[ClieOS]

 
No worries.
 
Pre-amp mode is a "fixed" volume/power setting specifically for connection to another device (amp) that will control the volume.  I think of it as a fixed, "Line-out" setting for the iDSD Micro to go into an external amp.

 
'Direct' mode is where micro iDSD outputs a fixed voltage / volume line-out signal. 'Pre-amp' mode is where the RCA output is variable and micro iDSD acts as a pre-amp.

 

[technobear]

 


No worries.

Pre-amp mode is a "fixed" volume/power setting specifically for connection to another device (amp) that will control the volume.  I think of it as a fixed, "Line-out" setting for the iDSD Micro to go into an external amp.

'Direct' mode is where micro iDSD outputs a fixed voltage / volume line-out signal. 'Pre-amp' mode is where the RCA output is variable and micro iDSD acts as a pre-amp.

Correct. Furthermore, the position of the direct/pre-amp switch has no effect whatsoever on the headphone output.

 

[KritiKal]

So I have a question about this whole initial 24 hour initial charge recommendation.

After 5 1/2 weeks of waiting (even though the vendor was selling as "in stock") I finally have my iDSD micro. Now I have it charging on a BC1.2 complaint 2.1A charger, using the supplied 3.0 cable. It fully charged in about 1 hour (blue light has switched off) So, is there any actual benefit in leaving this on charge? Is it no longer drawing a current, or is the battery still charging-albeit in minute quantities- even though the device indicates it is no longer charging?

I will leave it plugged in for 24 hours, but it just seems a lottle pointless to me if the battery is not being charged in any manner or way once the blue light switches off.

EDIT:Furthermore, is the initial reccomended charging time reduced when charging the iDSD at its max charging rate?

 

[iFi audio]

So I have a question about this whole initial 24 hour initial charge recommendation.

After 5 1/2 weeks of waiting (even though the vendor was selling as "in stock") I finally have my iDSD micro. Now I have it charging on a BC1.2 complaint 2.1A charger, using the supplied 3.0 cable. It fully charged in about 1 hour (blue light has switched off) So, is there any actual benefit in leaving this on charge? Is it no longer drawing a current, or is the battery still charging-albeit in minute quantities- even though the device indicates it is no longer charging?

I will leave it plugged in for 24 hours, but it just seems a lottle pointless to me if the battery is not being charged in any manner or way once the blue light switches off.

EDIT:Furthermore, is the initial reccomended charging time reduced when charging the iDSD at its max charging rate?

 
Hi,
 
The 24 Hour charging recommendation is "maximum sandbagging" for the case where the unit has been left in stock (storage) long enough to fully discharge AND where a standard USB port (not BC1.2) is used. The battery inside the micro iDSD is BIG - so from flat to full, it will take a long time to charge.
 
From the factory the battery comes around 80% charged (will vary a little). Seems your unit is essentially "Factory Fresh" and you have a high power charger (~ 6 Hours from Flat to Full).
 
So if in your case, once the battery charge indicator is off, no problem, you can use the unit.
 
Cheers.

 

[KritiKal]

Hi,

The 24 Hour charging recommendation is "maximum sandbagging" for the case where the unit has been left in stock (storage) long enough to fully discharge AND where a standard USB port (not BC1.2) is used. The battery inside the micro iDSD is BIG - so from flat to full, it will take a long time to charge.

From the factory the battery comes around 80% charged (will vary a little). Seems your unit is essentially "Factory Fresh" and you have a high power charger (~ 6 Hours from Flat to Full).

So if in your case, once the battery charge indicator is off, no problem, you can use the unit.

Cheers.

Excellent, that's good to know and what I thought would be the case. Yes, my unit is about as fresh as they come, the vendor was waiting for you to ship them to him and then sent mine out the day he received the shipment. Will give it a whirl shortly, thank you very much.

 

[lucidreamer]

Just found some cool trick in Foobar using the Resampler DSP plug-in and want to share it.
 
The sample rate list there is up until 96000, but if you type in manually 192000 and anything else, it will eat it without errors.
 
I tried 192000 and there was a small improvement in sound after upsampling compared to the default 44100 rate. 
 
Then I tried 768000 and really like the sound, it is even better and more natural compared to DSD256 or DSD512 which is a little bit congested and too smooth, I think, even though I was raving about it before. The iDSD light goes white which means the sample rate works great with the DAC.
 
I think 768000 upsampling really sounds awesome with the Standard filter applied in iDSD Micro. No hi-freq rolled off and the sound is very transparent and clear.
 
Did anyone try that too by chance? Any suggestions?

 

[knorris908]

'Direct' mode is where micro iDSD outputs a fixed voltage / volume line-out signal. 'Pre-amp' mode is where the RCA output is variable and micro iDSD acts as a pre-amp.

Thanks ClieOS! My eyes aren't what they used to be...
I took another peek, and the switch IS indeed in the DIRECT position. My apologies.

Ken N.

 

[Dobrescu George]

  Just found some cool trick in Foobar using the Resampler DSP plug-in and want to share it.
 
The sample rate list there is up until 96000, but if you type in manually 192000 and anything else, it will eat it without errors.
 
I tried 192000 and there was a small improvement in sound after upsampling compared to the default 44100 rate. 
 
Then I tried 768000 and really like the sound, it is even better and more natural compared to DSD256 or DSD512 which is a little bit congested and too smooth, I think, even though I was raving about it before. The iDSD light goes white which means the sample rate works great with the DAC.
 
I think 768000 upsampling really sounds awesome with the Standard filter applied in iDSD Micro. No hi-freq rolled off and the sound is very transparent and clear.
 
Did anyone try that too by chance? Any suggestions?

You can also try the SoX plugin for foobar, HQplayer, xxhigh end (it is a headache to set up), or look at my project (signature) for something similar.
 
Another piece of advice, before I finish my project, if you want to make foobar sound even better (for some it is night and day) add fidelizer to your routine if you are using windows, it is awesome!

 

[KritiKal]

Okay, I'm having something strange occuring which I've never experienced with any audio equipment in my life.
So I hooked everything up and started listening. All was well for about 15 minutes, but I noticed (felt more than heard, and relatively painfully) the occasional energetic high frequency (just in (or perhaps just out of?) my hearing range (17.5kHz)). After a couple of times, I pulled my IEM's out and I immediately noticed a low frequency hum in my left ear. It seemed to dissipate completely with certain noises (the sound of something knocking on a wooden table, crack of my neck, humming) and even went away when I put my finger in my ear, only to come back immediately after. after about ten minutes it had almost subsided, so I did a few sine wave sweeps and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. But, I listened some more and of course, it happened again.

I want to experiment and find the cause, but I don't want to do any serious damage to my hearing. I'm using the iDSD with Onkyo HF player upsampling to 192kHz (could this be the app somehow causing an occasional spike?), minimum phase filter, X-Bass & 3D on, (and what I think is) a moderate to moderate-high volume, all running through to my S-EM6 IEM's.

I'm really at a loss as to what's going on here, so any theories are greatly appreciated. The humming seems to be gone now, but I will obviously have to find out what the issue is, otherwise it's not using it at all, or using it and going deaf very quickly!

 

[KritiKal]

Well, the scientist got the better of me and I decided to experiment (knowledge over safety, after all.
To cut a long post short, my old Amp/DAC with the same phone and IEM's still gave the same hum afterwards, but I think this is due to the sound exacerbating the issue rather, than my phone or phones as I didn't detect a high frequency peak. I then replaced that DAC with the iDSD barebones and used the process of addition to find the culprit. Everything switched back on with no death noise. So, for the moment, everything is okay. But I'm going to try this test again in the next few days to prove it

 

[lucidreamer]

  You can also try the SoX plugin for foobar, HQplayer, xxhigh end (it is a headache to set up), or look at my project (signature) for something similar.
 
Another piece of advice, before I finish my project, if you want to make foobar sound even better (for some it is night and day) add fidelizer to your routine if you are using windows, it is awesome!

Thanks George. I prefer to stick to Foobar because it streams audio from my Subsonic server perfectly and sounds awesome, will need to try SoX plugin to compare it with the Resampler.
 
I ran the free Fidelizer and did not notice any differences in either Workstation or Audiophile mode. Looks like the free app just does something to the system and then runs in the background until the next restart. Hopefully it will not damage my current setup, there are some people who reported that after applying this app the playback began to stutter, etc. I really do not see the need for this application because in ASIO mode - the output signal bypasses the kernel and goes straight to DAC, the taskbar volume control has no effect.
 
The only benefit using that app may be re-allocating the system resources that can help some systems and provide smoother playback. I already tweaked my laptop to disable unnecessary services, made some registry and other tweaks, etc. It does not really affect the audio, but helps to run everything faster.
 
But it is hard hard to believe that already properly configured system may have night and day difference after using Fidalizer.

 

[Dobrescu George]

  Thanks George. I prefer to stick to Foobar because it streams audio from my Subsonic server perfectly and sounds awesome, will need to try SoX plugin to compare it with the Resampler.
 
I ran the free Fidelizer and did not notice any differences in either Workstation or Audiophile mode. Looks like the free app just does something to the system and then runs in the background until the next restart. Hopefully it will not damage my current setup, there are some people who reported that after applying this app the playback began to stutter, etc. I really do not see the need for this application because in ASIO mode - the output signal bypasses the kernel and goes straight to DAC, the taskbar volume control has no effect.
 
The only benefit using that app may be re-allocating the system resources that can help some systems and provide smoother playback. I already tweaked my laptop to disable unnecessary services, made some registry and other tweaks, etc. It does not really affect the audio, but helps to run everything faster.
 
But it is hard hard to believe that already properly configured system may have night and day difference after using Fidalizer.

I totally agree with you, friend. Fidelizer is not that usefull if you already have optimized your system, but for most people it makes a big difference.
 
Hqplayer, on the other hand comes in very handy with idsd micro, it is able to pull even more than other resampling algorithms are. My algorithm is even further optimized, and has a pleathora of features, inclusive the ability to stream like foobar does, and the best part, it is free! Sadly, it is not ready yet, and might take a while before it is ready, but i promise, it is going to be a good contender!
 
You should give SoX a try, it sounds even better than the original resampler, but it is harder to setup, because the settings make much less sense, while if you manage to set it right, it sounds very good!

 

[Wyd4]

Considering one of these for my Ref1 iems.
I would primarily be using it for these, however the power would be handy as I kind of love the Mr Speakers/Audeze range as well.
 
Just thinking it might be a little over the top for what I need haha.

 

[iFi audio]

Okay, I'm having something strange occuring which I've never experienced with any audio equipment in my life.
So I hooked everything up and started listening. All was well for about 15 minutes, but I noticed (felt more than heard, and relatively painfully) the occasional energetic high frequency (just in (or perhaps just out of?) my hearing range (17.5kHz)). After a couple of times, I pulled my IEM's out and I immediately noticed a low frequency hum in my left ear. It seemed to dissipate completely with certain noises (the sound of something knocking on a wooden table, crack of my neck, humming) and even went away when I put my finger in my ear, only to come back immediately after. after about ten minutes it had almost subsided, so I did a few sine wave sweeps and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. But, I listened some more and of course, it happened again.

I want to experiment and find the cause, but I don't want to do any serious damage to my hearing. I'm using the iDSD with Onkyo HF player upsampling to 192kHz (could this be the app somehow causing an occasional spike?), minimum phase filter, X-Bass & 3D on, (and what I think is) a moderate to moderate-high volume, all running through to my S-EM6 IEM's.

I'm really at a loss as to what's going on here, so any theories are greatly appreciated. The humming seems to be gone now, but I will obviously have to find out what the issue is, otherwise it's not using it at all, or using it and going deaf very quickly!

 
Hi,
 
What you are describing sounds like "tinnitus."
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus
 
Be VERY careful. If you often listen quite loud you be experiencing damage to some of the hair cells in the ear.
 
We are NOT medical professionals - but this is our best estimation from afar. Hence, we recommend that you should consult with your GP/doctor or audiologist.

 

[KritiKal]

Hi,

What you are describing sounds like "tinnitus."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus

Be VERY careful. If you often listen quite loud you be experiencing damage to some of the hair cells in the ear.

We are NOT medical professionals - but this is our best estimation from afar. Hence, we recommend that you should consult with your GP/doctor or audiologist.

Yeah, it was definitely acute low frequency tinnitus, but I was just trying to isolate the cause. My listening levels are quite low relative to most other people and I was listening at a quieter volume to my usual volume. Considering that my volume is not loud enough and my listening time not long enough to cause any practical long term hearing damage, one can deduce that something must have caused it during my initial listening session. Now, considering I was getting sporadic high energy, high frequency tones and nothing else seemed irregular, one can further assume that this was the cause of the tinnitus.
With this in mind-although not particularly pertinent to the following question-what would have caused these high frequency tones?

Apologies that I was not as precise as I should have been when asking this question, I did ask it in a convoluted manner so it was somewhat hidden in my post. I just described the effect for the sake of documentation, but I was looking for an answer to the cause.

It's ultimately redundant now anyway, as whatever it was seems to have disappeared. There's no longer a hum in my left ear and I haven't noticed any high tones that shouldn't be there after an hour listening session (Yes, I probably should have waited a few days). Still, for the sake of knowledge, it would be nice to find an answer. I will be visiting an audiologist either way though, as a check up can't be anything but good.