[vorlon1]

Thanks to everyone's help I was able to put an LM 6172 in there, and it has seemed to improve the highs a bit. Later on I am going to put something else in the 3rd and 4th slot, possible an AD 8620, and switch them back and forth and see what happens.

 

[AusTex]

I got an email reply from Xin -

Hi Bill,

You may not believe it, I have been making the final changes and have held
shipping for a long time. The good news is: almost done now and shipping
might start as soon as this week.

Xin

 

[aluren]

sounds good. i got my email notice from xin last week saying it'll ship in 1-2 days and its been a week now. so its nice to know that he's finalizing the tweaks.

but i think if xin posted this on his forum website, it'll save himself some time from having to answer you, me, and others through individual emails that have concerns on delivery. it goes against reason why he doesn't do that.

 

[djbnh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aluren sounds good. i got my email notice from xin last week saying it'll ship in 1-2 days and its been a week now.

ditto

 

[vorlon1]

After using an AD 822, LM 6172 and the stock AD 8397s in various combinations I found that the LM 6172 in 3 and 4 and the AD 8397 in the Opamp socket gave the best sound. Much improved highs that don't sound rolled off, very large soundstage, and much better transparency and detail. I'm sure I'm still going to send it to Xin for the 9-14 tweak anyway though.

 

[digitalcat]

When this thread dies and nobody is complaining about not receiving orders, I'll send my amp back for upgrade,

. I've recently found my PPA to be a great match with HD600, nice backup for the supermacro.

 

[kaushama]

Yes I was too looking for best configuration for SMIV than default. Still I think 914 tweak will cure, most of the problems of IV amps. From what I know it gives another performance boost to SMIV making it comparable to best. It is sure to better the SQ, if it cures the oscillation problem. Oscillation in non-audible range can downgrade the performance of the amp drastically.

I think I should ask Dr.XIN to check my charging circuit too. Even when it is in trickle mode, amp sometimes gets quite warm and this happens randomly.

 

[kaushama]

I think after 24 hours of straight burn SMIV now has little improved trebles and less roll off. It may be that it needs longer hours of burn in or oscillation, as Dr.XIN himself reported, occur randomly.
But its bass response is very impressive!

 

[aluren]

Quote:

Originally Posted by digitalcat When this thread dies and nobody is complaining about not receiving orders, I'll send my amp back for upgrade, . I've recently found my PPA to be a great match with HD600, nice backup for the supermacro.

smart man!

 

[mirumu]

I've contacted Xin to negotiate the return and upgrade of my SM IV. I don't mind a bit of a wait for it, I don't particularly enjoy the SM IV as-is and I should have a STAX SR-005A system arriving in a few days anyway.

 

[kaushama]

Kugino! I see your amp for sale (wrong forum though)! You never posted your impressions. What do you think?

 

[kaushama]

Another point worth mentioning is GOTO's impression about newest tweaks. He has been very conservative regarding the IV amps before. As this IV concept rooted from the pre-power combo of GOTO, he was always in the opinion that IV amps should sound at least on par with his SM3V6 pre-power combo. As pre914 amps suffered from oscillation they did not give performance comparable to combo. Even some superminies were supposed suffer from the ailment.

They do suffer from oscillation. My SMIV has whistling\bird sounds, when its volume cranked up to maximum, connected to iaudio G3. I can hear it quite loud when iAudio's volume is zero. It reminds me the first STK4192 chip amp project of mine few years back. Due to ground loop problem in my preamp it gave these whistling sounds of oscillation and IC was getting warm like nothing. Sound quality was horrible. But when ground loop was cleared it gave sweet sound.

But I am quite impressed with its SQ. Particularly its definition and sound-stage. The best, I have heard in a portable so far. If SMIV can perform like that even when it oscillates, I am sure the mature product, will be a kick-ass amp.That is why, I think SMIV should be given time to mature.

Its sure Dr.XIN is paying with his reputation for the sin of premature product announcement. The good news is, GOTO now thinks SMIV can give a head-on for his pre-power combo. This is after 914 tweaks. Dr.XIN may be fine tuning the 914 tweak. He is as silent, he is known to be.

But I am going to wait till dust settles to get 914 tweak. If it cures oscillation problem (the main problem of SMIV all these days), we may be able enjoy a kick-ass amp.

 

[GreatDane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaushama Kugino! I see your amp for sale (wrong forum though)! You never posted your impressions. What do you think?

lol

Thats what I was thinking. I guess it wasn't very enjoyable. I look forward to having my Mini fixed...I'm just too lazy right now and I'm also waiting for another amp to arrive from Germany first

{{{what could it be

}}}

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatDane lol Thats what I was thinking. I guess it wasn't very enjoyable. I look forward to having my Mini fixed...I'm just too lazy right now and I'm also waiting for another amp to arrive from Germany first {{{what could it be }}}

yeah, my impressions...well, i thought the supermini was okay, not great, though. i didn't like the cross-feed (though i don't really care for it in general...didn't like it on the head-five, either)...the design isn't my cup o'tea...though i'm using it with my nano, i'm happy to carry a slightly bigger amp. my PINT will be fine for now until i get another amp for portable purposes (i like the PINT paired with the alien DAC on my imac).

what i did like? well, the bass boost was implemented quite well...it's amazing how much stuff xin gets packed into that little case, too. i'll just sell it as is...someone can listen to it and decide if they want to send it in for the latest update (though i don't know how necessary that is).

 

[Nick Christy]

I cancelled my order 10 days ago by emailing Xin. He didnt reply so i followed it up with a second email last Saturday.

At the same time I ordered a Hornet from Ray.

To date Xin hasnt replied, but i do know Ray has shipped my amp.

It will be interesting to see if Ray can ship an amp from the US to London faster than Xin can answer an email.

I paid for my amp by Paypal so I am $400 out of pocket at the moment. I've now emailed Xin a second reminder (i.e 3 unanswered emails in total). If i havent heard anything by the end of Tuesday I'll have to get my money back from Paypal via their complaints procedure.

Xin's really not covering himself in glory at the moment with the way he looks after his customers.