[cheesetogo]

Quote:

This why I don't use EMS from him anymore- DHL has been flawless.

Who does DHL hand their packages off to?

 

[Crazy*Carl]

I have used EMS twice, and both times they were good.

 

[EraserXIV]

Who does DHL hand their packages off to?

DHL delivers it themselves. DHL is just like FedEx or UPS.

 

[cheesetogo]

Quote:

DHL delivers it themselves. DHL is just like FedEx or UPS.

Heh, I guess you haven't used DHL in the past year or so (or do you not live in the US?). They pulled out of the US around the Fall of 2008.

 

[EraserXIV]

Heh, I guess you haven't used DHL in the past year or so (or do you not live in the US?). They pulled out of the US around the Fall of 2008.

Oh hm yeah now that you mention it, the last time I used DHL was about 2 years ago. I have no idea then.

 

[Rideau]

Quote:

I am not a believer in changing cables.  $50 or $60 for a short optical cable is crazy in my eyes. Then again, most audiophile stuff to me is.  But that is fine if you see the difference

 
 
 
After doing some quick A/B comparisons, I can say the sparrow is better than onboard sound, something I have not heard in several DAC/Amps recommended from head-fi.
 
What I really notice the most from the sparrow is soundstage... so this is what it is!

 
Crazy*Carl,  You could use any quality toslink, but I was getting all kinds of interference, whenever I was using the supplied toslink.  Everything was resolved by replacing the OEM cable.

 

[Toe Tag]

I heard that FedEx and UPS are going to merge... the new company will be called Fed-Up...
 
Just got my cheapest-possible-version of the Sparrow. Shipped Tuesday, arrived Thursday. From Foshan City, Guangdong, China. (also known as Canton Province, in the Pearl River Delta, near Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Macau). To Taiwan. 
 
One thing I can contribute is, its about the same size as a mac mini. Not as tall or as wide, and a bit deeper. It would be a fun mod to take one of those same-footprint-as-the-mac-mini hard disk cases and move the Sparrow guts into it, assuming they'd fit. 
 
Of course if you live by the mac, you die by the mac, so now I have to wait 2 weeks for the mini-plug-TOSLINK to TOSLINK optical cable to arrive...
 
Some of the above discussion misses the point. If you want interchangeable modules, that's what the Audio-gd Fun is for. If you want incredible bang for the buck from a designer and manufacturer who is well regarded by the well regarded head-fi forum, get the Sparrow. 

 

[Rideau]

 

 
Quote:

I heard that FedEx and UPS are going to merge... the new company will be called Fed-Up...
 
 

 

[movi]

^^ ya i found that funnier than i should have probably
 
when i finally get around to buying a Sparrow i think i'll run Blue Jean coax cables from my desktop

 

[aperson]

I just got a Sparrow version A a couple days ago and it's wonderful.
 
It's my first desktop dac/amp so I don't have anything similar to compare it to. However I find that it pairs nicely with my new 701s.
 
From my limited experience I found that it brings out the clarity of songs and it extends the bass lower than my old cheapo usb dac > portable amp setup.
 
Only problems I can think of so far is the poor labelling of the input switch, the lack of some rubber feet (which have both been mentioned before) and the unit runs a little warm in my opinion.
 
Overall I think it sounds great and I can't wait to discover my songs again.

 

[Kayk]

Quote:

From my limited experience I found that it brings out the clarity of songs and it extends the bass lower than my old cheapo usb dac > portable amp setup.
 
Only problems I can think of so far is the poor labelling of the input switch, the lack of some rubber feet (which have both been mentioned before) and the unit runs a little warm in my opinion.
 
Overall I think it sounds great and I can't wait to discover my songs again.

 
To extend on this, here is my list:
+ The ceiling has been raised for high notes
+ Powerful and well built unit
+ Incredible improvement in soundstage
+ Improved instrument separation
+ Improved detail across the board
+ Small/compact form factor (Not so much depth-wise)
= My volume knob has never gone farther than 1/3rd of the way around
= Unit runs kinda warm
= Power switch is on the back
- No analog inputs
- Output switch uses vague symbols ( -, O, =, 1, 2, 3) instead of the name of the connection type.
- No rubber feet
- I've had strange issues while gaming, sound effects sometimes decide to only play through the left ear only or the right ear only. Tolerable, but noticeable.

 

[movi]

Quote:

= My volume knob has never gone farther than 1/3rd of the way around, this means it will run high impedance headphones just fine

 
i thought that was a bad way to try to judge that though

 

[Kayk]

Quote:

 
i thought that was a bad way to try to judge that though

Well, I don't have any experience with high impedance headphones, but I get the idea that the Sparrow has a lot of power inside the little box so I made the assumption that it can do such a thing.

 

[anoobis]

kayk, I'd have been happier if there was an analogue input too, however, I suspect that's a design decision taken to keep down the cost, form factor and possibley prevent an impact on SQ. Remember that the Sparrow uses ACSS internally and this connection would have to be switched to allow for the alternative input. I believe there are extra opamps involved in the non-ACSS connection too.

 

[Ypoknons]

Quote:

i thought that was a bad way to try to judge that though

It is. Volume is based on gain, which applies a multiplier on the signal (as far I can understand), and doesn't reflect the amp's power delivery capabilities. 
 
Clipping, for example, would be fairly obvious indicator that there's not enough juice. Which is, by the way, is the genius of the Headroom Bithead - its clipping light tells you 'you need a better amp' without ambiguity.