[lextek]

My SR-71 showed up today. My daughter asked "is it real?" It looks so cool.

 

[DLeeWebb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisin Is it dead silent? Not with the e5's. Does it matter? Not with the Sr-71. Why? Well, with no music, hiss is barely perceptable at 10:30 (out of 7-5:00), and becomes noticeable at 12:00. By comparison, my normal listening volume ranges from 8:15 to 9:20 and rises to 10:00 only for infrequent special rock songs. Furthermore, the depth and fullness of the sr-71's sound signature overwhelms any semblance of hiss. That being said, this combination is merciless with recording quality.

Could it be made to be "dead silent" like the XP-7 by changing to another opamp? I'm not clear on what you mean by, "this combination is merciless with recording quality." Thanks for your input...

 

[sclemmons]

I don't think the SR71 allows the op-amp rolling of the XP7. I think these boards are set up one way and soldered.

"Merciless" has the ring to me of "highly analytical" and "revealing". If you agree, I think you have to allow that by comparison, other amps might be even more "merciless", making the SR71 merciful by comparison. Merciless is not a word I would use regarding this amp. See my comments on the "SR71 sightings" thread.

 

[DLeeWebb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sclemmons I don't think the SR71 allows the op-amp rolling of the XP7. I think these boards are set up one way and soldered. "Merciless" has the ring to me of "highly analytical" and "revealing". If you agree, I think you have to allow that by comparison, other amps might be even more "merciless", making the SR71 merciful by comparison. Merciless is not a word I would use regarding this amp. See my comments on the "SR71 sightings" thread.

I read your comments in the "SR-71 Sightings" thread. Good, understandable review and very informative. Thank you for the comment regarding crossfeed. I was somewhat concerned about it, because I like crossfeed. I already have the 1' Earcandy Cable. All of Ted's cables and adaptors are first class. I think I'm going to get this amp. I have considered the Larocco PR, the XP-7, and now the SR-71. The only thing that's holding me back from buying the SR-71 is my concern about E5c "hiss." The XP-7 was known to eliminate this hiss and I wish the SR-71 would perform in a similar manner. I like the more compact package though, oh well...

 

[sclemmons]

There is no perceptible hiss whatever with my ER4 P + P to S adapter setup. Admittedly my hearing is not the best. But no hiss to my ears, anyway.

 

[ampgalore]

Hiss is more evident with low impedance headphones such as the E5C. With the HD600, hiss is hardly noticeable at all.

 

[Jester]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampgalore Hiss is more evident with low impedance headphones such as the E5C. With the HD600, hiss is hardly noticeable at all.

Really? I don't think so, as these are my main phones that I use with my SR-71. In fact when I listen to my iPod (LAME encoded), via a Sik cable, between songs it is black (no sound). Now when I did a bit of a taste test with my Total Airhead, man was I in for a big surprise as there was quite a bit of noise during and between songs.

What encoding method did you use?

 

[DLeeWebb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jester Really? I don't think so, as these are my main phones that I use with my SR-71. In fact when I listen to my iPod (LAME encoded), via a Sik cable, between songs it is black (no sound). Now when I did a bit of a taste test with my Total Airhead, man was I in for a big surprise as there was quite a bit of noise during and between songs. What encoding method did you use?

My understanding is that the E5's are prone to this "hiss" because of their low impedence/high sensitivity. I get no hiss from the ipod directly, but it is very noticable with my 2004 Total Airhead. I have read on this forum many times that the XP-7 with certain op-amps is totally black between songs. I was hoping that the SR-71 being a Ray Samuels product would display the same "blackness." I am getting the impression from this thread that it does. I am, of course, assuming normal volume levels. I use AAC/320 and the Sik cable/Sendstation Line-out. Any comments...?

 

[raisin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DLeeWebb My understanding is that the E5's are prone to this "hiss" because of their low impedence/high sensitivity. I get no hiss from the ipod directly, but it is very noticable with my 2004 Total Airhead. I have read on this forum many times that the XP-7 with certain op-amps is totally black between songs. I was hoping that the SR-71 being a Ray Samuels product would display the same "blackness." I am getting the impression from this thread that it does. I am, of course, assuming normal volume levels. I use AAC/320 and the Sik cable/Sendstation Line-out. Any comments...?

I believe that it is the e5's high sensitivity that is the culprit as far as hiss is concerned. I pick up hiss from my ipod-e5 combo at 7/10, which compares directly to 10:00 with ipod-sr71-e5 (where hiss is not yet apparent). At those volumes, other shortcomings of the e5's are much more glaring, the music overwhelms any possible perception of hiss, and you WILL go deaf.
I think that you will see that the forthcoming reviews will all use "blackness" prominently in their discription of the sr-71 sound.
My use of the word "merciless" was deliberately intended to portray the pityless manner in which this combo exposes source deficiencies, compression losses, and original recording quality. Re-ripping we will go, re-ripping we will go, high ho...
I must say, this is a fantastic portable combo, once the big guns write this up, sr-71's will be in permanent short supply. (heaven forbid it becoming an item at the ipodlounge)

 

[DLeeWebb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisin I believe that it is the e5's high sensitivity that is the culprit as far as hiss is concerned. I pick up hiss from my ipod-e5 combo at 7/10, which compares directly to 10:00 with ipod-sr71-e5 (where hiss is not yet apparent). At those volumes, other shortcomings of the e5's are much more glaring, the music overwhelms any possible perception of hiss, and you WILL go deaf. I think that you will see that the forthcoming reviews will all use "blackness" prominently in their discription of the sr-71 sound. My use of the word "merciless" was deliberately intended to portray the pityless manner in which this combo exposes source deficiencies, compression losses, and original recording quality. Re-ripping we will go, re-ripping we will go, high ho... I must say, this is a fantastic portable combo, once the big guns write this up, sr-71's will be in permanent short supply. (heaven forbid it becoming an item at the ipodlounge)

Thanks for the clarification and for your help. I think that I'm going to get it before it becomes scarce....