[Sound Eq]

  I'm not saying this doesn't work, but man, I'm just not hearing it. Is there any particular recording that you recommend a listen with these settings?
 
I'll tell you what does work in Jriver though. iFi crew, you might want to give this a try, too, and see what you think.
 
For the Love of MONO in the Bog...
 
For anyone who's tried it, listening to Mono on headphones produces less than desirable results. There's little doubt that mono recordings sound best with speakers, in the home, in the car, but especially with a nice turntable and tube gear.
 
Well, I've been playing a little bit with my iDSD micro, and after a little time, the thing is really opening up (though I admit after 216 hours of burn in, I've only put about 4 hours of listening in, tops [if that]). Nevertheless, gone is that compressed sound I had originally heard, so I don't think it's my mind getting used to it.
 
Anyway, I'm not a big fan of changing settings within my music player. Jriver has a lot of cool features, but I've always felt that they've been just toys, when the real sound I want is what the artist ended (or as close as we can get). For some reason I started messing around with the Room Correction feature in Jriver, even though this is meant for speakers.
 
Long story short, I've made a very close stereo simulation out of mono recordings, without any EQ, where it doesn't sound at all artificial. In fact, it still sounds very organic, very period, but without the flatness one get from mono recordings in cans. This is for those people who appreciate the difference between mono and stereo mixes, but want to keep their cans on:
 
Go to DSP Studio - > Room Correction. Choose the Left Speaker at set it at 35.0 ft. Do not mess with the volume. Check the Reverse Polarity box (This is an aspect that helps keep the balance of what I'm proposing)
 
Next, go to the Right Speaker. Set the Right Speaker at 24.5 ft. Then, set the volume at +2.1 db, which is also going to help you balance the "mix."
 
Voila! There you have it! It's sort of a mock stereo effect, much like the reverse of a fold down mono mix. I've tried many mono recordings: Several Beatles albums, the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds," Jimi Hendrix's mono mixes of "Are Your Experienced" and "Axis: Bold as Love,"  The Door's "The Doors" (1967) in mono, some early Steve Miller mono, some Elvis and a little '50s jazz, by various. Oh, and Billie Holliday gets new life in mono.
 
NOTE: This gives the sound more heft. It makes it sound fuller, without losing the nuances that makes mono mixes so unique and special.
 
Check it out. I might have to post this on the JRiver site.

are using the asio driver in jriver

 

[Dobrescu George]

I too listen mainly to red book flac,nothing below and some HD flac.
The iDSD is currently best portable dac/amp they make. Yes, I believe sq compares favorably with Hugo. Put price difference to some 846 if possible.

i think i might want to put the price difference to some ie800 or ultrasone signature dj... in my country nobody imports 846, so no chance for those..
 
is there any comparation between this and chord hugo around?...

 

[maricius]

  i think i might want to put the price difference to some ie800 or ultrasone signature dj... in my country nobody imports 846, so no chance for those..
 
is there any comparation between this and chord hugo around?...

There are some. Use the "Search This Thread" option

 

[vrapan]

Hi guys,
 
anyone knows if the micro idsd will pair well/be powerful enough for the HE-560 ?

 

[BillsonChang007]

Hi guys,

anyone knows if the micro idsd will pair well/be powerful enough for the HE-560 ?

Power wise, don't worry about Micro iDSD xD it outputs 4k mW at top! Not sure about the synergy thought

 

[maricius]

  Hi guys,
 
anyone knows if the micro idsd will pair well/be powerful enough for the HE-560 ?

From my limited experiences (demoed the combo thrice, twice with a ALO hybrid cable), soundstage was very wide, depth was good, midrange was slightly hollow, bass was recording dependent, treble was smooth but slightly too forward. I preferred the HE-560 over the LCD-2, HD700, and HE-500. I almost would have gotten it but then I heard the Alpha Dog.
 
Similar driving requirements as the Alpha Dog, Normal power mode with IEMatch set to Off.
 
My post on the HE-560 thread post #9754

 

[vrapan]

Power wise, don't worry about Micro iDSD xD it outputs 4k mW at top! Not sure about the synergy thought

Thanks for that! When you say not sure about synergy do you mean you don't think they would pair well, or you don't know if they will pair well?

 

[maricius]

Can anyone describe micro idsd and alpha dog pairing?

post #8486
post #8499
 
It's the second best rig I've heard for audiophile/high resolution music. It's the best rig I've heard for my music. My only qualms in regards to my tastes would be lack of bass impact (remedied by 1 full turn of the bass screw, sometimes with XBass) and the treble. Great soundstage width, excellent depth, most natural midrange timbre… I'll just keep praising the pairing so I'll end it with this: The sound is slightly on the warm side, just a little mid centric. 

 

[vrapan]

 
From my limited experiences (demoed the combo thrice, twice with a ALO hybrid cable), soundstage was very wide, depth was good, midrange was slightly hollow, bass was recording dependent, treble was smooth but slightly too forward. I preferred the HE-560 over the LCD-2, HD700, and HE-500. I almost would have gotten it but then I heard the Alpha Dog.
 
Similar driving requirements as the Alpha Dog, Normal power mode with IEMatch set to Off.
 
My post on the HE-560 thread post #9754

Unfortunatelly I have not heard the Alpha Dog.... I did manage a very short demo of the HE-560 over a Ragnarok 2 and I was kinda taken with those. I see you use the DX90 as well, do you use that + the Micro iDSD for the Alpha Dogs?

 

[EVOLVIST]

are using the asio driver in jriver

Yes. Absolutely. While WASAPI is fine, I feel that with the iDSD only ASIO gives you the most control with any files the iDSD can play.

 

[BillsonChang007]

 
Thanks for that! When you say not sure about synergy do you mean you don't think they would pair well, or you don't know if they will pair well?

I don't know if they will pair well since I never tried that combo 

 

[Dobrescu George]

anyone thinks that idsd is the best portable after hugo?... i am searching for the best portable dac, and after some reading, i still kind of feel the need to ask this...

 

[vrapan]

  anyone thinks that idsd is the best portable after hugo?... i am searching for the best portable dac, and after some reading, i still kind of feel the need to ask this...

I came here after some made this exact comment on the Hugo thread. That is that the Micro iDSD is as close to the Hugo as you can get on a portable rig for less money. I listened to the hugo through iPhone/Spotify and a pair of CE6P yesterday and although I did not listen to it long enough for any amount of decent comments I found it extremely musical and engaging, lifting off my iP6 to a whole different level of enjoyment. If the iDSD does similar things for 1/4 of the price that's a proper feat!

 

[maricius]

 
Unfortunatelly I have not heard the Alpha Dog.... I did manage a very short demo of the HE-560 over a Ragnarok 2 and I was kinda taken with those. I see you use the DX90 as well, do you use that + the Micro iDSD for the Alpha Dogs?

The DX90 only acts as a transport for files. It is comparable to USB from my laptop running Audirvana Plus. Yes I do.

 

[maricius]

  anyone thinks that idsd is the best portable after hugo?... i am searching for the best portable dac, and after some reading, i still kind of feel the need to ask this...

I'm waiting for iDSD and Aurender Flow comparisons.