Shanling M8 Android Portable player

[SMOoth Operator]

Have you tried the C9 with the SP2000 yet? (meant in good fun)

I have not yet, I am looking for a medium quality 2.5mm balanced to 4.4mm male adapter cable, for the the C9's balanced input first. I seen one for $600, but that is silly to me, looking for something in the $100-200 range.

 

[RTodd]

Yes, but aren't you 'double amping' it? LO comes off the DACS, not the amps...

So how is that turbo gain, being done than?
If no amplification in the M8 is turbo gain level than high and low gain would be the only ones that have additional circuitry engaged? Confused?

 

[szore]

So how is that turbo gain, being done than?
If no amplification in the M8 is turbo gain level than high and low gain would be the only ones that have additional circuitry engaged? Confused?

Well, my understanding of LO is that it is by definition, 2V and it comes directly off the DAC chip, bypassing amp stage. If Shanling is doing something different than that, maybe we should just ask them?

 

[SMOoth Operator]

Yes, but aren't you 'double amping' it? LO comes off the DACS, not the amps...

Are you sure?? That power level coming out of LO is incindiary. I do not believe it is a true line out, I think it is the amp on turbo jacked to the max volume. I could be wrong, but it was about to smoke my tube amp.

 

[szore]

I have not yet, I am looking for a medium quality 2.5mm balanced to 4.4mm male adapter cable, for the the C9's balanced input first. I seen one for $600, but that is silly to me, looking for something in the $100-200 range.

Contact any cable manufacturer and they will build t custom for you. Try Plussound, they are in L.A. and have repaired some of my cables, they are good.

 

[RTodd]

Well, my understanding of LO is that it is by definition, 2V and it comes directly off the DAC chip, bypassing amp stage. If Shanling is doing something different than that, maybe we should just ask them?

Agree not making sense to me, there should be no gain mode on LO.

 

[szore]

Are you sure?? That power level coming out of LO is incindiary. I do not believe it is a true line out, I think it is the amp on turbo jacked to the max volume. I could be wrong, but it was about to smoke my tube amp.

Good question for @Shanling....

 

[SMOoth Operator]

First thing im noticing is that the C9 gets no where near as hot as my Continental Duel Mono. It seems to be allot more power efficiant. M8 is actually warmer than the C9.

 

[RTodd]

First thing im noticing is that the C9 gets no where near as hot as my Continental Duel Mono. It seems to be allot more power efficiant. M8 is actually warmer than the C9.

How does it sound, what transducer and music are you listening to?

 

[FooFighter]

Any ideas where most of the heat is coming from? More from the DAC or the amp?
More with high bit rates, respectively turbo mode or in general?

 

[SMOoth Operator]

Just engaged LO on the C9, again it jacked it into "turbo" and maxed out the volume. It did not clip the input of the C9 like it di the CDM, but there was allot of distortion and it sounded bad to me. "Low Gain"mode at 100% sounds closer to typical LO volume levels to me.

 

[RTodd]

Any ideas where most of the heat is coming from? More from the DAC or the amp?
More with high bit rates, respectively turbo mode or in general?

M8 it is the DAC chips, that are the culprit. And the way Shanling designed the heat sink to the case.

 

[RTodd]

Just engaged LO on the C9, again it jacked it into "turbo" and maxed out the volume. It did not clip the input of the C9 like it di the CDM, but there was allot of distortion and it sounded bad to me. "Low Gain"mode at 100% sounds closer to typical LO volume levels to me.

@Shanling please explain, have a C9 and will wait to try it with M8 until I understand what is going on here.

 

[szore]

Any ideas where most of the heat is coming from? More from the DAC or the amp?
More with high bit rates, respectively turbo mode or in general?

Dont forget, higher gain is not just higher volume, but its also more dynamic.

 

[fzman]

So how is that turbo gain, being done than?
If no amplification in the M8 is turbo gain level than high and low gain would be the only ones that have additional circuitry engaged? Confused?

This stuff gets confusing really quickly, and not all vendors reveal all the info in order to make the comparisons properly.

An amplification circuit is able to produce a specific amount of voltage and current into a specified load. The maximum voltage is determined by the power supply rails feeding the amplifier. Current is related to the capacity of the parts, the load impedence, and the power supply as well.

An amplifier has a designed amount of (voltage) gain (dB are confusing, so let's just use how many X higher V-out is compared to V-in.) let's say 3X. So, if you put 1v in, you get 3V out, if you put 2 in, you get 6 out. Let's say you have an 7V power supply. So, if you try to put more than 3.5V in the amp clips, since it can't go higher than 7V power supply gives it. (A buffer is an amp that typically "adds" current output capability but does not change voltage, by definition, unity gain Vin=Vout).

Most dac chips need some circuitry between them and the actual (power) amp, so those are what supply the voltage to the amp section. If there is digital volume control then turning the volume up or down raises or lowers that voltage. (The amount of current that flows is dependent on the impedance of the load being driven, the wilder the impednce curve, the more of a moving target the iem or headphone is)

If you set the device to Line Oout, vs Headhone Out, it may simply set the volume at max. It may reroute the signal to a different jack and bypass the power amp section--depends on how it is designed/built. Given the bit above about cliping, it is generally regarded as best-practice to have more rather than less voltage available- so maybe M8 just has LO=full blast turbo output (perhaps with or without the current capability of the power amp section there or not. Power amp input is much higher impedance than iems, so more voltage-concerned than current (10s or 100s of ohms for iems, 1000s or 10s of thousands of ohms for line level inputs)

So, it comes down to implementation- is the LO signal path different than the HO output, where is the volume control implemented, and overload margin of the external amp input.



All of the above is straight off the top of my head, so please be kind.....