[project86]

Quote:

Right so, forgive me for being a total noob, but to connect this to my Mac Mini I can either use USB or S/PDIF. Presuming the latter should be theoretically better(?), I need to buy a Toslink cable with a 3.5mm adapter right? The shorter the better really since the DAC is either going to sit underneath the Mini or next to it.

That is correct - both options will work well. I've never been one of those people who claim to hear big differences between coaxial and Toslink, and when you have a proper USB implementation like the D100, all inputs should really sound about the same. For me it would come down to other factors like: which cable can I get in the length I want for cheap? And depending on what else you do with your Mac, which one puts a bigger load on the CPU while listening to music?

 

[Somnambulist]

Yeah I think I'd like to keep the USB ports free on the Mac since I'm already using two (one for the iPhone cable and one to a powered USB hub) and I might as well use an output that won't get used otherwise, since any headphone listening would be done through the amp in the DAC rather than the headphone/digital out of the Mini.
 
I've looked about and I can either go for a toslink to toslink cable w/adapter, or get a toslink to mini-jack which is an all in one. The latter looks sturdier since I've read about adapters breaking and getting stuck in the back of the port, although these seem far less available. There's a Fisual 0.5m sold on a shop on eBay for about £8. I can't find anything shorter, which would be preferable since the Mac and DAC will literally be next to/on top of each other.

 

[project86]

 
Quote:

Yeah I think I'd like to keep the USB ports free on the Mac since I'm already using two (one for the iPhone cable and one to a powered USB hub) and I might as well use an output that won't get used otherwise, since any headphone listening would be done through the amp in the DAC rather than the headphone/digital out of the Mini.
 
I've looked about and I can either go for a toslink to toslink cable w/adapter, or get a toslink to mini-jack which is an all in one. The latter looks sturdier since I've read about adapters breaking and getting stuck in the back of the port, although these seem far less available. There's a Fisual 0.5m sold on a shop on eBay for about £8. I can't find anything shorter, which would be preferable since the Mac and DAC will literally be next to/on top of each other.

That makes sense. For a while I was looking for a short cable like that, but never could find it. I wanted something like a min-mini cable.... just the proper connections on each end with maybe 2-3 inches of cable in between. I was considering having one custom made but I never looked into that.

 

 

[Somnambulist]

These guys appear to make short cables:
http://www.sysconcept.ca/product_info.php?products_id=219&osCsid=0681192072f6542f5f55279b80e8ca3b
 
However I'm quite sure I can get a decent cable from within the UK where I don't have to incur customs charges and the like, just a case of having a look round I suppose. Currently this will have to do unless I find something else, although I won't be ordering anything till I'm satisfied I couldn't find anything better suited.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fisual-Pearl-MiniToslink-Optical-Cable-Apple-Mac-0-5m-/150464349334?pt=UK_Computing_Apple_Mac_Accessories&hash=item23085fc496#ht_1634wt_1141

 

[project86]

Finally finished my review of the Yulong A100, which is the matching amp for the D100.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/535630/review-yulong-a100-headphone-amp
 

 

[reiserFS]

You're only looking for short cables, right? I have fairly high quality 3 meter and 5 meter ones here that I could include for free.
 
Edit: Disregard that, didn't see you were looking for a mini Toslink.
 
Quote:

These guys appear to make short cables:
http://www.sysconcept.ca/product_info.php?products_id=219&osCsid=0681192072f6542f5f55279b80e8ca3b
 
However I'm quite sure I can get a decent cable from within the UK where I don't have to incur customs charges and the like, just a case of having a look round I suppose. Currently this will have to do unless I find something else, although I won't be ordering anything till I'm satisfied I couldn't find anything better suited.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fisual-Pearl-MiniToslink-Optical-Cable-Apple-Mac-0-5m-/150464349334?pt=UK_Computing_Apple_Mac_Accessories&hash=item23085fc496#ht_1634wt_1141

 

[rawrster]

Has anyone had any issues with their Yulong D100? I've never bought anything this expensive from China before so if warranty issues were to come up I'd like to have a responsive seller that's helpful.
 
I think what I'm going to do is buy the Yulong D100 and if I ever get something such as orthodynamics I'll get a powerful amp. I'll use the D100 for dynamics and that be enough for me. 
 
I'll buy these when tax season is over so I'll actually be at home so mid to late April should be when I get these.

 

[svyr]

Has anyone had any issues with their Yulong D100? I've never bought anything this expensive from China before so if warranty issues were to come up I'd like to have a responsive seller that's helpful.
 
I think what I'm going to do is buy the Yulong D100 and if I ever get something such as orthodynamics I'll get a powerful amp. I'll use the D100 for dynamics and that be enough for me. 
 
I'll buy these when tax season is over so I'll actually be at home so mid to late April should be when I get these.

vol pot channel imbalance at low vols, knob coming off and being a cheap piece of plastic. some amps i connect have impedance mismatch issues and have feedback into the connected amp and the d100 hp sockets. the dac sometimes freezes if you connect things to line out while it's on (had that at the melb meet when people forgot to turn it off)...

 

[violinvirtuoso]

^ I haven't had any of those troubles. Though the D100 is usually used with my HD650s, the channels were fairly even all the way down with my SM3. And the volume knob still works fine. Perhaps all of those woes will come upon me in due time, but none of them have occurred yet.

 

[svyr]

^ I haven't had any of those troubles. Though the D100 is usually used with my HD650s, the channels were fairly even all the way down with my SM3. And the volume knob still works fine. Perhaps all of those woes will come upon me in due time, but none of them have occurred yet.

do not move the unit by the vol knob. I was used to nice machined metal knobs held by screws. This is a dodgy plastic one held by promises

 

[violinvirtuoso]

I'll keep that in mind. But then I haven't moved my D100 in months (its still sitting on my desk).

 

[rawrster]

Quote:

vol pot channel imbalance at low vols, knob coming off and being a cheap piece of plastic. some amps i connect have impedance mismatch issues and have feedback into the connected amp and the d100 hp sockets. the dac sometimes freezes if you connect things to line out while it's on (had that at the melb meet when people forgot to turn it off)...

Has anyone else had that? I've not heard of those issues until this post.
 
 
@violinvirtuoso: How do you like the D100 paired with the HD650?

 

[svyr]

Quote:

vol pot channel imbalance at low vols, knob coming off and being a cheap piece of plastic. some amps i connect have impedance mismatch issues and have feedback into the connected amp and the d100 hp sockets. the dac sometimes freezes if you connect things to line out while it's on (had that at the melb meet when people forgot to turn it off)...

Has anyone else had that? I've not heard of those issues until this post.
 
 
@violinvirtuoso: How do you like the D100 paired with the HG650?

other people definitely had channel imbalance issues at low vols and wrote about it in the thread (not that it's a big problem).
Vol knob coming off (but may happen to anyone since it's not held very firmly in place) and impedance mismatch problems and unit freezing if connecting things to line out without turning it off are new afaik. The last one may well by the fault of 2/4 amps I had being DIY ones. Maybe the builders screwed something up and it's a problem with them.

 

[violinvirtuoso]

After trying it again with my SM3, yes there is channel imbalance, but not at volumes I would listen at. 
 
The D100 sounds really nice with the D100. The D100 provides enough power to properly drive the HD650s, and doesn't sound lacking. I tried the HD650s on a variety of amps at Can Jam, and I think the D100 drives the HD650s like some of the better amps there (though not the best). The only other experience with desktop amps I have comes from the uDAC, Musiland Monitor, and the Darkvoice 337. The D100 completely outclasses the uDAC and Monitor. For the amp section the D100 is almost as good as the Darkvoice. The DV lends some more tube warmth while keeping its great technical skill. Though the HD650 is already a slightly warm headphone, the Darkvoice did not sound bad with it. I just couldn't justify the space, or cost of the DV for such a small improvement.
 
If you want a comparison with the K240s on the D100, or have more questions, let me know. I hope this helps.

 

[svyr]

After trying it again with my SM3, yes there is channel imbalance, but not at volumes I would listen at. 
 

yea look all of the above are relatively minor issues. Besides, people can qualify any of those with the seller as return/exchange/store credit conditions, if they're afraid that those could be big issues for them. Not really major reasons not to get a D100. Still, a better vol pot, knob and RCA plugs would be nice.


It's still a decent dac/amp combo. Although I would keep in mind that sound mode 2 is only available on HP out and your external amp may sound a bit sharp.

p.s I'd still be interested to hear if anyone has impedance mismatch feedback 'whirling noises' when plugging in some external hp amps.