[StratCat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghoul /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've been asking myself the same thing since I got my I+. I'm fairly sure the more expensive amps will perform better than the I+. How much more and will I be able to discern it? With my current set-up would I benefit? Would I have to upgrade my source and cables? It's these kinds of questions that make me shudder about an upgrade. I'm extremely happy with my current set-up and hope to stay here for awhile.....until curiosity grabs hold of course.

* bolding for effect - mine

Hah!

Famous last words!

(around here, anyway)

 

[eomcall]

I ordered an LD1+. Looking forward to pairing it with my Grado 60s.

This will be my first tube purchase. I got the stock 6Jl. Will try rolling in the future.

 

[bigjim82]

Just ordered my LDI+ tonight. Three minutes later I received an email from David asking if I still like the LDII++ I got a year ago and thanking me for my order (no canned reply). That is the kind of personal touch and service that will keep me coming back.

Got a few tubes to roll, next up - opamps.

 

[TFox]

I just received my I+ this afternoon.

It's a strange little beast so far... With the SR60's, the soundstage is wider, to the point where some music (especially the more compressed variety) just gets ridiculous. Count punk rock out, so far.

I put the 1984 (remaster?) version of Bob Marley's Is This Love through it, and it didn't really do it justice... there were some really funky sounding channel balance phenomena, and the bass notes kind of died.

I'm listening to Abbey Road currently, and the bass seems to be intact but not as tight as on my solid state system. Separation sure sounds good, though, and it's neat to be able to tell when I'm getting a call before the phone rings.

Is this something that changes during the burn-in process, or is this just the nature of the beast?

My signal chain: FLAC -> SB Audigy 2 value (master vol. ~85%) -> run of the mill RCA cable -> Hafler 915 SS component preamp-> (rec. out to) another typical RCA cable -> LD I+

 

[Planar_head]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TFox /img/forum/go_quote.gif My signal chain: FLAC -> SB Audigy 2 value (master vol. ~85%) -> run of the mill RCA cable -> Hafler 915 SS component preamp-> (rec. out to) another typical RCA cable -> LD I+

I'm assuming that the master volume you're refering to is the computer volume for the Audigy soundcard? I find the master volume on my X-Fi to be a piece of junk, so I usually leave it at 100%.

I can hear when I accidently leave that volume at 80% - the sound quality decreases by quite a bit.

 

[TFox]

Yeah, the windows master volume. I don't know if it's all in my head, but it sounded to me that if I backed it down just a little, it cleaned up a bit.

I've often wanted to compare line levels, but never really got around to it - now that I think of it, it could be fairly easy with my friend's multimeter, a cd with a sinewave, and the identical source on the computer.

I just wish they'd make a soundcard with a true line level output. That would make everything so much easier.

 

[electropop]

If this is troubling you guys, why not try an external sound card with a line out, and connecting it to Foobar via ASIO? This bypasses the windows sound scheme.. I think..

 

[Morb]

Ok, looking at this LD I+ as well... will these work ok with my ATH-A900? But what if i upgrade my cans to, let's say a senn HD650, then this amp will not be usefull anymore?

On a sidenote, do these LD I+ glow as well such as the MKIII or LD MKII?

 

[TFox]

I snapped a few pictures of mine in different light conditions.

I don't know if it's as bright as the MKIII, but I will say that the picture I've seen (on 'The Zen of Photography' blog) looks like a relatively long exposure, which may exaggerate how bright the tubes are. I compensated the first exposure (the one with available light) by a half-stop to avoid this and get a better shutter speed. The other two are normal exposure with an incandescent lamp on.

From my guitar amp experience, these are decently bright. They won't light your desk up in the dark, but they're noticeable even in a lit room.

 

[TFox]

Ok, after some comparison... something is off. I pushed in the mono button on my FM receiver. The left channel and the right channel are not on the same page here. The left channel seems quieter and doesn't seem to be putting out the highs like the right channel. At first I thought I might have some uneven hearing loss, but I flipped the phones around and it went the other way. Also, when turning the volume knob up from zero, the left channel ducks out for a little bit before coming back up to (not quite) even.

Has anyone else experienced this? It's not the source... I plugged it into my other pre and that one puts it in the middle of the head where it should be.

Edit: switched the tubes around. Amplitude phenomena have not switched around.

I recorded some output from the amp, which confirms the amplitude imbalance favoring the right side. While playing white noise, the spectral view in Audition shows different 'hot' artifacts on the different channels, and the VU's show an uneven signal (although I suspect this is characteristic of all tube stuff). A straight test tone shows the amplitude imbalance. The After I get back from class tonight and get a test done, I'm going to put a sine sweep through it and see how they differ. I'll compile all the tests into a single flac file (so that you can see the different conditions in the spectral view without distortion) and host it on my webspace.

 

[malldian]

I would let David know, you might have a bad unit. His customer service is great so I wouldn't worry.

 

[TFox]

Wow, Califon, eh? When I'm not at school, I live right over in Long Valley

I'll be emailing him shortly. I'll still put up that file later in case anybody wants a listen.

 

[REB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morb /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok, looking at this LD I+ as well... will these work ok with my ATH-A900? But what if i upgrade my cans to, let's say a senn HD650, then this amp will not be usefull anymore? On a sidenote, do these LD I+ glow as well such as the MKIII or LD MKII?

It works well with low impedance cans. And although it wouldn't be my first choice for a HD650, it drives my HD600 decently. Decent enough to be able to save up for a bigger amp while listening to the LD I+.

Not sure about the glowing, but mine doesn't glow that much.

 

[Morb]

tnx for those pics Tfox, i just bought one

 

[Tobias Hobson]

OK I just got my 1+ and have a n00b question. Why does the manual say not to unplug your headphones while the amp is on? Is that to protect the amp, phones or both?