Meier Audio Porta Corda MkII Followup!
Jan 6, 2005 at 7:02 PM Post #76 of 242
Grats Romanee! When I use the equivalent of crossfeed on my comp the soundstage gets squashed and everything sound a bit more compressed - on the other hand i finally dont get paul desmond way to my right and dave brubeck way to my left!
 
Jan 6, 2005 at 7:10 PM Post #77 of 242
Finally, arrived a few minutes ago!
Letting it reach room Temp before starting it up (midwest weather), wish me luck.
I'm looking at the adapter, the mod will be easier than I thought. I just have to chech if the inside point is + or -, but I'd still feel a million times better if someone who actually did this spells out a how to to satiate my worries.


Thank you Jan and Jude.
600smile.gif
 
Jan 6, 2005 at 7:18 PM Post #78 of 242
Hey, I've got a PCDP playing a Chesky burn-in sweep tone on endless repeat through the Corda (which has been switched to Class A operation). Anyone know of a more efficient or appropriate procedure?
 
Jan 6, 2005 at 9:37 PM Post #80 of 242
Quote:

Originally Posted by AboveBeyond
OMG.
I got a defective power supply! I was wondering why the amp wasn't turning on and use a voltage meter to see if anything was coming up. Nothing! Its dead.
OMG


Romanee: where did you buy your Elpac?



www.alliedelec.com

Allied Stock #: 879-1080
ELPAC MFR PART #: WM080-1950-760

$28.70 + roughly $6 USD for 1st class priority mail shipping.
 
Jan 6, 2005 at 9:56 PM Post #81 of 242
Quote:

Originally Posted by Hmaxim
Now that the Group Buy is closed, is there a best guess as to when the next and last batch will be delivered? A reasonable question, I think.

Thanks



Also wondering about the Canadian orders!

Thanks for all the effort Jan and Jude!
 
Jan 6, 2005 at 10:52 PM Post #82 of 242
Sorry I haven't gotten back to you all until now. I decided to take most of the time between Christmas Eve and January 3 as time off from work (and as much time away from my computer as possible).

The list has been updated, except for Canada, which TrevorNetwork is handling -- once Trevor gives me Canada's final list, I'll update the Canadian part of that list.

If your name is not on this list and should be (except for you Canadians), contact me as soon as possible. If you have ordered more than one amp, and the quantity is not reflected next to your username, again, please contact me as soon as possible. If you're sending me an e-mail or PM about this, please make this the title of your message: "PORTA CORDA GROUP BUY MESSAGE" (in all caps, just as shown).

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/announcement.php?f=15

Please read the notes above the name list.
 
Jan 7, 2005 at 12:19 AM Post #83 of 242
Thanks again. Very appreciative of Jude, taking so much time and effort into helping to organize this, and for Jan for offering such a deal. I know he's probably not seeing a dime off this. Don't fear though, you're aces in my book Jan, unfortunately I'll need to upgrade my source first before I'll start dropping more bills in your direction, but I'm always loyal to those who bend over backwards for my business
wink.gif



Alright, booty smooching out of the way, some first impressions:
I think my first impression was a bit tainted in over antici... pation, and the corda may have still been a little frozen from the delivery. But my first impression was mostly underwhelming. It just made things louder. Is this what everyone was gushing about and spending mucho bank on? Well, I switched it into high gear and still didn't feel it on my Hd600, running of and Ipod via aux output, playing lossless aac's.
I had some other things to do, so I left it to run at slightly louder than normal volume off the 9v, and in that time managed to solder the adapter part to my 24v elpac.
Those couple short hours really did wonders to beat some sense into this thing. Much better, in fact I have to go to work bright and early tomorrow, and am afraid I won't get a wink of sleep running this thing through it's paces.
My only complaint now, besides my source, is the way the cord sits so awkwardly when plugged in. In fact I'll have to break out Dremmel tomorrow and do a quick mod to make it fit with battery compartment closed.
very_evil_smiley.gif
 
Jan 7, 2005 at 1:29 AM Post #84 of 242
Interesting Romanee that you got yours today but I have yet to get mine. Your are in midtown (where I work), but I'm on the upper east side. I guess tomorrow. No biggie, but a bit envious.

- walkman666
 
Jan 7, 2005 at 1:42 AM Post #85 of 242
Thanks for the info Romanee. I saw their list price but it didn't give the shipping cost so I was indecesive of it. How many days did it take to arrive? I'm in Boston, so it'll probably be +1day to how many days it took for you.

smily_headphones1.gif
 
Jan 7, 2005 at 2:41 AM Post #86 of 242
Hooray!! I got my amp today
biggrin.gif
! I quickly ran out to buy a 9v battery and switched it into Class A. Here is what has happened:

Initial Impression:
Man this thing makes my RS-1's loud! With volume adjusted, this amp sounds a bit too bright. Keep in mind - it has no burn in yet. I couldn't really tell any difference in the crossfeed except that with crossfeed on there is less bass. I have listened to it through my iPOD 4G 40 GB and through my home cd player. Sounds better from the CD of course but both sound a bit too bright. Burn in time so far - 5 min.

TO BE CONTINUED......
 
Jan 7, 2005 at 3:02 AM Post #87 of 242
Just got mine, as well.

Good news: I absolutely love the crossfeed. It's perfect. Any more and I think it would be too limited in the types of music it would work with, any less and it wouldn't be enough effect. (That said, I'm not a huge Beatles/Miles Davis/etc. fan where you'd want more than this can offer.)

Bad news: When the interconnect moves, there's static. I tried my Neutrik interconnect, and there's less, but it's still audible. I've got to see if this is a cable problem or an amp problem. Either way, if there's much, it'll be a bummer as a portable amp with all the moving that'll happen.

But once I get it sorted out, I think I'll be quite pleased with it.

Thanks again, Jude & Jan.
 
Jan 7, 2005 at 4:07 AM Post #88 of 242
Quote:

Originally Posted by lini
Yup, to my ears it did.
wink.gif


Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini



Yes, to mine too. I let the amp burn in for the last few days and it sounds really nice. The high end has settled down and there is definitely more air. Is it better than the XP-7? Before I would have said an outright "no", but now I'm starting to think it's a matter of preference (not to mention size). Not to take anything away from the XP-7. I love it's sound signature, especially with my cans. I don't think it's going anywhere.

I don't need all these amps. Is it going to be the Porta Corda or the SuperMacro that becomes Erik's portable amp king?

Crossfeed is very subtle. I don't find it constricts soundstage all that much but adds a touch of "listenability".
 
Jan 7, 2005 at 4:31 AM Post #89 of 242
I just got mine and have a quick question. I am using it connected to the headphone out of my Rio Karma. I know it's not ideal, but that's life. It does seem to make an improvement, but I need to listen to it some more. Anyway, what should the volume be set on the Rio? It runs from 0 to 30, and I thought I read somewhere that someone was setting their volume around 20 for use with a portable amp. But I think I've also read that the volume controls on many of the MP3 players are really just attenuators, and that the full volume (30) would be equivalent to a line out. Does that mean I should set the volume at 30? Or does it make any difference? I have noticed that when I set the Rio volume to 20, I can turn the volume up all the way on the Porta Corda, and it is not really too loud, although it is close (I don't listen that loud; I was just experimenting). Does this suggest it would be better to turn the Rio volume up so the Porta Corda is not running at maximum?
 
Jan 7, 2005 at 4:49 AM Post #90 of 242
Quote:

Originally Posted by Spankypoo
Bad news: When the interconnect moves, there's static. I tried my Neutrik interconnect, and there's less, but it's still audible. I've got to see if this is a cable problem or an amp problem. Either way, if there's much, it'll be a bummer as a portable amp with all the moving that'll happen.


Same problem here, but i've no other cables to test it with.

Additionally, i'm getting a very noticable balance issue such that 'center' is a few paces to the right. This is really irritating (moreso when it was on AB, less so as i increase the volume). I've got less than an hour of listening time in because thus far i prefer the sound directly out of my portable cd player (feels less 'boomy' and the soundstage is much more open), but i guess i'll go give it some music to process for the evening. Burning in without phones is kosher, right?
 

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