[paradoxper]

IEM, if you're getting a new DAC have you considered the Kworks Superberry or Metrum Octave?

 

[justin w.]

Quote:

My head is on the smaller side of normal [ though some call me the opposite at times ] which is why I'm not only wanting to try the HE-6 for it's SQ at the UK meeting, but also it's comfort and fit.

 
the HE-6 fit me ok on the smallest settings.  i think they're a little smaller than some of the older Head-Direct phones.  i had tried the Jade electrostatics several years ago, they were too big on the smallest setting.

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

IEM, if you're getting a new DAC have you considered the Kworks Superberry or Metrum Octave?

 
Order already placed on the Woo, though there's a 2+ week turnaround for delivery....Woo makes everything to order for the most part.

 
I hadn't looked at those two particular units, but looking at them now I'm not too worried about having missed out.  They seem good, but in terms of connectivity/features the Woo strikes me as a more well suited choice than the Metrum without having to deal with crazy EU importing, and the Superberry....the fact that I can't readily find the "manufacturer" and the fact that it's a gutted modded product for roughly the same price as the elegant Woo....I think I'm happy with my direction

 
I did look at a variety of choices, including the NAD M51 though the price was steep, and a deal Moon had on a PS PerfectWave Mk1, also steep in price, but my real choice came down between Woo and Schiit's statement.  And I somehow just couldn't shake the mysterious appeal of the Woo

  And as a business/personal-service, I rank Jack right up near Jason.  I've pestered him with queries for a few things and each time ended up buying something from Jason or Drew instead, so it's nice to finally order a real piece of Woo gear after all his help.
 
One nice thing that the Gungnir for example lacks is an AES/EBU XLR input.  I can feed the DEQ into the DAC over balanced AES which is kind of nice. Sure the source is unbalanced on the transport, but after processing is where it really matters. I don't have balanced ins on my amp though for the analog stage, sadly. 
 
Most likely I'll use the Woo purely for the HE-6 chain and keep Bifrost paired with Lyr for the "all the other headphones" chain since it has such great synergy.  Though I'm curious what it'll do for HD650.

 

[paradoxper]

Quote:

 
Order already placed on the Woo, though there's a 2+ week turnaround for delivery....Woo makes everything to order for the most part.

 
I hadn't looked at those two particular units, but looking at them now I'm not too worried about having missed out.  They seem good, but in terms of connectivity/features the Woo strikes me as a more well suited choice than the Metrum without having to deal with crazy EU importing, and the Superberry....the fact that I can't readily find the "manufacturer" and the fact that it's a gutted modded product for roughly the same price as the elegant Woo....I think I'm happy with my direction

 
I did look at a variety of choices, including the NAD M51 though the price was steep, and a deal Moon had on a PS PerfectWave Mk1, also steep in price, but my real choice came down between Woo and Schiit's statement.  And I somehow just couldn't shake the mysterious appeal of the Woo

  And as a business/personal-service, I rank Jack right up near Jason.  I've pestered him with queries for a few things and each time ended up buying something from Jason or Drew instead, so it's nice to finally order a real piece of Woo gear after all his help.
 
One nice thing that the Gungnir for example lacks is an AES/EBU XLR input.  I can feed the DEQ into the DAC over balanced AES which is kind of nice. Sure the source is unbalanced on the transport, but after processing is where it really matters. I don't have balanced ins on my amp though for the analog stage, sadly. 
 
Most likely I'll use the Woo purely for the HE-6 chain and keep Bifrost paired with Lyr for the "all the other headphones" chain since it has such great synergy.  Though I'm curious what it'll do for HD650.

I love the looks of the WDS-1. I can't wait to hear impressions, but am not sure if there's even a thread on those?

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

I love the looks of the WDS-1. I can't wait to hear impressions, but am not sure if there's even a thread on those?

Yeah, that's part of the charm

  There's an old thread that wasn't updated since June that I updated today....only 2 pages of posts, mostly pre-release type info.  Keep in mind the unit's only been out since the beginning of the year, and boasts no marketable tech to catch on.  I'll definitely offer impressions probably in its own thread, and also here for HE-6 specifics!

 

[grokit]

Quote:

Simply the excessive power that therefore requires an external volume control such as the Goldpoint (or a well behaved preamp with really tight control.)  If I'm getting only just around 9:00 on a 45wpc amp, what the heck would a 300, or worse 600wpc amp do without heavy external volume control?

   I wish I had more play in the volume knob as it is, and that's after a -15db adjustment in the digital realm, and that's at 2v RMS instead of balanced levels!  The -15dB cut gave me 50%-60% more play in the Lyr volume dial with my other cans.   It gave me maybe 5-10% on the Marantz with HE-6.  45wpc is still a lot of power, let alone getting into the hundreds!
 
Grokit's running 45wpc...he knows what I'm talking about!

 
Also I am going through a preamp so I just leave the dual pots on the Alesis at 11am, right in it's power curve. On the WA22 the adjustment is pretty normal, around 10:30am like when I use it for headphones.
 
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by IEMCrazy /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
 
Keep in mind, I'm happy with my Marantz to the point that I don't feel a need to play amp roulette.  I could be happy with it forever and would upgrade only for something that has been confirmed to be something truly exceptional with HE-6.  It's a good amp for a surprising price.  My interest in the A500 (and the Alesis models) was more a general curiosity for if something so cheap would be a good option for would-be HE-6 owners (one of those Behringers or Grokit's R150 costs 1/3 or less my Marantz, so it would be amazing if it sounded great with HE-6, and I've seen only good reports about the A500's sound quality as compared to Rotels and the like.  The other half of the curiosity is if it's mostly a power proposition would a pair of AB monoblocks at 375W each magically sound "better" than a 45wpc integrated that costs 30% more than the blocks? More of an academic exercise for the interesting amping of HE-6 than anything I'm seriously looking at to buy

 
I did finally get to pull the trigger on a Woo WDS-1 however, which will be the final piece of my kit aside from some future super magic special amp for the HE-6.  Gungnir didn't suit what I was looking for, and the cost of Statement is going to be a touch high.  No doubt excellent, but I have to concur with sphinx on the "new product pains"  Not so much because it's a new DAC, but because it's going to be all new custom DAC chips...and that could take a while to get to market and work the kinks out.  I do suspect it'll be an excellent M51 alternative though.

 
You would definitely want the Goldpoint for those mono blocks! Too bad Emotiva discontinued the smaller ones. Very interested in your impressions of the WDS-1. The lack of an AES/EBU on the Gungnir was a bit of a disappointment for me, but ultimately it's just the loss of a 4th input and I decided that I could easily live without it.
 
 
Quote:

 
I think I picked that up originally from one of Grokit's posts elsewhere.

 
It was second-hand info for me as well, from another poster not the mouth of Schiit.

 

[preproman]

*****New Mono Block Amps From Emotiva*****​

Got this from the Emotiva Message Board​

$699​

 

[size=x-small]XPA-1L  250wpc @8ohms  500wpc @4ohms  First 30 watts in Class A, A-B the rest of the way.  Switch on back to go between Class A/A-B and A-B all the time.  Same chases as the UPA-1.  True balanced   [size=inherit] [size=inherit] [size=inherit] [size=x-small][size=x-small]Amp will switch to A-B when amp gets to hot. Will return to Class A when heat decreases.   [/size] [/size] [/size] [/size] [size=x-small]The amplifier will switch from Class A to Class A/B under a few set conditions. First is when the heat sink temperature rises above a set point the system will start to reduce the class A drive gradually and continue to reduce the class A (as the heat sink temperature rises) until it either reaches a point of stasis or the temperature on the heat sink rises to a second set point in which case the amp will just run into class A/B mode until it cools down. The second is when the input signal is greater than the 30 watts of Class A, then it will just move into class A/B for the higher power output. The last scenario is if you want it to just run in Class A/B mode. There is a switch on the back panel that in one position is Auto Class A-A/B and the other position is Class A/B only. The sample that was on display did not have this switch as it was decided to add it later.   [size=inherit] [size=inherit] [size=inherit] [size=inherit] [size=inherit] [size=x-small]Gain is 29 db. Amp does get hot to the touch so proper ventilation a must. [/size] [/size] [/size] [/size] [/size] [/size] [/size] [/size] [/size]

 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 

[IEMCrazy]

Also I am going through a preamp so I just leave the dual pots on the Alesis at 11am, right in it's power curve. On the WA22 the adjustment is pretty normal, around 10:30am like when I use it for headphones.



You would definitely want the Goldpoint for those mono blocks! Too bad Emotiva discontinued the smaller ones. Very interested in your impressions of the WDS-1. The lack of an AES/EBU on the Gungnir was a bit of a disappointment for me, but ultimately it's just the loss of a 4th input and I decided that I could easily live without it.



It was second-hand info for me as well, from another poster not the mouth of Schiit.

Yeah, we're running the same output on the power side, but of course my Marantz is an integrated, so who knows how the volume pot works. I assume it's fixed output power amp and the pot controls voltage of the "pre" stage. Which would also explain the reduced play of the preamp side volume pot compared to yours. Certainly the WA22 is a far nicer pre than the integrated part of the Marantz At least assuming tube sound is the goal.

Yeah, the funny thing about the Behringers as blocks is the Goldpoint would cost nearly as much as the pair of blocks It would cost more than a single Behringer used for stereo. Of course the WDS has that digital volume control and can be used as a pre on its own in that example. In 32 bit volume space I think you could attenuate -42dB on a 24 bit recording before losing any resolution....far more in 16 bit. Not bad. Especially with -15 on my DEQ, that's -57dB before hitting the power amp.

Regarding Schiit, I think it's half right....Jason definitely said no existing D/A chips are being used and it's something totally new, and the Sabre wasn't at all new. That's why I'm thinking the M61 sounds similar....all digital no D/A stage at all, class D line drivers. Maybe iit'll be like that....or something entirely new still. But I think "custom D/A" chips is a bit of a reach.....designing ICs is uglier than designing circuit topologies....especially without your own clean-room fab and wafer production
I'll certainly keep you guys posted on the WDS

 

[David1961]

Quote:

 
the HE-6 fit me ok on the smallest settings.  i think they're a little smaller than some of the older Head-Direct phones.  i had tried the Jade electrostatics several years ago, they were too big on the smallest setting.

 
The great thing about this meeting is I can try different headphones, but while I'm writing a list of some of the headphones there I'm going to try, the HE-6 appeal to me the most. If I really like the HE-6 but find them too big for me, I'll just have to start doing things to get my head to swell, which shouldn't be hard 

 

[kstaken]

Do all of emotiva's amps have the + and - connectors so far apart? That seems really odd.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

Do all of emotiva's amps have the + and - connectors so far apart? That seems really odd.

 
 
NO they don't - Mines don't they're really close.  I'm not sure why these are so far apart.

 

[kevin gilmore]

I finally bought a pair of he6 from Justin and have been trying them on various amps

These things like current more than voltage and if that current is pure class A the better.

SE dynahi is 8 watts per channel into 50 ohms pure class A. Sounds just great for
Something simple.

SS dynahi sounds even better and is 36 watts pure class A into 50 ohms.

Krell FPB 600 sees too high an impedance and won't power up past about
18 watts of pure class A power. Also sounds great but is slightly noisy.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

I finally bought a pair of he6 from Justin and have been trying them on various amps
These things like current more than voltage and if that current is pure class A the better.
SE dynahi is 8 watts per channel into 50 ohms pure class A. Sounds just great for
Something simple.
SS dynahi sounds even better and is 36 watts pure class A into 50 ohms.
Krell FPB 600 sees too high an impedance and won't power up past about
18 watts of pure class A power. Also sounds great but is slightly noisy.

 
 
Is the SS dynahi the balanced version?

 

[alota]

Quote:

I finally bought a pair of he6 from Justin and have been trying them on various amps
These things like current more than voltage and if that current is pure class A the better.
SE dynahi is 8 watts per channel into 50 ohms pure class A. Sounds just great for
Something simple.
SS dynahi sounds even better and is 36 watts pure class A into 50 ohms.
Krell FPB 600 sees too high an impedance and won't power up past about
18 watts of pure class A power. Also sounds great but is slightly noisy.

what is the difference between se and ss dynahi?

 

[kevin gilmore]

SE is the original design now updated.
SS is the super symmetry fully balanced thing.