dj nellie
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2009
- Posts
- 882
- Likes
- 24
So after reading the discussion a few pages back about the Off-Ramp 5 dramatically improving the sound of a USB computer source with the PWD, I decided to take a leap of faith and buy one. My decision was eased by the fact that the people giving the impressions were people whose suggestions I'd followed in the past, and had definitely come to trust. I got the OR5 with turboclock and HDMI Hynes reg upgrades.
While I still don't have my SR009 rig to confirm (I had to send my Liquid Lightning back for a minor repair), I can already say that the OR5 was well worth it. I initially tried my Senn RS220 from the coax out of the OR5 into my PWD (MK2), and wasn't impressed. It sounded veiled and congested, and not much different from using the PWD's USB input.
I had a PS Audio HDMI-10 cable and the sound into the PWD's I2S input was heavily distorted, so I assumed something was wrong with the OR5. But when I tried a generic HDMI cable, the sound was fine. Steve from Empirical Audio told me that he's had problems with that PS Audio cable before. For the record, this is the second PS Audio product I've had which was defective upon arrival (the other being my Dectet). While I should be able to get a refund on the cable, let's just say I'm not too impressed with the quality control at PS Audio--my PWD notwithstanding.
Even with a generic HDMI cable, the OR5's improvements on the PWD's USB input are immediately noticeable and significant. I had never been very impressed with the RS220 as anything more than a casual listening, "good considering it's wireless" headphone. But with the OR5 outputting I2S into the PWD, the RS220 became much more life-like, 3-dimensional and engaging. It actually sounded like it could be a reference quality headphone, like an HD600 driven by a top notch amp.
I can't wait to hear how the 009 improves once I get my LL back. For anyone who has a PWD and doesn't want to spend potentially upwards of $3000 to get to a significantly better DAC, I would say the $1-2k that the OR5 costs is definitely worth considering. As bonus, the OR5 has a small physical footprint and is extremely easy to set up.
While I still don't have my SR009 rig to confirm (I had to send my Liquid Lightning back for a minor repair), I can already say that the OR5 was well worth it. I initially tried my Senn RS220 from the coax out of the OR5 into my PWD (MK2), and wasn't impressed. It sounded veiled and congested, and not much different from using the PWD's USB input.
I had a PS Audio HDMI-10 cable and the sound into the PWD's I2S input was heavily distorted, so I assumed something was wrong with the OR5. But when I tried a generic HDMI cable, the sound was fine. Steve from Empirical Audio told me that he's had problems with that PS Audio cable before. For the record, this is the second PS Audio product I've had which was defective upon arrival (the other being my Dectet). While I should be able to get a refund on the cable, let's just say I'm not too impressed with the quality control at PS Audio--my PWD notwithstanding.
Even with a generic HDMI cable, the OR5's improvements on the PWD's USB input are immediately noticeable and significant. I had never been very impressed with the RS220 as anything more than a casual listening, "good considering it's wireless" headphone. But with the OR5 outputting I2S into the PWD, the RS220 became much more life-like, 3-dimensional and engaging. It actually sounded like it could be a reference quality headphone, like an HD600 driven by a top notch amp.
I can't wait to hear how the 009 improves once I get my LL back. For anyone who has a PWD and doesn't want to spend potentially upwards of $3000 to get to a significantly better DAC, I would say the $1-2k that the OR5 costs is definitely worth considering. As bonus, the OR5 has a small physical footprint and is extremely easy to set up.
