[Tapetech]

Quote:

BTW, I asked Resonessence about the Concero HP, and there won't be an analog out other than the 1/4" headphone jack. 
 
 

No reason why you couldn't drive a power amp (and speakers) with the headphone output signal.  In theory, the headphone out may be a bit noisier than a standard line out, but in practice that may not be a factor at all.

 

[FraGGleR]

Quote:

No reason why you couldn't drive a power amp (and speakers) with the headphone output signal.  In theory, the headphone out may be a bit noisier than a standard line out, but in practice that may not be a factor at all.

Quite true, but I'd like to have something that I could feed both headphones and speakers without unplugging either or.

 

[EraserXIV]

Quote:

Quite true, but I'd like to have something that I could feed both headphones and speakers without unplugging either or.

 
This is something that has somewhat become a requirement of mine too. Pretty much only looking at DACs now that have both balanced and single-ended outputs. I run the balanced to my headphone amp, and the single-ended to my speakers. The convenience of not having to plug and unplug is pretty valuable to me.
 
It does somewhat limit the choices of DACs, but fortunately most new DACs coming out nowadays tend to have both, even most in the <$1000 range.

 

[project86]

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About the Concero HP, if it is not going to have a display, let's hope the volume button is not like the one in the INVICTA which can rotate infinitely in each direction since the (digital) volume level is controlled via the display...

 
I'm sure they accounted for this. 

 

[mafiamike]

Well, I was listening to v200 (-6) and lyr tonight. I kinda enjoyed the lyr with tubes more. I guess it sounded more smooth and a just a tad more bass. The guitar strings were more pronounced and voices I think. I found myself more into the music. I switched to the middle filter by the way and the tubes were the basic ones from schiit.

 

[FraGGleR]

Finally bit the bullet and got a Concero used. Will also buy the Concero HD when it releases in a month and see if the increase in sound is worth the money.

 

[project86]

Quote:

Finally bit the bullet and got a Concero used. Will also buy the Concero HD when it releases in a month and see if the increase in sound is worth the money.

 
 
Nice!

 

[snip3r77]

bookmarked

 

[FraGGleR]

Well, I have been doing my best to A/B the Concero vs my Nuforce HDP with Sigma11 PSU and I am slowly finding the differences between them.  
 
First, though, testing DACs against each other is very hard!  Having to switch between sources on my amp along with sources in Foobar as quickly as I can is difficult while a song is playing.  I have figured out that I need to pick out just a few notes of a song that show me something I am looking for and replay over and over switching DACs every couple of plays.  
 
The differences between the DAC in the HDP and the Concero are not large, but what differences I notice are definite and important to me.  Tonally, I find them quite similar, so I haven't noticed much difference in the balance between bass, treble, etc., but I have noticed a difference in soundstage and the treatment of detail in space.  The difference doesn't jump out since the cues are in the background, but I have definitely gotten an improvement in an important sound metric for me.  The better realism I get due to this pleases me greatly.  
 
I have also answered my own question about how good the Concero could be when it is based on the same core DAC chip as the ODAC.  While I have already sold my ODAC, I had compared it extensively to my HDP.  While I still think the ODAC is an incredibly good value, it wasn't better than my HDP to my ears, and the Concero is better to my ears than the HDP.  I guess the folks at Resonessence know what they are doing.
 
From a value standpoint the comparison between my HDP and Concero is harder to figure out.  While the DAC is better (or at least the USB input is) on the Concero, the HDP is a very competent headphone amp and has preamp functionality to boot.  For $450 ($350 used or refurbished) it is still a killer value.  
 
What I haven't done yet is play with filters (just ordered a remote from Amazon) or tried the Concero as a usb-spdif bridge for the HDP.  I know that Nuforce released a usb-spdif to increase the USB performance so perhaps some of the gap between the two devices could lessen with a better USB input.  Even if it did, I have still had to add a $150-200 linear psu plus a $50-500? usb-sdif bridge to the HDP to get it to that point.
 
Overall, I am very pleased with the Concero (love the form factor!)  I look forward to the release of the Concero HD to see what improvements come by moving up the chain.  Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread and helped me along the way to making the purchase.

 

[EraserXIV]

Thanks for the update. I'm becoming increasingly curious about the Concero HD. I was pretty set on needing multiple outputs, but if the Concero HD can deliver with the new 9016 chip, I may be able to justify the sacrifice. I'm hoping it gets some trickle-down from the "old" Invicta's headphone section that used the 9016 chip.

 

[khaine1711]

Quote:

Thanks for the update. I'm becoming increasingly curious about the Concero HD. I was pretty set on needing multiple outputs, but if the Concero HD can deliver with the new 9016 chip, I may be able to justify the sacrifice. I'm hoping it gets some trickle-down from the "old" Invicta's headphone section that used the 9016 chip.

You could build your own switch box. Or Mapletree audio does have one ready made, put in a fancy box. I think it can be ordered with up to 6 input/output. 
 
 

 

 

[JWahl]

Just thought I'd let the fellow Concero users know to be mindful of the quality of Signal you feed the Concero from a PC.  I recently decide to try the "Fidelizer" software on my PC with great results.  I already use JRiver with it's minor tweaks as well.  I went into it honestly expecting zero difference, but figured it wouldn't hurt to try since it's free.  It essentially kills non-essential windows services and reschedules processor priorities for audio.  For me it very noticeably improved the overall sound quality.  Slightly better separation, and more natural "flow" to the music.  I really had no idea all the different windows processes and what not were gimping the signal going out so much.
 
It's not an absolutely night and day difference, so I'm not accused of being sensationalist, but I would say more noticeable than cable changes, and the difference between red book and hi-res.  And certainly more noticeable than moving from foobar to JRiver.  Probably just below an all out DAC upgrade to me.  And it's not like a have a poorly specced computer, it's custom built for heavy gaming, but I guess there's just a lot of things going on in the background stealing resources from audio processes.  It's almost frustrating to the logical, objective side of me...
 
I'm sure this would probably apply to any dac with USB but it just seemed more noticeable than I had expected and really pulls out what the Concero is capable of.  This also would be more in line with Project86's review, since he uses a dedicated Auriliti music server, which I'm sure is already fully optimized for audio and sending the Concero an excellent USB signal.  So much for the automatically assumed low jitter superiority of Asynchronous USB...  

 

[RustA]

Quote:

Just thought I'd let the fellow Concero users know to be mindful of the quality of Signal you feed the Concero from a PC.  I recently decide to try the "Fidelizer" software on my PC with great results.  I already use JRiver with it's minor tweaks as well.  I went into it honestly expecting zero difference, but figured it wouldn't hurt to try since it's free.  It essentially kills non-essential windows services and reschedules processor priorities for audio.  For me it very noticeably improved the overall sound quality.  Slightly better separation, and more natural "flow" to the music.  I really had no idea all the different windows processes and what not were gimping the signal going out so much.
 
It's not an absolutely night and day difference, so I'm not accused of being sensationalist, but I would say more noticeable than cable changes, and the difference between red book and hi-res.  And certainly more noticeable than moving from foobar to JRiver.  Probably just below an all out DAC upgrade to me.  And it's not like a have a poorly specced computer, it's custom built for heavy gaming, but I guess there's just a lot of things going on in the background stealing resources from audio processes.  It's almost frustrating to the logical, objective side of me...
 
I'm sure this would probably apply to any dac with USB but it just seemed more noticeable than I had expected and really pulls out what the Concero is capable of.  This also would be more in line with Project86's review, since he uses a dedicated Auriliti music server, which I'm sure is already fully optimized for audio and sending the Concero an excellent USB signal.  So much for the automatically assumed low jitter superiority of Asynchronous USB...  

 
Now download Jplay and run it using Jplay Mini player (and not Foobar or Jriver) in hibernate mode... Fidelizer is only for starters. ,-)

 

[JWahl]

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Now download Jplay and run it using Jplay Mini player (and not Foobar or Jriver) in hibernate mode... Fidelizer is only for starters. ,-)

I've briefly tried it but I still prefer to have some normal functionality, network functionality, and ease of use as well while I listen.  Only minor complaint when using Fidelizer is that it also disables my keyboard controls for changing tracks.  

 

[RustA]

Quote:

I've briefly tried it but I still prefer to have some normal functionality, network functionality, and ease of use as well while I listen.  Only minor complaint when using Fidelizer is that it also disables my keyboard controls for changing tracks.  

 
Well, you could always use whatever player you want with Jplay... Jplay is now fully ready to be integrated in any player that supports ASIO playback, including Foobar or Jriver.
 
That way, Jriver/Foobar/whatever functions as a library manager and you only use Jplay's driver for actual playback... You can even apply DSP if you want (VST plugins, replaygain). These changes are from version 5.0.
 
That said, if you want to experience the biggest sonic improvements, you have to use Jplay Mini, at best in hibernate mode... You can playback using one computer, or a control PC along with dedicated audio PC.  Using two PCs, you still have a full accessibility to your control PC while having the audio PC in hibernate mode for the best SQ.