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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 22, 2008 22:52:44 GMT
Thanks Nigel. I will wait and hear what others say, but I am leaning to giving it a shot. Will be nice to have another amp. The idea behind this roadtest is to have a good few ears listen to it and comment on it.... totally transparent and if any of the ears think it sounds like shite they will say so - no arse licking here, no fan boys, no bandwaggoning and no bullshit - £200 (although little to pay for a good headamp) is a lot of money to fork out on something that may not be your cup of tea..... best to get as many opinions as possible, and not opinions from people who have already forked out the £200 and may be trying to justify their purchase.... opinions from ears that aren't financially involved with the amp and are brutally honest with their opinions. I'd like to add a fresh (young) pair of ears to the list of people reviewing this amp..... paradigm will get the amp after FritzS has finished with it I will try my best to get a review sample onto the Australian circuit and possibly the US circuit.... leave it with me.
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Post by nikotime on Mar 22, 2008 22:57:02 GMT
Has anyone tried them wiht the DR150? A search pulled up no results
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 22, 2008 23:50:02 GMT
Has anyone tried them wiht the DR150? A search pulled up no results I will do as soon as mine arrives, no worries.
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leo
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Post by leo on Mar 23, 2008 0:58:43 GMT
Also have a pair of HD250's on loan now too, I've never had so many pairs of headphones
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Post by paradigm on May 30, 2008 13:30:26 GMT
First Impressions
Build Quality The build quality of this thing is very nice, easily better than my O1 Dac. The jack is tighter, same with the volume control. Also nice and heavy, and the black body with the silver front, feels good.
Firing up
Buzzing from the transformer, so i will not be able to leave the amp on 24/7 in my room.
First impressions
The sound stage is noticeable straight away, very nice, and a dry brightness, almost thought silky with the overall sound.
--
As I don’t have a dedicated dac unit I have rely on my cd player.
Though I’ll compare my O1 DAC (phono) and the Stinger (phono) with the same interconnects when I get round to do critical listening
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2008 1:00:31 GMT
Miguel You want to compare a US$99 amplifier with one that costs 4 times as much ? The DouDou should be compared with one closer to it's price range ? Alex
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Post by paradigm on May 31, 2008 11:51:02 GMT
As you know i can only compare the singer and o1 dac. So far i've used my best phono interconnects on the singer and the digital for the o1 dac. Done a/b blind test. My dad was interested too. And he said he prefered the o1 dac as it was a much more natural. So our o1 dac is a real rare gem. Esp as i have twins. He he
But i like the singer. It's like a girl your having an affair with she's got some issues but you attracted to her and you want to get to know her a bit more. Thats the story so far.
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2008 12:07:50 GMT
paradigm
You shouldn't need to, but I understand the Singer sounds better if left powered up. BTW, your findings don't really surprise me. If you have any Diana Krall, Rebecca Pidgeon, Norah Jones etc., see how it goes on the individuality of female voices.
SandyK
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leo
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Post by leo on May 31, 2008 14:47:12 GMT
Am I right in thinking that the O1 is only based on a simple op-amp circuit with no external active discrete stage?
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Post by FritzS on May 31, 2008 16:50:13 GMT
paradigm You shouldn't need to, but I understand the Singer sounds better if left powered up. SandyK This is one of the cons of Singer - I dont like amps which need power 7x24x52 hours - that's no "green"
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2008 22:41:53 GMT
Miguel If you think a HA using the old workhorse NE5532s sounds good, then you can't have listened to very many decent solid state HAs. How does it compare to Solo and Voyager ? Alex
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leo
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Post by leo on Jun 1, 2008 23:46:10 GMT
Thats simple!!! so this thing drives AKG's ok Miguel? I could build that on a bit vero board, if you remove the dac and input receiver it does not leave much left in that case Anyway I'm glad your happy with it Miguel, as long as it drives your cans loud enough for your needs theres nothing wrong in such simplicity
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Post by pagan on Jun 3, 2008 8:50:12 GMT
Miguel If you think a HA using the old workhorse NE5532s sounds good, then you can't have listened to very many decent solid state HAs. How does it compare to Solo and Voyager ? Alex Alex D.S. likes the NE5532's too. But then he also likes LTP's allan
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2008 9:41:30 GMT
Allan Douglas Self only likes what his test instruments tell him to like. Alex
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Post by FritzS on Jun 4, 2008 7:32:05 GMT
Miguel If you think a HA using the old workhorse NE5532s sounds good, then you can't have listened to very many decent solid state HAs. How does it compare to Solo and Voyager ? Alex I sold my Solo so I will not compare from memory, however it is way better than the Voyager. Think you about modify this with LM4562 AD823 or others
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jun 4, 2008 23:49:49 GMT
paradigm You shouldn't need to, but I understand the Singer sounds better if left powered up. SandyK This is one of the cons of Singer - I dont like amps which need power 7x24x52 hours - that's no "green" For those who don't mind leaving their amp on 24/7/365 then the Singer may be a good proposition as it really does only come onto song after a pretty prolonged period (days / weeks) and once there best left on. Very similar to the Graham Slee Solo in that respect, the Solo also requires a good while to stabilise and performs best if left on 24/7..... actually, come to think of it, most amps sound better if left on all the time rather than cycle them on / off frequently. How are you getting on with the Singer now Paradigm? The 01 amp sounds very interesting, Miguel sure has heard enough amps and if he says the 01 is something special then you can bet your arse it will be.... must get me grubby hands on one of them
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Post by paradigm on Jun 5, 2008 21:42:18 GMT
Haven't been able to listen to the singer past two days. Though last thoughts were, if i had to decide between the singer and my O1 DAC, i wouldn't think twice, the O1 DAC does it for me. I think I'll give the singer one last real good listen too in the dark and then probably send her on her way. And with all the other opinions of her i couldn't agree more. It has been an honor to be be privileged to have the singer in my company, thank you. Re Alex: Does sound good with Norah Jones. If i could put it as, the dou dou gives some more air to the track.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2008 23:06:17 GMT
paradigm With lesser amplifiers, I find that a lot of female singers lose their individuality, or in some cases "sexiness." If the 01 DAC, at a fraction of the price, and using NE5532 and no (apparent) buffer stage, sounds better than the Singer overall, then surely that indicates a minor problem with the Singer? Alex
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Sol
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Post by Sol on Jun 6, 2008 9:00:43 GMT
I have to agree with Alex here ... while the Singer (to my ears anyhow) can sound acceptable with certain music, I did wish that the roughness (distortion), especially with Female singers would bugger off, and after extended listening got quite irritated with the sound. Diana Krall, Norah Jones, and Joss Stone all suffered the same.
If you have the Soul Sessions by Joss Stone, have a listen to the opening lyrics of the first track. See if you can hear any harshness in the ssssss' (sibilence sp?)
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leo
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Post by leo on Jun 6, 2008 10:21:22 GMT
I have to agree with Alex here ... while the Singer (to my ears anyhow) can sound acceptable with certain music, I did wish that the roughness (distortion), especially with Female singers would bugger off, and after extended listening got quite irritated with the sound. Diana Krall, Norah Jones, and Joss Stone all suffered the same. If you have the Soul Sessions by Joss Stone, have a listen to the opening lyrics of the first track. See if you can hear any harshness in the ssssss' (sibilence sp?) Problem is I do listen to a lot of female singing material and for me using the AKG K701's made it grate on my teeth. It wasn't as bad with the HD600's but still had this HF glare to edges I couldn't escape Should have sent a few evaluation amps for us bodgers to have a play with
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leo
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Post by leo on Jun 6, 2008 22:21:57 GMT
Your happy with the 01 Miguel, surely thats all what matters
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2008 22:36:18 GMT
Miguel The NE5532 is a VERY old chip,( Philips published application note AN142 back in October 1984 !) although it can sound quite good when properly implemented, and will sound even better if followed by a high quality buffer amplifier. You have seen the results when many people have performed opamp "rolling" and probably done a fair bit of it yourself. There is a big difference between what you can squeeze out of a NE5532, and what some of the more recent chips are capable of delivering.You will remember that I have also done quite a few comparisons between the NE5532/NE5534AN family, with later chips on various pieces of equipment over the years, and not just restricted to the X-DAC V3. (Marantz CD65 etc.) Perhaps your visions of what sounds great have been coloured by your long time love affair with valve type electronics? That is fine, if you are comfortable with, and prefer that kind of sound, but many people expect more these days when using the newer high resolution formats , and also when using a high quality vinyl setup. Leo has also had a LOT of experience in these areas, and perhaps Mike has had even more ? I bet that GSP no longer uses the NE5532 in any recent designs either ! Are we all wrong ? Regards Alex
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Post by FritzS on Jun 7, 2008 4:23:56 GMT
Miguel The NE5532 is a VERY old chip,( Philips published application note AN142 back in October 1984 !) although it can sound quite good when properly implemented, and will sound even better if followed by a high quality buffer amplifier. You have seen the results when many people have performed opamp "rolling" and probably done a fair bit of it yourself. There is a big difference between what you can squeeze out of a NE5532, and what some of the more recent chips are capable of delivering.You will remember that I have also done quite a few comparisons between the NE5532/NE5534AN family, with later chips on various pieces of equipment over the years, and not just restricted to the X-DAC V3. (Marantz CD65 etc.) Perhaps your visions of what sounds great have been coloured by your long time love affair with valve type electronics? That is fine, if you are comfortable with, and prefer that kind of sound, but many people expect more these days when using the newer high resolution formats , and also when using a high quality vinyl setup. Leo has also had a LOT of experience in these areas, and perhaps Mike has had even more ? I bet that GSP no longer uses the NE5532 in any recent designs either ! Are we all wrong ? Regards Alex AFIAK - Pioneer PD-D6-J SACD player use them still I will see what GSP use in green Reflex ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2008 5:47:50 GMT
Friedrich Many equipment manufacturers use the 45xx series and 5532 etc for 2 main reasons. They do the job reasonably well, and are INEXPENSIVE. Some manufacturers may still use the 5532AN version in phono preamps for their low noise characteristics, ::)but that does NOT mean that is the best way to go . There are far lower noise transistors and I.C.s available today. ;D This forum may not exist, if it wasn't for the shortcomings evident in most reasonably priced commercial equipment !!! Alex
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Sol
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Post by Sol on Jun 7, 2008 18:36:36 GMT
I find it interesting to read post after post indicating that although specs are important the final test is in the listening, yet neither of you have listened to the 01 an instead of giving it the benefit of the doubt you both blew it off. Just my opinion of course. I've not blown the 01 off ... ?? I would happily have a listen if you can part with it for a period!
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