I myself have mentioned in the AK380 dedicated thread, that AK's balanced implementations on the 380 had it's short comings and I myself would rather use the single ended. So that doesn't apply here.
But that doesnt mean that Chord couldn't add balanced, maybe because they don't have the real estate on their Hugo's foot print.
Also balanced generally sounds better at least in every single high end gear I've owned.
Chord believes their implementation does not require balanced. That's the reason they don't include it and they've expressed that the balanced output on the DAVE and HugoTT are worse sounding than the RCA SE output, regarding transparency. They've posted about this quite a few times in the Chord threads. Just relaying what they've said. Not taking sides here. It's a choice from them, not anything to do with a limitation.
The SP1000 is in no way underpowered. Period. Driving my HD800's right now like nobody's business. It's loud just doesn't make my ears bleed. And I agree with Dionysus, the comparison is ridiculous.
Unfortunately, on its single ended output, I felt that it was as underpowered as AK's past DAPs. When I tested the HD800, the SP1000 had to be cranked to full volume. Sure, it sounded awesome, but if you're going to be running hard-to-drive cans or IEMs, you'll probably need to go balanced, or lend the use of an external amp.
Unfortunately, on its single ended output, I felt that it was as underpowered as AK's past DAPs. When I tested the HD800, the SP1000 had to be cranked to full volume. Sure, it sounded awesome, but if you're going to be running hard-to-drive cans or IEMs, you'll probably need to go balanced, or lend the use of an external amp.
Again, the price i quoted in my previous post is for return custormers only. If you haven't purchased from them, the price will be different, not very good IMO. Even for return customers, not cheap! Please refer to my prior post for pricing. Sorry, when I told this info to the last person inquiring, I haven't heard anything back so I figured that person didn't like the price or wasn't interested anymore. I will PM you with the link, since I don't have their permission to post their info in public. Trying to be a decent citizen like all of us here.
I myself have mentioned in the AK380 dedicated thread, that AK's balanced implementations on the 380 had it's short comings and I myself would rather use the single ended. So that doesn't apply here.
But that doesnt mean that Chord couldn't add balanced, maybe because they don't have the real estate on their Hugo's foot print.
Also balanced generally sounds better at least in every single high end gear I've owned.
Unfortunately, on its single ended output, I felt that it was as underpowered as AK's past DAPs. When I tested the HD800, the SP1000 had to be cranked to full volume. Sure, it sounded awesome, but if you're going to be running hard-to-drive cans or IEMs, you'll probably need to go balanced, or lend the use of an external amp.
I agree with you both, Malevolent, yes I was referencing the sound coming from balanced out...good point on the single ended, it does need a boost. When they release the amp, I'm totally buying it and yes it will weigh 12 pounds when added buy hey...feels like quality right lol...
I am looking forward reading battery life tests when playing music from an external SSD. I hope battery life is not dramaticaly reduced
--> We really need to find the lowest power external SSD drive that works with USB-C OTG of the SP1000 ! Any ideas ?
I agree with you both, Malevolent, yes I was referencing the sound coming from balanced out...good point on the single ended, it does need a boost. When they release the amp, I'm totally buying it and yes it will weigh 12 pounds when added buy hey...feels like quality right lol...
I am looking forward reading battery life tests when playing music from an external SSD. I hope battery life is not dramaticaly reduced
--> We really need to find the lowest power external SSD drive that works with USB-C OTG of the SP1000 ! Any ideas ?
A lot will depend on if the tracks are loaded into RAM while playing. You should be able to tell if there is an activity LED on the drive enclosure. SSD drives consume about 2.5W while reading/writing so it will not last very long if the files are not cached in RAM. I don't think you are going to get much power variance in SSD drives themselves. Unfortunately the race is for performance and not so much on power consumption. Will be very curious how your real work test comes out.
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