[ra990]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a worthwhile upgrade to the Singxer with similar characteristics?

What are you looking for? More power? Different sound signature?

 

[dstarr3]

I suppose the Ferrum Oor exists. I don't really see myself replacing this amp with anything similar until we start talking about that kind of money.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Yeah. The soloist 3x performance uses the muse chip from more expensive amplifiers. The conductor (amp+DAC) doesn't. The soloist has 8 watt. I believe the Singxer SA1 has 5.5-6 watt but is not pure class A.

Nope. Soloist 3x produce 8 watt at 16 ohm, while Singxer 6.4 watt at 32 ohm. Burson "only" push 4 watt at 32 ohm.

 

[550591]

Nope. Soloist 3x produce 8 watt at 16 ohm, while Singxer 6.4 watt at 32 ohm. Burson "only" push 4 watt at 32 ohm.

Thanks. But wouldn't pure class A be more interesting for planar magnetic?

The SA1 sounds great with my Aeon Noire but the SA1 is not pure class A. (Not that isn't strong enough).

So I guess I'm going to look at fluxlabs again

 

[the1andonly]

Hi hottison. What do you mean by 'lower the noise floor' ? And what are inefficient headphones ? Are the Sundara inefficient ?

more or less gain increases power with increases volume, there is noise in all amps, in many you cannot hear it, by using high gain and raising all volume of audio playing it also raises the volume of the noise, since it raises the volume of everything indiscriminately. You may hear the noise on low gain and high gain, or just on high gain, or maybe on both not at all, but regardless the level of the noise although imperceptible or not, will be raised, just not necessarily in all cases to audible levels.

 

[dstarr3]

More directly, with a Sundara, I would try high gain first. If you hear a quiet hiss where there should be silence, switch it to low gain.

Generally the low gain mode on this amp is only needed for IEMs, but maybe there are some super-efficient planars out there that also benefit. In my experience, when I got mine I just set it to high gain and forgot about it. I've thrown quite a few planars and IEMs at it by now and haven't yet heard the noise floor. I suspect you won't have any problems, but if you do, low gain mode is there.

 

[Friskyseal]

More directly, with a Sundara, I would try high gain first. If you hear a quiet hiss where there should be silence, switch it to low gain.

Generally the low gain mode on this amp is only needed for IEMs, but maybe there are some super-efficient planars out there that also benefit. In my experience, when I got mine I just set it to high gain and forgot about it. I've thrown quite a few planars and IEMs at it by now and haven't yet heard the noise floor. I suspect you won't have any problems, but if you do, low gain mode is there.

Wow, I couldn't disagree with this more. On low gain running fully balanced I can hardly get past 9:30 on this amp (Focals) before it gets too loud. Running the Sennheiser HD600 series single ended (I prefer SE for those), I have a very comfortable full range of volume where ~10:30 is soft but enjoyable and ~12:30 is loud. Some tracks require more but I have never pushed past 2 on this amp, and everybody says most of the power is actually beyond that.

Protect your hearing!

 

[dstarr3]

Wow, I couldn't disagree with this more. On low gain running fully balanced I can hardly get past 9:30 on this amp (Focals) before it gets too loud. Running the Sennheiser HD600 series single ended (I prefer SE for those), I have a very comfortable full range of volume where ~10:30 is soft but enjoyable and ~12:30 is loud. Some tracks require more but I have never pushed past 2 on this amp, and everybody says most of the power is actually beyond that.

Protect your hearing!

I'm not talking about overall volume, I'm talking about hearing the hiss from the noise floor. Even on planars and IEMs, on high gain, I've never turned the amp up loud enough to hear the noise floor. So even on high gain, the noise floor should be low enough to not be audible on most gear. But if it is audible on high gain with some particularly super-sensitive gear, low gain mode can be used instead.

In context, the question I was originally responding to was about what another poster meant by noise floor and if it'd be a problem with the Sundara. My point was, even in high gain, most likely not. But if so, low gain is an option.

 

[JaquesGelee]

Thanks. But wouldn't pure class A be more interesting for planar magnetic?

The SA1 sounds great with my Aeon Noire but the SA1 is not pure class A. (Not that isn't strong enough).

So I guess I'm going to look at fluxlabs again

That's exactly the point, not only to throw numbers...

 

[Lovebox]

What are you looking for? More power? Different sound signature?

Looking for something more neutral

 

[Friskyseal]

Looking for something more neutral

Have you tried the DC jumper mod? With my unit, after trying the mod, the amp sounds rather dull (comparatively) without it. The treble gets more prominent and the overall sound is livelier. It still retains its smoothness but just gets a pinch or two more neutral.

 

[the1andonly]

Have you tried the DC jumper mod? With my unit, after trying the mod, the amp sounds rather dull (comparatively) without it. The treble gets more prominent and the overall sound is livelier. It still retains its smoothness but just gets a pinch or two more neutral.

messed up hard one day, someone was selling with the mod (reversed, but disclosed it was done) for $350.... was dumb enough to send them a offer instead of just buy, still wanna try this amp but I doubt it will beat the HDV 820, might give the Oppo HA-1 a run for it's money and beat all my other amp and dac/amps.... still I know I would probably strongly prefer it, but I am running out of dang desk space, still buying an amp only is better than buying another dac/amp and I am maxed out on all the portable dac/amp units I want (iFi BL/Mojo)...

buying the next cheap modded one I see

 

[dangusyra]

Is there anyone here who uses SA-1 connected to RME ADI-2? Could you please share what ref level and volume settings you set on ADI2?
My volume locked at 0bB and ref level at +13dBu. Not sure if it is best option..

 

[quawn0418]

Is there anyone here who uses SA-1 connected to RME ADI-2? Could you please share what ref level and volume settings you set on ADI2?
My volume locked at 0bB and ref level at +13dBu. Not sure if it is best option..

I set mines to +7, but anything under 0db should be fine, the +13 setting is very high output though, you might want to not use it unless you know it’s safe or absolutely have to, in most cases you don’t need it.

 

[dangusyra]

I set mines to +7, but anything under 0db should be fine, the +13 setting is very high output though, you might want to not use it unless you know it’s safe or absolutely have to, in most cases you don’t need it.

Thank you. And Volume at 0dB?