[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by josep /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hello, My HOTUSB1 arrived this morning: perfect packaging and quite fast shipping btw. It worked flawlessly and everything was ok, even if a quick look inside showed a construction far from, er, neat. But it is fine: a quick comparo to my three references here showed it has less hiss than the M-Audio Transit and the (noisy) Yulong DAH1Mark, but just a tiny bit more than the Behringer UCA202 (almost totaly silent). This, using the really very sensitive Shure E500s (if you cannot hear hiss/hum with them, the thing is VERY silent!). The UCA202 is a bargain but the sound quality out if its hp jack is no exactly stellar, and as far as I have seen (well, heard) by now this HOTUSB1 is doing well. More to come...

I agree about the Behringer UCA202 - the thing is very quiet, and quieter with 117db.mw IEM than the Macbook HP out, but the sound quality is worse than Macbook and barely able to keep up with a 5.5G ipod video (maybe worse).

 

[ddoingwell]

Larry, I'm wondering if you've heard any HotAudio40 products? I'd send you mine for a review but I'm in New Zealand right now...

Good to see you in this thread though.

Cheers from DownUnder
Don

 

[BBF3]

What would the HOTUSB1 be best suited for in the Senn HD series? Will it to do justice to 600's or 650's or is a 555 or 595 a better a match?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Larry, I'm wondering if you've heard any HotAudio40 products? I'd send you mine for a review but I'm in New Zealand right now... Good to see you in this thread though. Cheers from DownUnder Don

I've been following the thread since last July, but haven't taken the plunge yet as I've been pursuing higher end DAC's lately. But, someday I may consider one of these for my iMac in the kitchen and would need one that doesn't require wall power and can stay plugged into USB and powered on all the time, with low hiss for driving an amp occasionally. But I don't really use headphones in the kitchen enough to justify one. Plus I could use my current D2 Boa, Nuforce Icon or 3MOVE in that role and never have to turn them off or plug into the wall to charge them. I would just have to unplug the ipod cable to use the amp, since we only sync iPods a couple of times a week. Anyway, I'm in here out of curiosity.

 

[hotaudio40]

I heard the 595s were unbelievable with the HOTUSB1, I believe the others work very well too, but I have received very favorable feedback about the 595 - HOTUSB1 match-up.

hotaudio40

 

[nowickia]

Well I just won one of the Mark IVs on ebay. Unfortunately I won't get to use it until I get back to the US on Feb. 16th. I'll post about it that week once I've used it.

 

[WC Annihilus]

Anyone tried the Mark IV with JVC HA-RX900s? I'm currently running mine from the headphone out of a Pioneer VSX 818v receiver (connected to computer via onboard optical). Any ideas on how these would compare?

 

[Danielj]

Hello all An update on my Mark IV

I have about 15 hrs on it so far, feeding a tripath speaker amp and it is doing quite nicely. Yesterday, I plugged in my senn 580 headphones into the mini jack. It was way too loud...had to adjust the vol. on my laptop. I was not impressed with the SQ; I think setting the vol. via software just doesnt yield good results. I was not disappointed as I bought the Mark IV mainly as a dac for my speaker amp.

Right betore bed last night, i thought Id try the dac hooked into my portable headphone amp; a xenos epc..I ended up staying up for quite a while. I was blown away with the dynamics, body, clarity, and just plain musicality of the Mark IV when used as a source for my headphone amp. I have been using the amp and headphone for a couple of years with two pretty good daps; a sony hd5 and Iaudio x5; the Mark IV as source dac brought everything up several notches...my music never sounded so good.

For the price, I think the Mark Iv exceels as a standalone dac, not so much as a dac/headphone amp...some of Hotaudio's other products probably will do better in the latter case.

I want to ask Dave if both the rca and the mini jack are outputing the exact same signal.. If they are, the Mark IV is a one box solution for a system that employs both a speaker amp and a headphone amp

ps to the guy who asked if the asio driver from the echo indigo would work; I was not successful with that approach. I may try asio 4 all or maybe at some point buy the usbasio. But for right now the mkIV is gooding great using just directsound.

blessings Dan

 

[pankkake]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotaudio40 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I heard the 595s were unbelievable with the HOTUSB1, I believe the others work very well too, but I have received very favorable feedback about the 595 - HOTUSB1 match-up. hotaudio40

That's exactly what I have

I am satisfied with it right now, however it's only been a few hours.
It works pretty well - and it works under Linux, that's one of the main reasons I chose it (I'm aware that pretty much all USB DACs should work with Linux, but some are not and I didn't want to take a risk).

I feel like I miss an hardware volume changer, though. But after setting a few keyboard hotkeys or my tux droid remote to change the volume it will almost be as practical.

 

[the_dong146]

Is it correct to say that the USB cable used for the HotUSB1 is a "male to male"? - really not much of a cable expert...

 

[paara]

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_dong146 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it correct to say that the USB cable used for the HotUSB1 is a "male to male"? - really not much of a cable expert...

yes

 

[Headdie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotaudio40 /img/forum/go_quote.gif If I showed you "secret creations" then they wouldn't be secrets now would they

Without hunting for secrets, I'm looking for a quite simple thing I guess : a USB DAC with RCA in, RCA out, and of course... headphone out !

I want to use my laptop as a DSP. The signal would come to the "HotBox" from my stereo receiver through the RCA in, then go to the laptop via USB, then be processed, then back to the "HotBox" via USB again, and finally back to the stereo receiver with RCA out (or simply to the headphone out)... Something like that on the table? Thanks,

 

[hotaudio40]

Do you mean like a combo stereo ADC (analogue to digital converter) and DAC (digital to analogue converter).

Yes I do make one of those but I don't provide any software.

It works just like a external USB sound card with stereo inputs and stereo outputs.

I use it with software like "soundforge".

You can find it online at my online store.

OH, it doesn't use RCAs but instead uses 3.5mm jacks for inputs and outputs.

hotaudio40

 

[paara]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Headdie /img/forum/go_quote.gif Without hunting for secrets, I'm looking for a quite simple thing I guess : a USB DAC with RCA in, RCA out, and of course... headphone out ! I want to use my laptop as a DSP. The signal would come to the "HotBox" from my stereo receiver through the RCA in, then go to the laptop via USB, then be processed, then back to the "HotBox" via USB again, and finally back to the stereo receiver with RCA out (or simply to the headphone out)... Something like that on the table? Thanks,

So from digital (CD or mp3) to analog (reciver)to digital (DAC to pc)to (dac) analog (reciver) again?

This won't help the SQ, no matter how much you prosess it.
You would need a DAC and a ADC as Dave said, he got it. ---> HotAudio

 

[Headdie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotaudio40 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes I do make one of those but I don't provide any software. It works just like a external USB sound card with stereo inputs and stereo outputs. I use it with software like "soundforge".

Thanks for your quick reply ! That could be it, but...

1. I don't know Soundforge... I currently use XLUTOP Chainer, a DX and VST Chainer. Would it function with ASIO4ALL and a standalone VST chainer like XLUTOP?

2. The sound of this DAC-ADC compares to which of your other DAC amp? I'd like to read a bit of what others say about it. BTW, I have a Denon D2000 and a Beyerdynamic DT990-600 ohms.

3. Would you customize it with two analog outs? It would be more convenient with one for my stereo receiver and the other for my headphones.