[lazure]

 
Just received my Stepdance.
 
Wow.
 
It really is quite the step up from the Headsix.  It sure makes my Etymotic ER-4S sing better than ever, and my source happens to be a Blackberry Bold 9700.  And FYI, I'm not getting any interference from my phone at all.
 
I may eventually have more words to describe, but for now, just...wow.  If like me, you were a Headsix owner who was wondering whether to upgrade, wonder no more.  More transparent, more detail, much more bass.  It is a bit larger than the Headsix, but I don't lug my setup around daily, so it's plenty small for me.  And it may just eat batteries, as others have said, but I don't listen to my setup that often...although that may now change...
 
Did I say, wow?!?  I thank Dr. Jan Meier for his good work and, as always, great service.  I am one happy pseudo-audiophile.

 

 

[jr41]

Thanks for the compliments RE the pictures, and thanks cooperpwc for answering my query about the volume.
 
Yeah, that velcro strap is less than ideal, it's just something I've put in place as a temporary measure.
 
Another observation about the STEPDANCE sound after further listening is how well it renders percussion, especially symbols. Symbols seem to be a challenge in music reproduction from my experience, but the STEPDANCE does a really good job, with a clear reproduction and a long decay.

 

[shrisha]

jr41, Nice pictures! You probably have a nice DSLR.

Canon 550D may be.

Thanks for impressions. Time to start saving.

 

[violeta88]

I finally ordered my Stepdance today.  I'll let you all know my impressions when I get it.
 
--Eric

 

[average_joe]

I finally got my Pico Slim today...now for a 3 way shootout (or 4 way?) with my amps...
 
I did try to compare the Stepdance with the Pico Slim for a little bit and did note they sound different.  What I mean is, for example, the reverb of instruments sounds different with the Stepdance sounding more energetic.  But that is two songs with a few swaps, so I still have much more comparing before any conclusive thoughts.
 
I do have to say the size is night and day.

 

[yeemanz]

Quote:

Doesn't that strap cover up the display on an Phone or Touch? I can't see how that would be ideal. Your idea makes more sense to me.
 
Of course, with a Photo, Video or Classic, a rubber band (like that types that Whiplash and iQube provide) is perfect, tucked between the wheel and display. I posted this picture before. (I no longer have the Classic but an iMod is on the way.)

Haven't used velcro before, so I don't if it comes off well (just in case i need to resell etc) I was thinking of just getting a cheapo backing for the touch to mount the velcro. Not sure about the amp though. Nonetheless, my current setup works well, I just put everything into my old Sony Mini Disc pouch. 

 

[cooperpwc]

Over time, velcro coins might or might not leave marks on the brushed metal of the Stepdance. It depends on the glue used - difficult to know for sure. It wouldn't be anything major though. Pouches work!

 

[yeemanz]

Quote:

Over time, velcro coins might or might not leave marks on the brushed metal of the Stepdance. It depends on the glue used - difficult to know for sure. It wouldn't be anything major though. Pouches work!

Ah I see, thanks for the info!

 

[tnmike1]

The reviews note that battery life is not that good.  I'm surprised at this, because my Portaphile has a battery life between charges of about seven to eight hours.  Seems the Stepdance falls into the same category as a "battery eater"

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

The reviews note that battery life is not that good.  I'm surprised at this, because my Portaphile has a battery life between charges of about seven to eight hours.  Seems the Stepdance falls into the same category as a "battery eater"

It is a openly stated that the Stepdance was designed to maximise SQ with  minimal compromises to size and battery life. However, with cheap Chinese batteries, I am still doing quite a bit better than some of these posters - well over 10 hours in high current mode. (I believe that it has been closer to 14 but I have not been rigorous in checking.) I use it with IEMs which might account for the lower drain.
 

 

[jr41]

I'm running Duracell Plus 9V alkaline in my STEPDANCE, driving my UM3X on low gain but high current setting at the moment. I've gone through two batteries so far. If I recall correctly, I got about 6 hours out of the first one, but I believe I got about 8 hours out of the last one. I think the way to go with this amp is rechargeables. The Powerex 8.4V 300mAh look like a good choice (those 500mAh lithium polymer 9v batteries look good too, but they're expensive). I think someone on this post stated they use Powerex rechargeables with this amp so there shouldn't be any fit problems. Jan said either the Powerex 8.4V 300mAh or 9.6V 230mAh would work with the STEPDANCE. I'm going with the 8.4V as I don't need the extra voltage with low impedance IEMs, so I'll get the advantage of a longer running time, thanks to the higher mAh.
 
As an aside, I've been pondering what all those opamps in the STEPDANCE are for. Given this amp has the active balanced ground, (I don't understand this concept fully, but I think I get the gist) and a DAC involved in the digital volume control, my theory is four of the opamps are used to drive the two channels, with one opamp per + and -, and the final opamp is used in the volume control DAC. I'm not sure what the differences are between balanced ground and typical balanced technology though?

 

[tnmike1]

Quote:

Quote:

It is a openly stated that the Stepdance was designed to maximise SQ with  minimal compromises to portability and battery life. However, with cheap Chinese batteries, I am still doing quite a bit better than some of these posters - well over 10 hours in high current mode. (I believe that it has been closer to 14 but I have not been rigorous in checking.) I use it with IEMs which might account for the lower drain.
 

I would doubt the IEM has anything to do with battery life only because my Portaphile only uses IEMs and battery life is still low.  And those of you who want to take the time, there's a very in-depth battery discussion in the thread "Portaphiles get no love"   It's a long thread but you can breeze through it and just get the posts on LiPo and other styles' batteries

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

I would doubt the IEM has anything to do with battery life...

Fair enough. I was just guessing at a possible explanation. I also have not paid close attention to battery life since 9 volts cost a song in China. I will try to do a better calculation down the road.

 

[violeta88]

If you look on Meier-Audio's website in the other active balanced ground amp descriptions, like that of the Concerto, they include an overview of Meier's technology, which uses an active ground channel that has similar advantages of traditional balanced technology (using the difference in voltages between the active ground and L/R channels to drive each channel, with all four wires summing to 0V, but uses a normal unbalanced headphone connection to connect the headphone to the amp, whereas the balanced amps use discrete headphone connections like XLR plugs, and dedicated inverted/non-inverted channels to power the headphones.
 
--Eric
 
Quote:

I'm running Duracell Plus 9V alkaline in my STEPDANCE, driving my UM3X on low gain but high current setting at the moment. I've gone through two batteries so far. If I recall correctly, I got about 6 hours out of the first one, but I believe I got about 8 hours out of the last one. I think the way to go with this amp is rechargeables. The Powerex 8.4V 300mAh look like a good choice (those 500mAh lithium polymer 9v batteries look good too, but they're expensive). I think someone on this post stated they use Powerex rechargeables with this amp so there shouldn't be any fit problems. Jan said either the Powerex 8.4V 300mAh or 9.6V 230mAh would work with the STEPDANCE. I'm going with the 8.4V as I don't need the extra voltage with low impedance IEMs, so I'll get the advantage of a longer running time, thanks to the higher mAh.
 
As an aside, I've been pondering what all those opamps in the STEPDANCE are for. Given this amp has the active balanced ground, (I don't understand this concept fully, but I think I get the gist) and a DAC involved in the digital volume control, my theory is four of the opamps are used to drive the two channels, with one opamp per + and -, and the final opamp is used in the volume control DAC. I'm not sure what the differences are between balanced ground and typical balanced technology though?

 

[Townyj]

Wow... That battery life is rather disappointing.