[Audio-Omega]

Where did you buy it from ?

 

[longbowbbs]

Quote:

Spoiler: Warning%3A%20Spoiler!

 
Been looking for an amp to get closer to aural nirvana .
Part of the personal audio journey you know . Worked out that I liked the detailed , plenty of ambience in spacious soundstage kind of sound . The kind of sound where quality of instrument  timbre is more important than quantity of bass specifically .
 
Kind of bet on the Bakoon amp 21 to make it happen 
 
So I ended up in a well  stocked headfi  orientated store in Melbourne today.
Listened to the Mjolnir and found it so Lo-Fi, Bryston and found it Nice- Fi and the Soloist smooth but unsophisticated and dense in your face .
 
About to go and got talking about Headamp .
Lo and behold there was the GSXmk II .  One problem, not allowed to listen !! Only one in stock and only for sale , no buyer yet. Not prepared to chance someone not liking it and having to sell a demo unit .
 
Ok fine then, give me the damn thing but let me listen to make sure it works. 
 
And it works , cold start out of the box in the shop and all . Ancilliaries not to shabby but not my standard by far. 
Just could not fault the damn thing , what clear improvement on what came before by far and already .
 
Paid and left, no waiting . Now to lug the box the entire Great Ocean Road, no listening for 4 days not even thinking audio .
 
 

 
Funny old world.

Love this...A great example of us hobbyests and the impulse buy!  Enjoy the unit wild4sound!
 

 

[wild4sound]

Knopi laptop,and new Nad M dac ,Mjolnir, any phone. Crank up and first you hear is the sea ??
Then music drowns it out, seriously not good sign. I hope it is a defective unit otherwise serious LO FI, all other amps mentioned was DEAD quiet.

I hope this is the beginning of a good end with GX MII

 

[justin w.]

i dont understand your post.  is it about the Mjolnir or the GS-X mk2?

 

[Solude]

Lo = Mjolnir
Hi = GS-X mk2

 

[wild4sound]

Sorry for the double post and confusion .
Knoipi asked about the Mjolnir and my explanation should have been clearer.

The store I visited was Addicted to Audio in Melbourne .
I listened to a few amps under one roof which was just great .
The service was great and I could compare real world amps which I had never been able to do.

The Mjolnir had a loud hiss as you turned up the volume , all other amps was quiet .

The GS X MII just sounded sublime.

The poor salesman was very protective of the Headamp and did not even want to open the box.
He handled it like a piece jewellery and was shocked that I was not leaving without it.

So Justin, please send these kind folks a new unit to demonstrate, I bet business will boom.

I got back to the hotel with the box and read this thread and posted.
I consider myself lucky to have unearthed this gem .

Enjoy the music.

 

[justin w.]

Dealers - they wait for the amp while you don't know about it
should be a new slogan
 
I'm sure Addicted to Audio will be getting more GS-X mk2 amps, but right now the first production run is sold out for everyone and i am in the process of building more.  you got the last unsold unit in the world

 

[xphynance]

12+ hours straight reading on this 1K+ thread....I must be crazy...
 
Massive information, but I still got a stupid question here:
 
What exactly the difference between the Alpha and DACT? Anything will be added to(or subtracted from) the SQ due to this choice?
 
Thanks!

 

[Maxvla]

DACT is a stepped volume control with preset volume positions. Similar to how the volume on your iPhone or whatever will say 20/40 meaning it's at 'half' volume and if you tap to go up in volume it will go to 21/40 and so on. A stepped control means you can't dial in an exact loudness that you might want at any given time like you can with a free rotation potentiometer like the Alpha. Since a stepped control will only do 20 and 21, if what you want is 20.5 you are out of luck and have to make do. The trade off for this is that stepped controls are easier to make more accurate. At the level of the DACT and Alpha, though, there is not much if any detectable (by ears) difference.

 

[xphynance]

Quote:

DACT is a stepped volume control with preset volume positions. Similar to how the volume on your iPhone or whatever will say 20/40 meaning it's at 'half' volume and if you tap to go up in volume it will go to 21/40 and so on. A stepped control means you can't dial in an exact loudness that you might want at any given time like you can with a free rotation potentiometer like the Alpha. Since a stepped control will only do 20 and 21, if what you want is 20.5 you are out of luck and have to make do. The trade off for this is that stepped controls are easier to make more accurate. At the level of the DACT and Alpha, though, there is not much if any detectable (by ears) difference.

Thanks! So do you mean in terms of the SQ itself, there's no human ear noticeable defects of the Alpha compared to DACT if I am indifference of the exact volume amount?

 

[purk]

Quote:

DACT is a stepped volume control with preset volume positions. Similar to how the volume on your iPhone or whatever will say 20/40 meaning it's at 'half' volume and if you tap to go up in volume it will go to 21/40 and so on. A stepped control means you can't dial in an exact loudness that you might want at any given time like you can with a free rotation potentiometer like the Alpha. Since a stepped control will only do 20 and 21, if what you want is 20.5 you are out of luck and have to make do. The trade off for this is that stepped controls are easier to make more accurate. At the level of the DACT and Alpha, though, there is not much if any detectable (by ears) difference.

I think the DACT should sound better than Alpha pot, at least through the life of the Aplha pot anyway.  I thought that the sonic equivalent of a DACT or Gold Point stepped attenuators are the ultra expensive Alp RK50 continuous potentiometer model.  The RK40 (a.k.a. Alp black beauty) may also get very close to DACT but for much less.  However, it is only available as a stereo pot and has long been discontinued.  I maybe wrong on this, but what's the point of ordering a DAC-T if the Alpha pot gives identical performance and superior infinite volume control.

 

[Maxvla]

Tried to find where I read that about the Alpha and DACT being close in performance, but am coming up empty on quotables. Guess I'll wait for Justin or another knowledgeable in that area to set the record straight.

 

[johnwmclean]

Thanks! So do you mean in terms of the SQ itself, there's no human ear noticeable defects of the Alpha compared to DACT if I am indifference of the exact volume amount?

The Dact has a rated tolerance of .001% channel matching, an infinite resolution log as far as I'm aware cannot achieve anywhere near this.

 

[johnwmclean]

I think the DACT should sound better than Alpha pot, at least through the life of the Aplha pot anyway.  I thought that the sonic equivalent of a DACT or Gold Point stepped attenuators are the ultra expensive Alp RK50 continuous potentiometer model
.  The RK40 (a.k.a. Alp black beauty) may also get very close to DACT but for much less.  However, it is only available as a stereo pot and has long been discontinued.  I maybe wrong on this, but what's the point of ordering a DAC-T if the Alpha pot gives identical performance and superior infinite volume control.

The RK50 is undoubtably one of the best pots around, the Dact is technically better, but limited to 24 steps.

 

[PFKMan23]

As cool as the RK50 is, I don't think it's feasible for the GS-X...