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Show us your Head-Fi station at it's current state. No old pictures please...
Jan 10, 2015 at 1:53 AM Post #19,307 of 41,069
brokenthumb said:
Quick phone camera shots of current Head-Fi station.
Click to expand...

Looks like you sampled everything at the Head-Fi buffet. Lol! Nice! :D
 
Jan 10, 2015 at 2:02 AM Post #19,308 of 41,069
Jan 10, 2015 at 3:31 AM Post #19,309 of 41,069
brianbeers said:
  armaegis - I'm really not qualified to give impressions of the mPRE as
a DAC... I haven't heard enough of em to give a real comparison.  It
replaced a Schiit Modi, which I enjoyed very much.  I swapped an integrated
for separates as well as the DAC so I'm not really able to pick out how the
DAC alone has changed the sound.  I guess I could fire up the Modi into
the mPRE and compare them that way.  Hopefully I can find time to do
that soon and report back.
 
I will say that from my research, the general consensus was that the DAC
in the mPRE is good... but not great.  Surprisingly its implementation uses
USB BUS power and can benefit from something like the iFi usbpower. 
 
I figured it would be a more than adequate replacement for the Schiit I was
using, and leaves an upgrade path open for something better in the future.
I like the balanced, dual mono preamp design and really the DAC 
and headphone amps are just convenient bonuses.  Hope that helps!
Click to expand...

 
That's actually rather disappointing to hear that the dac is usb powered. I'd hoped with everything else going on in there, they would have been able to isolate some proper power for the dac rather than it being like an add-on component.
 
I'd look forward to any comparison with the Modi when you get a chance (and am actually quite curious which would sound better). Would have been nice if you had a Wyrd in there.
 
Jan 10, 2015 at 9:45 AM Post #19,310 of 41,069
Jan 10, 2015 at 1:40 PM Post #19,312 of 41,069
Jan 11, 2015 at 1:00 AM Post #19,313 of 41,069
armaegis said:
   
That's actually rather disappointing to hear that the dac is usb powered. I'd hoped with everything else going on in there, they would have been able to isolate some proper power for the dac rather than it being like an add-on component.
 
I'd look forward to any comparison with the Modi when you get a chance (and am actually quite curious which would sound better). Would have been nice if you had a Wyrd in there.
Click to expand...

 
I was looking for a centerpiece for the next 5-10 years .. I almost LIKE that its not the perfect DAC - I can throw all kinds of new gear AT the mPRE and feel good that its going to pass the dutchie to the left. Its black... AND it has a remote!!
 
I really can't believe the sound coming out of the same speakers
 
Jan 11, 2015 at 2:32 PM Post #19,314 of 41,069
brianbeers said:
 
armaegis said:
   
That's actually rather disappointing to hear that the dac is usb powered. I'd hoped with everything else going on in there, they would have been able to isolate some proper power for the dac rather than it being like an add-on component.
 
I'd look forward to any comparison with the Modi when you get a chance (and am actually quite curious which would sound better). Would have been nice if you had a Wyrd in there.
Click to expand...

 
I was looking for a centerpiece for the next 5-10 years .. I almost LIKE that its not the perfect DAC - I can throw all kinds of new gear AT the mPRE and feel good that its going to pass the dutchie to the left. Its black... AND it has a remote!!
 
I really can't believe the sound coming out of the same speakers
Click to expand...

Nice! I love Wyred 4 Sound gear.
 
Jan 12, 2015 at 12:41 PM Post #19,316 of 41,069
protegemaniac said:
  [snip]
 
While listening to this - no browsing, no nothing, just listening (I think everyone who had a speaker system that didn't use the PC as a source does that):
 
Click to expand...

 
Roger that!  I've come to really dislike using a laptop or PC as my source - they are too distracting - I just don't have the self-control to leave them alone when I'm trying to enjoy music.
redface.gif
   
 
And a laptop is a clumsy thing to deal with when you're trying to relax in recliner, for example.  I much prefer using either my FiiO X5 for ripped or downloaded recordings -or- my iPad 3 for Tidal streaming, rubber-banded to the heavy marble slab of a re-purposed cheese slicer, for ballast.  
tongue.gif

 
On the side-table next to my recliner:
 

 
Underneath the side table, components are stacked on wooden spools, with Blu-tack gripping the rubber feet above each spool and self-adhesive felt discs attached to the underside of each spool to prevent scratching - they act as stilts to improve cooling. The Metrum Acoustics Octave MkII is in the middle, with the NuForce HA-200 on top.
 

 
Here's a diagram that shows the whole system, schematically:
 
cfdf5d9a_Recliner_Rig2.jpeg

The affordable, single-ended, Class A NuForce HA-200 has been a great improvement over the OPPO HA-1's amp section, for use with the HD800, removing some remaining fatigue-causing brittleness caused (I think) by the HA-1 amp's use of negative feedback in its mutli-stage push-pull design, but the HA-1 does a great job balanced out to the LCD-2 and PM-1, neither of which are as finicky about what's happening in the high frequencies.
 
The NuForce HA-200 will soon be challenged, however, by the zero-feedback, Class A Metrum Acoustics Aurix, which uses no tubes or transistors to provide 10 dB of amplification, instead using a proprietary step-up transformer (in a design similar to the Nelson Pass First Watt M2 speaker amp) that can be switched out to turn the Aurix into a passive pre-amp with volume controlled connection to the DAC.
 
Mike
 
Jan 12, 2015 at 1:10 PM Post #19,317 of 41,069
zilch0md said:
   
Underneath the side table, components are stacked on wooden spools, with Blu-tack gripping the rubber feet above each spool and self-adhesive felt discs attached to the underside of each spool to prevent scratching - they act as stilts to improve cooling. The Metrum Acoustics Octave MkII is in the middle, with the NuForce HA-200 on top.
 

 
Click to expand...

 
Sweet idea on the wooden spools w/ blu-tack!
 
Jan 12, 2015 at 1:58 PM Post #19,319 of 41,069
zilch0md said:
   
Roger that!  I've come to really dislike using a laptop or PC as my source - they are too distracting - I just don't have the self-control to leave them alone when I'm trying to enjoy music.
redface.gif
   
 
And a laptop is a clumsy thing to deal with when you're trying to relax in recliner, for example.  I much prefer using either my FiiO X5 for ripped or downloaded recordings -or- my iPad 3 for Tidal streaming, rubber-banded to the heavy marble slab of a re-purposed cheese slicer, for ballast.  
tongue.gif

 
On the side-table next to my recliner:
 

 
 
Click to expand...

 
Mike, curious...how do you have the iPad 3 connected to the Pure? Do you have a lightning-to-30pin converter, or what?  
 
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