[The Walrus]

I use my Micro as a desktop DAC and always on. This lag coming on from stand-by is very annoying. Is there any downside of using the B firmware if the Micro is always on?
Man, I hate this new design. Isn't there any way to search a thread?

 

[Topspin70]

I use my Micro as a desktop DAC and always on. This lag coming on from stand-by is very annoying. Is there any downside of using the B firmware if the Micro is always on?
Man, I hate this new design. Isn't there any way to search a thread?

Is the lag very long? Mine (the BL) takes only around 2 seconds, with a soft 'pop' and it starts playing.

 

[technobear]

I use my Micro as a desktop DAC and always on. This lag coming on from stand-by is very annoying. Is there any downside of using the B firmware if the Micro is always on?
Man, I hate this new design. Isn't there any way to search a thread?

If you click the search box, the search popup will appear. The option to 'Search this thread only' is there.

 

[The Walrus]

Is the lag very long? Mine (the BL) takes only around 2 seconds, with a soft 'pop' and it starts playing.

About two seconds yes.

 

[Topspin70]

About two seconds yes.

That's bearable, at least to me. For the way it preserves and optimises battery, it's a small compromise IMO.

 

[Dobrescu George]

That's bearable, at least to me. For the way it preserves and optimises battery, it's a small compromise IMO.

I agree with this.

In fact, I didn't even notice this effect until recently and it never bothered me.

As long as there is something playing, there is no pause and I usually just don't pause the music if I don't want the effect to happen.

 

[potatoe94]

It is based on the theory that somewhere in the recording and mastering chain that some music suffer from phase inversion (and sometime, ever on the playback chain. i.e. some IEM has inverted phase by design to achieve a desired sound signature). In simple: as music is in AC form, it swing from a (+) voltage to a (-) voltage and back all the time. In a signal with inverted phase, you get (-) voltage of equal strength instead of the original (+) voltage, or vise versa. We human however isn't particularly sensitive to the absolute phase so most will never notice any difference. However, some people do believe the 'right' phase restore the musicality back into the recording. The polarity switch is for those people who want to correct the phase issue in their setup. So the (+) option will leave your music as it is, where the (-) option will invert the phase of your music (= two negative give a positive).

Or even simpler: Keep it on (+) if you don't hear any difference.

I thought the polarity switch was bull until i met an IEM that prove otherwise . The Beyerdynamic Xelento sounds more musical and intimate with polarity set to "-" , but that's my preference , but the effects are greater than most iems i have plugged in it & played with polarity .

 

[Dobrescu George]

I thought the polarity switch was bull until i met an IEM that prove otherwise . The Beyerdynamic Xelento sounds more musical and intimate with polarity set to "-" , but that's my preference , but the effects are greater than most iems i have plugged in it & played with polarity .

Woah

I had no idea that it makes a difference on the headphone out. I thought that it is intended to work when iDSD BL is used as a DAC or pre-amp with a full size setup

 

[Topspin70]

I thought the polarity switch was bull until i met an IEM that prove otherwise . The Beyerdynamic Xelento sounds more musical and intimate with polarity set to "-" , but that's my preference , but the effects are greater than most iems i have plugged in it & played with polarity .

Interesting that you point this out. How does one tell that a IEM is inverted phase by design, and hence need switching polarity? Or a piece of music is recorded or engineered with some phase inversion? For the latter, I would probably assume the recording isn't great. Would never cross my mind that it's suffering from some phase inversion, and I should use the BL can correct it.

 

[phthora]

So, pardon the noob question, but what does the polarity switch do? I flipped it and I can sometimes tell a difference, but I'm not sure what that difference actually consists of.

 

[Topspin70]

So, pardon the noob question, but what does the polarity switch do? I flipped it and I can sometimes tell a difference, but I'm not sure what that difference actually consists of.

It's quoted in @potatoe94 's post a little earlier. Might give you an idea:

"It is based on the theory that somewhere in the recording and mastering chain that some music suffer from phase inversion (and sometime, ever on the playback chain. i.e. some IEM has inverted phase by design to achieve a desired sound signature). In simple: as music is in AC form, it swing from a (+) voltage to a (-) voltage and back all the time. In a signal with inverted phase, you get (-) voltage of equal strength instead of the original (+) voltage, or vise versa. We human however isn't particularly sensitive to the absolute phase so most will never notice any difference. However, some people do believe the 'right' phase restore the musicality back into the recording. The polarity switch is for those people who want to correct the phase issue in their setup. So the (+) option will leave your music as it is, where the (-) option will invert the phase of your music (= two negative give a positive)."

 

[phthora]

It's quoted in @potatoe94 's post a little earlier. Might give you an idea:

"It is based on the theory that somewhere in the recording and mastering chain that some music suffer from phase inversion (and sometime, ever on the playback chain. i.e. some IEM has inverted phase by design to achieve a desired sound signature). In simple: as music is in AC form, it swing from a (+) voltage to a (-) voltage and back all the time. In a signal with inverted phase, you get (-) voltage of equal strength instead of the original (+) voltage, or vise versa. We human however isn't particularly sensitive to the absolute phase so most will never notice any difference. However, some people do believe the 'right' phase restore the musicality back into the recording. The polarity switch is for those people who want to correct the phase issue in their setup. So the (+) option will leave your music as it is, where the (-) option will invert the phase of your music (= two negative give a positive)."

Thank you for the response. After playing with the switch for a while, it is interesting to actually know what it does. From the description, it would seem to make much more of a difference than what I actually experienced, which is just that music sounds a bit duller and less three-dimensional one way versus the other. I guess it's just another option to keep in mind to dial in the perfect sound.

 

[Topspin70]

Thank you for the response. After playing with the switch for a while, it is interesting to actually know what it does. From the description, it would seem to make much more of a difference than what I actually experienced, which is just that music sounds a bit duller and less three-dimensional one way versus the other. I guess it's just another option to keep in mind to dial in the perfect sound.

Agree. It does sound like something to use in only certain cases.

I myself have no idea what music with phase inverted sounds like. Perhaps if we heard a sample we will know when to flip the polarity switch. Wonder if anyone has such a track to share to enlighten us.

 

[iFi audio]

Agree. It does sound like something to use in only certain cases.

I myself have no idea what music with phase inverted sounds like. Perhaps if we heard a sample we will know when to flip the polarity switch. Wonder if anyone has such a track to share to enlighten us.

This effect is the strongest on natural, minimalist recordings.

On multi-tracked pop/rock recordings, polarity of individual tracks in the mix may be inverted, for example inverting the polarity of the singers voice is a common trick to make the voice better "cut through" a dense mix. But if you fix the singers vocals polarity, drums and guitars may now be inverted. So simply select what sounds "right" which may depend if you focus on drums, guitars or vocals.

To test this the way you suggest, take any simple mike'd direct recording you like (regardless of recording polarity) and use any audio editor to invert polarity (for example Audacity can do this).

That way you have two identical pieces with opposite polarity to listen to. and you can experiment.

While no necessarily in agreement with all points raised, we can recommend the following article as additional reading on this whole polarity issue:

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue1/cjwoodeffect.htm

 

[Dobrescu George]

This effect is the strongest on natural, minimalist recordings.

On multi-tracked pop/rock recordings, polarity of individual tracks in the mix may be inverted, for example inverting the polarity of the singers voice is a common trick to make the voice better "cut through" a dense mix. But if you fix the singers vocals polarity, drums and guitars may now be inverted. So simply select what sounds "right" which may depend if you focus on drums, guitars or vocals.

To test this the way you suggest, take any simple mike'd direct recording you like (regardless of recording polarity) and use any audio editor to invert polarity (for example Audacity can do this).

That way you have two identical pieces with opposite polarity to listen to. and you can experiment.

While no necessarily in agreement with all points raised, we can recommend the following article as additional reading on this whole polarity issue:

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue1/cjwoodeffect.htm

Thank you very much for the very informative bit!

The default position is (-) for polarity, no?