[warubozu]

Thanks for the clarification, will try the low gain setting on my GS-X.

 

[humanflyz]

Second day: still very satisfied with how the GS-X is performing as a pre-amp. I can't test its balanced headphone output because I am still waiting for a fellow Head-Fier to loan me his balanced Senn HD650s.

 

[Asr]

/screams in agony

Must. Listen. To GS-X!!! But no, too many amps with even more on the way!!!! Can't take it anymore! Losing the will to live! You know you're cursed when you're swimming in amps!!!!!

 

[Morph201]

I'm here for ya Asr! You can pass a couple of those amps over to me!!

Anything to help a fellow head-fier!

 

[OracleGuy]

Did anybody A/B the GS-X against the Apache at the national meet?

 

[chris_ah1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OracleGuy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did anybody A/B the GS-X against the Apache at the national meet?

I am wondering the same myself.

The GS-X is beautiful inside. Those discrete headphone sections are lovely.
Just like the headroom amps I think. Then again the GS-X looks more beautiful than the headroom kit.

Apache is beautiful too, but I wonder whether the lack of discrete amp modules is a bother - after all if a wonder opamp comes along you can swap it in.

Shame the rudistor amps look so messy inside and have no upgradeability. If you spend $$$$$$$$$$ you want something that looks awesome, sounds awesome and you are proud to sit infront of for hours (p.s. just in case this is misconstrued, i dont give a toss to show off the kit to others).

After all, if we were really concerned about reasonably priced SQ we wouldn't bother with this stuff

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by euclid /img/forum/go_quote.gif high gain has nice drive to the bass which sounds alittle punchier and focused. in low gain the bass is not as readily noticable but it has a better sense of space and depth, it doesnt auto default to a punchy ball of mass, instead i think it integrates into the music more subtly and realistically. with no room noise the music is noticably more airy and transparant in low gain, it blends together really well. if the ambient room noise is too high then the benefits of low gain can be drowned out, things start to sound rolled off and transients soft, then it would be better to get some drive behind the sound and let it exagerate the extremes a bit with higher gain. with Audio Techinca its tough to get a good volume level since the attenuator steps are pretty drastic in high gain it has very little usuable volume level, 3-4 steps total. midgain steps are obviously alittle closer than high gain so i think thats a nice compromise if low gain is not sounding engaging enough. fun to experiment with different settings for different music too, actually a complaint i have about the GS-X is that the high gain position is in the middle of the low and med, so when switching from low to med you are in for a nice wake-up when high gain is engagied in the process. make sure to turn the volume down low before switching, like you said 10:00+ in high gain is.

I believe Ray and Justin posted awhile ago that gain settings should not have any effect on the sound as long as actual output volume is the same.

 

[upstateguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT /img/forum/go_quote.gif I believe Ray and Justin posted awhile ago that gain settings should not have any effect on the sound as long as actual output volume is the same.

Hi A_W

I heard that too, from Ray... But if that's true, what's the big deal about using unity gain?

USG

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by upstateguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi A_W I heard that too, from Ray... But if that's true, what's the big deal about using unity gain? USG

To eliminate hiss with low impedance headphones and make DACT adjustment range more usable? Mine GS-1 low gain is set to unity, can't tell that I can detect any difference between low and high gain, except that with high gain it's more difficult to get the level right with lower impedance cans.

 

[upstateguy]

Thanks...

 

[euclid]

for me the gain setting has been very noticable on speakers with the GS-X as a preamp, the mid and high gain sound more congested and 2 dimensional like the amp is compressing the music . also for the W5000 i occasionally hear some bass distortion in low gain but mid gain seems to eliminate it. ive done my best in volume matching i dint think thats where the difference is coming from.

 

[elisiX]

Just learning more about the Headamp and rhe GSX in particular.

Can anyone comment on running this with the Focal Utopia, Stellia and Empyrean?