[bassct]

Should be fine w Sundara. Might not be any hiss at all. Hard to say if the USB filter will do anything, have to try.

 

[Drog]

Wow. This DAC/Amp is great. Would a dedicated desktop amp sound any better?

 

[bassct]

Glad you enjoy it! Besides more watts of power, and maybe a wider selection of inputs, desktop units may also provide better SNR ratings. The likes of Massdrop THX AAA 789 and then followed by JDS Atom and the others, are the best in the hobby ( without a need for a 2nd mortgage ).

 

[Drog]

Glad you enjoy it! Besides more watts of power, and maybe a wider selection of inputs, desktop units may also provide better SNR ratings. The likes of Massdrop THX AAA 789 and then followed by JDS Atom and the others, are the best in the hobby ( without a need for a 2nd mortgage ).

Thanks. I don't think I need more power for the Sundaras. Both of my portable amps work really well them and I prefer to have a choice as to where I listen to music.

It's too bad this amp did not work out for you.

 

[sherm137]

Anyone trying powering Argons with this? Very curious how well the pair works together.

 

[bassct]

Pretty sure Zreviews on youtube has. Watch his video for info.

 

[silverfishla]

Anyone trying powering Argons with this? Very curious how well the pair works together.

I don’t have the Argons, but I have the Dekoni Blue T50 version. I think this amp is fantastic with those. Drives them better than anything I have and the SQ is like it was made for that headphone. Those two are like bread and butter.

 

[dsrk]

I don’t have the Argons, but I have the Dekoni Blue T50 version. I think this amp is fantastic with those. Drives them better than anything I have and the SQ is like it was made for that headphone. Those two are like bread and butter.

Hi, I see you have HD650s, does this amp power them properly and how is the pair up?

 

[Sonic Defender]

This does sound like a very good unit, certainly for the price it is hard to complain. In defense of the Q5, I think the price differential is reasonable enough to justify. The Q5 does allow modular amp swaps so that is an extremely useful and pretty well implemented feature. Bluetooth is very convenient and it sounds very good so another worthy plus. The other thing I would point out is that FiiO has been working really hard at getting the finer details of rock solid hardware implementation down pat and I would suggest that their most contemporary models are top-tier and exceptional value when you consider the price segment. Anyway, not trying to jump a thread, but I did think that it was worth mentioning that the Q5 wasn't just more expensive for no reason. Oh yes, also the very well implemented Q5 volume dial that prevents the crazy sudden jumps in volume. Some R&D effort went into that so the price of the Q5 I personally think is pretty darn good. This Monoprice does seem like a kick-ass offering though so I can see why people are really happy with it. Such great times we are in for quality, affordable, portable audio.

 

[silverfishla]

Hi, I see you have HD650s, does this amp power them properly and how is the pair up?

The amp can drive those well with no problem. I checked. I haven’t been able to give those a good listen or play with the EQ on those though. I’ll have to get back to you soon n that.

 

[mydetour]

Wow really nice it drove my Ether Cx and Diana wonderfully - plenty of power left- clean sounding- and with the added bonus of a nice Peq- and crossfeed option - very well done- the volume is really cool With very minute adjustments. Caveat I will just use this by my bedside and around the house - I just wanted to use my good headphones outside my desktop- thumbs up

Thanks, can you compare it to your desktop setup?

 

[Maelob]

No I didnt compared to my PS Audio Stellar and Just sold the two headphones that I was using with the THx but it all depends on what Desktop system you are thinking of getting and what features you want. If you don’t need portability I would stick with desktop system. I believe Massdrop has a desktop THx- also mono price have a desktop version of the THX with Dirac eq

 

[Harry Manback]

Sooooo - this device HAS to digitize analog input or it can't be used with the DSP effects (Dirac, eq). I'm assuming that incoming digital signals are left alone, and go straight to the dsp.

It would be an interesting exercise to see if disabling all digital effects means that the incoming analog signal is only amplified and not run through an ADC first. Re-digitizing an already decoded digital signal seems like a very good way to introduce issues.

Has Monoprice issued any firmware updates for this device? Some of the issues could be addressed via a firmware update. A volume limiter seems like it would be useful in particular.

Lastly - this thing is crying out for a smartphone app to give you a better UI for the settings. Oh, and also track down the hiss.

 

[bassct]

All very valid points. It seems like the only way to use this device would be over the SPDIF interface. Optic in Analog out.
Firmware revisions, i doubt it can receive them. There is no interface to communicate with the device. There is no logic on it. It is pure DAC/AMP with a DSP in between. If i am wrong, then there has to be an Updater app, to be able to flash new firmware from a PC.
Smartphone app is also a no go, no way of communication between the 2 devices.
Hiss is an engineering oversight. If someone with multiple IEMs could test and see if it is persistent on all of them. My R1 is 32 ohm, its should not be as sensitive as CA Andromeda or anything else with less than 32 ohms and full BA headphone.

 

[Harry Manback]

All very valid points. It seems like the only way to use this device would be over the SPDIF interface. Optic in Analog out.
Firmware revisions, i doubt it can receive them. There is no interface to communicate with the device. There is no logic on it. It is pure DAC/AMP with a DSP in between. If i am wrong, then there has to be an Updater app, to be able to flash new firmware from a PC.
Smartphone app is also a no go, no way of communication between the 2 devices.
Hiss is an engineering oversight. If someone with multiple IEMs could test and see if it is persistent on all of them. My R1 is 32 ohm, its should not be as sensitive as CA Andromeda or anything else with less than 32 ohms and full BA headphone.

It has 2 usb ports. The one for data could be used for firmware updates I'd assume. It may require to hold some button or combination of buttons upon startup in "Update" mode.