[SpudHarris]

Isn't the battery thing subjective dependant on listening volumes, phones used etc? I have 2 x 280mah Vapex. One in the 2Stepdance and a spare just in case I get caught out. I'm up to about 8 hours I guess on my first battery listening with ES5's at fairly high volumes. I'll run it until dead and let you guys know but there's no sign of that yet.
 
This really is a fantastic little amp. All my previous portables have been for tweaking (OpAmp rollable) so this is my 1st portable with a set Opamps and an optimised circuit. The testing that goes into an amp like this shows against the hit and miss you get with swapping Opamps in a circuit that might not me optimised for that particular chip. This amp seems far more focused, more neutral than any of my previous portables (except Fi-Quest).
 
I will try and get a nice pic of my around the house rig.
 
 

 

[SpudHarris]

Around the house rig...
 

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

Isn't the battery thing subjective dependant on listening volumes, phones used etc? 

Yes.  Which surprises me when people are so nit picky about extended play.  My concern is absolute SQ.  This is Head-fi, not Battery-fi.  If you want to compromise sound and performance for things like size and battery life you have plenty of options to choose from.  Leave the rest of us that want to squeeze every last drop of sonic bliss from our gear in peace.
 
I think it's foolish to travel w/o a portable recharging solution anyway (when you know you'll need one) so battery life is a moot point for me.
 

 

[zilch0md]

 
That's really nice Spud!  I'm envious! 
 
Mike
 
Quote:

Around the house rig...
 

 

 

[zilch0md]

 
I could be wrong in my interpretation, but going by their respective data sheets, the OPA209's 2.2mA maximum load vs. the OPA1611's 3.6mA maximum load would uggest that the 2Stepdance should enjoy a 64% increase in battery life over the Stepdance, for any given combination of battery type, volume setting, signal demands, and headphone impedance / efficiency.  
 
Going by the difference in that one specification, alone, I would be surprised to hear that owners of the 2Stepdance can't enjoy at least a 50% increase in battery life over the Stepdance, but given that I really don't know if it's appropriate to interpret the specs this way, it could be far better.  
 
Thus far, reviewers of the 2Stepdance have nothing but praise for its SQ, so it seems that Jan Meier has managed to improve battery life without compromising anything at all.  Joy!  

 
Mike

 

[zilch0md]

Hi,
 
Quote:

[snip]
 
btw, is 2stepdance will benefit from higher voltage supply, like the original stepdance? if yes, i think many people will be trapped in the same bulky set up as the original stepdance mod

 

Using the glass half empty vs. the glass half full analogy, the glass is FULL when operating the Stepdance with an internal 9V battery and OVERFLOWING when operating with a 15V external supply.
 
I'm compelled to say this because your use of the word "trapped" implies that the Stepdance cannot compete with other portable amps without using 15V external power.  Proof to the contrary can be found in many reviews of the 9V-powered Stepdance, including Skylab having ranked the 9V-powered Stepdance among the top 5 of 56 portables he tested, giving it A+'s across several criteria.
 
 
 
Quote from Sklab's: Review: Portable amp roundup! 56 portable amps reviewed and compared

Level 1:

 

Triad Audio Lisa III @ $600.00; Power supply is $350 additional/ Trian Audio L3 (newer version) Review here

MST Fi.Quest, @ $450 (Review here)

Meier Audio Stepdance @ $350 (Review here)

Ray Samuels Audio SR-71B @ $600 (Review here)

Ray Samuels Audio The Protector (in BALANCED mode only), @ $475 (Review here)

 

 
Don't neglect to notice that the 2Stepdance is still less expensive than the other amps in the list above.
 
If you go to his review of the Stepdance, at the "here" link seen in the quote above, you'll find this letter grades for various factors:
 
 
Quote:

Build Quality: A
Treble: A+
Midrange: A+
Bass: A+
Neutrality: A+
Soundstaging: A+
Transparency: A+

 
All that on 9-Volts.  The glass is FULL on 9V power, not half-full, and definitely not half-empty.
 
Back to the glass overflowing, the addition of 15V power only improves the Stepdance.  I wouldn't call that a "trap" but rather a wonderful opportunity, not to be missed, for those occasions when you're willing to pack more weight or operate the amp with a desktop power supply.  But when you want to travel light and small, the 9V-powered Stepdance will give you the very competitive performance that Sklyab and others have described in their reviews.
 
Mike

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

 
I could be wrong in my interpretation, but going by their respective data sheets, the OPA209's 2.2mA maximum load vs. the OPA1611's 3.6mA maximum load would uggest that the 2Stepdance should enjoy a 64% increase in battery life over the Stepdance, for any given combination of battery type, volume setting, signal demands, and headphone impedance / efficiency.  
 
Going by the difference in that one specification, alone, I would be surprised to hear that owners of the 2Stepdance can't enjoy at least a 50% increase in battery life over the Stepdance, but given that I really don't know if it's appropriate to interpret the specs this way, it could be far better.  
 
Thus far, reviewers of the 2Stepdance have nothing but praise for its SQ, so it seems that Jan Meier has managed to improve battery life without compromising anything at all.  Joy!  

 
Mike

It took some searching but I found this quotation from a communication between GG and Jan where Jan said:
 
Quote:

The amplifier is thinner and has a longer (+50%) battery lifetime.

Sonically the amps are very similar. There is no real reason the "upgrade".

Cheers

Jan

 
So I guess that +50% battery life is the number.

 

[zilch0md]

 
Hi,
 
Quote:

Can anyone please tell me will this power supply work with stepdance? I really dont want to take any risk to burn my stepdance!

http://www.powerstream.com/ac-1501.htm
 
Thanks ! 

It will probably work, but it's a Switched Mode regulated power supply - which could introduce some noise that you would not hear with a Linear regulated power supply.  
 
If you are in the U.S. you can order a 15V regulated supply from Radio Shack.  I think it might also be switched mode, but they claim it has "Regulated, filtered output that reduces hum and noise."
 
See this post and the links within:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/507835/meier-audio-stepdance-and-2stepdance-discussion-and-impressions-thread/1410#post_7449327
 
Mike
 
 

 

[zilch0md]

 
Thanks Paul - I'd forgotten about that post.
 
Mike
 
Quote:

Quote:

It took some searching but I found this quotation from a communication between GG and Jan where Jan said:
 
Quote:
 
So I guess that +50% battery life is the number.

 

 

[SpudHarris]

Quote:

Back to the glass overflowing, the addition of 15V power only improves the Stepdance.
 

Mike, is that on purely based on my take?  All I can say from a personal perspective is I couldn't honestly say hand on heart that I noticed a difference but I only tested the PSU with the ES5's and didn't I read somewhere that the extra power won't benefit these phones for some reason?. I will test again this evening with some other phones, maybe the HD600's or K702's.....
 
I think that this amp synergises well with the CLAS>ES5 Rig better than anything else in my stable at this time, even better than the Fi-Quest which is praise indeed. It's not a better amp (before you all get the flame throwers out) it's just that the Fi-Quest sounds a little flat on 1st gain setting and 2nd setting only allows slight movement of the volume pot so it's not as well suited as the 2Stepdance with IEM's.
 

 

[zilch0md]

Mike, is that on purely based on my take?  All I can say from a personal perspective is I couldn't honestly say hand on heart that I noticed a difference...

Spud,

I was just responding to i_djoel2000's post. I agree that your observation is probably tied to your use of efficient IEMs. 15V power would be most appreciated with phones that can make use of more Watts.

 

[i_djoel2000]

 
Quote:

You couldn't be much more ignorant than to compare the battery life of the Stepdance - an amplifier explicitly designed to maximise sound quality with minmal compromise to size and battety life - with a pimeta, accompanied by a smiley no less. My post encouraged a fast attitude transplant which is good to see. No ongoing offence intended.

if you did what you actually suggested me to do, you can find in the meier's website that the mean current uptake of 2stepdance is 35mA (HIGH GAIN), & 20mA (LOW GAIN) http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/2stepdance.htm
 
even though it's only rough estimation, you can calculate it yourself and it should give you slightly more than 14 hours using 500mA battery in HIGH GAIN. my pimeta consumes 60mA and lasts 8 hours with the same battery. it doesn't make sense, hence, the "smiley"

 
nevertheless, i have no doubt in the sound quality of jan's amps. happy 2move user here

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

if you did what you actually suggested me to do, you can find in the meier's website that the mean current uptake of 2stepdance is 35mA (HIGH GAIN), & 20mA (LOW GAIN) http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/2stepdance.htm

Those are the spec for 2stepdance, not Stepdance as referred by RockaRolla. The original spec are 50mA and 25mA, so RockaRolla's Stepdance runs for 9 hours is right on the money consider most battery doesn't run linearly with different type of headphone used.
 

 

[b0wl1ng]

Agreed Mike,
 
The Stepdance will drive IEMs in battery mode with ease,also low impedance cans, ie Denons etc, all of which sound stunning with the gain set to low.However as Spud has odserved it did struggle to drive my orthos, but the mascot 15v adaptor gave the Stepdance more oomph across the entire sound spectrum.
I have it set permanently to high current but always the gain switches set to low, more detail, a lot more in my opinion, these are my experiences.  
 
Quote:

Spud,

I was just responding to i_djoel2000's post. I agree that your observation is probably tied to your use of efficient IEMs. 15V power would be most appreciated with phones that can make use of more Watts.

 

 

[i_djoel2000]

Quote:

Those are the spec for 2stepdance, not Stepdance as referred by RockaRolla. The original spec are 50mA and 25mA, so RockaRolla's Stepdance runs for 9 hours is right on the money consider most battery doesn't run linearly with different type of headphone used.
 

hmm, never noticed that. since the information of original stepdance is wiped out from the website, i only assume they are the same as 2stepdance except 2stepdance having a thinner case
 
in that case, i guess stepdance and 2stepdance might sound different. somebody should make a comparison between the two *i hope