[jamato8]

I get a little bit of hiss at max and max gain but it doesn't matter as it has no relevance to music. What do you get when you disconnect the Predator from the iMac and try this

edit: the only time I can get any hiss is when the Predator is hooked up to my source, the USB of my PowerBook G. When not hooked up it has no hiss at max anything but again I wouldn't worry if it did.

 

[OptionTrader]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wkwlb /img/forum/go_quote.gif Has anyone here ever experienced hissing out of your predator? it does happen when i plug in my iem at high gain&max volume in DAC mode. And the hissing is even stronger if i turn it to amp mode. This should not happen according to what Ray had stated on his website. OR it means my predator is defective?

If you plug an IEM into the Predator at max gain and max volume and then push a signal through it, any hiss (which btw is very faint on my Predator with ~500 hrs) would be the very least of your problems. You will never hear another thing again.

As I have posted before, this amp is dead quiet at normal and even well beyond normal settings. It seems even that as the hours stack up, what little hiss the unit has is diminishing. If I disconnect all inputs, there is no hiss at all.

 

[Dash]

The Predator comes with a lifetime warranty and RSA has excellent customer service. If it concerned me, I would it send it in and have it checked out. A little peace of mind can go along ways.

 

[wkwlb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamato8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I get a little bit of hiss at max and max gain but it doesn't matter as it has no relevance to music. What do you get when you disconnect the Predator from the iMac and try this edit: the only time I can get any hiss is when the Predator is hooked up to my source, the USB of my PowerBook G. When not hooked up it has no hiss at max anything but again I wouldn't worry if it did.

guess i shouldnt be worried either, anyway i'll try to further burn it in and see what will happen~
BTW, still nobody posting any photos? i do wanna c some other color schemes!

 

[jamato8]

So where are the images? Nobody got a camera? :^)

Listening to Jackson Browne "Solo acoustical" and it is great. Beautiful depth to the audience with a taught and harmonically right sound to the guitar. I find that reproducing that "twang" with a depth that gives a feeling the the complexity to a plucked string not always that easy but the Predator does a great job. Ah, such a nice feeling to the acoustic field in this recording. Great fun.

 

[fld777]

Anyone here have experience or is using Predator with the Grado RS1 ? is it warm enough that it can give the Grado RS1s some warmth to make it not too sharp or bright sounding.

Thanks for inputs.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I did a review of RS-2 and HF-1 with APureSound V3 cable, vs HP-1000 and I used the Predator. I even commented on the Grado Synergy before I went to bed that night. It wasn't until the next day that the question came up as to whether other amps had better synergy, and a few did. But, the fact that the headphones all sounded so good during the review, WITH the Predator, is testament to how good Predator is with Grado. REVIEW: Grado HF-1 and RS-2 both re-cabled with APureSound v3 cable, with stock HP-2 sprinkled in for good measure...

Predator works better with my high-end Grados than half my amps, only bettered by my modded iBasso D1 (AD797 opamps, with AD8397 as buffers = lots of current) and my DarkVoice 336i with the proper tubes (Hytron 5692 brownbase in front, Tung Sol 5998 in rear). The Headstage Lyrix with AD8397 opamp and the older Meier Headamp-1 were just slightly ahead of Predator.

At low to normal volumes any of the amps suffice, the difference being the above amps could drive the Grados loudly without getting thin sounding, although the Predator was just starting to lose steam in the bass at very high volumes vs the others. That was at volume levels that I do not typically find myself listening at, and would certainly be over 100db and harmful for more than 10-30 minutes.

 

[fld777]

qustions guys; If breaking in the Predator using FM Station via 2 rca to lineout, does one have to break in the USB section as well using computer ? meaning does these two inputs have to be broken in differently ?

tks.

 

[thread]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fld777 /img/forum/go_quote.gif qustions guys; If breaking in the Predator using FM Station via 2 rca to lineout, does one have to break in the USB section as well using computer ? meaning does these two inputs have to be broken in differently ? tks.

Ray tells me that the DAC portion only takes about 150 hours.

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fld777 /img/forum/go_quote.gif qustions guys; If breaking in the Predator using FM Station via 2 rca to lineout, does one have to break in the USB section as well using computer ? meaning does these two inputs have to be broken in differently ? tks.

If you run from the USB to the output you have both in the circuit so you are burning-in both. I see what you mean though, because there is an input so you can use just the amp but that is just a trace that goes to the switch that eliminates the dac when you use the Predator as an amp only.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I have 988 hours on my Predator as of 11am today, and about 200 of those have been with the DAC. The biggest thing to burn in was that cap in the amp section.

 

[jamato8]

Make sure you mark your charger cord in some way so that you do not put over the 5 volts into your Predator by using the wrong charger.

 

[wkwlb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamato8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Make sure you mark your charger cord in some way so that you do not put over the 5 volts into your Predator by using the wrong charger.

ya,indeed. I got 2 chagers with same look but different voltage. I always check the voltage and match it with wat was marked at the back of my predator.

 

[Audio-Omega]

Is there a waiting period for this amp ?

 

[jamato8]

Not that I have read of. I would email RSA.