[gmalik]

As I mentioned earlier, ifi iematch+ 3.5mm got rid of this problem, only now I set the volume on low gain to 40-50 instead of 10 without it.
With 3.5mm BAL adapters this allows me to use the 4.4 output as well. 4.4 version of ifi iematch is not suitable, it has too high output impedance.

p.s. Maybe I'm just imagining this, but try partially inserting the included adapter. Slight improvement in hiss

Thanks, but the ifi iematch is just an impedance adapter. This is what Ifi service told me when I experienced the same issue with ifi zen dac v2. This is not a solution.

 

[Nikita507]

Thanks, but the ifi iematch is just an impedance adapter. This is what Ifi service told me when I experienced the same issue with ifi zen dac v2. This is not a solution.

Why not?
This is a voltage divider and it does its job. Since this is only needed for small in-ear headphones, we won't experience any distortion from the amplifier at its maximum level. Amirm has a review of a similar device
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...asurements-of-ifi-ear-buddy-and-iematch.4707/

 

[gmalik]

Why not?
This is a voltage divider and it does its job. Since this is only needed for small in-ear headphones, we won't experience any distortion from the amplifier at its maximum level. Amirm has a review of a similar device
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...asurements-of-ifi-ear-buddy-and-iematch.4707/

I mean it doesn't solve the real problem. Because many people have reported that they don’t experience any noise on both ba/se output.

 

[grainjar]

I came across an issue. I'm now getting static/crackling and a weird electrical frequency sound when I turn on Bluetooth. I have no issues when I use a USB C to USB C connection.

EDIT: I don't know if it's just with my device, but for whatever reason, the LME op amps are causing me to hear static and weird electrical frequency sounds when I turn on Bluetooth. This does not happen with the OPA op amps or Sparkos SS3602 op amps.

I am using Normal mode anywhere between 28 to 35 most of the time depending on song or album. Just finished listening to some Type O Negative with the Prestige LTD. And honestly, this has me scratching my head... I find nothing muffled at all. No where near it. Did a side by side comparison to my Hifiman Ananda Nano and honestly, I have no idea. The Nano has more treble energy and larger staging. But apart from that, the detail, realism, imaging and pin point accuracy and vocal clarity especially simply goes to the Prestige LTD. And the Nano is extremely good, but what I'm trying to say is there is no muffle going on in my experience with Xduoo XD05 Pro + Sparkos SS3602 + Prestige LTD. Extreme clarity, highly dynamic and punchy when needed, detail beyond imaginable, beautiful deep staging for an iem. Really confused what's going on in your end

I wonder if there's a possibility that my Sparkos SS3602 op amps are defective. Or I messed up when I was cutting the silver pins. All I did was cut off the pins. I didn't affect any other part of the op amps board. In my case, I'm getting a different sound signature with the Sparkos SS3602 from the stock OPA op amps. It sounds considerably warmer compared to the OPA op amps and LME op amps. I'm actually using LME right now, and it's more in line with what I was expecting from the Sparkos. The LME op amps sound like the superior version of the OPA op amps. It maintains the same sound signature, but it adds more resolution and clarity. The vocals and instrumentals sound more full, and the spacing feels a bit less contained in the center. It feels more like the instruments are allowed to disperse a bit wider with the LME. I'm noticing a lot of details that I wasn't hearing with the OPA op amps. I also listen to a lot of songs with sound effects, and it sounds like they have more depth and dimension in the way they sound and are transmitted. Soundstage feels deeper in some sense. It's brought out cymbal clashes in the background that were more faint with the OPA op amps. With the Sparkos, the main thing I noticed was the smoothness and warmth. It brought out a lot of bassier notes. But dynamics remained the same, and there was a loss in clarity. Maybe there was a slight improvement in soundstage, but everything sounded more recessed and made it difficult for me to compare. It was almost like the equivalent of applying a fuzzy vintage filter on a picture, and as a result, everything got smoother and dreamy. Sadly, I was not getting "detail beyond imaginable, beautiful deep staging." I really think my Sparkos op amps are not sounding like they should. I'll try switching to Sparkos again to make sure I'm interpreting things correctly.

EDIT: I went back and listened to all three op amps (OPA, LME, Sparkos SS3602) again for comparison. The OPA and LME op amps are very similar, but I'd say LME sounds a tad bit brighter. Vocals are clearest on the LME. Going from the Sparkos op amps to the LME, the LME is almost piercing in vocal clarity. I love it, personally, but some might find it unnaturally clear. The Sparkos op amps have vocals that sound veiled to me, but some might find it more natural. It is the warmest of the three op amps, and it adds more color to instruments and sound effects that sound a bit pale/faint in the OPA/LME op amps, and so it helps with imaging. I think I can see why people love the Sparkos so much. You get a refined sense of layering and depth with all the sound elements, and it's very atmospheric.

 

[CharlyBrown]

Before you place your order for op-amps, just know that audiophonics.fr has a minimum order amount and won’t ship you just the DIP-8 socket holders alone. You’ll have to add something else to your order if you end up ordering the op-amps from Elise or elsewhere

BTW, I’m also from Munich. Isn’t it easier to buy from France or Aune ? They ship from within the EU. If you buy from UK, it has to go through the Zollamt and also takes longer. I bought mine from Aune-Store and got it pretty fast via DHL.

Thank you but I couldn’t find the dividers at Aune, are they selling them? As far as I can see audiophonics is the place where I can get the Sparkos + dividers without import hassle

Thanks - I didn't realise about the minimum order value. It sounds like Aune-Store is another good option.

I think all three are good options but audiophonics the easiest as they are selling everything I need. Thanks!

Why not?
This is a voltage divider and it does its job. Since this is only needed for small in-ear headphones, we won't experience any distortion from the amplifier at its maximum level. Amirm has a review of a similar device
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...asurements-of-ifi-ear-buddy-and-iematch.4707/

I IEMatch a couple years ago with my Andromedas and was using it with an iFi Hip-Dac to avoid hissing and channel imbalance at low volume. The problem is, IEMatch has to add impedance to the chain thus leading to audible sound differences with sensitive IEMs, altering the FR curve.

 

[nioh]

Thank you but I couldn’t find the dividers at Aune, are they selling them? As far as I can see audiophonics is the place where I can get the Sparkos + dividers without import hassle



I think all three are good options but audiophonics the easiest as they are selling everything I need. Thanks!



I IEMatch a couple years ago with my Andromedas and was using it with an iFi Hip-Dac to avoid hissing and channel imbalance at low volume. The problem is, IEMatch has to add impedance to the chain thus leading to audible sound differences with sensitive IEMs, altering the FR curve.

Correct, if you want both audiophonics has them. Although my recommendation would be to install it without the risers and just to cut off the edges. With the risers, the op-amps almost touch the bottom of the device and in my experience I felt it ran warmer than running without the risers.

 

[Nikita507]

I IEMatch a couple years ago with my Andromedas and was using it with an iFi Hip-Dac to avoid hissing and channel imbalance at low volume. The problem is, IEMatch has to add impedance to the chain thus leading to audible sound differences with sensitive IEMs, altering the FR curve.

The output impedance is only 0.9, there are very few headphones that would be affected by it.
Even on Andromeda the effect is quite small

 

[Ckfung]

Thank you but I couldn’t find the dividers at Aune, are they selling them? As far as I can see audiophonics is the place where I can get the Sparkos + dividers without import hassle



I think all three are good options but audiophonics the easiest as they are selling everything I need. Thanks!



I IEMatch a couple years ago with my Andromedas and was using it with an iFi Hip-Dac to avoid hissing and channel imbalance at low volume. The problem is, IEMatch has to add impedance to the chain thus leading to audible sound differences with sensitive IEMs, altering the FR curve.

Yes. The damping factor of the system will be reduced. The bass response will be altered.

 

[CharlyBrown]

The output impedance is only 0.9, there are very few headphones that would be affected by it.
Even on Andromeda the effect is quite small

Yes. The damping factor of the system will be reduced. The bass response will be altered.

Yes, although the graph above tells another story, the outcome was clearly audible for me with more mid bass and less treble.

 

[LoneFurrow]

I came across an issue. I'm now getting static/crackling and a weird electrical frequency sound when I turn on Bluetooth. I have no issues when I use a USB C to USB C connection.

EDIT: I don't know if it's just with my device, but for whatever reason, the LME op amps are causing me to hear static and weird electrical frequency sounds when I turn on Bluetooth. This does not happen with the OPA op amps or Sparkos SS3602 op amps.



I wonder if there's a possibility that my Sparkos SS3602 op amps are defective. Or I messed up when I was cutting the silver pins. All I did was cut off the pins. I didn't affect any other part of the op amps board. In my case, I'm getting a different sound signature with the Sparkos SS3602 from the stock OPA op amps. It sounds considerably warmer compared to the OPA op amps and LME op amps. I'm actually using LME right now, and it's more in line with what I was expecting from the Sparkos. The LME op amps sound like the superior version of the OPA op amps. It maintains the same sound signature, but it adds more resolution and clarity. The vocals and instrumentals sound more full, and the spacing feels a bit less contained in the center. It feels more like the instruments are allowed to disperse a bit wider with the LME. I'm noticing a lot of details that I wasn't hearing with the OPA op amps. I also listen to a lot of songs with sound effects, and it sounds like they have more depth and dimension in the way they sound and are transmitted. Soundstage feels deeper in some sense. It's brought out cymbal clashes in the background that were more faint with the OPA op amps. With the Sparkos, the main thing I noticed was the smoothness and warmth. It brought out a lot of bassier notes. But dynamics remained the same, and there was a loss in clarity. Maybe there was a slight improvement in soundstage, but everything sounded more recessed and made it difficult for me to compare. It was almost like the equivalent of applying a fuzzy vintage filter on a picture, and as a result, everything got smoother and dreamy. Sadly, I was not getting "detail beyond imaginable, beautiful deep staging." I really think my Sparkos op amps are not sounding like they should. I'll try switching to Sparkos again to make sure I'm interpreting things correctly.

EDIT: I went back and listened to all three op amps (OPA, LME, Sparkos SS3602) again for comparison. The OPA and LME op amps are very similar, but I'd say LME sounds a tad bit brighter. Vocals are clearest on the LME. Going from the Sparkos op amps to the LME, the LME is almost piercing in vocal clarity. I love it, personally, but some might find it unnaturally clear. The Sparkos op amps have vocals that sound veiled to me, but some might find it more natural. It is the warmest of the three op amps, and it adds more color to instruments and sound effects that sound a bit pale/faint in the OPA/LME op amps, and so it helps with imaging. I think I can see why people love the Sparkos so much. You get a refined sense of layering and depth with all the sound elements, and it's very atmospheric.

Is this the same experience with any transducer you try? I have a Little Bear B4-X valve amp and tried using that with different opamps - SS3602s, SS2590s, SIL 994s. I was using Storm, which I know very well indeed, I found the SIL 994s presented a very dark, bassy, almost muted sound in comparison to the Sparkos opamps. The 994s didn't do that with other transducers, e.g. Kinera Loki, but there was just a weird impedance mismatch with Storm.

Could you be experiencing similar with your XD05, SS3602s and particular transducer? If it's common across different IEMs / headphones, it sounds like you may have an issue with your SS3602s. Is there any option for you to try another set of SS3602s?

Tricky to troubleshoot and I'm sorry to read about all your frustrations.

 

[OneEyedHito]

I use it with playlists that contain PCM and DSD songs with often different frequencies and bit depths, and this has never happened to me so far, whether connected via USB or SPDIF.

However, my USB source is the smartphone (and not the DAP) while the SPDIF source is the WIIM.

Sorry for reviving your old post but I need some guidance, what cable are you using to connect the WIIM SPDIF output to the XD05 Pro SPDIF input? TIA

 

[Ckfung]

Yes, although the graph above tells another story, the outcome was clearly audible for me with more mid bass and less treble.

The graph only tells you the information in frequency domain but not in time domain.

 

[sofastreamer]

Thanks and I forgot to mention that I want to purchase the upcoming R2R DAC. My SP3000 already uses the AKM chipset so I will skip this for the XD.

So I will try the Sparkos as they seem to fit into the housing.



Do you guys know where (and what exactly, quantities etc.) I need to buy to try the Sparkos out? I read good things about this one so I will try it first. Preferably Germany / EU. Thanks!

greetings from and to Munich!

you need two of these https://www.aune-store.com/sparkos-ss3602-dual-diskreter-op-amp_120101_1206/ and you could either buy them at audiophonics in france or at the Aune Store, which is located in Austria and might probably arrive faster. price is the same in both stores.

 

[Ferdinando1968]

Sorry for reviving your old post but I need some guidance, what cable are you using to connect the WIIM SPDIF output to the XD05 Pro SPDIF input? TIA

The standard optical cable, with this adapter:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3RDWF7S/

 

[Ckfung]

Yes. The damping factor of the system will be reduced. The bass response will be altered.

Amplifier damping factor (DF)is defined as “the ratio of the load impedance (loudspeaker plus wire resistance) to the amplifier internal output impedance.” This basically indicates the amplifier's ability to control overshoot of the loudspeaker, i.e., to stop the cone from moving.