[jamato8]

Around a 100 hours or so for burn in. YMMV though.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HONEYBOY /img/forum/go_quote.gif I received the D4 a few days ago but have only gotten about to listening to it now. Not really experiencing an epiphany with the IE8. Sending the signal from the D4 to the Alo Rx seems to improve the overall clarity and sound stage. Am wishing for a bit more treble extension and presence. However I do have a topkit on the way to play around with. This is just out of the box so am reserving judgment until I've given it a thorough "burn in". What's the generally recommended amoumt of hours recommended for these ibasso amps? Any ways I love the finish of the amp so much better than my Alo Rx which is just so scratch prone. Its a lot smaller than what the pics have led me to believe as well.

Jamato8 says 100 hours, I find 250 is better.

 

[kunalraiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Jamato8 says 100 hours, I find 250 is better.

Anything major changed for you Larry, I found 25 hours gave me better soundstage and more detail,more as the sound opened up. I have not done more then 50 hours on them yet so I don't know what 100 hours will do for them.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kunalraiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anything major changed for you Larry, I found 25 hours gave me better soundstage and more detail,more as the sound opened up. I have not done more then 50 hours on them yet so I don't know what 100 hours will do for them.

I talked a little about the changes and duration in my review: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/5815768-post8.html

 

[amdj]

I'm still new at this, so pardon if this is redundant for some of you.

I'm still waiting up on my D4 to arrive. In the mean time, I'd like to discuss some things with you fellow Head-Fi'ers. I've been living with my old Audigy 2 sound card since 2003, I believe. There's one thing I like about it which is the ability to easily EQ the bass/treble settings that apply universally to every program (music, games, movies, etc). This might not be ideal for some of you (from what I think is known as "colored). From what I understand, the D4 can't do that. I'll be honest and admit that I do up the treble and bass settings under my sound settings so that they can apply to everything.

Pretty much, the only way to change the sound signature is to switch out opamps it seems (which aren't as significantly different in the difference EQing (not from winamp/foobar but from speaker properties in Windows, a feature the Audigy 2 has).

I notice when I EQ with software such as Winamp, I get distortion. But I can safely bump up the bass/trebble settings in speaker properties (audigy2) to my liking (espically for the UE TF.10s).

Any comments?

I also understand that some don't even bother EQing. Honestly, with 0 EQ changes under speaker properties, I feel like it's too flat.

 

[kunalraiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amdj /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm still new at this, so pardon if this is redundant for some of you. I'm still waiting up on my D4 to arrive. In the mean time, I'd like to discuss some things with you fellow Head-Fi'ers. I've been living with my old Audigy 2 sound card since 2003, I believe. There's one thing I like about it which is the ability to easily EQ the bass/treble settings that apply universally to every program (music, games, movies, etc). This might not be ideal for some of you (from what I think is known as "colored). From what I understand, the D4 can't do that. I'll be honest and admit that I do up the treble and bass settings under my sound settings so that they can apply to everything. Pretty much, the only way to change the sound signature is to switch out opamps it seems (which aren't as significantly different in the difference EQing (not from winamp/foobar but from speaker properties in Windows, a feature the Audigy 2 has). I notice when I EQ with software such as Winamp, I get distortion. But I can safely bump up the bass/trebble settings in speaker properties (audigy2) to my liking (espically for the UE TF.10s). Any comments? I also understand that some don't even bother EQing. Honestly, with 0 EQ changes under speaker properties, I feel like it's too flat.

The important thing will be whether you use your D4 with speakers or headphones, when using it with speakers you can do what you want.

With headphones its usually recommended to bypass the soundcard which is what is precisely done by the USB DAC,so the question of bass and treble setting do not occur, the only place you can change it is in the actual software.

 

[amdj]

I bought the D4 solely for headphone use.

Do you like using something such as foobar to EQ or do you leave it alone? In other words, are you able to hit the sweet spot through software EQ with the D4?

The reason I ask is because the software EQ of Winamp for example can't output the preference I like the way my Audigy 2 can (through speaker properties...). Or maybe it's just me lol. EQing with Winamp often results in muddy bass unlike speaker properties under the Audigy 2 (when using the UE TF 10s). I've used Foobar in the past but I don't know if it makes a difference. Is this different with the D4 (when eq'ing with software)?

I appreciate the response.

EDIT:

It seems like the only way to change the musical preferences is through opamps and EQ in software.

But when doing some software EQing...I can't seem to reach the more natural and strong treble/bass boost from my sound card's own bass/treble boost from the drivers/software.

 

[kunalraiker]

This is precisely why you should not be using software eq, with me I do not use the foobar2000 equalization,I turn off all the audio enhancement settings.

The D4 alone is capable of providing you all the bass and treble you need.The sound will depend on the sound signature of your headphones.

I would recommend listening to it first then decide if you need to alter the sound.

 

[amdj]

Right on. What I'm trying to say then is by using hardware EQ through my sound card, I can make a headphone quite different to fit my listening preferences. Without any EQs through the control panel of my sound card, my headphones will sound flat and boring.

I hope the same isn't true of the D4...

But what do I know, my D4 hasn't even arrived!

I'll post my findings when I get it

 

[dongringo]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with using an EQ to get the desired sound you are looking for. To each his own. It's all good. I use the D4 dac and then eq individual headphones.

I recommend using Electri-Q parametric eq VST plugin for foobar2000. I've tried several so far and prefer Electri-Q.

You will need:

AiXcoustic Creations: Electri-Q - posihfopit

http://www.yohng.com/foobarvst.zip

Put the VST Wrapper dll in the foobar components folder and add it to your Active DSPs in foobar. Then add the VST plugins folder to VST through VST setup. It takes some getting used to, but the effort is well worth it. If you really want to get down with it check out this thread:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/how...torial-413900/

Happy EQing!

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lunch Money /img/forum/go_quote.gif I received my D4 a few days ago and have been very much enjoying it paired with my MS-1's. Do any of you have recommendations for opamps? Though I'm satisfied with the sound I'm getting, I would enjoy any improvement I could get from rolling the opamp. And I also have a noob question: when burning in, do you need to have headphones plugged in?

I really like HiFlight's TopKit with my Grado SR80. Here are a couple of pics of the iBasso board w/ the stock op-amps followed by a picture of the TopKit installed. Cheers.

 

[amdj]

Very helpful, thank you

. I was checking out the EQ thread earlier and will give it a full read sometime, especially when the D4 arrives (which is very soon!).

I'm considering the Topkit in the future as well...pretty awesome how you can improve the sound even further to match more expensive portable amps

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dongringo /img/forum/go_quote.gif There's absolutely nothing wrong with using an EQ to get the desired sound you are looking for. To each his own. It's all good. I use the D4 dac and then eq individual headphones. I recommend using Electri-Q parametric eq VST plugin for foobar2000. I've tried several so far and prefer Electri-Q. You will need: AiXcoustic Creations: Electri-Q - posihfopit http://www.yohng.com/foobarvst.zip Put the VST Wrapper dll in the foobar components folder and add it to your Active DSPs in foobar. Then add the VST plugins folder to VST through VST setup. It takes some getting used to, but the effort is well worth it. If you really want to get down with it check out this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/how...torial-413900/ Happy EQing!

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I really like HiFlight's TopKit with my Grado SR80. Here are a couple of pics of the iBasso board w/ the stock op-amps followed by a picture of the TopKit installed. Cheers.

Now, try it with the new OPA1611A but the stock buffers, and then compare to a P-51 mustang and you will have a hard time telling which is which. With the stock LMH6655 the sound is a bit fuller, richer and more powerful but a little more forward and aggressive as well (in a good way), although at the expense of worse battery life.

 

[madwolf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by supern0va /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well for the price of the charger and the battery + shipping I can buy about 90 regular 9V batteries! Not so sure if the amp can even last that long, considering I use the DAC at home. Cool... yea I know UM3X isn't the best for your mods, cos ur objective in modding was to accomodate the larger phones anyway! Will the Li-Ion batt idea really not be feasible at all? Charging is really a pain.. my rechargeable batt lasts about 3-4hrs or less

Really if I where to start from Point zero, An Ibasso D2+ Boa, would have been a better starting point, It already have a Build it battery, charger and run off 5V which is sufficient. It could easily last 20 hours.

I have been looking at the various ibasso design and noted that D2+, D4 and D10 shares the same circuit topology for the AMP section. Single L/R and 2 in one IC buffers. They are like copies of each others. but with different choice of IC and capacitors. The D2 uses less expensive Op-Amp and lower quality capacitors than D4 and D10. The D2+ however does not contain Sockets for the IC, Which means that the Circuit board could me more compact reducing unwanted trace inductance and capacitance. The D2+ could be modded to the same component as the D4 or D10 and have the potential to sound better. The D2+ is simply oozing potential. It will not be able to do 9V like the D4 or Optical like the D10, But the AMP section have the same or even better potential.

When fitted with Toshin UTSJ output caps D10 sound uncanny similar to a D4. And I believe the same would hold true for D2+, Plus it is possible to use the same OP-AMP for the D2+ whatever that fits the D4. It is harder to Roll OP-AMP as soldering is needed but I think the effort would be worth it.

The older D2 uses Transistor buffer and could not be modded the same way.


Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I bet iBasso would like to try it out...

If they are really interested I could make special arrangement.

 

[LionPlushie]

Woah.. madwolf you're so experienced. able to trace out the amp section. meaning all of them are actually the same design, just different components and opamps? it must be so good that ibasso is using that for almost all of them