The output impedance of the 4.4 mm port is quite high, which is a shame, so I will be using the adapter with the XLR port, which has a near-zero output impedance. I guess I won't be using the 4.4 mm port ...
Holo Audio Bliss
- Thread starter Rayon
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That is why I was asking…to see if that impedance really did make a difference on the 4.4mm port. Tks.The output impedance of the 4.4 mm port is quite high, which is a shame, so I will be using the adapter with the XLR port, which has a near-zero output impedance. I guess I won't be using the 4.4 mm port ...
Gotcha. I just tried both ports with the A18T and I don’t hear much of a difference. The A18T has an impedance of 9 ohm @ 1 kHz. I wonder at what impedance level the IEMs would be most sensitive to the 2 ohm output impedance of the 4.4 mm port. And what it does to the FR. Paging @GoldenOne.
most, if not all, 64A iems are not affected by impedance, so youre lucky.
the brands which i know are notorious for impedance mismatch issues are Campfire, Vision Ears, Unique Melody, etc. But it does depend iem to iem. sometimes the impedance change is for the better too.
The A18T does not have LID though, so I’m not sure it applies there.
The impedance of the Supermoon is 15 ohms I believe. Does a higher impedance mean it’ll be less affected by the 2 ohm output impedance? Which is more likely to be affected, the Supermoon or eg the Odin at 3 ohm? (Question in general, not to you specifically, but please reply if you have the answer..
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i have the Odin, so I can test and measure later and get back to you.The A18T does not have LID though, so I’m not sure it applies there.
The impedance of the Supermoon is 15 ohms I believe. Does a higher impedance mean it’ll be less affected by the 2 ohm output impedance? Which is more likely to be affected, the Supermoon or eg the Odin at 3 ohm? (Question in general, not to you specifically, but please reply if you have the answer..
@MatW Here are some measurements of EE Odin, using EA Cadmus cable, and various impedance adapters:
0.8ohm = apple usb-c dongle -- close to 6.354mm low-z on bliss
2.7ohm = iFi IEMatch -- close to potentially 4.4mm low-z on bliss
20ohm = hiby 20ohm impedance adapter -- close to potentially 4.4mm high-z on bliss
I can follow-up if there's a desire for it, once i actually get Bliss in. (cant wait!)
The changes are pretty small actually. Slightly more bass and slightly darker treble, and slightly more air as impedance rises. We're looking at +/- 1dB changes though, so for the most part, it is fine tuning on the Odin.
Note-- my Odin was tuned a bit strange. It's somewhat of a crossover of the EE LX and EE Odin for some reason -- i.e. the bass response is quite a bit more substantial than the original Odin tuning I had listened to when I originally heard it and measured an earlier release. I don't know if mine is just a weird hiccup in their system or if it was a phantom tuning rev. (see below photo for sample 1 v 2 -- 2 being my personal set)
0.8ohm = apple usb-c dongle -- close to 6.354mm low-z on bliss
2.7ohm = iFi IEMatch -- close to potentially 4.4mm low-z on bliss
20ohm = hiby 20ohm impedance adapter -- close to potentially 4.4mm high-z on bliss
I can follow-up if there's a desire for it, once i actually get Bliss in. (cant wait!)
The changes are pretty small actually. Slightly more bass and slightly darker treble, and slightly more air as impedance rises. We're looking at +/- 1dB changes though, so for the most part, it is fine tuning on the Odin.
Note-- my Odin was tuned a bit strange. It's somewhat of a crossover of the EE LX and EE Odin for some reason -- i.e. the bass response is quite a bit more substantial than the original Odin tuning I had listened to when I originally heard it and measured an earlier release. I don't know if mine is just a weird hiccup in their system or if it was a phantom tuning rev. (see below photo for sample 1 v 2 -- 2 being my personal set)
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Btw I want to comment here that I've got amazing results by putting Schiit Freya+ in between of May and Bliss. Freya also has a feature that you can turn it into a passive preamp, it turns off the tubes. This way it becomes just a passthrough without affecting the sound. Now I can turn Bliss into a tube headphone amp with a push of a button. Considering Freya's price, I think this is an amazing "add-on" to Bliss.
I got the idea when someone mentioned that he didn't hear much of a difference between using Envy directly or Envy as a preamp and Bliss as a headphone amp. I was thinking that what if I could just extract that preamp part and not pay for all the headphone stuff again as I already have Bliss. I'm super pumped about how well this worked out. I can always jump back to Bliss when I need absolute reference sound, but can still enjoy super high quality tube sound, even with Susvara and 1266. For Susvara Bliss is actually even more dynamic now as Freya is giving me 12db gain. I think trying out Freya+ with Bliss is a no brainer for Bliss owners who also like tube sound.
P.S. if you order it, remember to include LISST. I've got just incredible results by putting LISST to driver seat and using it with PSVane CV181-II as output tubes. The sound is actually quite nuts. Incredible, massive and lively tube stage and with the right content Susvara is now getting explosive dynamics. I've gotten similar kind of smiles due to craziness of the sound as I've got occasionally with TC and Utopia. LISST are also fun to play with otherwise as well (as quad or just output tubes).
I got the idea when someone mentioned that he didn't hear much of a difference between using Envy directly or Envy as a preamp and Bliss as a headphone amp. I was thinking that what if I could just extract that preamp part and not pay for all the headphone stuff again as I already have Bliss. I'm super pumped about how well this worked out. I can always jump back to Bliss when I need absolute reference sound, but can still enjoy super high quality tube sound, even with Susvara and 1266. For Susvara Bliss is actually even more dynamic now as Freya is giving me 12db gain. I think trying out Freya+ with Bliss is a no brainer for Bliss owners who also like tube sound.
P.S. if you order it, remember to include LISST. I've got just incredible results by putting LISST to driver seat and using it with PSVane CV181-II as output tubes. The sound is actually quite nuts. Incredible, massive and lively tube stage and with the right content Susvara is now getting explosive dynamics. I've gotten similar kind of smiles due to craziness of the sound as I've got occasionally with TC and Utopia. LISST are also fun to play with otherwise as well (as quad or just output tubes).
This is excellent, thank you! Do you happen to have a higher impedance IEM to see if the impact of higher output impedance is larger or smaller than a low impedance IEM like the Odin?@MatW Here are some measurements of EE Odin, using EA Cadmus cable, and various impedance adapters:
0.8ohm = apple usb-c dongle -- close to 6.354mm low-z on bliss
2.7ohm = iFi IEMatch -- close to potentially 4.4mm low-z on bliss
20ohm = hiby 20ohm impedance adapter -- close to potentially 4.4mm high-z on bliss
I can follow-up if there's a desire for it, once i actually get Bliss in. (cant wait!)
The changes are pretty small actually. Slightly more bass and slightly darker treble, and slightly more air as impedance rises. We're looking at +/- 1dB changes though, so for the most part, it is fine tuning on the Odin.
Note-- my Odin was tuned a bit strange. It's somewhat of a crossover of the EE LX and EE Odin for some reason -- i.e. the bass response is quite a bit more substantial than the original Odin tuning I had listened to when I originally heard it and measured an earlier release. I don't know if mine is just a weird hiccup in their system or if it was a phantom tuning rev. (see below photo for sample 1 v 2 -- 2 being my personal set)
It seems I wasn't the first one. I've played with the same setup for 3 days now. The sound is clearly best if I max out Freya+. Then tubes do more work and their effect is more clear. I think the sound is also cleaner. However, please note that I'm using DSD and in HQPlayer I have -4db. That means that when maxed out, I get 12-4=+8db. That makes 2.9Vrms balanced DSD into some 7Vrms. Bliss can take 16.8Vrms from XLR, so I should be good.Hey guys, just got a Schiit Freya+ to go with my Holo stack.
It's the first time I use a dedicated preamp. How should I set the volume on the Bliss, since I would use it as "pure power amp"? Should I set the volume of the bliss at max and just play with the Freya?
Also need to consider that with Susvara and AB1266 the volume on the Bliss is close to the end of the scale...
BTW try LISST on the right and some big bottles on the left. With PSVane CV181-TII that kicks some serious ass especially when Freya+ volume maxxed out.
I would definitely buy Freya+ again, that made an awesome setup into insane setup. Now I feel that I have everything.
This is incredible setup once one finds the right parameters (volume levels in different places, right kind of tubes in right order etc). However, I have no experience of real TOTL tube headphone amps, so I don't have proper references.
As a side note though, a nice thing with this is that I have still original Bliss behind one button, so I don't feel that I have to do compromises. That was kind of the original idea: possibility to add tube flavor when I want, but not sell Bliss nor buy super expensive tube amp that can drive Susvara. With extra $1000 Bliss now becomes a convertible that can be turned into "poor man's Envy". 6SN7 is a nice tube and good enough for my use cases (for now at least). The only thing that I would still be interested was Freya 300B Edition
It's not really about the nominal impedance of the IEM but rather the impedance curve.
Headphones with a flatter impedance curve will show less change in FR on a high output impedance source than those with more varying impedance curves.
Unfortunately this measurement is not really available for many IEMs so it's hard to say.
Also I wonder how a hybrid would behave. Estat and dynamic may have separate, differing impedance curves.
Ok, then we don’t really know to what extent the issue is indeed an issue… Maybe someone can test/measure a few IEMs and provide some more insight.
As it turns out, I do have a few cables for over ears with a 4.4 mm plug. Currently listening to the Stellia through the 4.4 mm port and it sounds great.
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