[Pete7]

Can anyone tell me how effective a Xinfeed crossfeed plug is? I was thinking about getting one to use with my AE-1.

 

[rickcr42]

three pages of "hits"...

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/searc...archid=1188696

 

[Oliver :)]

Come on rick, there's not that much talk just about the little Xinfeed PLUG

But well, I have one, and it is nice to have. The provided crossfeed is just as good & subtle as with Xin's amps, and it also adds a tiny little bit of resistance (I think 10Ohm?) so it may even enhance the sound of certain cans.

Now for the trouble: It is incredibly ugly. Much more ugly than you would think from the pictures. It also looks as though it would fall to pieces at any moment. Of course it does not, since it is a handmade quality item. The real problem I have with it is more basic: It sticks out from my iPod's headphone jack, and I am always afraid of harming the jack due to the big fat lever the adaptor represents. A little inconvenient & a little dangerous.
In fact I plan to approach Xin, who right now should be up to his ears in supermacro/micro/mini related issues, and RnB180 about releasing a new version in cooperation i they feel like it. I think it would be much more convenient for all kinds of portable sources to have a superflat angled jack (as you have with Etys) with a small run of very flexible high quality cable that is terminated into the Xinfeed adaptor, the whole thing say 4-5" total in lenght. So in short, a Xinfeed "dongle" instead of a stick-out adaptor.

Nevertheless, I heartly recomment the adaptor as it is, one of the best valued upgrades you can give to your ultraportable setup, and of course the *only* possiblity to get ampless portable crossfeed.

 

[JeffS]

Ok, I'll chime in on this one...

I bought a one of the ampless xinfeeds a while back. I absolutely love it!

The change to the sound is very very subtle. At first I almost didn't notice
it, but it's there. Being a canal phone user it was a nice to have the sound
shifted from inside my head to outside. For me it makes listening for long
periods of time very easy and comfortable.

Unfortunately, I do have to agree with Oliver about the sticking out thing.
It's a little bothersome at first, and you find yourself being overly careful when
moving your player into a pocket or case while connected. The case I use
for my Karma has enough spare room at the top that it doesn't let the
xinfeed bend or stress really, so it hasn't been an issue. It's only when I'm
just throwing it into my coat pocket that I'm a little more cautious.

As a side note, I actually just had a friend try out the xin-feed, and he was
less than impressed. He thought that it compressed the sound stage and
took away from the music. Overall, he's not a crossfeed fan so it's not too
suprising that this didn't convert him. He also had some funky settings in
his X5L for bass and surround that I think might have been giving a weird
result.

The only problem I see with the xin-feed, is that he's not offering it on his
website anymore. If it ever comes back around, I'll probably pick up another
just to have a spare on hand.

good luck
-Jeff

 

[rickcr42]

Quote:

The only problem I see with the xin-feed, is that he's not offering it on his website anymore. If it ever comes back around, I'll probably pick up another just to have a spare on hand.

well guys the thing about products is if there is a large demand there will be a p[roduct to fill that demand so maybe the formerly available did not sell in large enough quantities to make it a worthwhile addition to the lineup.Enough emails to xin will go a long way to maybe seeing the product reintroduced

 

[slwiser]

I will take one if you can get him to build a few....

Or how about one of the DIYers to build one for us?

I think the plan is available somewhere on his site..maybe...

 

[Pete7]

I sent him an e-mail last night and he e-mailed me back a special order form. I want the Xinfeed to use with my AE-1, which works great with my UM2's, but doesn't have a crossfeed. I've got the amp and my Sony HD5H together in a Headroom Gigabag. There's room, so I don't have to worry about anything sticking out. Now I'm just not sure whether to get the one that goes into the amp( I'm concerned that this may diminish the effectiveness of a pretty good mini-to mini cable), or the ampless xinfeed that just goes into the headphone jack. I may just order both. Any suggestions? Anyone else interested I sent Xin an e-mail at 911@fixup.net, and told him I really wanted to get my hands on one.

 

[JeffS]

I've got the ampless model as I mentioned in my previous post, and I can tell
you that it does not diminish the sound. Even with the ampless though, I do
have to turn my Karma up one notch. I don't think the difference would make
an issue for you, or circumvent your mini-mini cable.

The advantage of the amp version I believe, is that if you've got sensative
phones like the er-4, it's similar to adding the p-s cable. I don't know if it's
the same amount of resistance, but the sound improvement with an amp
added to the mix should yield similar results.

Hey, they're inexpensive (I can't call his products cheap, they're too good).
get both...

good luck, and let us know what you think when you get it.

-Jeff

 

[Pete7]

I did it and ordered both. I really wanted someone to come right out and tell me which would be best but I guess the only real way is to try out both of them. With the UM2's, really the only thing the Total Airhead could offer besides a lot of hiss was the crossfeed and I liked it. It was a great amp for the Shure E4's. The AE-1 is awesome with the UM2's, but I'm hoping it'll be even better with some crossfeed, uhhh zinfeed... whatever. Anyway, thanks for the input and I'll definitely post the results.