[rckyosho]

Or you can use a sound level meter if you have one which is easier.

 

[rckyosho]

I purchased a 40x3 pack of straight header pins from Fry's Electronics (it was only $1.99 USD), and it looks like they'll fit right-in with a slight trim. I'll soldering later when I get the.......

Now that does not look bad at all...and here I am expecting the worse.

 

[drachen]

Some photos with my C5 after finally getting home.  This little thing is a beast.  I picked up a 10cm FiiO cable with the C5 using my Epic4G (Wolfson w/ voodoo) for a source.  The stack fits in my shirt pocket great, tomorrow around work I am trying pants front.  I don't have another amp to compare to, but so far it has brought out the depth of strings, voices and highs, then with the bass boost, my SE425's makes me think I have a whole new pair of IEMs.  Next up is a friends pair of SRH840's.
 

 

 

 

 

 

[miceblue]

Well then, my multimeter doesn't have small enough AC voltage increments for portable headphone amplifiers, so I tried to volume match the best I can with a 1 kHz sine wave generated from Audacity.
 
Setup:
MacBook Pro Retina Display (source) -> Audirvana Plus media player (hog mode and integer mode on) -> JDS Labs ODAC -> -> JDS Labs C5 and JDS Labs Objective 2 (using a V-MODA SharePlay cable as a cable splitter with another interconnect cable)
I switched the headphone cable between the headphone-out ports of the O2 and C5 for A/B testing, switching times were less than 1 second using a V-MODA Crossfade M-100 as my headphone of choice (it's my go-to headphone for portable use).
 
To me the O2 and C5 sound very close to each other, but the O2 still sounds a bit more spacious and instruments seem more dynamic with more air between them.
 
Test tracks:
Daft Punk - Robot Rock
Ottmar Liebert - Snakecharmer
Massive Attack - Teardrop
I Ching - Beauty is Everywhere (24/96)
Beth Orton - Magpie
 
 
Not to say the C5 sounds bad, I think it sounds fantastic and is a really great amplifier for portable use, sensitive headphones, and for low-volume listeners (such as myself). Given the choice between the C5 and the O2 for a portable headphone amplifier, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the C5. I also LOVE the bass boost for the AKG K 701. Don't forget about the re-programmable digital potentiometer too.

 

[nOtEcH]

Quote:

Initial comparisons between the C5 and the O2, to me at least, the O2 has a larger soundstage with better instrument separation, the C5 has more bass (though I admit it is hard for me to properly volume match).

I think that you should give the C5 some hours of "burning in" before you do a serious comparing.
To compare a brand new C5 amp to your O2 (that I guess have "a few hours" more of use) is in my opinion unfair.
 
I'll guess that around 200 hours with the C5, it will "open it up" a bit.
 
I have now placed an order for a C5 (silver), and hopefully I will recieve it sooooon!
I can't wait.. I am looking forward to get to know this little amp.

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Quote:

Initial comparisons between the C5 and the O2, to me at least, the O2 has a larger soundstage with better instrument separation, the C5 has more bass (though I admit it is hard for me to properly volume match).

I think that you should give the C5 some hours of "burning in" before you do a serious comparing.
To compare a brand new C5 amp to your O2 (that I guess have "a few hours" more of use) is in my opinion unfair.
 
I'll guess that around 200 hours with the C5, it will "open it up" a bit.
 
I have now placed an order for a C5 (silver), and hopefully I will recieve it sooooon!
I can't wait.. I am looking forward to get to know this little amp.

I personally don't believe in burn-in for solid state amplifiers, but I will give it some run-time. Time to go to bed and run some pink noise with it.

 

[audionewbi]

Quote:

 
 
To me the O2 and C5 sound very close to each other, but the O2 still sounds a bit more spacious and instruments seem more dynamic with more air between them.
 
 
Not to say the C5 sounds bad, I think it sounds fantastic and is a really great amplifier for portable use, sensitive headphones, and for low-volume listeners (such as myself). 

This what I needed to hear, thank you, the wait is killing me more....

 

[FatmanSize48]

I think that you should give the C5 some hours of "burning in" before you do a serious comparing.

To compare a brand new C5 amp to your O2 (that I guess have "a few hours" more of use) is in my opinion unfair.

I'll guess that around 200 hours with the C5, it will "open it up" a bit.


I have now placed an order for a C5 (silver), and hopefully I will recieve it sooooon!
I can't wait.. I am looking forward to get to know this little amp.

I can't tell if he's being sarcastic with that first part.

 

[nOtEcH]

Hehe.. I see your point, but no.. I was not sarcastic.

I have with every purchase I have done.. do not recall my first cassette player ++ though.. so let's just include hi-fi and high-end stuff I have purchased the last 10 years or so.

Amplifiers (solid state, hybride (ss with tubes), CD players, DAC, speakers, headphones, cables (interconnects, speaker cables, headphone cables) they have all changed for the better over time before they "settle". But of course some of them have benifited from the "burning in" more than others.

Actually the only thing I can't say that I have noticed changing is power cables. I can hear differences between some of them, but I have not noticed the benefit of "burning in".

But that's just my experience. And it could just be that I am a bit loco.. actually I am..

 

[drachen]

With my SE425 IEM's: I've turned up the C5 in both gain modes w/ and w/o bassboost on and the thing is SILENT.  Which is nice.  I have also tried the same test while charging, and have been listening while charging.  No noise from the charging circuit that I can tell at all.  The USB cable does have a ferrite core on it, which may or may not change anything.

 

[thor777]

Where are all the impressions and reviews?!

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Where are all the impressions and reviews?!

I posted mine in a few posts up:
Quote:

Well then, my multimeter doesn't have small enough AC voltage increments for portable headphone amplifiers, so I tried to volume match the best I can with a 1 kHz sine wave generated from Audacity.
 
Setup:
MacBook Pro Retina Display (source) -> Audirvana Plus media player (hog mode and integer mode on) -> JDS Labs ODAC -> -> JDS Labs C5 and JDS Labs Objective 2 (using a V-MODA SharePlay cable as a cable splitter with another interconnect cable)
I switched the headphone cable between the headphone-out ports of the O2 and C5 for A/B testing, switching times were less than 1 second using a V-MODA Crossfade M-100 as my headphone of choice (it's my go-to headphone for portable use).
 
To me the O2 and C5 sound very close to each other, but the O2 still sounds a bit more spacious and instruments seem more dynamic with more air between them.
 
Test tracks:
Daft Punk - Robot Rock
Ottmar Liebert - Snakecharmer
Massive Attack - Teardrop
I Ching - Beauty is Everywhere (24/96)
Beth Orton - Magpie
 
 
Not to say the C5 sounds bad, I think it sounds fantastic and is a really great amplifier for portable use, sensitive headphones, and for low-volume listeners (such as myself). Given the choice between the C5 and the O2 for a portable headphone amplifier, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the C5. I also LOVE the bass boost for the AKG K 701. Don't forget about the re-programmable digital potentiometer too.

 
 
I'll be at school all day so I won't be able to do much listening for the time being. I ordered a FiiO E3 so I'll see how things sound with an iPhone as well.

 

[drachen]

Quote:

Where are all the impressions and reviews?!

I am going to make an attempt to some sort of review tonight.  I don't have another amp to compare to (aside from my Technics receiver) so take it with a grain of salt.
Thus far, listening with my Shure SE425's I have found a preference of louder gain while keeping the volume down and bassBoost off.  I tried my friends Sony mdr-7506's and those sound great with the boost on!  Lots of fun.  So far I've been loving the increased clarity, especially on the high end.  I've been noticing a lot of parts to my music that I hadn't been hearing before.  I'll put together a more in-depth review later tonight.  When I upgraded my phone to voodoo sound I thought, It cant get much better than this, my IEM's sound awesome!  I'll say that again now, its my first amp and I was very surprised how much depth was added by an amp. 
 
thor777, anything you want me to try? specifically?

 

[thor777]

I saw yours and one other guy posted as well.  Only 2 tho!  Bunch of people must have received theirs since JDS started shipping them....I ordered mine yesterday but I guess I'm just too excited and can't wait for more impressions!
 
Quote:

I posted mine in a few posts up:
 
 
I'll be at school all day so I won't be able to do much listening for the time being. I ordered a FiiO E3 so I'll see how things sound with an iPhone as well.

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

I saw yours and one other guy posted as well.  Only 2 tho!  Bunch of people must have received theirs since JDS started shipping them....I ordered mine yesterday but I guess I'm just too excited and can't wait for more impressions!
 
Quote:

I posted mine in a few posts up:
 
 
I'll be at school all day so I won't be able to do much listening for the time being. I ordered a FiiO E3 so I'll see how things sound with an iPhone as well.

Well they did just start shipping on Friday, so people will probably be getting them this week.