Good to know, didnt realize that, although bit of a newbie compared to most on here I guess
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Singxer SA-1 / Balanced Amplifier Fully Discrete Class A - beyond THX 888 ?!
- Thread starter Muataz
- Start date
I actually have a mojo, used to use it when doing train journeys. Would that be a a better fit than that smsl? Started getting into this when they fired up a dragonfly dac I think it was, and then the chord mojo, and I bought the mojo on the spot, just sounded so much better, even with my old ears. Just not experienced enough to know how the voltage influences the sound
Just going back over the later posts, really interesting about the balanced v SE. I have the Michi M8s in the cinema room and not thought about trying them anything other than XLR, but might be worth a go based on what people are saying
Cool and that is strange. How about SE in with SE out. Is that more gain than Balanced in and SE out?Driving the HE6se v2 with the Singxer is all about taking advantage of the Singxer's weird gain structure and its high input sensitivity. For example, you get the most gain by using SE input and balanced output (17dB gain in high-gain mode) rather than by using balanced input to balanced output (11dB gain in high-gain mode). Combine that with a high line-level SE voltage input (Mojo 2 outputs 4V), and I've got plenty of headroom to drive the HE6se v2 with the Singxer.
Plieb
100+ Head-Fier
Is there anything much for old folks like me with the SE, balanced suff? Am I likely to hear some changes?
Seems like with my setup it’s very close between balanced in and SE in but seems like my dac does a better job with balanced out as it seems to have more to the music (little more bass/drums are more enjoyable) but all could be placebo/ slight volume differences. But for now sticking with balanced in , SE out. Which I know people wouldn’t suggest with this amp normally but just sounds great.
But I have a feeling this is mostly my dac sounding amazing with this setup and the amp not doing anything fancy to mess up the sound.
But I have a feeling this is mostly my dac sounding amazing with this setup and the amp not doing anything fancy to mess up the sound.
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Really good to know DeckHifi, seems like a good time for some experiments, need to get some rca cables but won't be going down the major money route, can't afford it for one, but very keen to see if mixing balanced with SE yields better results
Yea I mean I don’t want to steer someone the wrong way but this timbre is incredible. But as I added to my last post a lot of it might depend on your dac. My dac is really enjoyable to many people and maybe the R2R sound/filter mixes well with my headphones. I do think SE out might have Inherent advantages as Passion for Sound has mentioned before. Balanced out seems to spread out the soundstage which is more of a wow on first listen. But over time I want voices and the mix to sound like it’s not stretching. I want it to sound like a cohesive unit with great timbre. That’s what I’m getting at the moment.Really good to know DeckHifi, seems like a good time for some experiments, need to get some rca cables but won't be going down the major money route, can't afford it for one, but very keen to see if mixing balanced with SE yields better results
Nice, will do some experimentation and see what comes. Thank you
Hypops
500+ Head-Fier
Indeed. And you actually get reverse gain on low-gain mode (-6dB).fyi
As you can see,very little gain balanced in single ended out.
Maybe that’s why it sounds so good . Taking something off the dac, similar to the headroom concept. No I don’t know how much your dac output matters as well. Or just caught me on a good couple of days. Or audio is crazy and that’s why everyone has different preferences.Indeed. And you actually get reverse gain on low-gain mode (-6dB).
Edit: just read again my dac does 5V out for balanced and only 2.5V for SE so that’s probably why the balanced out of dac into this amp is more preferable to me. Probably helps give more oomph to my headphones. I really think I found a nice combo with the balanced in and SE out for this amp with my setup.
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hottyson
Headphoneus Supremus
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I have commented before on this, but when there are over 2,500 posts in this thread, I feel obligated to steer people away from the Singxer SA-1 headphone amplifier for driving HiFiMan HE6se v2 headphones. Out of my large collection of amplifiers, the Singxer SA-1 falls into the category of not good enough when driving HiFiMan HE6se v2. It does not sound good compared to some of my other amplifiers that do sound amazing when driving HE6se V2.Driving the HE6se v2 with the Singxer is all about taking advantage of the Singxer's weird gain structure and its high input sensitivity. For example, you get the most gain by using SE input and balanced output (17dB gain in high-gain mode) rather than by using balanced input to balanced output (11dB gain in high-gain mode). Combine that with a high line-level SE voltage input (Mojo 2 outputs 4V), and I've got plenty of headroom to drive the HE6se v2 with the Singxer.
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My Singxer SA-1 does get almost daily use these days since my Singxer SA-1 is part of my office desk headphone rig regardless of it's relatively poor synergies pairing with my planar magnetic headphones of my collection. Why? Because the SA-1 is a good preamp for my Emotiva Monitors and subwoofer, that can operate cooler than my Schiit Jotunheim 2, HeadAmp GS-X Mini etc... I often leave my SA-1 powered on 24 hours a day and I don't have a concern for the heat.
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While I much prefer my other headphone amplifiers over the Singxer SA-1. There are a small number of headphones that do pair well with the Singxer SA-1. some planars such as Audeze LCD-XC, and Monoprice M1570 do well pairing with SA-1. My Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser headphones pair well, but I have so many tube amplifiers that I usually use for them instead. The unique budget Monoprice AMT also pairs well with the SA-1.
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So, I have to jump in this thread every once in a while to make the above statements. Mainly, I don't want anyone purchasing the Singxer SA-1 and wasting their money thinking that they would have end game pairing it with HiFiMan HE6se v2 headphones. It would likely be too much of a disappointment and money wasted when considering pairing with the HiFiMan HE6se v2 .
Must be a good lot of fun having so many amps to swap in and out of a system. I bet you can really tell when something works and when it doesn't. I think as the Singxer is the only one I have known, I'm certainly not qualified to know how good it is, but it performs it's job for me, so no complaints. I'm sure if you hooked up some other amps I might have a second coming moment so probably better for my wallet if I don't
I checked Aune S17 pro and Topping A90 Discrete and I will write only one, that I love Singxer SA-1 even more now compared to other amplifiers, it works especially well with my Gustard R26, Audeze LCD-XC, Hifiman HE1000 Stealth and Focal Clear OG
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