[scorptrigger]

First off I am new to this forum so please excuse me if I have made a mistake by posting a new thread here but I have several questions and the most important thing to me right now is to make sure that I am getting the right amp.

1. I have a set of UM2's on the way and I am leaning toward buying a Hornet to go with them. Would I be best off with the modded one as far as synergy with the UM2's is concearded?(I am also considering a Xin supermacro so if anyone would strongly sugest that I go that way please let me know.)

2. The DAC will be the last thing I will be buying but I was wondering if I will be able to use the EQ on the IHP-140 when I am using an optical line out with my DAC(I suspect not as my mental picture of this is a straight line out from the laser pickup) and if not would a small seperate EQ be practical or should I just look into another amp that has more adjustability?

3. I suspect that I would get the highest quality recordings by using a cd player with an optical out to feed my IHP-140 but this would be very slow going. Is there a significant loss in quality when ripping CDs on a PC?

4. The reason I am leaning towards a Hornet is because of what I have read about its synergy with the UM2's. Would I be missing out a lot by not having the crossfeed and changeable opamps that are available on the supermacro or would the synergy of the Hornet with my UM2s outweigh this consideration?

Thanks in advance and by the way I listen to all different kinds of music so I would like a setup that has the best versatility in this regard(thats why I would like to have a usable EQ).

 

[socrates63]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scorptrigger 3. I suspect that I would get the highest quality recordings by using a cd player with an optical out to feed my IHP-140 but this would be very slow going. Is there a significant loss in quality when ripping CDs on a PC? 4. The reason I am leaning towards a Hornet is because of what I have read about its synergy with the UM2's. Would I be missing out a lot by not having the crossfeed and changeable opamps that are available on the supermacro or would the synergy of the Hornet with my UM2s outweigh this consideration?

The most heralded CD ripper for the PC is EAC (Exact Audio Copy). It makes bit-perfect copies. I don't know where you got the idea that ripping on a PC is somehow inferior but you can't improve on a perfect rip. Your CDs better be clean and scratch-free for the most part.

I've tried crossfeed on my Porta Corda MkII and Headroom MicroAmp. With the PC MkII, the crossfeed is very subtle and I have a difficult time knowing if it is on or not. With the MicroAmp, I found the sound muddied with the crossfeed on. In either case, I found the crossfeed to be a fairly useless feature. It's a nice-to-have feature but certainly not a deciding factor for me when purchasing an amp.

Unless you like messing around and trying different things, opamp rolling may not be important to you. Do you like to fiddle with stuff? I like things to be set and stable and prefer not to roll opamps. I see it as a personality issue.

 

[ComfyCan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scorptrigger First off I am new to this forum so please excuse me if I have made a mistake by posting a new thread here but I have several questions and the most important thing to me right now is to make sure that I am getting the right amp. 1. I have a set of UM2's on the way and I am leaning toward buying a Hornet to go with them. Would I be best off with the modded one as far as synergy with the UM2's is concearded?(I am also considering a Xin supermacro so if anyone would strongly sugest that I go that way please let me know.) 2. The DAC will be the last thing I will be buying but I was wondering if I will be able to use the EQ on the IHP-140 when I am using an optical line out with my DAC(I suspect not as my mental picture of this is a straight line out from the laser pickup) and if not would a small seperate EQ be practical or should I just look into another amp that has more adjustability? 3. I suspect that I would get the highest quality recordings by using a cd player with an optical out to feed my IHP-140 but this would be very slow going. Is there a significant loss in quality when ripping CDs on a PC? 4. The reason I am leaning towards a Hornet is because of what I have read about its synergy with the UM2's. Would I be missing out a lot by not having the crossfeed and changeable opamps that are available on the supermacro or would the synergy of the Hornet with my UM2s outweigh this consideration? Thanks in advance and by the way I listen to all different kinds of music so I would like a setup that has the best versatility in this regard(thats why I would like to have a usable EQ).

1) Both are very good portable amps and I would expect either to be a good match. The Xin amp can be tweaked, which is a plus. I have heard several people with Hornets that prefer the sound of The Xin, but can't say from personal experience.

2) If you use the optical out of the Iriver to a DAC (highly recommended), you will indeed bypass the equalization and other DPS functions. If you have a good recording, it will sound good w/o any equalization. If it is a bad recording, the IEM's will reveal the flaws. Rather than use equalization, I just stopped listening to bad recordings when using a DAC>Amp. Your desire to tweak sound may mitigate in favor of the Xin SuperMacro as your amp choice, since it does have bassboost, and you can change opamp/buffer configs. to suit your tastes.

3) Ripping on your computer works fine. Most people use EAC; I use Easy CD-DA Professional, and always make sure I'm working with new or like-new cd's before ripping. You then connect the Iriver to your pc with USB and transfer the files just as you would with an external hard drive.

4) Can't really tell you there; my guess is you'd be happier with the Xin if you don't mind tweaking. I personally do like crossfeed because I find it less fatiguing when listening for hours at a time, which I usually do. I use it on my MicroAmp about 99% of the time. The only exception is when listening to some multichannel mixes using Dolby Headphones (in PowerDVD), or some SACD mixes played on my Denon.