[qwertgfdsa]

I just got my Shadow today. It is really a good amp. The first impression is, at low volume, the balance between ears is better than P51, which I have turn to larger volume to get a balanced volume. But I hope the minimal volume could be even smaller. It is still too loud for me to listen to music in the night (using IE40) at minimal volume. Also, I could hear, from earphones, the sound of my hard disk spinning when I am not playing music (using Imod with 240GB HD). For sure this is not the fault of shadow. I just happened to find this which I did not discover when using P51.

 

[BlackStarPUA]

i' ve got mine, thanks ray!

 

[Rico67]

I have receipted mine Yesterday, so First impression:
Wow, sound is really great out fo the box.
I have owned P 51-Predator -Hornet before and it's the fist amp wich soon so good out of the box without burning time.
Detail, open, sound is "realistic"
I have tested it with UM3 / PX100 and GS 1000 ( source is Imod and Pvcaps and ALO SXC Cables)
Works great with UM3 and PX 100, they give there best with this amp.
Concerning GS1000, it's sound good, but with a lake of "Presence".
So, after that i decided to let Burning.
At 30 Hours :
Sound have change :
Firt medium take there place ( more presence ), Hights become more "liquid" and now Bass are changing to less separate.
So it' s look like the sound become more "homogenous" and natural, but a "Realistic sound" is for me the first thing to describe the sound of this little amp.
Prefect for portable Headphones and hearsphones, but not really for full size Headphone as my Grado.
As i have choose it for the portability, no problem, it's the better Amp i have tested until now for this job.
Thanks RSA to make such great products.
Worth the try with PX100, you won't be deasapointed, it's sound extrodinary Great.

 

[Rico67]

Does someone have tested the Shadow with HD 650 ?
i'm looking for this headphone but don't know how the Shadow works with 300 ohms headphone.

 

[4sound]

I have HD600 and it drives them fine.

On another note:
I have a question regarding charging the shadow. Thru burn-in, I let the battery run down then fully charge it using the wall charger. It seems to take +6 hours to charge before the light goes out. The documents say it take around 3 hours to fully charge.

The Shadow run time is so long its not really a big deal (although I'm also not getting 72 hours, more like 60 hours) but I just wanted to hear from others experiences regarding run time and charging.

 

[che15]

Anyone else using full size headphones? If yes which and what do you think about the sound. Thanks

 

[htotsuka]

I got my Shadow yesterday.
Shadow is very small, but sound is attractive like P-51.
Thank Ray again.

 

[grumpyoldman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4sound /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have HD600 and it drives them fine. On another note: It seems to take +6 hours to charge before the light goes out. The documents say it take around 3 hours to fully charge. The Shadow run time is so long its not really a big deal (although I'm also not getting 72 hours, more like 60 hours) but I just wanted to hear from others experiences regarding run time and charging.

I get more than 60h out of the Shadow, although I think from about 40h onwards the deep end starts to not sound as precise as it usually does.....charging takes 6h with me as well.....the wall charger clearly also takes a lot longer than 4h, but all this is not really an issue.....
I had the shadow now also on the sure 840s, they sound awesome with the shadow and still good but not as dynamic without it (on both iPod/MacBook Pro) and as with my SE530s, the MacBook Pro produces a more defined sound. So my guess is that the Shadow would produce even better sound with a dedicated DAC, which I do not have. Having said all this, even without a DAC, the sound blows me away, I still have those grinning/shaking moments on the train, when a good recording comes up, it takes you far away with its precisions and the strong punchy deep end and amazing mids, a very big soundstage and no matter what I throw at it it sounds just amazing.....

 

[BlackStarPUA]

i have burn the shadow +100 hrs, but the sound is really bad, worse than the headphone out of the ipc2009 160GB, the sound stage is extremely small, the high have much distortion

it's really a bit sad. i am using the new cable from ray (so the cable is also +100hrs burn in) , my friend told me that maybe that's the problem of the cable, i don't know what is cause of this, so i just bought another cable, so that i can figure out whether it's the problem of the shadow or the cable

i will report again as soon as my new cable arrived!

 

[cn11]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackStarPUA /img/forum/go_quote.gif i have burn the shadow +100 hrs, but the sound is really bad, worse than the headphone out of the ipc2009 160GB, the sound stage is extremely small, the high have much distortion it's really a bit sad. i am using the new cable from ray (so the cable is also +100hrs burn in) , my friend told me that maybe that's the problem of the cable, i don't know what is cause of this, so i just bought another cable, so that i can figure out whether it's the problem of the shadow or the cable i will report again as soon as my new cable arrived!

That's a shame, something's not right. Please do post an update once you have a new cable to double check against. I hope it's the cable, and not the amp!

 

[Ray Samuels]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackStarPUA /img/forum/go_quote.gif i have burn the shadow +100 hrs, but the sound is really bad, worse than the headphone out of the ipc2009 160GB, the sound stage is extremely small, the high have much distortion it's really a bit sad. i am using the new cable from ray (so the cable is also +100hrs burn in) , my friend told me that maybe that's the problem of the cable, i don't know what is cause of this, so i just bought another cable, so that i can figure out whether it's the problem of the shadow or the cable i will report again as soon as my new cable arrived!

Please make sure that your LOD is firmly in on both ends, the Shadow & the iPod, becuase if the connector is not bottoming in then you will have that kind of problem.
Ray Samuels

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackStarPUA /img/forum/go_quote.gif i have burn the shadow +100 hrs, but the sound is really bad, worse than the headphone out of the ipc2009 160GB, the sound stage is extremely small, the high have much distortion it's really a bit sad. i am using the new cable from ray (so the cable is also +100hrs burn in) , my friend told me that maybe that's the problem of the cable, i don't know what is cause of this, so i just bought another cable, so that i can figure out whether it's the problem of the shadow or the cable i will report again as soon as my new cable arrived!

While you wait for the new cable, since you don't have another line out dock you can also try any inexpensive 3.5 mm interconnect from the headphone out to the Shadow, with volume set at 80-85% on the ipod. If the sound clears up considerably then you know the problem is with the dock. You can also try re-seating the dock in the iPod and the 3.5 mm plug to the amp and see if the connection is good or bad or working intermittently. Either way you can be sure Ray will correct the problem.

Looks like Ray posted the same thing at the exact same time as me, regarding the dock's connections.

 

[BlackStarPUA]

thanks both of you! i will have a try and report soon!

 

[BlackStarPUA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif While you wait for the new cable, since you don't have another line out dock you can also try any inexpensive 3.5 mm interconnect from the headphone out to the Shadow, with volume set at 80-85% on the ipod. If the sound clears up considerably then you know the problem is with the dock. You can also try re-seating the dock in the iPod and the 3.5 mm plug to the amp and see if the connection is good or bad or working intermittently. Either way you can be sure Ray will correct the problem. Looks like Ray posted the same thing at the exact same time as me, regarding the dock's connections.

hi headphoneaddict, i take your advice and take a cheap 3.5mm - 3.5mm cable from my freind's pc (about 2 meters long) and plug into shadow and ipc

fortunately, the problem disappeared, and i can sense the sound have upgraded with a bigger soundstage, higher quality and amount of bass, the mid is sweeter than before, and all the music have more detail with the shadow in connections

and i try the lod again, this time i give a larger pressure on both the shadow end and ipc end to ensure proper connection, but the same problem appear again

i think of another possible cause of the problem right now, maybe my ipc's lineout part have some problem, i will ask my friend for another ipod, and see whether it's my ipod problem or the lod's problem

i will update again after the experiment...

 

[Ray Samuels]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackStarPUA /img/forum/go_quote.gif hi headphoneaddict, i take your advice and take a cheap 3.5mm - 3.5mm cable from my freind's pc (about 2 meters long) and plug into shadow and ipc fortunately, the problem disappeared, and i can sense the sound have upgraded with a bigger soundstage, higher quality and amount of bass, the mid is sweeter than before, and all the music have more detail with the shadow in connections and i try the lod again, this time i give a larger pressure on both the shadow end and ipc end to ensure proper connection, but the same problem appear again i think of another possible cause of the problem right now, maybe my ipc's lineout part have some problem, i will ask my friend for another ipod, and see whether it's my ipod problem or the lod's problem i will update again after the experiment...

Very good idea, BlackStarPUA, that is the proper way of finding & isolating the problem. If it happened to be the LOD please get back to me & I will ship you another one right away.
Cherrs.
Ray Samuels