[oicdn]

I'm still curious as to how this amp sounds with a 300 ohm can at anything past 1/2 volume put turned on high gain...many questions answered directly from the man, but mine are still avoided

In any case, I guess this just means I'll have to hear it from somebody sometime, just call me skeptical. Pretty cases though. I just dislike the Tomahawk volume knob, I think the Hornet and SR71 knobs are much prettier.

 

[MrSlacker]

Ray, can I run it from DC power all the time? Will it hurt the sound or battery?

Thanks

 

[wakeride74]

Nice work Ray, looks like the perfect one size fits all amp!

Will there be an option to have a blue LED for the power switch? Also do you know if you will be taking orders before or after Christmas for the first batch?

 

[chouman]

Great job Ray! I was thrilled to audition your Predator at the Chicago meet and it was also brilliant meeting you and your family. This is gonna be one killer product. Keep up the great work and do keep us all posted on the official release date when we can all unload our wallets. Shoot! And maybe I'll have a bit leftover for Christmas cards.

 

[3x331m]

Ray,

Thanks for the teasers. It will be really cool when dressed up. I'll be pretty pist if I don't get one from the first batch.

 

[NoiseGUI]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSlacker /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ray, can I run it from DC power all the time? Will it hurt the sound or battery? Thanks

I've read that keeping a li-ion charged all the time will degrade the capacity faster than using it down to 20% ocassionally. Li-Ions like to get used, though not abused. Also, I've seen talk of battery power being cleaner sounding since you aren't introducing a/c line noise, though I'd like to see Ray's answer to this also. The Predator will be the first component I can test this out for myself.

 

[NoiseGUI]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oicdn /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm still curious as to how this amp sounds with a 300 ohm can at anything past 1/2 volume put turned on high gain...many questions answered directly from the man, but mine are still avoided

I thought at 50% volume the amp is only giving half of what it's got (regulating amperage right?), so you're not getting all it's got until the knob is at 100%, which is what you've calc'd in re: to the battery.

I am thinking that at worst, the cans will not be as loud as you want when the amp is giving all it's got at 11 gain and 100% volume. Did ray say any headphone, or just most headphones? Obviously 300 Ohms is alot for any portable amp.

 

[Illidan]

I was worried about the replacement of the li-ion battery earlier, you can't avoid the capacity losing of them.

 

[Sheynkman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoiseGUI /img/forum/go_quote.gif I thought at 50% volume the amp is only giving half of what it's got (regulating amperage right?), so you're not getting all it's got until the knob is at 100%, which is what you've calc'd in re: to the battery. I am thinking that at worst, the cans will not be as loud as you want when the amp is giving all it's got at 11 gain and 100% volume. Did ray say any headphone, or just most headphones? Obviously 300 Ohms is alot for any portable amp.

the hd600 is 300 (i think) and it had nooooo trouble driving them very well

 

[jdimitri]

Whoa.. you know what's really tempting me at this point?

A RSA amp with no screws at the back to scratch up my DAC..
Obviously the size and sound would be great, but that's expected from ray

Must.. resist

 

[fhuang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray Samuels /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Predator drives all high impedance headphones with ease, it is a very powerful amp with a great driving capability. Ray Samuels

hi Ray,
i know(you said) this is a very powerful amp but frankly i'm more concern about this amp pairing with iem and portable/low impedance headphone. i mean after all this is still a portable amp(no dis). if i'm getting one, i'm going to use it with iems or low impedance headphone a lot more than high impedance headphone.

 

[Ray Samuels]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fhuang /img/forum/go_quote.gif hi Ray, i know(you said) this is a very powerful amp but frankly i'm more concern about this amp pairing with iem and portable/low impedance headphone. i mean after all this is still a portable amp(no dis). if i'm getting one, i'm going to use it with iems or low impedance headphone a lot more than high impedance headphone.

It is designed with UE10, ES2 & Shure E500. The lower gain of 1 does great with those cans.

As to the battery, you should not worry, as the battery will stop charging when it is full. whether being pluged to the charger all the time or not.
Yes, you can charge the battery & play music at the same time.

I found out that many recorded CDs are recorded very low and some times much higher signal is encoded on them. Also the difference in source's outputs are a great factor when designing an amp with gain switch. Having these two factors in mind you do not want to listen to your low recorded music, on a low output source, using very high impedance headphones, with your pot being at at 5:00 O'Clock, DO YOU?. These three factors when they get together you wish that some higher gain was avaialable on your amp to put your Pot around 12:00 or 1:00 O'clock. Thats why we implemented the high gain on the Predator, it is not to lie to the buyer or try to cheat others of of their hard earned dollars. Now gain of 4 will always be perfect with most recording if they are recorded at proper level & if it happen you use your Predator with some home base sources that have higher signal output.

We put a gain of 1 for IEMs for one reason and one reason only, to give a better control over the volume pot so when you dial the knob you will be far away from the biginning of the start of the pot so your two channel's sound stage will be locked in the middle rather than the music being shifted toward one side.
When I designed the SR-71, It had fixed gain at 6, it was fine most of the time with most players of that time as most of them used to have a higher output voltage swing, but still those who used to listen very loud & happened that the music that they had was recorded at lower level, expressed to have the gain of the SR-71 set to that of 11, which I did.
So it is not whether the amp needs this high gain or not it is the conveience
that gives you as an owner to have a better control over your music & sets your pot at the better location when dialed to your level of listening.
Ray Samuels

 

[williamchc]

How about ES3 (and UE11)?
As I am finding a portable amp for my ES3, I hope the predator works great and sounds superb with it.

 

[texashorn91]

Wow, I can't wait to see this in the real case! Great job, Ray

 

[Ray Samuels]

Quote:

Originally Posted by williamchc /img/forum/go_quote.gif How about ES3 (and UE11)? As I am finding a portable amp for my ES3, I hope the predator works great and sounds superb with it.

I do have Weston 3, they sound great with The Predator.
I did use the UE10 in developing the Predator too, those cans sound amazing with the amp..
Ray Samuels