[reiserFS]

I noticed more resolution, soundstage and details after the mod and the low end reaches deeper as well. I will post a picture showing the exact points where you need to solder sometime tonight. You can use any MKP cap with a rating of 1uF / 250v or 400v although I recommend brands like Mundorf.
 
Quote:

Dear reiserFS,
 
 I have some questions, hope you don't mind answering here on the topic, there may be other people who don't have knowledge in DIY (like me) reading this.
 
 Could you please post another picture showing exaclty the points where the cap is soldered?
 Would you describe what happens to the sound after this mod?
 Is there any difference between 250v caps or higher? And about these poly box caps?
 
 I don't really know what cap to buy on eBay, it looks like PIO are the choice for audio, correct? Would someone please recommend some sellers?

 
 

 

[FinBenton]

Anyone using this amp with LCD-2? How does it sound?

 

[sluker]

Not great. Narrow soundstage, and the dark signature keeps the highs of the LCD-2 subdued. I think the LCD-2's need more power. My vintage Sansui AU-717 does a much better job, as does my LF 339.
 
Quote:

Anyone using this amp with LCD-2? How does it sound?

 

 

[Emperor Jordan]

Just got my black m-stage in today!
 
Build like a tank I must say.  However I don't know if its just me (probably, this is my first headphone amp), but I can't seem to get it to give me any volume at all.  I don't have an outboard dac yet, waiting to get one, but I just decided to hook it up to my macbook pro line out via 3.5mm to rca and the volume is almost inaudible.
 
Volume on the mac is maxed out, so is the m-stage and its very very very quite.
 
Something I'm doing wrong?  There must be.
 
Thanks!
 
EDIT:
 
Despite my checking of my whole setup, it was indeed not me.  I opened up the m-stage to find the opa627x2 half plugged in (yeah, how it was still working I don't know).  I fixed it and its working perfectly fine now.
 
Also noticed that its probably NOT a good idea to leave your headphones plugged into the thing while you flip the on/off switch (especially when you turn it off).  Its as if the massive capacitors discharge a megaton into the headphones.  They seem fine though, but a word of caution 

 

[BmWr75]

Have you tried increasing the gain settings using the DIP switches on the bottom of the amp?  There are four of them.  Two for each channel.  I think thw owners manual contains a graphic that show how to set the switches for 0, 10, 18 and 20 dB gain.
 
Quote:

Just got my black m-stage in today!
 
Build like a tank I must say.  However I don't know if its just me (probably, this is my first headphone amp), but I can't seem to get it to give me any volume at all.  I don't have an outboard dac yet, waiting to get one, but I just decided to hook it up to my macbook pro line out via 3.5mm to rca and the volume is almost inaudible.
 
Volume on the mac is maxed out, so is the m-stage and its very very very quite.
 
Something I'm doing wrong?  There must be.
 
Thanks!

 

 

[Emperor Jordan]

Quote:

Have you tried increasing the gain settings using the DIP switches on the bottom of the amp?  There are four of them.  Two for each channel.  I think thw owners manual contains a graphic that show how to set the switches for 0, 10, 18 and 20 dB gain.
 


 

Haven't tried those yet, but I plan to experiment.  Looks like I edited my post almost the same time you posted, but yeah the volume issue was solved by re-inserting the opamp.  (it was put in half way, other side of the pins were out).

 

[Xymordos]

You should really get a DAC for your amp rather than use the mac PO

 

[Emperor Jordan]

Quote:

You should really get a DAC for your amp rather than use the mac PO

Heavily looking into one
 
Money is slightly an issue atm, but I know I really need a DAC since its widely known that the headphone jack of any computer is terrible.  With that being said though, the amp has improved the lower frequencies quite a bit.  The bass is more punchy on my hd 598's, and the sound stage as wide as it was seems to have gotten even wider.  I would love to know what these sound like with a real DAC, I just want to make sure that when I buy a DAC, I get one that is good down the road if I ever chose to upgrade to higher-end phones.
 
So far I've looked at a few DAC's, some of them seem to have built-in amps.  I'd really like a standalone one but you get what you can get.  The one's I've looked at are:
 
- Fiio e7:  While this one has had fairly great reviews, I believe I can afford much better.  I need to do the m-stage justice and I just don't feel that this can do it.
 
- Nuforce uDac-2:  Very small... but apparently the little guy gives quite the performance.  Not sure if its something I should jump on for down-the-road.
 
- Apogee Duet 2:  First off, this thing looks damn good.  But its price doesn't.  At over twice the cost of the m-stage, I doubt the cost/performance ratio would be good for me, but I never know.  I've never had a DAC before, let alone a real good one.
 
- Cambridge DacMagic: Looks great, quite a few reviews on the thing that give it a positive note but I'm hoping I can get away with cheaper than this (its quite expensive for me).
 
And then there were some DIY one's that caught my interest, namely from AMB, the gamma 2.  Not sure where I looked but I thought I remembered it could be built for roughly ~$150-170 which would be in the sweet spot for me.  And I heard its fantastic at that price.  (Correct me if my price estimate is way off, its just what I "thought" I remembered).
 
Any of the above sound good?  Open to more suggestions or reassurance on any of the above.
 
Again, my current setup is basically:
 
Macbook Pro -> Lossless -> Matrix M-Stage -> HD 598's
 
My budget is in the range of ~$100 - $300 tentatively.  I would like to stay somewhere in this range but if theres something of mind-blowing value just outside or near this range I'm open to it.  (Just gotta get the cash).

 

[jeff119]

Quote:

Just got my black m-stage in today!
 
Build like a tank I must say.  However I don't know if its just me (probably, this is my first headphone amp), but I can't seem to get it to give me any volume at all.  I don't have an outboard dac yet, waiting to get one, but I just decided to hook it up to my macbook pro line out via 3.5mm to rca and the volume is almost inaudible.
 
Volume on the mac is maxed out, so is the m-stage and its very very very quite.
 
Something I'm doing wrong?  There must be.
 
Thanks!
 
EDIT:
 
Despite my checking of my whole setup, it was indeed not me.  I opened up the m-stage to find the opa627x2 half plugged in (yeah, how it was still working I don't know).  I fixed it and its working perfectly fine now.
 
Also noticed that its probably NOT a good idea to leave your headphones plugged into the thing while you flip the on/off switch (especially when you turn it off).  Its as if the massive capacitors discharge a megaton into the headphones.  They seem fine though, but a word of caution 

can anyone give advice on the bold statement?
 

 

[geetarman49]

my recommendation would be audio-gd's NFB-3 with the dir9001 module... a bargain at the price.
 
Quote:

.......
 
Any of the above sound good?  Open to more suggestions or reassurance on any of the above.
 
Again, my current setup is basically:
 
Macbook Pro -> Lossless -> Matrix M-Stage -> HD 598's
 
My budget is in the range of ~$100 - $300 tentatively.  I would like to stay somewhere in this range but if theres something of mind-blowing value just outside or near this range I'm open to it.  (Just gotta get the cash).

 

 

[Sganzerla]

I don't unplug my headphones before turning it off. Until now not a single problem, but I want to know more about this question too.
 
I'm using NFB-3 and Matrix+OPA Earth and I really like this combo, it is impressive, but one must no forget the other details (outlet, filter, power cables, interconnect, etc...)

 

[geetarman49]

many amps do not have turn on/off transient suppression & while the loud pulses might not cause immediate harm, this may have an impact on your headphones in the long run ... amongst other things, a lot depends on the sensitivity and robustness of the drivers. i don't unplug my headphones now either but i do make sure that the volume knob is turned down to "zero" before turning on/off my hpa.  this works for my setup ... ymmv.

 

[Emperor Jordan]

Quote:

many amps do not have turn on/off transient suppression & while the loud pulses might not cause immediate harm, this may have an impact on your headphones in the long run ... amongst other things, a lot depends on the sensitivity and robustness of the drivers. i don't unplug my headphones now either but i do make sure that the volume knob is turned down to "zero" before turning on/off my hpa.  this works for my setup ... ymmv.

Pretty much this.  I've found that if you turn the volume down to zero, you don't get the loud "pop" when the power switch gets flipped to off.  Like all high-end equipment, their probably built tough enough to take a beating (the loud pops) but when you spend this kind of money on your equipment it isn't much effort to take a few extra steps of caution to ensure safety to the headphones.  When it first happened I thought my drivers blew up (obviously they didn't but you get the idea).

 

[geetarman49]

a fair bit of gear is designed/built with little regard to electrical safety, personal safety or safety to associated gear.  we allow designers the excuse of pursuing minimalist zen approach when it is either incompetence, laziness or greed & we ourselves compound the issue by not insisting on a re-design before we go FOTM ...    
 
 
 
but then again, maybe not 

 
Quote:

... but when you spend this kind of money on your equipment it isn't much effort to take a few extra steps of caution to ensure safety to the headphones...

 

 

[BmWr75]

In the world of Hi-Fi it is always a good rule of thumb to turn amps on and off with the volume turned all the way down.  I've had some scary incidents where friends accidentally rotated the volume knob to max while dusting, etc.  Luckily no blown speakers yet.