[raisedbywolves]

an update on the geek wave thing, they put in a new perk called geek wave s which is the geek wave without the 256 gigs of storage for $239. so that compares favorably to the fiio e18 now.

 

[Anaximandros]

And the Geek Wave S has no DAP function. He answered questions in the comment section.
 
Larry
 
To be perfectly clear here:
1. Geek Wave is still the same. No change.
(DAC+Storage+ DAP+Battery)
 
2. Geek Wave model S is the Geek Wave without stooge and DAP. Everything else, audio quality, DAC, Battery is the same.
Cheers,

 

[raisedbywolves]

i didn't realize the geek wave has a dap function. how would that even work? through a specially designed app? it'd still have to hook up to your phone, right?

 

[jexby]

App on phone is the GUI via low power Bluetooth to control the Wave. To create playlists, see album art, start and stop play, volume. Etc

But when Phone is not nearby, the Wave has Stop/Play and Vol Up+down buttons for stand alone playing for content held on its internal storage.

 

[PhilW]

I have just received word that the GEEKs will be available in specific colours going forward;
 
1000 Red
720 Black
450 Silver

 

[miceblue]

I have just received word that the GEEKs will be available in specific colours going forward;

1000 Red
720 Black
450 Silver

I bet that makes it much easier on the manufacturers' end; there's no need to worry about making 123 red, 231 silver, 321 black Geek 1000s, 231 red, 321 silver, 123 black Geek 720s, and 321 red, 123 silver, 231 black Geek 450s

A few people reported their GO 1000 had smudged ink on the bottom side sticker. I removed my unit from the bedroom Hi-Fi system after a week of burn-in today, upon inspection the ink hasn't smudged at all.

Oh I just read the sticker:
"Designed and Assembled in USA"

That's some good news.

 

[citraian]

Where is this information referenced from? It is counter-intuitive.

This was my guess when I saw the back label so it seems pretty intuitive to me

 

[sbradley02]

This was my guess when I saw the back label so it seems pretty intuitive to me

With high impedance phones you want as much voltage as possible. A 47 ohm source impedance would drop voltage (which is why this is good for line out) which is bad for maximizing voltage out.
I do exactly this in my matching network I use to drive headphones off of a power amp output.
Logically, the 47ohm output would be used for extremely sensitive headphones like IEMs (which usually have a low impedance).
This would allow you to use the amp towards the mid-volume settings, potentially reducing noise.
On the other hand, I have yet to see an owner's manual....

 

[citraian]

Output impedance affects the damping factor and also how headphones sound. Pretty much all low impedance headphones sound really bad on high output impedance sources. Especially IEMs. Headphones like HD800 on the other hand benefit a lot from high output impedances.

 

[sbradley02]

Output impedance affects the damping factor and also how headphones sound. Pretty much all low impedance headphones sound really bad on high output impedance sources. Especially IEMs. Headphones like HD800 on the other hand benefit a lot from high output impedances.
 

Yep. Quotes:
"If you want to be assured a source will work well with just about any headphone, simply make sure the output impedance is under 2 ohms"
"As output impedance increases electrical damping is reduced. The bass performance of the headphones, as designed by the manufacture, may be audibly compromised if there’s insufficient damping."
"THE BEST HEADPHONES ARE DESIGNED FOR THE BEST SOURCES: If you do a quick survey of the most well reviewed high-end headphone amps and DACs, they nearly all have very low output impedances. Examples are products from Grace Designs, Benchmark Media, HeadAmp, HeadRoom, Violectric, etc. It only stands to reason that most high-end headphones are designed to be at their best with similar products. Some of the most highly regarded headphones have relatively low impedances including several models from Denon, AKG, Etymotic, Ultimate Ears, Westone, HiFiMAN and Audeze. All of these, as far as I know, were designed to be used with low (ideally near zero) impedance sources. I’ve also had a Sennheiser representative tell me they design their audiophile and portable headphones for zero ohm sources."
"EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE: There are a few headphones supposedly designed for significantly higher output impedances. I do wonder if this might be more myth than reality these days in terms of audiophile and consumer headphones as I’m not aware for any specific examples. But it’s certainly possible. If so, using these headphones on a low impedance source might cause under-damped bass performance and a different frequency response than the manufacture intended. This might explain some of the “synergy” claims when certain headphones are mated with a certain source. But those “synergies” are entirely subjective—one man’s “bright and detailed” is another man’s “harsh”. The only way to get consistent performance is to use a low impedance source and follow the 1/8th Rule."
 
Basically pretty much any headphone is going to be better with low impedance sources.
If you get too much residual noise with a super sensitive headphone and it is annoying, a series resistance can be used effectively in some cases.
 
Maybe LH will let us know their intention with the markings.

 

[MikeyFresh]

Yep. Quotes:
"If you want to be assured a source will work well with just about any headphone, simply make sure the output impedance is under 2 ohms"
"As output impedance increases electrical damping is reduced. The bass performance of the headphones, as designed by the manufacture, may be audibly compromised if there’s insufficient damping."
"THE BEST HEADPHONES ARE DESIGNED FOR THE BEST SOURCES: If you do a quick survey of the most well reviewed high-end headphone amps and DACs, they nearly all have very low output impedances. Examples are products from Grace Designs, Benchmark Media, HeadAmp, HeadRoom, Violectric, etc. It only stands to reason that most high-end headphones are designed to be at their best with similar products. Some of the most highly regarded headphones have relatively low impedances including several models from Denon, AKG, Etymotic, Ultimate Ears, Westone, HiFiMAN and Audeze. All of these, as far as I know, were designed to be used with low (ideally near zero) impedance sources. I’ve also had a Sennheiser representative tell me they design their audiophile and portable headphones for zero ohm sources."
"EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE: There are a few headphones supposedly designed for significantly higher output impedances. I do wonder if this might be more myth than reality these days in terms of audiophile and consumer headphones as I’m not aware for any specific examples. But it’s certainly possible. If so, using these headphones on a low impedance source might cause under-damped bass performance and a different frequency response than the manufacture intended. This might explain some of the “synergy” claims when certain headphones are mated with a certain source. But those “synergies” are entirely subjective—one man’s “bright and detailed” is another man’s “harsh”. The only way to get consistent performance is to use a low impedance source and follow the 1/8th Rule."

Basically pretty much any headphone is going to be better with low impedance sources.
If you get too much residual noise with a super sensitive headphone and it is annoying, a series resistance can be used effectively in some cases.

Maybe LH will let us know their intention with the markings.

I don't understand why you would even ask the original question about my post if you have already made up your mind that you know the correct answer. No one wants to debate you.

Your post was confusing in that it wasn't clear if you were questioning the line out symbol, or the headphone icons, or both. The OP I answered was only asking about the line out symbol, it turns out that's not what you are questioning at all.

The real answer regarding headphones was provided by @citraian, however the ultimate answer is to try both outputs with whichever headphone and decide for yourself which sounds better, as you may have a personal preference for one or the other and there isn't a "rule" by which doing it one way or the other is so wrong that you will incur a strict penalty.

As far as "all the best headphone amps and DACs have low output impedance", you make a broad generalization. The CEntrance HiFi-M8 has a 3 position impedance switch, and while I would agree most 'phones sound best with the switch in the lowest position, some do not, which is why CEntrance spent the time and money to implement it that way.

Again, nobody wants to debate you on the sonic impact of technical specs.

 

[sbradley02]

The real answer regarding headphones was provided by @citraian, however the ultimate answer is to try both outputs with whichever headphone and decide for yourself which sounds better, as you may have a personal preference for one or the other and there isn't a "rule" by which doing it one way or the other is so wrong that you will incur a strict penalty.

As far as "all the best headphone amps and DACs have low output impedance", you make a broad generalization. The CEntrance HiFi-M8 has a 3 position impedance switch, and while I would agree most 'phones sound best with the switch in the lowest position, some do not, which is why CEntrance spent the time and money to implement it that way.
 

I didn't make that generalization, the article referred to did. As I mentioned, I have used series resistors very successfully in adapting amplifier outputs to various 'phones.
 
And absolutely agree with "the ultimate answer is to try both outputs with whichever headphone and decide for yourself which sounds better, as you may have a personal preference for one or the other"

 

[Currawong]

Guys, just remember that the topic of this thread is the Geek Out, not headphone impedance matching.

 

[miceblue]

Guys, just remember that the topic of this thread is the Geek Out, not headphone impedance matching.

But this is directly related to headphone impedance matching with the Geek Out's 2 outputs at different impedances.

I'm curious to know why line out ports are high in impedance myself.

 

[Currawong]

 

Guys, just remember that the topic of this thread is the Geek Out, not headphone impedance matching.

But this is directly related to headphone impedance matching with the Geek Out's 2 outputs at different impedances.

I'm curious to know why line out ports are high in impedance myself.

 
Why not ask LH directly?