[ClieOS]

Quote:

Have been burning in my stepdance for around 150-200hrs using an external power adapter since buying my stepdance a month ago.
 
Using it with my Hifiman HM-801, connected with TWag IC with Oyaide Plugs.
 
Tried blind test with:
 
- HM801 headphone out directly with my JH13pro
- HM801 line-out with Stepdance and with JH13pro
 
Can't tell the difference at all. i.e. I can't guess which one is with the stepdance and which one is directly from 801 headphone out.
 
Something must be wrong with my hearing?
 
John

There are three assumptions IMO:
1) HM801's PO is as good as Stepdance (no performance difference)
2) JH13Pro is so efficient that both HM801 PO and Stepdance are more than enough to allow it to perform at its best (amps have performance difference, but the IEM can't reveal it)
3) You can't tell the subtle difference (amps have performance difference, IEM is able to reveal it, but you can't tell the difference)
 
Personally, my opinion is inclined to (2). Not that many IEM are good at picking up subtle difference on the source IMO.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Larry,
Thanks for the response.  I'm using HD580s with Cardas cables.  Is the Amphora still even available, if one were to ask for it?  Doesn't seem to be on the ALO website or anything.  My main concern was taking the imod signal thru the v caps I already have and then back into v caps once again.  And, of course, the subjective question: is the sound difference going to be worth the extra $600 or more.

I think you have to special order the Amphora, and they may only have SE models left - not sure.  The 3MOVE and Stepdance will be excellent with the HD580/600 and not far behind the Amphora at all when using the 580/600.  If you are spending the extra $600 I would use that money on a Woo WA6 instead, unless you really must have a portable.  If you were driving an HD800 I'd pick the Amphora for portable, or WA6 for a desktop amp (in that same price range), but if you need small then the Stepdance was better with those.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Quote:

Since the Stepdance loaner was only a little better than my Protector or 3MOVE, with worse battery life, I haven't done the upgrade yet.  If I didn't already have the other two I would buy the Stepdance to add to my Amphora, but not to replace it.

 
Larry, I know you don't like it when folk take quotes out of context, but I think the above is a fantastic endorsement for a design which is now several years old, and inexpensive at that - if memory serves me correctly, the MOVE (in its various incarnations) has consistently rated very highly in your list and Rob's, despite the arrival of so many portable amps in the last couple of years. It may not be on the same level as the Amphora or the Lisa, but the asking price is nowhere near those two. I know that you have a very high opinion of several Nuforce products, again very reasonably priced electronics - keep those impressions coming.
 
estreeter

I've never stopped liking the 3MOVE, and it will always be in the top tier of portable headphone amps.  The Stepdance is slightly less forward sounding and improves on the 3MOVE in soundstage size and power.
 
Quote:

So I'm assumimg Larry that you do prefer the Stepdance over the Protector as far as SQ goes? I'm just interpreting your last comment of this post as you do prefer it to the Move 3 and Protector. I almost bought the Protector but got the Stepdance instead which came recommended from a friend here( average_joe) who has never let me down with his suggestions. Cheers

That would be a fair assessment.  The Protector is very good, but it's a little more aggressive sounding and I don't like it with my HD800 in balanced mode, although I love it with my balanced JH13Pro and HE-5 LE or HD600.  The Stepdance loaner was better with HD800, but with other phones and IEM the Protector was pretty close and has a marvelous soundstage. With something other than HD800 all these amps all get closer to each other in performance.  You would be safe if you pick the one that has the most features that appeal to you, such as size and battery life, etc.

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

I've never stopped liking the 3MOVE, and it will always be in the top tier of portable headphone amps.  The Stepdance is slightly less forward sounding and improves on the 3MOVE in soundstage size and power.

Agree with Larry here. They are both very refined. To me, the main difference between the two is, 3MOVE tends to make headphones reveal their character (flaws and strengths) , while Stepdance tends to make all headphone sound better.

 

[ianmedium]

Initial impressions, I have had the stepdance burning in for just over six hours now (I know a long way to go yet!) I am listening now to the Steve Davis quartet, a quality of silence album. Lot's of stuff on their to test detail and dynamic and I can notice a very large improvement over my old pa2v2.
 
I am not the best at describing these things but the sound of drums sticks on cymbals just holds in the air,I can comprehend more what Steve set out to do with this album, exploring the silence between the notes.
 
The music is more holographic, there seems to be greater space between the notes with the stepdance, cymbals seem to go on just that bit longer. There is more texture to brush strokes, the piano sounds more like a piano! This album is also the quietest album I have and a very comfortable level with all the detail has the volume pot one O'clock where as on the Patrica Barber album the same resolution and detail were at noon.
Alison Krauss singing down to the river to pray is pure bliss! Volume on this album is perfect at noon, all the dynamics are there, all the detail and musicality. All the voices are very discernible in their own spaces and yet come together as a whole beautifully. Alisons voice has more texture than I have heard from the ipod classic latest generation so far, there also seems to be more weight from the ipod than I have experienced before (I have no EQ on the pod!)
 
Handels Harp concerto by the way sounds very similar indeed to how I heard it through Wilson Sasha's and Nagra amp and CD player, similar obviously not in scale or dynamic but certainly in feeling! again volume seems to be perfect at noon.
 
Bearing in mind the control starts eight O'clock that is very little power needed for my Ety ER4S's which are 100 ohm impedance and 108db sensitivity. The k701's require just a little more volume, between one and one thirty get's them singing very nicely. This (to my 47 year old ears) is not loud though as it had to be on my old amp to get the same sense of scale, dynamic and emotion. I am just hoping that the DT990 600ohms that are winging their way to me will be OK with this amp!
 
So these are my early impressions, I know from what I have read there will be many more changes as time passes but just from this early listening experience this is very very good value for money at $370 shipped!

 

[average_joe]

Quote:

Agree with Larry here. They are both very refined. To me, the main difference between the two is, 3MOVE tends to make headphones reveal their character (flaws and strengths) , while Stepdance tends to make all headphone sound better.

Exceptional quote there, you really hit the nail on the head!  The Stepdance makes [some] $15 ear buds sound like $150 ear buds and [some] $30 IEMs sound like $300 IEMs!  It is great with the LCD-2 and even handles the T1 OK.  Although with the T1 I think it sounds much better in low gain mode cranked up than in high gain mode for some reason (hooked up to 12V wall power).
 
@ Guidostrunk: welcome to the Stepdance party, how are you liking the amp so far?  The best batteries are these or these IMO.  And you should get the appropriate charger.  

 

[Guidostrunk]

Hows it goin my friend. Well long story short WOW. I already sold my Slim because this is the only amp needed for me at this point. I told the wife what i wanted for Christmas to go with the Stepdance, I'm sure you know the answer to that one. Thanks for the info on the Bat's. Cheers
Quote:

Quote:

Agree with Larry here. They are both very refined. To me, the main difference between the two is, 3MOVE tends to make headphones reveal their character (flaws and strengths) , while Stepdance tends to make all headphone sound better.

Exceptional quote there, you really hit the nail on the head!  The Stepdance makes [some] $15 ear buds sound like $150 ear buds and [some] $30 IEMs sound like $300 IEMs!  It is great with the LCD-2 and even handles the T1 OK.  Although with the T1 I think it sounds much better in low gain mode cranked up than in high gain mode for some reason (hooked up to 12V wall power).
 
@ Guidostrunk: welcome to the Stepdance party, how are you liking the amp so far?  The best batteries are these or these IMO.  And you should get the appropriate charger.  

 

[Guidostrunk]

@ average_ joe , any preference in the 2 battery suggetions or are they pretty equal in terms of durability and quality. Thanks in advance

 

[average_joe]

Wow, you sold the Slim already, that was fast  But I understand why.  I do like the form factor of the Slim and with my EM3 Pro there isn't much difference like with most everything else.
 
The 2 batteries:
iPower 520 mAh 8.4V -  2 x iPower batteries + charger = $69
 
HiTech 600 mAh 7.4V - with charger & 2 batteries = $38.75
 
If you were only going to power IEMs, I wouldsay go with the HiTech setup, but with your present, I would say go for the iPower due to the added voltage if you plan on not using wall power.  Sure, it isn't much, but to me it does make a little difference with the harder to drive headphones.  I also have a 9.6V rechargeable, but the 230 mAh is just too low and it drains too quickly.  

 

[Guidostrunk]

Yea the slims gone already, on its way to Australia, a fellow headfier bought it Thursday. I knew right away i would be using the stepdance way more than the slim even though it's 4 times the size, so no sense letting it sit around. Well with your recommendation the ipower it is. I have been using the Powerex 9.6v 230mah and they dont last that long.Thanks again Joe.
Quote:

Wow, you sold the Slim already, that was fast  But I understand why.  I do like the form factor of the Slim and with my EM3 Pro there isn't much difference like with most everything else.
 
The 2 batteries:
iPower 520 mAh 8.4V -  2 x iPower batteries + charger = $69
 
HiTech 600 mAh 7.4V - with charger & 2 batteries = $38.75
 
If you were only going to power IEMs, I wouldsay go with the HiTech setup, but with your present, I would say go for the iPower due to the added voltage if you plan on not using wall power.  Sure, it isn't much, but to me it does make a little difference with the harder to drive headphones.  I also have a 9.6V rechargeable, but the 230 mAh is just too low and it drains too quickly.  

 

[Guidostrunk]

Well i bought the 4 battery and charger combo from Ipower for 103 bucks, should be good for a while now. Thanks Joe.

 

[avid2010]

Quote:

Wow, you sold the Slim already, that was fast  But I understand why.  I do like the form factor of the Slim and with my EM3 Pro there isn't much difference like with most everything else.
 
The 2 batteries:
iPower 520 mAh 8.4V -  2 x iPower batteries + charger = $69
 
HiTech 600 mAh 7.4V - with charger & 2 batteries = $38.75
 
If you were only going to power IEMs, I wouldsay go with the HiTech setup, but with your present, I would say go for the iPower due to the added voltage if you plan on not using wall power.  Sure, it isn't much, but to me it does make a little difference with the harder to drive headphones.  I also have a 9.6V rechargeable, but the 230 mAh is just too low and it drains too quickly.  

Hi Joe, based on what you wrote above, am I understanding correctly that you are detecting sonic differences when using batts with different voltages? Thanks.
 
 

 

[average_joe]

@ Guidostrunk: that should last you for a very long time and be good for long trips or just extended periods of time with not worrying about charging!
 
@avid2010: Yes, with my full sized headphones, especially the T1.  I think there is a max volume difference as well as a slight difference in the dynamics (and using 12V wall power is more noticeable to me).  With such a large time between A/Bing the different batteries, I might be imagining the difference in dynamics, but doing the same thing with my IEMs didn't result in any audible difference other than a slight volume difference.  I use the low gain setting (because it sounds better to me with the headphones), so I am maxing/nearly maxing the volume with the full sized headphones.  

 

[ianmedium]

Quote:

Quote:

Wow, you sold the Slim already, that was fast  But I understand why.  I do like the form factor of the Slim and with my EM3 Pro there isn't much difference like with most everything else.
 
The 2 batteries:
iPower 520 mAh 8.4V -  2 x iPower batteries + charger = $69
 
HiTech 600 mAh 7.4V - with charger & 2 batteries = $38.75
 
If you were only going to power IEMs, I wouldsay go with the HiTech setup, but with your present, I would say go for the iPower due to the added voltage if you plan on not using wall power.  Sure, it isn't much, but to me it does make a little difference with the harder to drive headphones.  I also have a 9.6V rechargeable, but the 230 mAh is just too low and it drains too quickly.  

Hi Joe, based on what you wrote above, am I understanding correctly that you are detecting sonic differences when using batts with different voltages? Thanks.
 
 

Hmm, this is intersting. I purchased the happy medium, powerex 8.4v 300mAh I might pop to the store and pick up the 9.6v 230mAh and see what happens, The great thing about the powerex ones(well, here in Canada that is) is that they are half the price of the lithium ones so one can always have a spare. I wondered what use I would get out of the little arc mouse bag that came with my mouse!
I have about 14 hours on the stepdance now and feel it opening up, this truly is a great little amp!
 
Avid, you have the T1's which are 600ohm and I am getting this week the DT990 600ohm, how do you feel about this amps capabilities with such high impedance? From what you say it has enough power.
 

 

[average_joe]

For some reason, it sounds better on low gain with my T1 than on high gain, but on low gain I have to come close to maxing out the volume.  I think it performs quite well all things considered.  Of course, the RPX-33 can spank it at louder volumes, but it does seem to have great bass weight and authority with the T1 at moderate and below volumes.  Of course most of my listening with the T1 was done with a 12V power supply, and with the batteries the maximum volume drops.  So, if the Stepdance is the answer for you, it really depends on how loud you listen.

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

Quote:

Agree with Larry here. They are both very refined. To me, the main difference between the two is, 3MOVE tends to make headphones reveal their character (flaws and strengths) , while Stepdance tends to make all headphone sound better.

Exceptional quote there, you really hit the nail on the head!  The Stepdance makes [some] $15 ear buds sound like $150 ear buds and [some] $30 IEMs sound like $300 IEMs!  It is great with the LCD-2 and even handles the T1 OK.  Although with the T1 I think it sounds much better in low gain mode cranked up than in high gain mode for some reason (hooked up to 12V wall power).
 
@ Guidostrunk: welcome to the Stepdance party, how are you liking the amp so far?  The best batteries are these or these IMO.  And you should get the appropriate charger.  

AJ, can I ask exactly what source/DAC you were plugging into the StepDance when you had the above experiences ? I'm not doubting you, and I definitely value Larry's opinion, but my D4 (used as amp only from the headphone out on various DAPs and my netbook) opens up my music, but the sound signature is still largely identical to that experienced straight from the headphone out. As I have said on previous occasions, I perceive very little difference at all when used with the Sony X1060, a DAP with a very capable headphone amp. so the StepDance must be something very special indeed to be granting certain $30 IEMs the insight and clarity of a pair of $300 IEMs. My $90 Sony IEMs have always sounded pretty good to me, but they certainly arent on the same level as something costing 3 times that, much less 10 times that amount. As a Grado fanboy, I wont say anything about how well they compare to more expensive phones
 
estreeter