[les_garten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skorpitarius /img/forum/go_quote.gif My Compass went haywire a few nights ago because i'd had it flipped onto the higher-gain part of the switch . No sound for awhile then wouldn't go into the opposite gain setting if I powered it off even . Seems to be back to normal tho now .... I don't understand E.E. but that seems strange to me . shrug . Hoping I didn't fry/damage anything internally with all of that . I will say, it is sounding reallllllyyyyy good today after what is probably 300 hours' burn-in time with it being powered on pretty much 24/7 since I recieved it with electronic music playing through it ... I just wish I could play 24 bit or higher, through it and not be limited to 16 bits.

I'm sure you're fine, "I" don't switch mine that way though.

.

 

[panxut2004]

Today I've received my Compass. Good build quality. Still getting used to it. Now burn-in with Earth and neutral mode. Not many hours on it at the moment...We'll see how the sound changes with time. At the moment, it seems to me it makes a good couple with the Senns HD650. I've had valves amps before, so still need to get used to this new sound.

 

[noxlord]

My Compass will be shipped Thursday. Presently, I have a pair of ATH-AD700 and I plan on getting new cans by the end on July to couple with my first dac-amp.
I am looking for HD600 at 230$new. I still have not decided if I want the HD600, the K701 or others. HD650 seems a bit expensive for me and so are the HF-2.

 

[MadMan007]

Re: switching the gain, I too would be surprised if it needed to be powered off to do this since Kingwa warns of that for the sound shaping jumpers but not for anything else. I hope he doesn't just assume users will power it off. It looks like it controls input on the HA board, you'd hope that it would be fine to change as long as there's no signal running through it but maybe it's not good to change if it's powered on. Maybe switching to Super Mode to disconnect the DAC and HA would be good?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandchak /img/forum/go_quote.gif OT. I think Kingwa finally (after 2years) finalized the USB/COAX/Optical converter board, should be on sale in a months time. This one's really useful for guys like me who spend most of the time on PC or even someone using a not so good transport.. it uses the same chip as REF one but different software only for conversion (DSP3). As far as I know it has 1 USB, 1 Coax BNC, One Optical and 1 Coax RCA Input. Output is 1 Coax BNC and 1 RCA and can be set at 48/96/192K..

What's this for? A new DAC or DIY? I hope it's not for a 'Compass v2' so soon after the original heh. Looks like that setup is a rectifier/power board, DAC board, and power cupply board going clockwise, similar to the DAC-200. Of course it also looks like the DAC-200 and Compass use the same DAC board.

 

[Sesonic]

How many hours do you need to burn in jumpers in soft2 setting so that all jumper settings are burned in sufficiently, tried searching thread and faq but couldn't see this mentioned anywhere?

Thanks

 

[doping panda]

About switching the gain switch issue, it's perfectly fine to flip the gain switch while the Compass is on. At the very least, the newer Compasses should be okay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sesonic /img/forum/go_quote.gif How many hours do you need to burn in jumpers in soft2 setting so that all jumper settings are burned in sufficiently, tried searching thread and faq but couldn't see this mentioned anywhere? Thanks

I emailed Kingwa about this when I got my Compass. He said I should burn in the settings for 400 hours.

Anyways, burning in the Moon right now on soft-2. I should almost be done burning in soft-2 if I'm not already done. I asked my friend to burn in my Compass over the Memorial Day weekend because I was out of town so I don't know how many hours he put on it. I've been busier lately so I haven't had much time for critical listening, but I don't think I like the Moon as much as the Earth. The Moon is stiill burning in, but right now I feel that the Earth is much better than the Moon in extension, imaging, dynamics, and "correctness". Now, "correctness" is purely subjective, but I do feel the Earth sounds more "right" than the Moon.

 

[zeroibis]

So does this new board only effect quality over USB so that you can get 24bit over that too, or does the current model only support 16bit for optical as well. Currently my computer has to use usb but I plan to use optical on my new one that has optical stock in the motherboard. Will using optical give me 24bit?

Also, this pink noise burns it in faster!? I guess I should use that when I am not using the compass... how much faster is it?

132 Hour mark!1

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by les_garten /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I think you are lucky you didn't Blow the amp. The Gain switch "looks" like it adds a resister in series or switches resisters, or switches two different circuits. I would "CAUTION" against doing this while powered up. I didn't design the circuit, I just traced the switch to the amp board. All other amps like this one(Discrete), you change gain with a resister or two. So switching the circuit while it's hot seems dangerous. This should be clarified to be sure and the answer from the Guru in FoShan should be posted here and on his website. If he says it's OK, it's OK. So in hind site, how proximal were your problems to your switching of the gain? Did you flip the switch and start having problems pretty much immediately?? .

Frankly, this is BS. If it were the case that it was bad to switch it, then turning the volume up suddenly in the amp would be dangerous. The volume control is a gain switch too, remember?

For everyone's satisfaction, I plugged in a pair of headphones and, with music playing, flipped the gain switch 20 times with no ill effects. The only possible reason that the music might cut out flipping the switch would be if the switch was faulty.

To repeat, you can flip the gain switch whenever you like, amp on or off, with no ill effects. I don't need to even confirm this with Kingwa, I'm 100% sure of it.

 

[ezzieyguywuf]

Does the amp come with a manual in english? I want to be sure I know how to use it properly when I get it. Also, I emailed them today (because the website says that international customers should email before buying) and have not heard back yet. What is your guys' turnaround with emails from this company?
Thanks.

 

[MadMan007]

They are ~+12 hours from the continental US (exact amount depends upon your time zone) so when you email them during the day it's night there

You will probably get replies overnight, my replies were between roughly 8PM EST and 6 AM EST.

 

[doping panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ezzieyguywuf /img/forum/go_quote.gif Does the amp come with a manual in english? I want to be sure I know how to use it properly when I get it. Also, I emailed them today (because the website says that international customers should email before buying) and have not heard back yet. What is your guys' turnaround with emails from this company? Thanks.

The inside of the top panel has instructions on how to use the unit, place in the jumpers, change the HDAM, and general precautions. Well, you need to take into account the time difference. It's about 9 AM where Kingwa is right now. I'm sure he or Cherry will reply soon if they got the message. Did you get the auto reply email? If you didn't, then that means that audio-gd didn't get your email.

 

[ezzieyguywuf]

I did not get an auto-reply!!!! audio-gd@123.com right?

Oh, and what exactly are these jumpers? I am a total amp-virgin so I don't know all that much about them.

 

[K_19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obentou /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yep, I should be expecting my Compass sometime tomorrow. I hope it works, lol.

I see you got the K701 now! Do you have those on hold until the Compass shows up or are you amping it with something meanwhile? (I'm asking since I think you sold your D10 already).

Looking forward to your review with the compass.

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif Frankly, this is BS. If it were the case that it was bad to switch it, then turning the volume up suddenly in the amp would be dangerous. The volume control is a gain switch too, remember? For everyone's satisfaction, I plugged in a pair of headphones and, with music playing, flipped the gain switch 20 times with no ill effects. The only possible reason that the music might cut out flipping the switch would be if the switch was faulty. To repeat, you can flip the gain switch whenever you like, amp on or off, with no ill effects. I don't need to even confirm this with Kingwa, I'm 100% sure of it.

Volume controls do nothing to gain. The are connected "usually"(Kingwa has a spin on this with the Compass) to the INPUTs at the back of the gear. Outside of the amplification circuit. The signal comes in at a certain level and the Volume Control at max volume has no effect on the signal. If you turn the Vol down, ie to the left, it attenuates the signal at the inputs. It is a smooth continuously variable resister change. Some stepped attenuators are resister ladders, and poorly constructed ones have problems switching resisters and produce pops, loud ones. But these are outside the amplification circuit.

To change Gain settings on an amp, like for instance, the B22, you change a few resisters in each channel, these resisters are located right in the middle of the amplification circuit. Seems prudent to not rewire the circuit on the fly.

There are now two anecdotal reports of this switch, while the system is hot, causing problems.

I'll reiterate what I said before.

1) Let's ask Kingwa
2) I don't do it that way

.

 

[MadMan007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ezzieyguywuf /img/forum/go_quote.gif I did not get an auto-reply!!!! audio-gd@123.com right? Oh, and what exactly are these jumpers? I am a total amp-virgin so I don't know all that much about them.

It's audio-gd@126.com

Did you typo it here or in the email you sent? As for the jumpers, check out the beginning of this thread and the aduio-gd site description first then come back with questions. In a nutshell they let you slightly tune the headphone amp sound output.