[macky112]

For those of you that noted volume pot doesn't seem to increase volume past 12 o clock position, I just confirmed this!

Found my Bose QC15 and Sony mdr-zx780dc headphones, harder to drive than my budget IEMs so I finally went past volume pot 12 o clock position. And yeah, no increase in volume past 12

 

[Jupiterknight]

For those of you that noted volume pot doesn't seem to increase volume past 12 o clock position, I just confirmed this!

Found my Bose QC15 and Sony mdr-zx780dc headphones, harder to drive than my budget IEMs so I finally went past volume pot 12 o clock position. And yeah, no increase in volume past 12

 
Everything I have thrown at my Walnut, increases volume after 12.... some more less than others.. but to ear a shattering threshold (my ears)...   Ety er4b/s/p, HF400s,HD600, various earbuds from 16ohm to 300ohm..

 

[vapman]

For those of you that noted volume pot doesn't seem to increase volume past 12 o clock position, I just confirmed this!

Found my Bose QC15 and Sony mdr-zx780dc headphones, harder to drive than my budget IEMs so I finally went past volume pot 12 o clock position. And yeah, no increase in volume past 12

From my experience more of like 3/4 of the knob is usable with minimal gains after 12

 

[Jupiterknight]

  From my experience more of like 3/4 of the knob is usable with minimal gains after 12

It is all about relativity and sensitivity, what you match with the walnut and how you stroke and move the volume nut...and what you're listening to and the images it present in your mind....

 

[macky112]

Everything I have thrown at my Walnut, increases volume after 12.... some more less than others.. but to ear a shattering threshold (my ears)...   Ety er4b/s/p, HF400s,HD600, various earbuds from 16ohm to 300ohm..

Don't get me wrong, at 12 o clock volume pot it is already way above my listening threshold. But I still expect it to be linear volume change from 6 o clock off position counter clockwise to 5 o clock position max. And not from 6 o clock off, to 12 o clock max, and still max after 12

Comparing to other ppl satisfying with their walnuts, I am led to believe that I got a bad 'nut:
1. Battery life is worse than others
2. Noise floor is higher than others
3. Volume pot range is limited (note, not volume, it gets VERY loud)
4. Bass roll off noticeable, treble roll off less noticeable, this is comparing to my Fiio X3ii and also, dare I say it, my iPhone 7 with its included DAC dongle...!

I'll plug in power and let it do a 72hr straight through burn in and if above issues still exist, I'll ask for a replacement

 

[vapman]

Don't get me wrong, at 12 o clock volume pot it is already way above my listening threshold. But I still expect it to be linear volume change from 6 o clock off position counter clockwise to 5 o clock position max. And not from 6 o clock off, to 12 o clock max, and still max after 12

Comparing to other ppl satisfying with their walnuts, I am led to believe that I got a bad 'nut:
1. Battery life is worse than others
2. Noise floor is higher than others
3. Volume pot range is limited (note, not volume, it gets VERY loud)
4. Bass roll off noticeable, treble roll off less noticeable, this is comparing to my Fiio X3ii and also, dare I say it, my iPhone 7 with its included DAC dongle...!

I'll plug in power and let it do a 72hr straight through burn in and if above issues still exist, I'll ask for a replacement

My 2 cents on the matter, the piece of junk volume pot is to blame. It is a cheap no name pot that is not picked for any reason other than its low cost and being able to do the job.
 
If you can solder and can drop 3 to 5 bucks on a better pot, you could drop in a way better one which would offer both a more consistent volume curve as well as better feel and sound quality. The whole signal runs through it, so a nicer pot will make a noteworthy difference.

 

[macky112]

From my experience more of like 3/4 of the knob is usable with minimal gains after 12

Is the off position of your Walnut at 6 o clock like mine? Then isn't 12 o clock 1/2 way through the full pot range?

Volume is more than loud enough, just that I expect the volume increase to be more evenly spread out over the entire range, from 6 o clock counterclockwise to 5 o clock

 

[macky112]

My 2 cents on the matter, the piece of junk volume pot is to blame. It is a cheap no name pot that is not picked for any reason other than its low cost and being able to do the job.

If you can solder and can drop 3 to 5 bucks on a better pot, you could drop in a way better one which would offer both a more consistent volume curve as well as better feel and sound quality. The whole signal runs through it, so a nicer pot will make a noteworthy difference.

Ooooh, yeah I can solder, so pot does affect sound quality? I am not asking if a good pot will improve SQ, but a bad Pot will bottleneck SQ right?

 

[Jupiterknight]

Don't get me wrong, at 12 o clock volume pot it is already way above my listening threshold. But I still expect it to be linear volume change from 6 o clock off position counter clockwise to 5 o clock position max. And not from 6 o clock off, to 12 o clock max, and still max after 12

Comparing to other ppl satisfying with their walnuts, I am led to believe that I got a bad 'nut:
1. Battery life is worse than others
2. Noise floor is higher than others
3. Volume pot range is limited (note, not volume, it gets VERY loud)
4. Bass roll off noticeable, treble roll off less noticeable, this is comparing to my Fiio X3ii and also, dare I say it, my iPhone 7 with its included DAC dongle...!

I'll plug in power and let it do a 72hr straight through burn in and if above issues still exist, I'll ask for a replacement

Volume on my unit is not linear.. but it keeps increasing after 12.. What's your battery life (I get around 25-40 hours with wav files), depending on how much I switch albums/tracks/volume)?  Noise floor is higher than some mainstream DAP, compared to my Plenum D, slightly, but tolerable to my ears.  My ears doesn't notice any significant roll offs, a/b it with other units... but could be my ears or that I like/focus on it's more analog'tube like presentation.. 

 

[vapman]

Ooooh, yeah I can solder, so pot does affect sound quality? I am not asking if a good pot will improve SQ, but a bad Pot will bottleneck SQ right?

Yes, you have it right entirely.
While no potentiometer will increase sound quality, bad pots will bottleneck it. You can keep moving up to really fancy ones like Goldpoint, but laws of diminishing returns show you're barely gonna hear any difference over a ~$5 part.
There are a couple that  are compatible size wise, but i haven't tried them  myself yet, and prefer to personally try things before recommending them. I can pm to you if you are curious what the part # is anyway. But i will say it publicly once i install one and confirm it works.
 

Is the off position of your Walnut at 6 o clock like mine? Then isn't 12 o clock 1/2 way through the full pot range?

Volume is more than loud enough, just that I expect the volume increase to be more evenly spread out over the entire range, from 6 o clock counterclockwise to 5 o clock

On both mine, off is pointing straight up, so it's like 12 o clock to me. I don't think it's the same for everyone so i just used relative terms (3/4 of the way)
 
 

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I know double amping is a heresy on this site but I can hardly enjoy my bMac - or any non-Walnut DAP or most portable headamps for that matter - without using the Walnut at the end of the chain. The amount of pure energy it pushes to your headphones is truly remarkable. And it does not have much of any preamp stage at all, so treat it like you'd treat a power amp. a low output headphone amp becomes a portable preamp, and suddenly you're pushing anything you want into 4W RMS at 16 volts. pretty incredible if you ask me. And the sound backs it up, I can't wait for another local head-fi meetup so I can bring the walnuts and blow some minds. Buying another zone desktop amp to use for the same purpose is not seeming very appealing currently.
 
I just have one of my Walnuts on amp duty while the other is on DAP duty, and i switch them up so i can get to know the different opamp sounds better. But I am fully addicted to the crazy power this player pushes in amp mode, and it's my personal opinion that double amping is better on the Walnut than it is with any other amp on the market. There's no point in double amping when you're not getting bigger sound to make up for it.
 

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^ not a photoshop! 50,666 views 

  and almost 1.5k replies!

 

[macky112]

Yes, you have it right entirely.
While no potentiometer will increase sound quality, bad pots will bottleneck it. You can keep moving up to really fancy ones like Goldpoint, but laws of diminishing returns show you're barely gonna hear any difference over a ~$5 part.
There are a couple that  are compatible size wise, but i haven't tried them  myself yet, and prefer to personally try things before recommending them. I can pm to you if you are curious what the part # is anyway. But i will say it publicly once i install one and confirm it works.

On both mine, off is pointing straight up, so it's like 12 o clock to me. I don't think it's the same for everyone so i just used relative terms (3/4 of the way)


[rule]



I know double amping is a heresy on this site but I can hardly enjoy my bMac - or any non-Walnut DAP or most portable headamps for that matter - without using the Walnut at the end of the chain. The amount of pure energy it pushes to your headphones is truly remarkable. And it does not have much of any preamp stage at all, so treat it like you'd treat a power amp. a low output headphone amp becomes a portable preamp, and suddenly you're pushing anything you want into 4W RMS at 16 volts. pretty incredible if you ask me. And the sound backs it up, I can't wait for another local head-fi meetup so I can bring the walnuts and blow some minds. Buying another zone desktop amp to use for the same purpose is not seeming very appealing currently.

I just have one of my Walnuts on amp duty while the other is on DAP duty, and i switch them up so i can get to know the different opamp sounds better. But I am fully addicted to the crazy power this player pushes in amp mode, and it's my personal opinion that double amping is better on the Walnut than it is with any other amp on the market. There's no point in double amping when you're not getting bigger sound to make up for it.

[rule]


^ not a photoshop! 50,666 views    and almost 1.5k replies!

Thank you for pointing out not everyone's pot is in same starting position, so in my case my volume range is mapped to only 50% pot travel

Why not Walnut into your Walnut and double amp with two walnuts!

 

[vapman]

Thank you for pointing out not everyone's pot is in same starting position, so in my case my volume range is mapped to only 50% pot travel

Why not Walnut into your Walnut and double amp with two walnuts!

Haha I did that once but then forgot to post it and must have deleted the pic on my phone somehow. Anyway, it was fun but not too impressive soundwise, not as good as just one walnut. Interesting when you have 2 with different opamps, just makes it louder if it's same opamp, either way not the best stack 

 

[macky112]

Volume on my unit is not linear.. but it keeps increasing after 12.. What's your battery life (I get around 25-40 hours with wav files), depending on how much I switch albums/tracks/volume)?  Noise floor is higher than some mainstream DAP, compared to my Plenum D, slightly, but tolerable to my ears.  My ears doesn't notice any significant roll offs, a/b it with other units... but could be my ears or that I like/focus on it's more analog'tube like presentation.. 

Battery life is only 19 hrs at best, and thats leaving it on a 2Amp iPod charger for 3.5hrs. If I stop charging when Walnut led change color, then it's only 12hrs

And noise floor is worse than my Fiio E11, and Left channel is a humming noise, right channel is a bee buzzing noise. I don't notice it when music is playing at my normal level, but at that volume, I notice bass roll off and veiled treble. So it's either noise floor or roll off at both ends. Not acceptable yo...

 

[bzfrank]

I just purchased a second Walnut, just to have one in storage... Its really a very nice little player,  the absolute best-bang-for-buck audio gadget currently on the market.

 

[macky112]

Thank you for pointing out not everyone's pot is in same starting position, so in my case my volume range is mapped to only 50% pot travel

Why not Walnut into your Walnut and double amp with two walnuts!

Ok, so now I learned that at 50% pot travel is my walnuts max volume, and so that means that I've been burning in the Walnut at just above 80% max volume, Would that drain battery faster than at normal listening volume, which is about 35% max Walnut volume?