[K3cT]

Currently I have the Head-Amp Pico in my possession to be compared with the Compass.

Initial impression: they are in the same league with the Compass slightly leading.

 

[crapback]

Has anyone gone about modding a compass yet? More specifically, has anyone tried adding bypass caps to it? Bypass caps worked wonders for my '09 zero but I don't want to start tearing into a month old compass unless someone else has tried it with worthwhile results.

 

[PowerPaul86]

I just pushed the trigger and send Kingwa 346USD or 240€ thanks to the greedy exploitative Paypal currency exchange rate :/

Now I only have to wait for it to arrive and pay additional 19% for customs, ending up with a more expensive hobby than I thought before and hopefully a great DAC/AMP device for my HD650.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsplice /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well thank you for that bit of info, but as everyone else in this forum, I am entitled to my opinion. Therefore I will state it in any way I see fit. You can choose to take it with a grain of salt if you wish, as you obviously did here. One thing I have to add though, is that I'm a guy who needs 250W per channel minimum on my stereo system to fully enjoy it. So my perception of "underpowered" may be a lot different from everyone else's.

You are jumping the gun. The 650's and the Compass need (break in) hours on them...wait until you reach 300 hours for the 650's and 400 -550 hours for the Compass then report back. You should have a very different opinion of the pairing by then. The 650's sound harsh in the treble until they are broken in, the Compass and HDAM modules are all over the map until they break in.

Relax, put on some music and give both a chance to reach their peak performance

Peete.

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by K3cT /img/forum/go_quote.gif Currently I have the Head-Amp Pico in my possession to be compared with the Compass. Initial impression: they are in the same league with the Compass slightly leading.

Interesting. The Pico has long been on my short-list for gear to get if in the future I need to do any significant amount of travelling.

Quote:

Originally Posted by crapback /img/forum/go_quote.gif Has anyone gone about modding a compass yet? More specifically, has anyone tried adding bypass caps to it? Bypass caps worked wonders for my '09 zero but I don't want to start tearing into a month old compass unless someone else has tried it with worthwhile results.

What might be interesting are the mods Kingwa made to create the DAC200. I don't really know why Kingwa no longer links to it, as a few people have considered buying a Compass only for the DAC and this would be a better option for the same price.

 

[fugimax]

Just got my compass! This thing is bigger than expected.

Two questions:

1. I have Denon AH-D7000's ... so I assume leave the gain on "Low", yes?
2. Should I go USB or optical? I'm on a Mac.

 

[crapback]

I prefer the low gain setting with my hd650's. You can just try both and see which one you like better. You probably won't get much range from the knob on high gain if that matters to you.

As for the input, I prefer the sound of the optical out of my gateway laptop. Again, you should just experiment and see which one you like better.

 

[fugimax]

Not a fan of how loose the optical cable is ... really wish he'd gone for locking.

In general, I'm not aware of why one would USB over optical or vice versa. Is there a general doc or faq on the advantages / disadvantages of each?

 

[crapback]

I've heard a couple other people mention the loose optical connector. I don't have that problem at all. What kind of cable are you using? If it's the cable included with the compass I never tried that one. I bought a cables to go velocity optical cable and it clicks into the jack nice and tight.

As for your second question, you should do some searching on that one. I don't want to talk about that subject if at all possible. Some people treat jitter like armageddon, others say it shouldn't make an audible difference. Good luck.

 

[punk_guy182]

If you're Mac is capable of outputing a bit perfect digital signal, then I would use TOSlink (optical) over USB. If not, I would go with USB.
I also use the low gain with my HD650 and I only used the high gain with my previsouly owned AKG K702.
I do not have a problem with the optical cable hooking up to the Compass. Mine was always connected. I used the Blue Jeans TOSlink cable.

 

[K3cT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif Interesting. The Pico has long been on my short-list for gear to get if in the future I need to do any significant amount of travelling.

Comparing them on the basis as DAC/Amp systems I find the Pico has a more accurate tone (pretty noticeable when it comes to cymbals), sounds wetter in the midrange and less grainy/etched in the treble areas but lacks on the bass, ability to deliver micro details (transient response?) and soundstage (even more so when the MOON HDAM is used) of the Compass. Still very early impressions though as I need to get familiar with the Pico.

The most interesting thing is when you hook Pico's DAC to Compass' amp then my HF2 really sings!

 

[Currawong]

I didn't notice any significant difference between optical out with my Mac and USB. Supposedly the Belkin Gold USB cable is quite good, so you might give both a shot and see if it makes any difference to you. Optical is less noisy though than USB, not that you can hear any noise using it with the Compass.

 

[Sparky14]

Hooray, mine arrived yesterday! I'm in the club

Made me nervous, as only one channel worked for the first 20 minutes. Tried different headphones, cables, sources......same result. But finally, the connection somehow got made and the R channel finally came in. Sounds great.

It that supposed to be a light above the power button? If so, mine doesn't work.

Time to go headphone shopping!

 

[jhanby]

There is a blue LED just above the on switch.

If its not working, i'd speak to Kingwa.

 

[Sparky14]

Arggh, now my R channel is out again. Didn't unplug anything, just turned it off for 30 minutes. Turned it back on and no R sound.

Rats.