I am interested in the question of whether this is even possible. With any amp. I recently bought a Mass Kobo 433 amp for my Weiss DAC501, which has a built-in headphone output. Comparing the output from the 433 vs. the DAC directly, there seems to be quite significant veiling/fogging. And this...

Has anyone noticed the various voltage output settings (0 dbFS, -10 dbFS, etc) sounding a bit different? I recently got a solid-state amp that can actually handle the 0 dbFS (almost 8 Vrms via XLR!) output from the DAC501 without clipping. I'm noticing that is sounds a bit different from using...

As @GoldenSound explained, the analog stepped attenuator (the 0/-10/-20/-30dB setting) does nothing to address the problem of inter-sample overs. The digital attenuation, however, does solve it, when set to something like -3dB, i.e., not 0dB.

So, in his review of the DAC204, @GoldenSound says: "The DAC204 does not have any additional internal headroom and therefore will distort/clip in the presence of intersample overs. Recommended that you set your player volume to -3dB when using this DAC." I hope the same is not also true of the...

Yes, my Weiss is quite an incisive and highly resolving DS DAC. I have yet to try any amp though - tube or solid state - that retains the eerie transparency I hear from the headphone output directly on the DAC. I'm beginning to the subscribe to the idea that whenever you add any component to...

Looking forward to your review of the 433!

If you look at your Roon signal path, you will probably see that the Weiss is converting DSD to 176.4 kHz PCM internally. Of course this is different from your MBL which (it seems) doesn't accept DSD at all. With the MBL, you are relying on Roon to convert DSD->PCM for you. It is perhaps not...

AFAIK, there are many R2R DACs that convert DSD natively, such as all the Holo Audio DACs. They have a separate "1-bit" DAC for DSD which is not used for PCM.

Are you sure of this? My 501-mk2 converts DSD to PCM, and from the Stereophile review of the Helios, I see they say exactly the same about the Helios.

I can agree that additional components may be used to shape/change the sound, and that the results will be subjective. However the loss of resolution doesn't seem to be a subjective matter, as I don't think anyone would actually prefer a lower resolution sound. At best it may be an acceptable...

As much as I wanted to believe that a separate headphone amp would be best (to avoid the digital volume control when using my 501's headphone output), I'm beginning to agree with you that adding anything to the signal chain necessarily takes away something. I just got a Mass Kobo 433 for my...

I got a Mass Kobo 433 for my Focal Utopia. I like it a lot, though a tiny bit of resolution seems lost when directly compared to the headphone output on my DAC (Weiss 501-Mk2). It's like a very slight reverb-effect added to the sound, which takes away a bit of the crispness from it. I'm not...

I got a Mass Kobo 433. I like it a lot, though a tiny bit of resolution seems lost when directly compared to the headphone output on my DAC (Weiss 501-Mk2). It's like a very slight reverb-effect added to the sound, which takes away a bit of the crispness from it. I'm not even sure this is...

If I understand correctly you're using the dual-3-pin-XLR outputs at the back? And you like the sound better than the single-ended headphone output in the front?

When will this be available? I believe it was supposed to be by the end of April.

The Utopia is indeed my only headphone, but I don't see why I should get a DSHA-3FN over the 433, unless it actually performs better with the Utopia than the 433. And if the 433 is a better overall amp, that seems unlikely. P.S. The 394II seems discontinued, and the 465 is of course in a...

How would this amp compare to a Mass Kobo 433? My only headphones are in fact Focal Utopias, and I do understand that the Nitsch was designed for Focals. But, I don't want to read too much into the "with Focal in mind" slogan, to the point of not considering alternative amps just because I use...

I did! I bought the LTA Ultralinear+ (UL+) integrated amp when it was discounted 15%. I cannot compare it to any of the other amps mentioned, since I never heard them, but I can say the UL+ is very good.

The curve is definitely different. On hi-res I listen at 120/199, so 60%, but on the standard control the same volume is around 35/100, so only about 35%. Leading up to the 120/199 on the hi-res setting, say when I am at 50/199, I get this "ghostlike" sound profile, where there is no bass at...

I probably should, yes. Was just wondering if anyone has experienced something similar.

Has anyone found the 200-step "Hi-Res" volume control to behave differently from the standard 100-step volume control? With the high-res, the increase in volume as I turn the dial up seems more uneven, and at lower volumes the sound seems tonally disbalanced. Even at a fixed normal listening...

In the opposite situation: I have a SE integrated tube amp that accepts balanced input via XLR, which it then converts to SE in the preamplification stage, claiming to do so in a "tube-coupled" way that is "without voltage loss". Since balanced->SE conversion usually comes with voltage loss, I...

What are some opinions on how the Ray 12AU7 compares to the Gold Lion ECC82 (12AU7)? I hear that the Rays, Gold Lions, and Psvane Art tubes are the best new production 12AU7s (some even claim the Rays are just selected and rebranded Psvane tubes).

Thanks. I just received my walnut stand. I picked walnut hoping it would match my desk (seemed the closest match, matching by eye from the website), but I may have received the sapwood variant because it's much darker than my desk. I suggest having the option to send tiny bits of wood samples...

Not working for me.