[Dave74]

That seems to be the general strategy for LH's marketing: offer X for only a day or 2 and you can't get it again. People evidently go for that marketing. XD

I didn't even see this thread until now. I had only noticed the other Geek Wave thread. Oh well. I'm sure once I get the dap it will be good. I do feel though that it should have been optimized for IEM from the start though as it is a portable player. I will not be using it for my Alpha Dogs or similar headphones. I think the IEM package should be included, but it is still couldn't find another dap with the same specs for the price of the XD128.

 

[Dave74]

   
I agree with you.
 
Description of XD 128:
"With Geek Wave XD 128, you have THE absolute best portable player money can buy. You have it all: a fully-balanced dual mono topology (there's two of almost everthing in there). In addition, two extremely precise femto clocks are included."
 
From the Special IEM Package -
"we'll upgrade the output amplifier to minimize DC offset"
 
From the THD performance upgrade package -
"your Geek Wave will have half the THD (distortion) of the "standard models."
 
So If we shell out $899 for "THE absolute best" as stated in the description for the XD 128, then why do we still need to pay extra for an upgraded output amp & less THD?
Shouldn't that already come standard with the XD 128?
 
This is very confusing...

From what it sounded like to me is that they are using a different amp for the IEM package which is optimized for IEMs. It also says they will replace 8 key output bypass capacitors and dial down the bias current... Replace them with what?  
From the way they are describing it, the XD128  is supposed to be the best "all around" player ie. it will play very well with IEMs and full sized headphones, at least that is what I got out of reading on their forum... The IEM pack is just supposed to optimize it for the IEMs instead of being an excellent all around player.  I do feel they should have just optimized it for IEMs from the start though, as it is a portable player, then people could have just complained that is couldn't drive full sized, not so portable cans without an amp.  Plus I didn't like paying the extra $130 U.S. for the IEM package, as I am not even sure if it was really needed, but I didn't want to take the chance.  If I want to use it with full sized cans I will use one of my portable amps.
 
I don't know, maybe the Hifiman HM-901 might have been a better choice at $900 since you can opt for different cards?  It would come in at around $1200 with the IEM card, then you could order the balanced card as well for another $300 and have two players in one... To me they come out to similar prices, but with the Hifiman you can choose different cards and with the wave you might have higher internal specs... Or at least people are saying the specs on the XD128 are very good.
 
I am not trying to bash either product, just thinking about the different options now after I made a quick decision to purchase the XD128 with IEM upgrade.
 
Dave.

 

[SilverEars]

   
I agree with you.
 
Description of XD 128:
"With Geek Wave XD 128, you have THE absolute best portable player money can buy. You have it all: a fully-balanced dual mono topology (there's two of almost everthing in there). In addition, two extremely precise femto clocks are included."
 
From the Special IEM Package -
"we'll upgrade the output amplifier to minimize DC offset"
 
From the THD performance upgrade package -
"your Geek Wave will have half the THD (distortion) of the "standard models."
 
So If we shell out $899 for "THE absolute best" as stated in the description for the XD 128, then why do we still need to pay extra for an upgraded output amp & less THD?
Shouldn't that already come standard with the XD 128?
 
This is very confusing...

This sounds like BS to me.  You guys ever heard of DC blocking caps that's in every DAP?  

 

[Dave74]

  This sounds like BS to me.  You guys ever heard of DC blocking caps that's in every DAP?  

Here is a quote from there site on the IEM package..."we'll customize your Geek Wave to have a very low noise floor. We'll also add a high-precision DC offset amplifier and tune down the power to 100 mW (which will be plenty). Finally, we'll replace 8 key output bypass capacitors and will dial the bias current down."  
 
I will admit I do not know much about electronics, but it seems to me  this quote is saying that they are adding a higher quality amplifier designed for IEM's. To me it sounds a little different then the quote from above.

 

[SilverEars]

  Here is a quote from there site on the IEM package..."we'll customize your Geek Wave to have a very low noise floor. We'll also add a high-precision DC offset amplifier and tune down the power to 100 mW (which will be plenty). Finally, we'll replace 8 key output bypass capacitors and will dial the bias current down."  
 
I will admit I do not know much about electronics, but it seems to me  this quote is saying that they are adding a higher quality amplifier designed for IEM's. To me it sounds a little different then the quote from above.

In 2014 opamps have very low noise floor and the hiss is caused by gain for sensitive iems.  Basically, they will turn down the gain and probably use opamp for lower power applications, and of course limit the current delivery so that the iems don't get excessive current with small increments of volume knob change.  Vorzuge changed gain for free for their pure i line of products if you had sensitive iems before coming up with gain switch for their pure ii. So does JDS labs.   That's pretty much it, the Vorz amp has 3 gain levels, and lowest level is black, no hiss with my NT-6 and the other two seems very high as you can hear hiss.  Anyway, you can have very low output impedance (Fiio X5), and have high power amp section (Fiio X5) before distortion which would work with various headphone sensitivity loads, and you can have good volume range(Fiio X5) for range of headphone sensitivity applications, and gain can be switched via software(Fiio X5)  

 

[Dave74]

In 2014 opamps have very low noise floor and the hiss is caused by gain for sensitive iems.  Basically, they will turn down the gain and probably use opamp for lower power applications, and of course limit the current delivery so that the iems don't get excessive current with small increments of volume knob change.  Vorzuge did this for free for their pure i line of amps before coming up with gain switch for their pure ii. So does JDS labs.   That's pretty much it, the Vorz amp has 3 gain levels, and lowest level is black, no hiss with my NT-6 and the other two seems very high as you can hear hiss.  Anyway, you can have very low output impedance (Fiio X5), and have high power (Fiio X5) before distortion, and you can have good volume range(Fiio X5) for range of headphone sensitivity applications.  

So in other words they could have used a lower power or higher power opamp and installed a gain switch instead, in turn making the Wave a more versatile player? The way they are describing they are making it seem like the iem package is better than a gain switch? I was surprised it didn't have a gain switch to begin with.

Thanks SilverEars. As I said I am not really electronics savy, besides being able to hook them up and use them. Now I am just hoping the XD128 with IEM package I ordered this morning woks out well. It seemed to me like the specs on the XD128 were good for the price.

 

[SilverEars]

So in other words they could have used a lower power or higher power opamp and installed a gain switch instead, in turn making the Wave a more versatile player? The way they are describing they are making it seem like the iem package is better than a gain switch? I was surprised it didn't have a gain switch to begin with.

Thanks SilverEars. As I said I am not really electronics savy, besides being able to hook them up and use them. Now I am just hoping the XD128 with IEM package I ordered this morning woks out well. It seemed to me like the specs on the XD128 were good for the price.

Not sure how other DAPs and amps changes the gain, but gain is set with resistors around the opamp.  O2 does this with a switch.  You can also change the switchable gain by snipping off certain resistors in the circuit, thus changing the Resistance values that sets the gain on it.
 

 

[Dave74]

Not sure how other DAPs and amps changes the gain, but gain is set with resistors around the opamp.  O2 does this with a switch.  You can also change the switchable gain by snipping off certain resistors in the circuit, thus changing the Resistance values that sets the gain on it.

Ok. Makes a little more sense. Thanks. So either a variable resistor (potentiometer) which the switch would adjust the setting on. Or the switch would just change resistors in the circuit to adjust voltage drop in the circuit.

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

New Update!
 
So mine is now XD + DAD + IEM + THD 

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

New Update! 
 
(And my wallet says please!!)
 
GEEK WAVE XD128 FREE UPGRADES

For those of you that have purchased the Geek Wave XD128 and  have chosen to add the IEM package, we've decided to add a Gain Switch at no extra charge. Switching between pristine IEM output or powerful big-can output allows you to pair your Geek Wave with every set of headphones in your collection.

Once again, this upgrade is FREE for those who have chosen to pair their XD128 with the IEM package.

But wait, there's more!

We're also including the SUPER-QUIET shunt regulator for the Femto Clock in every XD128. With residual noise reduced to less than 3uV, this makes the Geek Wave XD128 the first portable player in the industry to feature this power supply circuit. 

Once again, this upgrade is FREE for XD128 backers!

In order to implement the new circuit into Geek Wave XD128 we needed to free up valuable PCB space.  The most logical option was to re-work the original Femto clock package and turn it into a smaller more efficient one. This will be the same Femto clock that's used in the other Geek Wave 32/64/128.

Also, by joining the Femto clocks into the same package, we were able to reduce the necessary Femto Clock minimum order quantity from 150 to only 90!

PERFECTING PERFECTION? YES WE ARE!

Introducing the Dedicated Audio Device (DAD) upgrade perk

The Geek Force has spoken!  Many of you have asked for the  “ultimate” version of Geek Wave and we're happy to accommodate, and just in time for Father's Day.

This perk applies to backers of the Geek Wave XD128 ONLY!

With this perk you'll have your XD128's CPU upgraded and fine tuned to Larry's ultra specific specifications, literally doubling the core numbers and putting Geek Wave on par with devices  you'd normally see in the $5,000+ range.

- Minimum Phase Digital Filter: Removes all the pre-ring that's caused by the digital filter to make every note in your music much more natural and smooth.

- Smart 1.5M Up-sampling: When playing back 44.1K/48K CD Quality music, this will automatically trigger a two stage up-sampling algorithm allowing Geek Wave to up-sample all the way up to a 1.56M Hz sampling rate. 

The DAD perk will also double the hardware buffer size between the music storage/flash memory and CPU.

Oh, BTW.  We will also upgrade you from 128GB's to 256GB's of internal flash storage.  Basically your Geek Wave is now the XD256!

Once again, this perk will apply to Geek Wave XD128 only, due to the board space and cost limitations.

 

[georgelai57]

New Update!

So mine is now XD + DAD + IEM + THD 

Nice.
I've stopped at X128 otherwise I'll have to "wave" goodbye to food on the table though I'm enjoying my GO1000 and awaiting "a Pulse"!

 

[zachchen1996]

  New Update!
 
So mine is now XD + DAD + IEM + THD 

 
If you ever decide to sell it, I call dibs!

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Nice.
I've stopped at X128 otherwise I'll have to "wave" goodbye to food on the table though I'm enjoying my GO1000 and awaiting "a Pulse"!

 
Well mine is different. Made her choose: This hobby or another woman. 

 
Enjoying my GO1000 too! Waiting also for a Pulse.

 

[Currawong]

I've merged both threads, in case anyone is confused by the discussion.

 

[tomscy2000]

The XD is turning into a miniature Auralic Vega...