Recent content by GentleEars

I use DX7 Pro as a pre-amp, connected to a power-amp, AUDIOPHONICS MPA-S250NC XLR Class D Stereo Amplifier via a pair of XLR cables. It works great. On the other hand, I'm not an experienced audiophile, and don't have another quality amplifier with pre-amp output to compare. In my mind, it makes...

I think it's not the cable. Here's what I did: I switched DX7 Pro's input to USB, played music from Raspberry Pi over USB, listening with MDR-1AM2 connected to DX7 Pro's 4.4mm balanced headphone out. Within a few inches to this, I turned on Bluetooth on my smartphone, and connected to DX7 Pro...

Is it the cable that pickup interference from Bluetooth? Or the internals of DX7 Pro? If I get a fancy braided balanced cable, can I avoid the interference? I am curious, because I'm sure there's lots of Bluetooth waves in my crowded condominium, aside from my own Bluetooth devices.

Now I'm curious if other owners experience the same problem. Or there is something wrong with the 4.4mm balanced output on my particular sample of DX7 Pro...

Thank you for suggesting that. I switched to USB, the noise seemed to disappear from the 4.4mm balanced output. And I began to appreciate the difference between the balanced playback and the unbalanced playback. The big discovery came next. While I switched a few more times between USB and...

I was actually using Bluetooth (gasp!). I usually use the USB connected to Raspberry Pi, but my wife was using Spotify, so I couldn't make use of SpotifyConnect running on Raspberry Pi. Are you saying the noise is at the USB connected to Raspberry Pi? But I've been using the USB connected to...

I just plugged in a pair of SONY MDR-A1M2, using the 4.4mm balanced cable that came with the headphones. I hear a static noise in my phones' left ear-cup. When I stop playing music, the noise is audible for a second or two, and reappears when I start playing any music. When I switch to the...

My AUDIOPHONICS MPA-S252NC feeds a pair of B&W 685 (1st gen) speakers. They are rated 8 ohms. and sensitivity is 88dB.

I bought AUDIOPHONICS MPA-S252NC XLR, the stereo amp, and it doesn't pop. I use it with TOPPING DX7 PRO with a cheap pair of XLR cables from Audiophonics.fr.

Coronavirus lockdown gave me time to review my Raspbian/raspotify configuration. I was able to send Spotify stream to my TOPPING D7x Pro DAC without upscaling Spotify's 44.1kHz content to 48kHz. All I had to do was to write the following to /etc/asound.conf: pcm.!default { type plug slave.pcm...

Take a look at PA-S125NC from audiophonics.fr with the same Hypex Ncore module. They also have an RCA version, as well as a more powerful 252 version. I bought the latter with XLR connection, and am very happy with it. I lived in Japan too until a few years ago. Now in Singapore.

gvl, I think you're right. Here's the list of sampling rate displayed on DX7 Pro's LCD with different devices feeding its USB port. 44.1kHz: Windows 10 PC of recent vintage with all updates applied, playing Spotify. 48kHz: Raspberry Pi 4 running latest Raspbian Lite with raspotify to emulate...

Having written the above, I realize Spotify content is either 44.1KHz or 48Khz, so it's natural DX7 Pro reported 48KHz while decoding a song. FYI, I'm setting Spotify to stream at 320kbps. Maybe, my "perceptual difference" is just that. I will try a Tidal trial and UAPP to see if my perceived...

Hi sev1, Yes, I've been wondering why the USB output of my Samsung Galaxy S9 is perceptually inferior to that of my Windows 10 PC. I run the Spotify on the phone feeding the USB port of my DAC via an OTG adapter and a regular USB cable (that came in the box with DX7 Pro), and control it from...

Thanks for leveling my head. I will start with a simple RPi 4/USB solution. That will save me money, without narrowing my options. Having said that, I would still like to hear reasoned arguments for reclocked, USB or I2S solutions.