[cooperpwc]

Looks like it pairs really well with a lot of things eh! Thanks in the main to your enthusiasm I am enjoying my music more than I can ever remember with this amp. Thanks as well for your headphone advice, these Denons are pure magic with this amp as I have mentioned before.
 
It is folks like you who give balanced thoughts on equipment that make this forum so informative and useful!

Glad that you are enjoying the Stepdance. I sure do.

The reason I asked for more guidance on the LCD-2 is that I assume this to be a particularly difficult headphone to drive.

 

[ianmedium]

Quote:

Glad that you are enjoying the Stepdance. I sure do. The reason I asked for more guidance on the LCD-2 is that I assume this to be a particularly difficult headphone to drive.

I am not sure if this is any help as I don't know much about the LCD-2 but I know the 701's really come alive with the stepdance and I know they are sensitive to proper amping.

 

[average_joe]

I was able to compare the Stepdance with the RPX-33, both with the same sources (modded iPod, sound card, and HUD-MX1 with various opamps) with the LCD-2.  The RPX-33 can drive the LCD-2 louder than the Stepdance, but I usually don't listen louder than the Stepdance can drive the LCD-2.  I find that the volume on the Stepdance in low gain when using a 12V supply maxed out is about as loud as I want to go.  Of course, source output will play a part in that volume.  As far as quality, honestly, they was very little difference between the two, which shocked me.  The RPX-33 does drive the Tesla T1 much better than the Stepdance at above a quite listening level, though.  And I feel the Stepdance does fine for me with a 9V battery also so I can go anywhere in my house with my iPod powering the LCD-2
 
I did buy the 9V batteries ClieOS just bought (500 mAh 9V ones) and am still looking for a 15V power supply to replace my 12V for home use.
 
On another note, I prefer the LCD-2 to the T1, although the T1 is great, and was rarely listening to the RPX-33, so I sold it.  Now, I might buy another amp some day for the LCD-2, but for now the Stepdance is it for my LCD-2.
 
Anyone wanna buy a Tesla T1?

 

[estreeter]

To those perservering with the iPod, at whatever capacity:
 
I had the 120GB Classic, but wanted more. I dont know where it ends, but having a netbook with 250GB onboard and a 320GB external HDD gives me a lot of options - I can store everything I own in WAV format, I have a massive choice of players and I dont have to 'sync' anything. Not as handy for portable use, granted, but as a desktop option the netbook is hard to beat.

 

[leezhunjin]

Quote:

is it on low gain?
 
and as far as other upgrade options, i know youd have plenty of volume to use with the protector balanced on low gain
 

The stepdance is on low gain and low current. For protector i have to get a balanced wire as well, and i have a K701 and HD650, the stepdance will be able to power them as well.
 

 

[Woody469]

 
Mostly I've been listening to the Stepdance out from my Dell XPS laptop into my Pico DAC via USB.
I'm happy to say, the Stepdance does an excellent job driving my Audeze LCD-2 headphones.
 
Today I decided to use the line out on my HiFiMan HM602 into the Stepdance using high bitrate music files.
 
I was not expecting to hear much of an improvement  but I was wrong. I hear even better detail with this setup but the bass is not as powerful.
 
 That combination was only bested by the HM801 which has better bottom end slam and definition. Better everything really
 
As for my HD650's, I prefer using my Channel Islands home headphone amp but I think that is because I am using the Channel Islands optional power supply which makes it an effortless combination.
 
Like cooperpwc pointed out in an earlier post, Dr Meier has created an amp that behaves like a desktop amp but in a portable package. Very cool indeed.
 
And ditto to average_joe as I also bought a pair of the 500 mAh rechargeable 9 volts that ClieOS found and was kind enough to leave a link for. Maybe I won't have to go with lithium ion right away after all. Thanks ClieOS for finding those. 
 
I think I found an appropriate power supply for the Stepdance because I am less than completely happy with the wall wart type I am presently using. I need to double check it's specs before ordering.

 

[coolcat]

 
Quote:

 
.
 
Today I decided to use the line out on my HiFiMan HM602 into the Stepdance using high bitrate music files.
 
I was not expecting to hear much of an improvement  but I was wrong. I hear even better detail with this setup but the bass is not as powerful.
 
 That combination was only bested by the HM801 which has better bottom end slam and definition.

As I mentioned above,I didn't expect the Stepdance+HM801 is any better than the HM801 too,but I was really wrong.
 
by the way the HM801 is still in its 70 hours.
 

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

And ditto to average_joe as I also bought a pair of the 500 mAh rechargeable 9 volts that ClieOS found and was kind enough to leave a link for. Maybe I won't have to go with lithium ion right away after all. Thanks ClieOS for finding those. 

Ha, it is the same reason for me as all I was trying is to avoid buying another charger specific for lithium battery (*the Marsell battery can be charged via NiMH charger because it has a smart charging circuit) when I stumble upon those Habo 9V.
 

 

[Ramesses]

Received my Stepdance earlier this week and I am loving it so much...
The transparency and clarity is developing beautifully.
The synergy with my D7000's is superb.
I am so glad I made this purchase.
Thanks to Jan for a truly wonderful product and excellent service and very speedy delivery.

 

[davidio]

Just opened my mailbox today and got a double thrill...the repaired imod came back on the same day as the Stepdance arrived.  Thanks, Jan!  I'm burning in the Stepdance now and should be ready to compare it to / pair it with the TTVJ Millet Hybrid Portable next week.  Merry Christmas indeed! 

 

[LevA]

Quote:

Just opened my mailbox today and got a double thrill...the repaired imod came back on the same day as the Stepdance arrived.  Thanks, Jan!  I'm burning in the Stepdance now and should be ready to compare it to / pair it with the TTVJ Millet Hybrid Portable next week.  Merry Christmas indeed! 

Next week is a long time!!
any chance to give us some preliminary comparisons?? 

I've been waiting so long for this comparison..

 

[cooperpwc]

Patience. I say let the Stepdance burn in.

(I too am curious...)

 

[LevA]

so whats the recommended amount of burn in for step dance?
I'm sure its been mentioned but too lazy to do a search and find it..

 

[cooperpwc]

None of this particularly scientific and others may disagree but 70 hours absolute minimum, 100 better is my view if you want to reach meaningful conclusions. (The sound could continue to enjoy subtle improvements through 300 hours or more.)

 

[davidio]

The Stepdance now has about 28 hours on it.  It is fascinating, listening to it change.  From the moment I started burning it in, I noticed how deep the sound is, from front to back.  The bass comes from the deepest recesses. Nice.  At first, the sound was gelled closer to the center of the stereo spectrum and some of the higher frequencies were rolled off, reminding me a bit of a tube sound.  After about eight hours, the instuments were separating but there was graininess and some distortion...a bad phase.  Now, it is sounding a smoother again.  I don't regret this purchase at all.  Already, the individual tracks in every recording have more weight to them than what I'm used to hearing from a portable source.  Weight is what I like, and why I then to gravitate towards tube amplifiers...they tend to make the parts sound meatier.  To me, anyway.  Without doing a side by side comparison (that will come after 100 hours), I can confidently say that the sound of the TTVJ is not better than that of the Stepdance.  There are going to be drawbacks and highlights to both amps.  For instance, the TTVJ smoothes the rough edges, but the Stepdance may be able to reveal those higher and lower frequencies to give more liveliness (without wearing on the ears).  On another note, I am playing the music from an 5.5 generation imod upgraded with the Apricorn 240 gig HDD and 800 mah battery that comes with it.  I timed the new imod battery today playing uninterrupted music into the Stepdance and it went 10 hours.  Mind you, that was without messing with it...I didn't forward any songs or change a setlist.  But I thought that was impressive compared to what I was getting with the 80 gig version, still playing those battery-eating lossless files.  Having 211 gigs worth of music doesn't seem to phase the ipod functionality at all.  However, I think that putting, say, 40,000 compressed songs into it would probably screw it up, because of the ram and all the tags.  But an audiophile with lossless has nothing to worry about.  I now have my entire CD collection on a small handheld device that sounds as good as a thousand dollar CD source.  That is so freaking awesome!