[macfly]

Great, thanks for the info, ath! Looks like I'll have to order up some op-amps to play with...

 

[Philimon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EFN /img/forum/go_quote.gif Foreword: Mids/Vocals With the bass boost switched on, the mids gets warmer – noticeably warmer if compared to with bass boost switched off. Nick Cave and Diana Krall vocals sounded deep and rich – very lush. At the same time, it is still very realistic and transparent. Despite the warming, they don’t sound out of place at all. They are quite consistent as one would expect hearing them live – a touch of organic boomy-ness where it should be and whispers when there is one. Any other instruments that inhabit the mids are treated similarly, there’s noticeable lushness to violin, guitars, piano, saxophone etc - they don’t exhibit any uncanny hump and the edges are silky smooth, sometimes ended with natural sounding decays. At first I am unaccustomed to this and find it hard to attune to the new sound, but now I have grown addicted and find myself spinning the same songs over and over again. In contrast, the SuperMicro-IV sounds a bit more neutral because it does not have the bass frequencies boosted like the MiniBox-E+. SuperMini-IV on the other hand has slightly lighter warmth with the bass boost option enabled. Bass This is where the MiniBox-E+ shine best. Since I am almost permanently on bass boost and getting addicted to it, I could no longer bear to have that function turned off. There’s a rediscovery of balance to the entire spectrum with the bass boost. Long regarded as a cold sounding IEM, the ER-4S is a lush pounder now. Bass is still very tightly controlled but now it has commanding authority in visceral impact and slam. Presence is also improved drastically – where there’s bass, one can clearly feel the vibe kicking in with excellent reverb around the ear canals. It’s groovy actually. Listening to my Metal, Electronica and Indie collection through the ER-4S has never been this engaging. Be it percussion bass, stringed bass or Diana Krall’s cello outfit or electronic induced vibes, the MiniBox-E+ rocks them solid – and with authority. The best part is that, if there’s no bass note present (or very minimal), the sound will remain faithful by not “projecting” any artificial bass hum or anything like that – very realistic. Treble This is the most interesting part. Treble no longer jumps with “in your face” emphasis. In fact I can audibly hear that treble has been spaced out a step back. No overbearing presence that I can tell of. There’s some serious silky smoothness to the presentation now. The edges are lush with swishy decays, not too long, not too short either. We are talking about very high quality treble here. The extension is properly textured giving the impression of cleanly layered and staged treble body. Gone are the annoying glare and hardness. Simply put, I feel no fatigue even after long hours of listening. Some may even call this different presentation as recessed. In a way it is true, but if one chooses to focus on the treble, they are still there in full flavor – just that it is no longer glorified as how an ER-4S would project while plugged in to most other amps. In contrast, the SuperMini-IV and SuperMicro-IV will still retain the upfront projection which can be a bit too much on some funky recordings. Sibilance Handling On a very positive note, the MiniBox-E+ has done a tremendous job in reducing vocal sibilance commonly heard through a bright sounding cans like the ER-4 (most notably the ER-4S/B). I have had lots of problem listening to Joy Division’s Ian Curtis and TEXAS because their voice are so high pitched and will always surely ended in that dreadful long “SSSS”. But now it’s very tolerable. The sibilance has been controlled significantly – partially perhaps due to the overall warming of the entire sound spectrum. Definitely a must have feature for all bright sounding cans. This is where the Xin duo loses a bit of ground as both are not an excellent controller of sibilance; they are good but after listening to the MiniBox-E+, the differences are quite apparent. I guess this is a price to pay for being very detailed and sensitive

It is great to hear that minibox_e+ is a good match for bass anemic, treble harsh, recessed mids, and sibilant headphones. I have the DT770 2005 250ohm, which is all of the things I mentioned above, but I think with the bass boost switched to "on" with the minibox - I have found new pleasure in these headphones (as in I think it sounds better).

I have had the minibox_e+ for about two and half years now without problems. They have been my sole dedicated headphone amp, since joining Head-Fi.

I didn't attempt using the bass boost with the DT770 until today. I never thought of using it before, because I thought it didn't help with sound quality when I had the Denon AHD2000, thus forgetting about the switch. I came on the boards looking for verification from others that the increase in overall sound quality without detriment could be had by using the bass boost switch with certain headphones...

Philimon

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Forgot to mention only issue with the amp:

The volume control increases/decreases the volume too much with the slightest turn of the wheel. It can be hard to get the volume setting to your preference. I think this problem could have been avoided in development, because I only listen to the minibox-e+ at a minimum degree/turn of the wheel (maybe 1/10 of the full turn turn of the wheel)... Also, when the volume is VERY low, it seems like the sound is unbalanced... Like the right might be louder than left. I do not know if this is even possible, but this is what it sounds like to me when I have the volume especially low for listening when going to bed. I sometimes have to listen to it louder than I like, because it doesn't sound right to me.

 

[Philimon]

Too bad so many are having difficulties with keeping a charge. When the battery is working well - the charge lasts a long time. I have to recharge my iPod many times before I have to recharge the amp. 60 hours of use a charge on the minibox-e+ seems correct to me.

 

[Philimon]

What is the consensus on the PtoS switch? Should it be on or off? When should it be used? For example with my DT770? When on does it help reduce the harshness of the treble? At the moment - I am trying to figure out if I prefer it on or off with these headphones. With my Yuin PK1 - I always preferred for the PtoS switch to be left on (because of the volume...). Its hard to make an opinion on sound quality, because the volume changes so much when switching between on and off... What have your experiences been like?

 

[dfkt]

I've did some extensive listening tests with my UE11 on the MBE+... the PtoS switch engaged makes the sound much worse. I'm not talking nuances here, I'm talking severe degradation in quality. Those are 18 Ohm phones with an extremely high sensitivity, so they might react worse than many others. Too bad, since the PtoS switch would eliminate the inherent hiss of the MBE+ with such kinds of phones - so one main functionality of a 75 Ohm addition is led ad absurdum.

I did some RMAA tests with the PtoS in both positions, without load it behaves fine - but the difference with a 18 Ohm + 119 dB/mW phone is quite remarkable.

I have to do some tests with phones that are "better behaved", like the PFE, HFI-780, etc.

 

[Philimon]

Thanks for the info dfkt.

I wasn't sure if the sound difference between on and off with the PtoS switch was real, or if had to do with change in volume...

I will listen to the amp with the PtoS in off mode for the next couple of weeks. I think it will make it much easier for me to discern degradation in sound quality when I try switching it back on later. I have to get accustomed to the sound, since I am used to having the switch on... I find it easier to find a low level of volume I am comfortable with, without unbalanced sound when the PtoS switch is on. Atleast that is how I feel (or felt 2 years ago) when I use the amp with my PK1 (my most often used headphone)...

 

[dfkt]

What DT770 do you have? 30/80/250 Ohm? I assume with higher impedance DT770's the difference wouldn't be that great, if even noticeable.

I have the OK1 and RE0 here, both around 150 Ohm... I can give them a try with the MBE+.

 

[Philimon]

I have the DT770 250ohm 2005 edition.

 

[mrarroyo]

Could it be the P to S switch was intended for the Etymotic ER4P and that is why you are hearing the sound degradation with other cans?

 

[dfkt]

I don't have any ER-4P to try, but I would assume an added 75 Ohm would not make such a negative impact on any phone? Well, I have a few other IEMs to try, how they react to it. I will report back.

 

[Ricey20]

I was complaining about sound imbalances with the PToS switch on as well. I did also notice that the sound quality was very different than with it off so I also leave it off now, seemed the sound would become distant and more muffled. But then there's the problem with hiss and the volume being too loud with high sensitivity iems like my ES3X. One of the main reasons why I use my P-51 instead. The P-51 has no hiss at all at low/medium/or high gain. Maybe the MBE+ uses really cheap resistors for the PToS?

 

[Philimon]

I agree with your "distant and muffled" assessment. It kind of makes the difference between making my DT770 no longer fatiguing with the harsh highs, but at the same time making them all together boring. Like - why use these huge expensive cans, when my PK1s are just as good (or better) and more comfortable? When the PtoS is off, I can easily see the potential in the DT770...

 

[dfkt]

I've tried a variety of phones with and without PtoS now...

1. Phones that hiss a lot without PtoS and sound veiled and distant with it: UE11, SE530, S.F5
2. Phones that behave somewhat better - less hiss without, less degradation with: Phonak, ER-6, RE0
3. Phones that show no difference: HFI-780, G1A, G2A, OK1, KSC75

Seems it's not entirely an impedance/sensitivity thing alone, considering the varying specs of the phones I tried.

 

[Philimon]

Interesting results dfkt. I will try and do a similar test with my other headphones as well.

Right now I have taken a preference to listening to my DT770 with PtoS off, bass boost off, and treble reduced with equalizer... Yeah I know, but atleast my ears are not bleeding. Frequency doesn't seem so imbalanced now, and the bass sounds just fine.

 

[kiwirugby]

I hope this is not too much of a "highjack", but being a relatively new owner of the MBE+, I am not quite sure I know when it has finished charging. I thought I remembered the light turning from yellow to red, but now the charging light just turns off, and recently, relatively quickly....granted after only 3-4 hours' use. I hope I am not having charging or battery issues.

Thoughts? Experiences?

Thanks!