[jlingo]

I bought an ALO Vcap portable. But I have a question. I understand that V-Cap is a capacitor that is used for those who own an iMOD. Why an iMOD must go through a capacitor first before going into any amp?

Also I have tried to use a portable CD player and use its headphone out into V-Cap and then using RCA Reverie 2 Cable onto LISA III, although the sound seem somewhat muddier yet, it’s more musical, with depth, and dimension to it. Can I essentially use V-cap for other devices as well?

Convential CD Player -> Cardas Mini to Mini -> Vcap -> CablePro Reverie V.2 -> LISA III Amp -> Ultrasone Edition 9(Less clarity and transparency yet VERY SMOOTH and Musical). Is this supposed to be the results or just coincidence?

Does anyone else have tried something similar?

 

[koike]

hi mike,
The caps after the imod is there to block the dc from going into the amp to prevent damage of equipment.

 

[jlingo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by koike /img/forum/go_quote.gif hi mike, The caps after the imod is there to block the dc from going into the amp to prevent damage of equipment.

but how about if you use it after headphone out and then into Vcap? Have you tried it?

 

[sinsiang]

It will only degrade the sound, even though it's a very good cap. On the headphone out it's not needed as there are already some caps there to block DC.
The sound is about spot-on as oimp caps are smoother, warmer sounding and slower. If you like this, then no harm is done by adding this.
But if you mod the cp player thaking out the original caps and direct connect to the vcap then you would have the best as you would improve clarity while sounding warmer.

siang

 

[Vinnie R.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinsiang /img/forum/go_quote.gif It will only degrade the sound, even though it's a very good cap. On the headphone out it's not needed as there are already some caps there to block DC. The sound is about spot-on as oimp caps are smoother, warmer sounding and slower. If you like this, then no harm is done by adding this. But if you mod the cp player thaking out the original caps and direct connect to the vcap then you would have the best as you would improve clarity while sounding warmer. siang

Siang is correct... the Vcap dock is meant for the 5G/5.5G iMod (it is known as the "iMod Portable Vcap Dock) as there are no dc blocks caps used in the line-out signal path after the Imod to this unit, and you need them so the Vcap dock is a very fine choice to use (probably one of the best available).

However, if you are just inserting the Vcap dock in series with a stock line-out of a device, you are just adding another capacitor in series with the audio signal. You may or may not like what this does, but feel free to try it because it won't hurt anything. I'm not surprised that the Vcaps in series with your CDP line out yields a warmer, smoother sound.

Headphone output stages (e.g. stock iPod headphone output) that use dc blocking caps require larger capacitors in the signal path that what is used for the line-out, or else you will get bass roll-off as the low impedance of your headphones will help create an RC high-pass filter. So using the Vcap dock in series with your headphone output may not be a good idea because it will reduce the series capacitance via C-total = C1*C2/(C1 + C2).

Best regards,

Vinnie

 

[manaox2]

haha, I just tried with my echo indigo and vCap dock. I hear what you mean. It is a very smooth sound and not a sound that I can recall hearing from my music before. Its odd, smooth, but infected mushroom sounds much different. I don't like how it dulls the sound with them, but it does sound pretty nice with some wailing guitars from Joe Satriani. Its just a different sound to me. I've only been listening for a few minutes, but so far the bass lost its punch, I loose a lot of it somewhere. The clarity and accuracy sound off. I don't think I'd consider it an upgrade, but it is fun to hear how it changes the sound. I can't keep listening to it much longer though, I hear too much cymbal now listening to Mindless Self Indulgence and need the bass and clarity back.

A little off topic, but I wanted to mention that because I want the UE11 so much, I thought about selling my vCap dock for a long minute. So I compared it directly to the Super Cotton Dock I have. I can't do it at all. The system isn't complete without it now. It brings a lot of extra texture and clean bass with the iMod that really makes the difference in me considering it a permanent rig and not just a portable. I could never give that up for the UE11 before I get the chance to hear the combo together.

 

[jlingo]

I haven't tested it with UE11 yet. But I was very surprised how pleasant it sounded with UE9. Would it be possible because UE9 already has lots of bass in them, so that I don't really notice the loss in bass? Also UE9 has this S-logic in them, so I could hear lots of spatial information when I plugged into Vcap? Have you tried using UE9 instead of UE11?

 

[KB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by manaox2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif haha, I just tried with my echo indigo and vCap dock. I hear what you mean. It is a very smooth sound and not a sound that I can recall hearing from my music before. Its odd, smooth, but infected mushroom sounds much different. I don't like how it dulls the sound with them, but it does sound pretty nice with some wailing guitars from Joe Satriani. Its just a different sound to me. I've only been listening for a few minutes, but so far the bass lost its punch, I loose a lot of it somewhere. The clarity and accuracy sound off. I don't think I'd consider it an upgrade, but it is fun to hear how it changes the sound. I can't keep listening to it much longer though, I hear too much cymbal now listening to Mindless Self Indulgence and need the bass and clarity back. A little off topic, but I wanted to mention that because I want the UE11 so much, I thought about selling my vCap dock for a long minute. So I compared it directly to the Super Cotton Dock I have. I can't do it at all. The system isn't complete without it now. It brings a lot of extra texture and clean bass with the iMod that really makes the difference in me considering it a permanent rig and not just a portable. I could never give that up for the UE11 before I get the chance to hear the combo together.

Manaox2,

Cool thanks for posting the info. I have not seen much in the way of Vcap owners thoughts on what they are hearing with the P-Vcap dock, esp in comparing the BG iMod cable to that of a iMod using the P-Vcap dock.

Ken

 

[wsilvio]

Ken,

I'm enjoying my v-cap portable very much. It's hooked up to a millett portable and sounds great!

Ken, any thoughts on making high quality line attenuators for iem users?

I'm using the attenuator that came with my e500's, but I'm sure this could be approved upon. Just a thought.

will

 

[manaox2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wsilvio /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ken, I'm enjoying my v-cap portable very much. It's hooked up to a millett portable and sounds great! Ken, any thoughts on making high quality line attenuators for iem users? I'm using the attenuator that came with my e500's, but I'm sure this could be approved upon. Just a thought. will

X2!

I only have the UE11, so my amp just seems like overkill and a space waster. I might get the Westone 3 in the future, but I would love to know where I could find a really good line level attenuator. It you were to produce a stepped attenuator for IEMs, I bet it would be a hit.