Singxer SA-1 / Balanced Amplifier Fully Discrete Class A - beyond THX 888 ?!
May 21, 2021 at 8:45 PM Post #976 of 2,563
Arrives today, I'll need some time. I'll be testing it with HE-6 and in my 2ch setup. Unfortunately it looks like SE performance is not good, which my 2ch is RCA so conversion there will be bad so it's all down to headphone performance for me. This'll be compared to Jot2.
headphones se indeed not perfect, but good, true. But rca outputs are clean as the XLR, for sure.

Tonight's session went well, no fatigue. Great amp! The class A of chip amps, though I'm unsure it's true class A due to low heat. It's not constant heat output. Single ended is low power for sure on my headphone, but still sounds clean enough. This amp is a home run!
correct, same here, single ended I was missing high gain, but then went balanced cable and it is now plenty plenty loud in low gain.
 
May 21, 2021 at 10:45 PM Post #977 of 2,563
I read folks on here saying that the volume knob gets more "play" as the amp gets more use. I can attest to this. When I first got it, I could max out the volume with my HE6SE. It was just barely loud enough for some music. Today, it looks like I can get the volume close to maxing out, but it has a bit more headroom; the HE6SE can get loud enough around 3 o'clock as opposed to maxing it out. I was unsure if this was a good fit for the HE6SE, but I think it is just barely adequate. I think this [stock] amp sounds really good. Will have to do more comparisons with my Jot 2 as a Headphone Amp, but I definitely prefer this as a Pre-amp for my powered monitors over the Jot 2. So far, so good!
 
May 22, 2021 at 9:07 AM Post #980 of 2,563
I forget there are hard to drives about and need grunt. Originally people were driving the old one HE6 from stereo amps.🤔
Dan Clarks are 16ohm 9 o clock low gain is killing it . I suppose as long as its within regular listening levels does it matter? Was never sure if there is an optimal spot on the alps pot.. 12 o clock ect..
 
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May 22, 2021 at 12:54 PM Post #981 of 2,563
May 22, 2021 at 1:30 PM Post #982 of 2,563

maybe this works :-D

I did think of a heat gun but wasnt sure it would work.... you could try a loyalty card and 300 grit paper... or a plastic knife or a £3000 milling machine and 3/4 HSS milling bit....☹ i made handy tools as an apprentice... softening up the glues the key... as they are bi layer plastic strips so the under glue is stronger than the middle layer......

SA1 still sounds bloody good.... taking your headphones off as you think someones talking to you noises and its just more detail in an old song.... good..
 
May 22, 2021 at 1:40 PM Post #983 of 2,563
I did think of a heat gun but wasnt sure it would work.... you could try a loyalty card and 300 grit paper... or a plastic knife or a £3000 milling machine and 3/4 HSS milling bit....☹ i made handy tools as an apprentice... softening up the glues the key... as they are bi layer plastic strips so the under glue is stronger than the middle layer......

SA1 still sounds bloody good.... taking your headphones off as you think someones talking to you noises and its just more detail in an old song.... good..
Happens to me every day lol
 
May 22, 2021 at 1:45 PM Post #984 of 2,563
It's an Anti- tamper sticker it just breaks up in bits if you try to lift it of with a blade.
 
May 22, 2021 at 4:18 PM Post #986 of 2,563
I read folks on here saying that the volume knob gets more "play" as the amp gets more use. I can attest to this. When I first got it, I could max out the volume with my HE6SE. It was just barely loud enough for some music. Today, it looks like I can get the volume close to maxing out, but it has a bit more headroom; the HE6SE can get loud enough around 3 o'clock as opposed to maxing it out. I was unsure if this was a good fit for the HE6SE, but I think it is just barely adequate. I think this [stock] amp sounds really good. Will have to do more comparisons with my Jot 2 as a Headphone Amp, but I definitely prefer this as a Pre-amp for my powered monitors over the Jot 2. So far, so good!
Interesting.. using Gungnir into the Singxer and mine is a release week unit it still has enough power to make me uncomfortable by noon using HE6se. It's an Alps RK27 pot, it doesn't break in.. check your source and max it out. I'm in high gain and low z. There's enough power on tap to have really good attenuation range on the pot with this amp. I've some others where you can barely turn it up like Jot2. The Singxer to me is perfect. Also to note, I'm using passive max volume into the Singxer for headphone listening. No additional gain from my DAC.
 
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May 22, 2021 at 6:14 PM Post #987 of 2,563
1621721488784.png

Something like this, "Thousand Knives" [DSD128] by Ryuichi Sakamoto that's at a low volume requires around 3 o'clock to get to be "loud enough" for my personal tastes. (Look at the Waveform to see the differences in volume.)
"Violator" [DST64] by Depeche Mode, which is louder, only has to go to 12 or 1...
1621721679313.png
 
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May 22, 2021 at 6:17 PM Post #988 of 2,563
Ryuichi Sakamoto... :raised_hands: :bow: If you knew how many times I've listened to "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" and watched the movie lol

Something like this "Thousand Knives" [DSD128] by Ryuichi Sakamoto that's at a low volume requires around 3 o'clock to get to be "loud enough" for my personal tastes.
"Violator" [DSD64] by Depeche Mode, which is louder, only has to go to 12 or 1...
 
May 22, 2021 at 6:26 PM Post #989 of 2,563
Interesting.. using Gungnir into the Singxer and mine is a release week unit it still has enough power to make me uncomfortable by noon using HE6se. It's an Alps RK27 pot, it doesn't break in.. check your source and max it out. I'm in high gain and low z. There's enough power on tap to have really good attenuation range on the pot with this amp. I've some others where you can barely turn it up like Jot2. The Singxer to me is perfect. Also to note, I'm using passive max volume into the Singxer for headphone listening. No additional gain from my DAC.
Yes, other people say that about jot2 pot, little usable range for low volume and/or low impedance. This pot does break in. Mine is much softer to turn now, no static resistance anymore, but when new it had it. The molted knob helped there at the beginning, but now it is velvety soft to turn.

1621721488784.png
Something like this, "Thousand Knives" [DSD128] by Ryuichi Sakamoto that's at a low volume requires around 3 o'clock to get to be "loud enough" for my personal tastes. (Look at the Waveform to see the differences in volume.)
"Violator" [DST64] by Depeche Mode, which is louder, only has to go to 12 or 1...
1621721679313.png
Very wellastered violator for dsd, snappiest transients ever. Shows how dsd can sound better than pcm, maybe...
 
May 22, 2021 at 6:29 PM Post #990 of 2,563
Ryuichi Sakamoto... :raised_hands: :bow: If you knew how many times I've listened to "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" and watched the movie lol
Fantastic OST. I also enjoy his Soundtrack to the Japanese version of "Milo and Otis" AKA "The Adventures of Chatran." Pretty much everything he and YMO released is excellent!
 
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