[thinker]

HDVD-800 Ok. with Mavericks?

 

[King of Pangaea]

I do not know the topology of the amps.
But if I input SE I do get bal out. I did the test a few ways. One way was with the ps audio DS in bal out and SE out. And both SE and BAL out and I feel there is no real change other then the volume.
Al

I just got my HDVD 800 a couple of days ago and set it up yesterday.  I used a balanced XLR in and alo a Toslink in from Oppo 95.  Can't really distinguish much difference, if any from using Sabre 32 chip in Oppo  with balanced XLR into amp and toslink into Burr Brown 1792 of HDVD800.  As for my Denon DVD3930 I ran it coax digital out and also unbalanced RCA out into HDVD 800.  Didn't sound much different than before, but I was just kicking back for awhile and lisening to some old disco and other rock and roll.  I will do some critical listening later with classical and really put it to the test.  A report later.  I love the connectivity but would appreciate another analog input.  I'm using my old Creek OBH-11 with my old cassette player.  I'll find some other use for it also.  Maybe split the unbalance out and run the Denon into both the Senn and the Creek.  So many toys, so many wires, so little time.

 

[ALRAINBOW]

Using the oppo. Keep,in mind read the directions to des able the internal dac. Otherwise even though you are using the coax out it still goes through the dac inside the oppo. Also the dac inside the hdvd800 is ok but needs a AP1/PP to sound it's best.

 

[King of Pangaea]

What is an AP1/PP ?  The DAC in my Denon is a Burr Brown PCM 1796, supposedly better than the 1792 in the Sennheiser. 
But please enlighten me what you mean about AP1/PP.
 
Thanks,
 
Bill

 

[Dionysus]

http://www.audiophilleo.com/purepower.aspx

This is what Al is speaking of.

 

[King of Pangaea]

Using the oppo. Keep,in mind read the directions to des able the internal dac. Otherwise even though you are using the coax out it still goes through the dac inside the oppo. Also the dac inside the hdvd800 is ok but needs a AP1/PP to sound it's best.

Of course if I am using the coax out it should automatically bypass the internal Sabre 32 DAC in the Oppo.  The Sabre DAC will only be engaged if I am outputting through XLR or unbalanced RCA.    I see nothing in the Oppo manual about disabling the Oppo DAC.  I have just started seriouosly playing with this beast starting yesterday and have nothing concrete to report yet.  I think I have everything wired up right.
 
I shouldn't have any problem getting a third party manufacture balanced XLR4 cable from HD800 into an XLR4 extension cable from Bluejeans cable then into HDVD800 should I?  I am not a big believer in wires making that much of a difference.  These should all be about 21AWG  which according to my research and calculations  should yield about 1 ohm total resistance, which should be good enough.  I need 15 to 20 feet of length for my purposes.  10 feet just doesn't cut it.
 
Using coax or optical/Toslink out means a bitstream, not yet converted to analog.  This would be handled by the DAC in the HDVD800.

 

[ALRAINBOW]

Heads up ur not bypassing the internal DAC.
It is not clear in the Manuel but it does discuss settings.
There is a thread on od audio about it.
Go to the direct stream impressions thread it's only the past two days

 

[ALRAINBOW]

http://www.psaudio.com/forum/directstream-all-about-it/directstream-dac-first-impressions/page-83/#p28451

 

[wisemanja]

  BTW, I do not think it is possible for you to compare how this amp perform on the input side.
Since "xlr in" can only produce "xlr out", and "rca in" can only produce the "single ended out".
Therefore, I do not think you can just used one output to evaluate both inputs at the same time. If the output is bounded with the input, then, it is a very high chance that they are using different topology to amp the signal from these inputs.
 
I am very curious how you arrived such conclusion on the inputs.
 
Cheers

Hi Alan!
 
Haven't been here for a while but thought I would comment.
 
The XLR output draws from both the "top" and "bottom" halves of the amplifier's left and right channels. The SE output just pulls from the "top" of each channel (the "bottom" halves are just wasted)
 
The XLR "top" and "bottom" input components for a channel is fed directly to the "top" and "bottom" components for that channel in the amplifier. The SE input for a channel ("top" only) is split and fed to both the "top" and "bottom" components for that channel in the amplifier (i.e., once the SE signal enters the amp it is converted to an XLR signal to pass through the amp)
 
The amp is always running as XLR so either XLR or SE input can feed either XLR or SE output. If you only feed an SE signal in though, you don't get the full advantage of an XLR signal in. If you only use the SE output, you are only using half of the amplifier on each channel (i.e., 1/4 of the power).
 
Note that if you wanted to do comparisons on the input, the SE input has an attenuator on it. It is intended to allow the input level to be adjusted so that changing between different input components will not produce a change in level. However, you could use that to set the SE level in a way that two lines (one XLR and one SE) coming from the same device could be compared at similar levels.
 
-Jeff

 

[wisemanja]

  I've just got mine (HDVA600) yesterday and even though I'm still running it with SE-out and RCA-in, it sounds exceptional already. I hope it would get even better after my balanced cable arrive..

There is no two ways about it, The XLR capabilities of the amp are superior to the SE capabilities. Once you hear the XLR output you will likely never go back.
 
The full balanced capabilities tends to provide better dynamics and cleaner separation of sounds. Instruments tend to sound more distinct. Again, the differences depend on your source material, input that you are using, and your hearing sensitivities.
 
Rest assured that the XLR will NEVER sound worst than the SE
 
-Jeff

 

[ruthieandjohn]

 
There is no two ways about it, The XLR capabilities of the amp are superior to the SE capabilities. Once you hear the XLR output you will likely never go back.
 
The full balanced capabilities tends to provide better dynamics and cleaner separation of sounds. Instruments tend to sound more distinct. Again, the differences depend on your source material, input that you are using, and your hearing sensitivities.
 
Rest assured that the XLR will NEVER sound worst than the SE
 
-Jeff

For noobies like me that have both an HD800 headphone and an HDVD 800 amp on their way to me, what is the tutorial on changing from SE to XLR?  Is it getting the ~$350 cable that Sennheiser provides?  Anything else, given the 800- amp AND headphones?  Thanks!

 

[ALRAINBOW]

I use the amp section all the time. It sounds very good either way
But a bal cable a cheap one is recommended. So buying the senn one is fine and a good idea otherwise you will wonder for yourself as some do.
Enjoy
Al

 

[wisemanja]

 
For noobies like me that have both an HD800 headphone and an HDVD 800 amp on their way to me, what is the tutorial on changing from SE to XLR?  Is it getting the ~$350 cable that Sennheiser provides?  Anything else, given the 800- amp AND headphones?  Thanks!

In general the only real difference in HEADPHONE cables between balanced and unbalanced is just the plug on the end and how it is wired. The sad thing about this is that the default SE cable that Sennheiser distributes with its HD800 phones is IDENTICAL to the XLR cable that they sell. With Sennheiser, the *ONLY* difference is that the XLR cable has a 4 pin XLR plug on one end of it instead of the standard SE stereo phone plug (a $20 part).
 
I use a Beyerdynamic T1 with my HDVD800. When I bought the phones, i had the distributor cut the last 12 inches off of the headphone cable (leaving the original SE plug it) and then solder a 4 pin male XLR connector with the proper HDVD800 pinouts onto the cable connected to the headphones. I also had them solder a female 4 pin XLR connector onto the cut end of the short cable with the SE phone plug on it. Now I can use the T1 in balanced mode but if I need to use it on an SE only amp, I just use the 12 inch adapter cable that was made from the original's cut off end.
 
So you could consider doing this with the original SE cable that came with the HD800. The 2 XLR connectors typically run about $20-$25 each. The termination fee might run about $50 each. If you don't care about the adapter for SE usage, you could get something almost identical to the Sennheiser XLR cables (wouldn't have the fancy Sennheiser plug that sticks out too far anyway but would have the same exact cable) by converting your original for about $75. For another $75 you would have a matching SE adapter.
 
Note that soldering these connectors on is no where as trivial as normal soldering. I'm pretty sure that the Sennheiser cables (like many other high quality headphone cables) uses Litz wire which requires special soldering techniques. Also attempting to do this without the use of the correct chemicals and a solder pot will not produce much success so whoever does it for you needs to have experience in terminating cables with Litz wire in them. That is why the termination fee is a bit pricey because it is labor intensive preparing the cable for termination.
 
One last thing. You can use an SE adapter of some sort with an XLR headphone cable, but you cannot create an XLR adapter for headphones with a normal SE phone plug and cable on it. The SE wiring contains a common connection where one wire from each channel runs through a common pin (i.e., they are shorted together). This defeats the balanced configuration, so if you have a SE cable on your phones, the balanced configuration is permanently disabled. There is no such thing as an "XLR adapter" than can undo this.
 
-Jeff

 

[62ohm]

Hey guys, how come can the HDVA600 (and I'm assuming HDVD800 as well) stay very cool even after extended period of listening? I think even my little Schiit Magni produced more heat than the HDVA600.

 

[Bartez75]

It doesn't have a toroidal transformer but impulse one.
I'm not sure about amplification if it is A or D class...