[ALRAINBOW]

For anyone who has an offramp and or ap1/pp or uses a caps sever
Any of the above greatly improves the sound when using the internal DAC. It's still a little thin but much sharper in sound

Al

 

[Priidik]

Just listening some old favorites of mine and thinking: this amp makes the HD800 kick up the right dust and dig out the right dirt. 
Call it a coloration, call it transparency. Anyways crappy recordings benefit from it. Still, awesome recordings benefit way more.
I'm kind of embarrassed to catch myself enjoying these mediocre recordings now...

 

[Mozartaudio]

  Just listening some old favorites of mine and thinking: this amp makes the HD800 kick up the right dust and dig out the right dirt. 
Call it a coloration, call it transparency. Anyways crappy recordings benefit from it. Still, awesome recordings benefit way more.
I'm kind of embarrassed to catch myself enjoying these mediocre recordings now...

 
Me to ! I am enjoying every day more; very neutral, uncolored with no sound signature, very balanced presentation, especially with the HD 800. 

 

[ALRAINBOW]

I am glad to read you guys are enjoying
The amp. I use it daily and it is a very neutral detail rich combo.
Only bettered by my stax 009 rig. But I actually like the hdvd800 better

Al

 

[ruthieandjohn]

For anyone who has an offramp and or ap1/pp or uses a caps sever
Any of the above greatly improves the sound when using the internal DAC. It's still a little thin but much sharper in sound

Al

Are these ways to improve the performance of the HDVD 800 DAC?

If so, what is an "off ramp?" An ap1? A pp? A caps sever?

Sorry for my ignorance, but I'd heard similar advice and I think I want to try it. Thanks!

 

[ALRAINBOW]

No need to say sorry and we are all here to help each other.
A caps us a desecrated CPU setup sometimes win server 2012
Or win 7 or 8.
And this would help
Plenty but an offramp is USB converter.
It takes USB and converts to a few other common outputs.
It's mDe my emperical audio. Google it
Also the ap1/pp. Is by audiophileo
It is the same but cheaper but only has one output spidif RCA
They lower jitter and clean things up Nicely both top end and low end.
Al

 

[jagwap]

This is interesting.  In theory an asynchronous USB input is the lowest jitter input available in consumer audio.  I'm not saying you are wrong, as I have seen this said before that these devices can make improvements.
 
I would like to know how they compare to connecting the USB through a galvanic isolator?  RF noise on the USB can be a source of interference and will vary from setup to setup (and cable to cable, and I suspect is the main difference between USB cables).  If these devices are lowing RF interference then this would make more sense, as SPDIF is inherently more jittery than asynchronous USB (in theory).  
 
I say in theory as it is all in the implementation. 

 

[ALRAINBOW]

Yes but we all own a very sensitive device that can measure jitter very well. It's our brain. The timing that jitter moves around is very small but our brains are very tuned to it . Find someone wit the devices I mentioned . You will hear the difrence imediatly.
Al

 

[SilverEars]

  This is interesting.  In theory an asynchronous USB input is the lowest jitter input available in consumer audio.  I'm not saying you are wrong, as I have seen this said before that these devices can make improvements.
 
I would like to know how they compare to connecting the USB through a galvanic isolator?  RF noise on the USB can be a source of interference and will vary from setup to setup (and cable to cable, and I suspect is the main difference between USB cables).  If these devices are lowing RF interference then this would make more sense, as SPDIF is inherently more jittery than asynchronous USB (in theory).  
 
I say in theory as it is all in the implementation. 

You can isolate all that without so much trouble by using a ferrite beaded, shielded, or twisted usb cable.  All methods to reduce RFI.  You will notice power cables or CAT5 or 6 cables are twisted(or shielded or both).
 
How is SPDIF more jittery?  I've been noticing volume level difference with one of my DAC/Amp from HD USB compared to optical.  Also the USB sounds dryer or more detailed, and the optical's mids sounds more smoothed out, how can that be?

 

[jagwap]

A real difference in level suggests that the source (computer?) is not sending bitperfect audio and attenuating it a little.  But if you mean it just sounds like a lower level, but measures the same, there are effects (like jitter) that can  cause subjective perception of level changes.  If all is designed well asynchronous USB should always beat TOSLINK optical.  However, it is not always true all things are designed well.
 
The measures you mention are all useful in attenuation RF, but the USB ground is generally unfiltered, so is connected to the ground of a very noisy source: a computer chassis.  So the only way to be sure can be galvanic isolation.
 
With some very expensive equipment, it is hard to prove, but it would be interesting to try subjectively.
 
Yes our ears are sensitive to jitter, more so than a lot of test equipment (including Audio Precision).  However some kinds of jitter just cause THD, and so cannot be differentiated from THD, others cause noise.  So the ear is crucial in the design and tuning of audio equipment, but cannot replace measurement in finding and curing problems.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

A Couple Of HDVD 800 Unboxing Hiccups
 
Though it is now working flawlessly and performing delightfully, I just wanted to share a couple of irritations that occurred to me yesterday as I opened up my Sennheiser HDVD800 DAC/amp.
 

• There was NO power cord!  Yes, it needs one.  The end going into the amp has to be that keystone shape of a rectangle with corners sawed off (see picture below).    I stole one from a Dell computer.  A person buying this $2,000 amp is likely to receive it in the mail on a work day and, despite mounting anticipation, is not likely to open it until dinner is done and kids are off to bed.  Radio Shacks and other plug places are closed by then.  Frustration abounds! (However, I must admit to discovering a new audiophile business opportunity... premium HDVD 800 power cords, at $350 a piece, made of pure Unobtainium braided into Gordian knots, improving sound greatly, and filling this need admirably, or at least expensively!)  
• The driver installation routine in the live PC manual on the supplied DVD did not work. These were needed to make my PC route its signal to its USB port and into the USB DAC input on the HDVD 800.   A call to Sennheiser Technical Support revealed that there is no on-line posting of these drivers.  I was invited to write an email to shouston of Technical Support (as in "How the Sam Houston am I supposed to get this thing to work if the driver does not install!?")  Skipping the live manual page with its installation icon to click on the screen, I went to the individual files on the disk and eventually got it to run the installation program.

 

 
The HDVD 800 comes with not one, not two, but THREE instruction manuals, each written in a dfferent two languages (6 in all!).  I suspect that as a convenience to Sennheiser, they wanted to have a box that could be sent to any country, and since power cords differ by country, they simply elected to not include any (or maybe I am behind the times... I recall when gadgets stopped including printed instructions in favor of disks or on line, and then when they stopped including USB connections, as those are becoming common.)  Maybe I'm just behind the power (cord) curve!
 
Oh, well... all's well that ends well.

 

[jagwap]

  Just listening some old favorites of mine and thinking: this amp makes the HD800 kick up the right dust and dig out the right dirt. 
Call it a coloration, call it transparency. Anyways crappy recordings benefit from it. Still, awesome recordings benefit way more.
I'm kind of embarrassed to catch myself enjoying these mediocre recordings now...

This is about the best complement I think you can give to a well balanced system.  If it highlights the music more than the flaws, you have got it right.
 
I call it musical transparency.  The music message is transparent, and coming to the fore, above the recording compromises.

 

[ALRAINBOW]

It's called a short block I have them. It helps but not like the USB converters. There is noise on the USB dat signal that is coming from the CPU. As such this noise is not an isolation type noise it's on the data stream .
Al

 

[ALRAINBOW]

A Couple Of HDVD 800 Unboxing Hiccups

Though it is now working flawlessly and performing delightfully, I just wanted to share a couple of irritations that occurred to me yesterday as I opened up my Sennheiser HDVD800 DAC/amp.

1. There was NO power cord!  Yes, it needs one.  The end going into the amp has to be that keystone shape of a rectangle with corners sawed off (see picture below).    I stole one from a Dell computer.  A person buying this $2,000 amp is likely to receive it in the mail on a work day and, despite mounting anticipation, is not likely to open it until dinner is done and kids are off to bed.  Radio Shacks and other plug places are closed by then.  Frustration abounds! (However, I must admit to discovering a new audiophile business opportunity... premium HDVD 800 power cords, at $350 a piece, made of pure Unobtainium braided into Gordian knots, improving sound greatly, and filling this need admirably, or at least expensively!)
   
   
2. The driver installation routine in the live PC manual on the supplied DVD did not work. These were needed to make my PC route its signal to its USB port and into the USB DAC input on the HDVD 800.   A call to Sennheiser Technical Support revealed that there is no on-line posting of these drivers.  I was invited to write an email to shouston of Technical Support (as in "How the Sam Houston am I supposed to get this thing to work if the driver does not install!?")  Skipping the live manual page with its installation icon to click on the screen, I went to the individual files on the disk and eventually got it to run the installation program.

The same thing happened to me. I took the unit to my home in North Carolina and left the disk at home. I could not beleave they do not have it on there website.
Regarding the power cord I had read that so was prepared . Did you do the firmware update or check high Rez dsd if it works. There was a firmware update for it. And it must not be done ona win 8 machine but win7 and lower or Mac. Read about it in this thread.

Al




The HDVD 800 comes with not one, not two, but THREE instruction manuals, each written in a dfferent two languages (6 in all!).  I suspect that as a convenience to Sennheiser, they wanted to have a box that could be sent to any country, and since power cords differ by country, they simply elected to not include any (or maybe I am behind the times... I recall when gadgets stopped including printed instructions in favor of disks or on line, and then when they stopped including USB connections, as those are becoming common.)  Maybe I'm just behind the power (cord) curve!

Oh, well... all's well that ends well.

 

[preproman]

Are these ways to improve the performance of the HDVD 800 DAC?

If so, what is an "off ramp?" An ap1? A pp? A caps sever?

Sorry for my ignorance, but I'd heard similar advice and I think I want to try it. Thanks!

 
C.A.P.S.  -->  http://www.computeraudiophile.com/section/c-p-s-489/
 
Empirical Audio Off Ramp 5 -->  http://www.empiricalaudio.com/products/off-ramp-converter
 
Audiophilleo and Pure Power  -->  http://www.audiophilleo.com/en/default.aspx