[paulybatz]

Quote:

jam. did you install the Topkit or otherwise mod your D4 ? I have spent the last week awaiting the arrival of my Topkit, but the Queensland floods have wreaked havoc with freight to my little town in the bush 

I prefer HiFlight's topkit in my D4...I thought it sounded fantastic stock, however after installing the kit, I never looked back...it made it more like the LISA, much more of an analytical sound (LISA still won in the A/B testing I did but I preferred to listen to the D4 for longer durations, LISA was just simply fatiguing, she wore me out)
 
I cannot wait for the D6...cant believe its getting better

 

[78tball]

"LISA was just simply fatiguing, she wore me out"...
 
   ^   I found this funny.  No wonder "she" is so expensive.

 
Quote:

Quote:

jam. did you install the Topkit or otherwise mod your D4 ? I have spent the last week awaiting the arrival of my Topkit, but the Queensland floods have wreaked havoc with freight to my little town in the bush 

I prefer HiFlight's topkit in my D4...I thought it sounded fantastic stock, however after installing the kit, I never looked back...it made it more like the LISA, much more of an analytical sound (LISA still won in the A/B testing I did but I preferred to listen to the D4 for longer durations, LISA was just simply fatiguing, she wore me out)
 
I cannot wait for the D6...cant believe its getting better

 

[Madpierrot]

I've been using the Soundblaster Titanium HD external soundcard with my laptop that is marketed as an "audiophile grade" card. It plays much better than the onboard sound with both a headphone, stereo and optical in/out. If I pick up an amp/dac would it be better to completely replace the Soundblaster or would it be better to use the two together? (laptop -> soundcard -> amp)
 
If replacing it is best, then I plan to get the D6. If it's better to daisy chain them then I'd consider getting the D12 for the optical in. I suppose I could get the D6 and connect them through the headphone jacks, but that seems like a lossy solution.
 
My current setup is the Soundblaster -> FiiO e5 -> Ultrasone Pro 900. Which I think sounds good but from what I understand a true amp could get me some better sound.

 

[78tball]

I'm fairly new to this site. My take on it is that you would replace the Soundblaster with a high quality DAC such as the D6 and thus run:  Laptop via USB --> D6 or other DAC --> Headphones.

 

[78tball]

With the D12, you would have the option for optical input to DAC; however, it also has a mini USB input to the DAC so you could hook up the D12 in the same manner as you could a D6 and have flexibility of optical if you need it down the road.
 
Quote:

I've been using the Soundblaster Titanium HD external soundcard with my laptop that is marketed as an "audiophile grade" card. It plays much better than the onboard sound with both a headphone jack and an optical in/out. If I pick up an amp/dac would it be better to completely replace the Soundblaster or would it be better to use the two together? (laptop -> soundcard -> amp)
 
If replacing it is best, then I plan to get the D6. If it's better to daisy chain them then I'd consider getting the D12 for the optical in. I suppose I could get the D6 and connect them through the headphone jacks, but that seems like a lossy solution.
 
My current setup is the Soundblaster -> FiiO e5 -> Ultrasone Pro 900. Which I think sounds good but from what I understand a true amp could get me some better sound.

 

[sfmatt]

The DAC in your card is very good and for less than the price of the D6 you can find a top-notch desktop amplifier that will perform noticeably better than any portable amp. You can get excellent tube amps for the price of the D6 (Darkvoice, Jade etc). Just connect the line out of your DAC to the desktop amp and you're good to go.
 
Quote:

I've been using the Soundblaster Titanium HD external soundcard with my laptop that is marketed as an "audiophile grade" card. It plays much better than the onboard sound with both a headphone, stereo and optical in/out. If I pick up an amp/dac would it be better to completely replace the Soundblaster or would it be better to use the two together? (laptop -> soundcard -> amp)
 
If replacing it is best, then I plan to get the D6. If it's better to daisy chain them then I'd consider getting the D12 for the optical in. I suppose I could get the D6 and connect them through the headphone jacks, but that seems like a lossy solution.
 
My current setup is the Soundblaster -> FiiO e5 -> Ultrasone Pro 900. Which I think sounds good but from what I understand a true amp could get me some better sound.

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

The DAC in your card is very good and for less than the price of the D6 you can find a top-notch desktop amplifier that will perform noticeably better than any portable amp. You can get excellent tube amps for the price of the D6 (Darkvoice, Jade etc). Just connect the line out of your DAC to the desktop amp and you're good to go.
 
Quote:

I've been using the Soundblaster Titanium HD external soundcard with my laptop that is marketed as an "audiophile grade" card. It plays much better than the onboard sound with both a headphone, stereo and optical in/out. If I pick up an amp/dac would it be better to completely replace the Soundblaster or would it be better to use the two together? (laptop -> soundcard -> amp)
 
If replacing it is best, then I plan to get the D6. If it's better to daisy chain them then I'd consider getting the D12 for the optical in. I suppose I could get the D6 and connect them through the headphone jacks, but that seems like a lossy solution.
 
My current setup is the Soundblaster -> FiiO e5 -> Ultrasone Pro 900. Which I think sounds good but from what I understand a true amp could get me some better sound.

 

Unless you have heard and compared the D6 to those amps how would you know this? 
 

 

[sfmatt]

Are you implicitly saying the P4 compares favorably with $300 amps like Darkvoice336 or LD Mk V?
 
Anyway you're right, nothing's better than a direct comparison. I should receive the D6 in a few days, I'll let you know how it compares with my Jade.
 
 
Quote:

Unless you have heard and compared the D6 to those amps how would you know this? 
 

 

[pinoyman]

subscribe!
 
still waiting for owner's review...
 
hope someone kind enough to review this, for all the hopeful people interested in this amp...

 

[pinoyman]

hi...
can i use this on my ipod classic?
is there a portable transport for ipod that i can bring anywhere that would help me bypass ipod's internal dac?

 

[mrspeakers]

Quote:

hi...
can i use this on my ipod classic?
is there a portable transport for ipod that i can bring anywhere that would help me bypass ipod's internal dac?

You can take line-out from the iPod but not digital unless you have a Wadia dock.  Line out is cheap.  I use a FiiO LOD.  It was about $13 on Amazon.  Some people make more expensive ones, but I'm not big on "miracle cables" unless they've been cured in snake oil. 

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

Are you implicitly saying the P4 compares favorably with $300 amps like Darkvoice336 or LD Mk V?
 
Anyway you're right, nothing's better than a direct comparison. I should receive the D6 in a few days, I'll let you know how it compares with my Jade.
 
 
Quote:

Unless you have heard and compared the D6 to those amps how would you know this? 
 

I did not implicitly write anything about anything better or worse except the quote from me you have. The P4, and I was referring to the thread, which is the D6, with the 2111AM and HA5002 buffers is excellent sounding. The stock D6 sounds extremely good to me also.  I don't have the desk top amps you mention so there is no way I can compare them. 
 

 

[pinoyman]

Quote:

Quote:

hi...
can i use this on my ipod classic?
is there a portable transport for ipod that i can bring anywhere that would help me bypass ipod's internal dac?

You can take line-out from the iPod but not digital unless you have a Wadia dock.  Line out is cheap.  I use a FiiO LOD.  It was about $13 on Amazon.  Some people make more expensive ones, but I'm not big on "miracle cables" unless they've been cured in snake oil. 

hahahaha...
thanks for the helpful info bro.

gonna buy me a cheap one with digital out dock for ipod (pure i20) and perhaps pair it with this amp/dac.

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

Quote:

Are you implicitly saying the P4 compares favorably with $300 amps like Darkvoice336 or LD Mk V?
 
Anyway you're right, nothing's better than a direct comparison. I should receive the D6 in a few days, I'll let you know how it compares with my Jade.
 
 
Quote:

Unless you have heard and compared the D6 to those amps how would you know this? 
 

I did not implicitly write anything about anything better or worse except the quote from me you have. The P4, and I was referring to the thread, which is the D6, with the 2111AM and HA5002 buffers is excellent sounding. The stock D6 sounds extremely good to me also.  I don't have the amps you mention so there is no way I can compare them. 
 

Jam, FWIW, I'm sure many here would like to see the current crop of portable amps directly compared with the cheaper fuilsize amps - in my case, the Corda Swing and PA Caliente are both on my shortlist alongside several portables. The tipping point, for me, is the sheer versatility of a battery-powered amp. For a bedside rig or something you want to take with you on a trip, the portables are hard to beat. Anything with a power cord would need to be dramatically better with my cans/music for me to ignore the portable option. That said, I have a D4 for portable use and don't currently have a fullsize amp - my last one was a major disappointment and I remain very wary of cheap fullsize amps from China.
 
 

 

[estreeter]

Guys. I've been following this thread for a few weeks now, and I dont think there is an actual review of the sound quality anywhere in the thread. I know it has dual Wolfson DACs, I know its as powerful as the P4 for minimal extra outlay, but I still dont know how punchy the bass is, for example.
 
Please tell me I've skimmed straight over it - apologies in advance if that is the case.