged the Mimby wall wart back into the surge protector that it might not have been plugged in the same way as before. So I once again physically switched the toggle of the Mimby off, then unplugged the wall wart, spun it around the other way and plugged it back in. I then flipped the Mimby power toggle on, let it cycle through until the boot up concluded. I then returned to music listening and to my delight it sounded right once again.

The first Mimby reboot (when I cleaned the floor) actually resulted in a messed up sound on my system. The second Mimby reboot (when I reversed the wall wart position in the surge protector) resulted in correcting the initial messed up sound and returned the sound of my system as it was before my cleanup.

 

[Tuneslover]

So I just tried to duplicate what I did yesterday (minus the dust cleaning). First off I left everything unchanged from yesterday. I simply listened to a familiar song twice.

Then I turned off my Mimby and removed the wall wart from the surge protector, spun it around the other way and plugged it back into the surge protector. I then switched the Mimby back on, waited for the reboot to conclude, thereafter listened to the same song. Conclusion: No difference. In other words, either position of the Mimby wall wart in the surge protector resulted in identical good sounding music.

I repeated the above experiment again this time shutting off both the Mimby and Headphone Amp (Project Ember) and unplugging them from the surge protector. I waited a few seconds and plugged them both into the surge protector (the Mimby wall wart went back in the same way). Restarted both components and re-listened to the same song. Conclusion: No difference. Everything sounded the same, excellent that is.

I have NO explanation why everything sounds perfectly fine now no matter what configuration I use. More importantly why yesterday everything sounded so bad after cleaning and then sounded correct again after reversing the position of the wall wart.

Bottom line, I'll gladly take the terrific sound I now have and stop wondering what's up. At least until the next time the sound goes bad again.

 

[ColtMrFire]

By no means am I an expert and have not been into this hobby that long, but I "feel" I'm experiencing the same thing. When you say reset it, do you mean turning off and unplugging from my powerstip?

No need to unplug, just turn it off and on.

 

[koover]

Sorry for the confusion, when I say reset I mean physically switching the toggle switch on the back of the Mimby off for a about 30 seconds and then switching it back on again. Once switched back on the Mimby takes about 15 seconds to cycle (or reboot) before it becomes functional. As a side note, apparently this has been the practice of a number of headfiers to clear up periodic DAC "quirkiness" issues. It's like rebooting your computer when it starts to operate strangely.

However I didn't have any "quirkiness" issues with my Mimby yesterday, in fact it has been sounding terrific for quite some time now. Because I was cleaning the floor where the surge protector and power cables are I thought it would be best to first turn off the Mimby and headphone amp and then remove their plugs from the surge protector so that I could properly and quickly clean up the accumulated dust on the floor around the cables and surge protector. The cleanup took less than a minute. Thereafter I plugged the amplifier 3 prong plug back into the surge protector (because the amplifier has a 3 prong plug it can only fit into the surge protector receptacle 1 way). The Mimby however has a 2 prong wall wart that can be plugged into a receptacle one way or the other way. I didn't even consider which way I plugged the wall wart into the surge protector, I just plugged it in. I then physically switched on the power switch on both the Mimby and the headphone amp and once both components concluded their startup routine I began to listen to music again.

As I stated in my initial post, the sound was muddy and lacking soundstage. My system definitely did not sound the way it did prior to cleaning. Then it occurred to me that perhaps when I plugged the Mimby wall wart back into the surge protector that it might not have been plugged in the same way as before. So I once again physically switched the toggle of the Mimby off, then unplugged the wall wart, spun it around the other way and plugged it back in. I then flipped the Mimby power toggle on, let it cycle through until the boot up concluded. I then returned to music listening and to my delight it sounded right once again.

The first Mimby reboot (when I cleaned the floor) actually resulted in a messed up sound on my system. The second Mimby reboot (when I reversed the wall wart position in the surge protector) resulted in correcting the initial messed up sound and returned the sound of my system as it was before my cleanup.

Awesome, great thorough layman explanation. I appreciate it and I'm sure others will too. I wasn't going to post about this but now I see there's a few other head-fiers with a like issue.
I've had mine a few months and lately it's just lost that organic, full sound that it had before along with the soundstage. I know it's not my source material and the way it's recorded because I listen to my faves all the time. Somethings just not right, or maybe it's just me getting used to it....but I don't think so. I know it was a shiny new toy when I first got it so it sounded excellent, everything I was hoping for in a DAC. But recently it's just not the same.
Thanks again as I'll give this a whirl and see what happens.
Peace!

 

[ColtMrFire]

Awesome, great thorough layman explanation. I appreciate it and I'm sure others will too. I wasn't going to post about this but now I see there's a few other head-fiers with a like issue.
I've had mine a few months and lately it's just lost that organic, full sound that it had before along with the soundstage. I know it's not my source material and the way it's recorded because I listen to my faves all the time. Somethings just not right, or maybe it's just me getting used to it....but I don't think so. I know it was a shiny new toy when I first got it so it sounded excellent, everything I was hoping for in a DAC. But recently it's just not the same.
Thanks again as I'll give this a whirl and see what happens.
Peace!

Alot of things can be a factor here since there are alot of things in your chain. If you have a very resolving system (high quality amp/dac/headphones, especially headphones), you will hear every little bottleneck in your chain, and one bottleneck can infect the whole system. For me, it took a long time to realize several things were holding my system back...

I make sure all my connections are clean, anything with a metal contact... interconnects, power cables, SPDIF/USB cables, etc... I clean them every few months with isopropyl alcohol. This includes the headphone cable connector, but that I clean more often since I unplug it alot...anything that smudges the headphone connector I find affects the quality of my sound, so I clean it regularly.

I clean my CD player's laser with a laser cleaner every one or two days. I found after the while the laser gets dirty and has a noticeable (negative) effect on SQ.

This last bit is getting into audio nervosa and isn't for everybody, but for my chain, it made a substantial difference... I make sure none of my power cables are touching. Sounds silly, but I tried it one day and it made a noticeable difference and was very positive. It took a bit of wrangling to do this, but was worth it. I also have to recheck this often to make sure none of the cables have drifted into each other.

Another thing I realized was these tweaks made more of a difference with jazz and classical, or live music with lots of moving parts, where imaging, resolution and clarity needs to be precise to convey the full sound picture. The above tweaks are crucial for me to fully enjoy highly resolved classical and jazz.... With more intimate acoustic, pop, rock, rap, etc... the difference was a little more negligible and the tweaks were not as important. I take this to mean live recorded music with lots of moving parts has a far more complex sound arrangement and hence every piece of the puzzle needs to be in place and un-veiled to get the full impact and hear every single instrument (which the Mimby excels at), as well as improving instrument timbre and a sense of "air" in the recording space, with subtle acoustic reflections also becoming more apparent.

The important thing with any system is to experiment and try different things, find what works for you, and be consistent if you want the best sound.

 

[ColtMrFire]

Another thing is, do you leave your amp on all the time or turn it off every day? Some amps can sound worse if they are left on all the time, some better. Try alternating between both and test them out. My Asgard 2 sounded worse after being left on for a few days, so I turn it off every day now. I found the Jotunheim sounded best left on all the time. Etc... if your music isn't connecting to you as much, you need to experiment and see what could be causing it. It could even be placebo, maybe your mind isn't as focused sometimes... if it is constant, it could be some bottleneck that needs addressing.

 

[Tuneslover]

Alot of things can be a factor here since there are alot of things in your chain. If you have a very resolving system (high quality amp/dac/headphones, especially headphones), you will hear every little bottleneck in your chain, and one bottleneck can infect the whole system. For me, it took a long time to realize several things were holding my system back...

I make sure all my connections are clean, anything with a metal contact... interconnects, power cables, SPDIF/USB cables, etc... I clean them every few months with isopropyl alcohol. This includes the headphone cable connector, but that I clean more often since I unplug it alot...anything that smudges the headphone connector I find affects the quality of my sound, so I clean it regularly.

I clean my CD player's laser with a laser cleaner every one or two days. I found after the while the laser gets dirty and has a noticeable (negative) effect on SQ.

This last bit is getting into audio nervosa and isn't for everybody, but for my chain, it made a substantial difference... I make sure none of my power cables are touching. Sounds silly, but I tried it one day and it made a noticeable difference and was very positive. It took a bit of wrangling to do this, but was worth it. I also have to recheck this often to make sure none of the cables have drifted into each other.

Another thing I realized was these tweaks made more of a difference with jazz and classical, or live music with lots of moving parts, where imaging, resolution and clarity needs to be precise to convey the full sound picture. The above tweaks are crucial for me to fully enjoy highly resolved classical and jazz.... With more intimate acoustic, pop, rock, rap, etc... the difference was a little more negligible and the tweaks were not as important. I take this to mean live recorded music with lots of moving parts has a far more complex sound arrangement and hence every piece of the puzzle needs to be in place and un-veiled to get the full impact and hear every single instrument (which the Mimby excels at), as well as improving instrument timbre and a sense of "air" in the recording space, with subtle acoustic reflections also becoming more apparent.

The important thing with any system is to experiment and try different things, find what works for you, and be consistent if you want the best sound.

Great advice! I am a bit fussy about my gear too. I am a believer in equipment burn-in because I do hear a difference before and after. I'm also a believer in good quality cables (none of this over the top priced stuff though) as I have heard the difference in my 2 channel speaker systems and now with my headphone setups. Yup, I clean my cable contacts a couple of times per year but I'm a bit of messy guy when it comes to cable tidiness, especially my home theatre setup. I tend to listen to my music pretty critically and tend to think that I know my equipment well enough to know when something sounds "off".

My Mimby and Bimby sound fantastic virtually all of the time but occasionally the Mimby messes with me. It's frustrating when it does but when she "comes back into line" I love it. Thankfully it doesn't happen too often.

 

[koover]

Another thing is, do you leave your amp on all the time or turn it off every day? Some amps can sound worse if they are left on all the time, some better. Try alternating between both and test them out. My Asgard 2 sounded worse after being left on for a few days, so I turn it off every day now. I found the Jotunheim sounded best left on all the time. Etc... if your music isn't connecting to you as much, you need to experiment and see what could be causing it. It could even be placebo, maybe your mind isn't as focused sometimes... if it is constant, it could be some bottleneck that needs addressing.

Thanx for the first response.....and the 2nd. Interesting take on the cables touching each other. Mine are all touching so I'll take a look at that too. I haven't cleaned anything yet as I've only had everything for 2+ months. I do know that (guess just being forgetful) and it looks like it's time to do some housekeeping.
Yes, I leave WYRD, Jot and Mimby on all the time. Nothings been powered off except 1 time in the 2+ months I've had everything. I did that last week due to the fact I'm experiencing what you guys are talking about.

 

[ColtMrFire]

Thanx for the first response.....and the 2nd. Interesting take on the cables touching each other. Mine are all touching so I'll take a look at that too. I haven't cleaned anything yet as I've only had everything for 2+ months. I do know that (guess just being forgetful) and it looks like it's time to do some housekeeping.
Yes, I leave WYRD, Jot and Mimby on all the time. Nothings been powered off except 1 time in the 2+ months I've had everything. I did that last week due to the fact I'm experiencing what you guys are talking about.

IMO, yes Jot and Mimby should be left on 24/7 for the best sound quality.

 

[nicoch46]

AC have PHASE and is not work the same in all country..... try the screwdriver with neon lamp ,is build to find the phase ......

 

[alpovs]

AC have PHASE and is not work the same in all country..... try the screwdriver with neon lamp ,is build to find the phase

Yes, phase and neutral. But it doesn't matter how you plug in the wall-wart, especially if the wall-wart is a simple transformer like Schiit's. Look up how transformers work and hopefully you will understand why. And it's a good reason why Schiit's USA-plug wall-warts have identical prongs, so they can be plugged in either way.
Oh! And AC works the same way in all countries.

 

[buonassi]

Thanx for the first response.....and the 2nd. Interesting take on the cables touching each other. Mine are all touching so I'll take a look at that too. I haven't cleaned anything yet as I've only had everything for 2+ months. I do know that (guess just being forgetful) and it looks like it's time to do some housekeeping.
Yes, I leave WYRD, Jot and Mimby on all the time. Nothings been powered off except 1 time in the 2+ months I've had everything. I did that last week due to the fact I'm experiencing what you guys are talking about.

Have you tried simply removing wyrd from the chain to see what happens?

 

[koover]

Have you tried simply removing wyrd from the chain to see what happens?

No I haven't but I need to. Such a simple thing to do and think of...yet? Thanx!
My system is sounding worse and worse by the day and I'm really frustrated. The distortion and static on every single song (low/high gain) no matter what volume, is just ruining my entire listening experience. Getting to the point of giving up. I bought both the Mimby and WYRD off this sites trade/sale section, not saying there's something wrong with it (well yeah I am) and wish I would have bought new with warranty instead of saving a few bucks.
I'm at a loss bro. It's every set of cans, distortion and static every song, all the time, plus the issue mentioned before.

 

[koover]

Have you tried simply removing wyrd from the chain to see what happens?

WT %#@*#%? ....You are my new hero!
The WYRD has been the issue this entire time. Talk about an entirely new dynamic. Sounding very filled out, back to it's smooth organic and clean self. Absolutely zero distortion and static. Wow. I had no idea a component that's supposed to clean up USB and all other kinds of imperfections that actually jacks up your system. What do you think the cause of that would be?
Thanx buonassi, I appreciate it.