[RoadCrew]

Damn, that sucks so much. I got mine used from a fellow head fi member. Just arrived last night, I've gotten in touch with him as well. I googled a ton and nobody seemed to have any issues like mine apart from yourself. I don't have any experience with soldering unfortunately.

I failed to point out that my 'solution' doesn't involve opening the thing. (I wish I could open it btw - I made a mess of mine trying but bailed out before I broke it totally).
Yours may be something different, but mine entails setting it to balanced mode and using a working pair of the four channels coming out of the 2.5mm socket, along with a ground (earth) taken from the 3.5 for convenience. I just have to live with a short adapter cable with two plugs one end (plugged into the Opus natch) and a flying socket for my headphones. It still sounds fantastic to me, but the downside is I can't use the balanced out as I would love to. If I ever see another one at a price I can swallow, I'd buy it in a heartbeat !

 

[Airsculpture]

Damn, that sucks so much. I got mine used from a fellow head fi member. Just arrived last night, I've gotten in touch with him as well. I googled a ton and nobody seemed to have any issues like mine apart from yourself. I don't have any experience with soldering unfortunately.

Can’t help you with your unit, but if you ever get a refund I have a 6 month old Opus #1 Metal Premium Edition with 5 months warranty left on it for sale in classifieds if you want to go that way.

Comes with leather case, protected front and back since opening the box.

 

[xshazzy]

I failed to point out that my 'solution' doesn't involve opening the thing. (I wish I could open it btw - I made a mess of mine trying but bailed out before I broke it totally).
Yours may be something different, but mine entails setting it to balanced mode and using a working pair of the four channels coming out of the 2.5mm socket, along with a ground (earth) taken from the 3.5 for convenience. I just have to live with a short adapter cable with two plugs one end (plugged into the Opus natch) and a flying socket for my headphones. It still sounds fantastic to me, but the downside is I can't use the balanced out as I would love to. If I ever see another one at a price I can swallow, I'd buy it in a heartbeat !

Perhaps I could manage that.

Right now my plan is to wait for the seller to respond and see what he says. Try them with different headphones when I'm home and perhaps order a balanced cable to see if the balanced port is fine.

I think he owes you a refund.

He was very reasonable when we communicated about the device. I have hopes he wouldn't have any issues with a refund if I cannot resolve these problems.

 

[xshazzy]

Can’t help you with your unit, but if you ever get a refund I have a 6 month old Opus #1 Metal Premium Edition with 5 months warranty left on it for sale in classifieds if you want to go that way.

Comes with leather case, protected front and back since opening the box.

Could you pm me the price and shipping details for reference sake? If this gets refunded then perhaps I would look to buy a working one. I love the design of the device, just wish it worked!

 

[xshazzy]

Aloha folks, back with a video trying to show the issues I'm having. Alongside these weird audio issues, the headphone jack is still lighting up red.

 

[Raketen]

Bit of a long shot, I just got an Opus #1. After setting it up clean and loading my music I've been listening for a while today and the sound is just terrible. The balance is shifted to the left and it produces minimal sound through my right earphone. There is also zero separation present and everything is coming through the "middle". I've checked my IEMs by using them on my phone, laptop and ipod and they are still working fine. I've set the gain to high and checked any other settings. I'm at a loss now tho
Anybody else had anything similar that they could perhaps help me out with?

It sounds like the same thing as mine... I bought mine pre-used and couldn't return it, but made it usable by using a combination of the balanced outs but with a common ground from the unbalanced 3.5 socket. Not for the faint hearted. If you have the option, return it, or if not - and you can solder - I can give you more details.

Double checked that again and the balance is in the middle. If I make the balance 100% to the right basically the whole sound gets muted. Also there is a red light coming from inside the headphone jack?

I believe the red light is from the optical connection switch being activated somehow, this user reported a similar problem also causing sound issues, but I'm not sure if they ever figured out a solution, might try PMing them. https://www.head-fi.org/threads/thebit-opus-1-dap-from-south-korea.792354/page-263#post-14665734

If you can't figure it out people on this thread have reported being able to contact theBit to make repairs, but for a fee + shipping costs to/from Korea.

 

[Airsculpture]

Sounds like digital out is set even though you have line out switched off as in the video

 

[xshazzy]

Thanks, I've PMd the person who was having similar problems and will see if they can help. I'll also get in touch with theBit directly. I have asked for a refund from the seller if this doesn't resolve though.

 

[macdonjh]

Aloha folks, back with a video trying to show the issues I'm having. Alongside these weird audio issues, the headphone jack is still lighting up red.

That video you posted solves the problem! The Koreans don't like Sacred Lie, so your player won't play it.

 

[xshazzy]

That video you posted solves the problem! The Koreans don't like Sacred Lie, so your player won't play it.

I wish it was that simple!

 

[macdonjh]

I failed to point out that my 'solution' doesn't involve opening the thing. (I wish I could open it btw - I made a mess of mine trying but bailed out before I broke it totally).
Yours may be something different, but mine entails setting it to balanced mode and using a working pair of the four channels coming out of the 2.5mm socket, along with a ground (earth) taken from the 3.5 for convenience. I just have to live with a short adapter cable with two plugs one end (plugged into the Opus natch) and a flying socket for my headphones. It still sounds fantastic to me, but the downside is I can't use the balanced out as I would love to. If I ever see another one at a price I can swallow, I'd buy it in a heartbeat !

I had to do something similar to solve a ground loop problem when connecting my AK70 Mk II to my desk-top amp. Mr. Choy at Triton Audio figured out the problem for me.

 

[xshazzy]

I ordered a 2.5mm to 3.5mm which should arrive tomorrow. Going to try using the balanced port and see if that fixes the problem.

 

[mbwilson111]

I ordered a 2.5mm to 3.5mm which should arrive tomorrow. Going to try using the balanced port and see if that fixes the problem.

Is your plan to attach a normal non balanced Iem to the balanced jack using a 3.5 female to 2.5 male adapter?

It has always been my understanding that this is not safe for the equipment.

 

[xshazzy]

That does sound like what I was going to try. Should I instead get an actual balanced cable for my IEMs instead of an adaptor?

 

[mbwilson111]

That does sound like what I was going to try. Should I instead get an actual balanced cable for my IEMs instead of an adaptor?

If you want to listen balanced from the balanced output, yes. Putting an adaptor on a non balanced cable cannot change it to balanced because the two grounds are already together and they need to be separate all the way to the source as the are in a balanced cable. An adapter cannot separate them.

I have heard that trying to do what you were planning can damage the equipment. You can research that if you like if you don't want to take my word for it.

There are balanced cables with a 3.5mm plug and the adapter is meant for those if your device has a 2.5 jack... like the Opus. 3.5 balanced is more rare but there was a time that there was a push to make that the norm so it exists.

If you get a balanced cable for your iems you CAN use an adapter that is 2.5mm balanced female to 3.5mm non balanced male so that you can use your other sources when you want without changing cables. I hate to weaken the connections on the iems by constantly swapping cables.