manisandher
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I thought I'd start a new thread documenting the issue I have with my new Element X (and hopefully its resolution), rather than corrupting the review thread any further.
I was playing around with my newly-received X over the weekend, and noticed that all 7 internal filters sounded identical to each other. I then proceeded to check the filter profiles by passing 24/44.1 and 24/48 white noise files through the X and capturing its analogue output. And here's what I found:
Filter 1 - 24/44.1 white noise (via USB):
Filter 1 - 24/48 white noise (via USB):
(I have no idea why there are spikes just before the sampling frequency. They exist in the ethernet plots too, but in that case they lie just beyond the sampling frequency.)
All 7 filters show identical profiles (for their respective sampling frequencies)! So my ears weren't deceiving me after all ;-)
My suspicion was that my X was stuck permanently in 'MQA mode' and that these profiles were of its MQA filters. To test this hypothesis, I went on to capture the output of the X in real time, playing back a 24/44.2 MQA file (decoded and rendered by the X), and then its redbook equivalent:
Redbook:
MQA:
They look suspiciously similar, don't they?
I've tried rebooting the X a number of times, and have also tried updating the X's firmware. But when I try the latter, I'm confronted with this message:
Clicking OK seems to do nothing.
I have to say that I'm not particularly impressed to date. Had I not had the means to look into what's going on, I'd have been none the wiser, and would have been living with the effects of this 'leaky' filter.
But the dealer from whom I purchased the X (Igloo Audio in the UK) has been very responsive, and I'm confident we'll get to the bottom of things once MA support return from their holiday.
I'll keep this thread updated as soon as anything else happens.
Mani.
I was playing around with my newly-received X over the weekend, and noticed that all 7 internal filters sounded identical to each other. I then proceeded to check the filter profiles by passing 24/44.1 and 24/48 white noise files through the X and capturing its analogue output. And here's what I found:
Filter 1 - 24/44.1 white noise (via USB):
Filter 1 - 24/48 white noise (via USB):
(I have no idea why there are spikes just before the sampling frequency. They exist in the ethernet plots too, but in that case they lie just beyond the sampling frequency.)
All 7 filters show identical profiles (for their respective sampling frequencies)! So my ears weren't deceiving me after all ;-)
My suspicion was that my X was stuck permanently in 'MQA mode' and that these profiles were of its MQA filters. To test this hypothesis, I went on to capture the output of the X in real time, playing back a 24/44.2 MQA file (decoded and rendered by the X), and then its redbook equivalent:
Redbook:
MQA:
They look suspiciously similar, don't they?
I've tried rebooting the X a number of times, and have also tried updating the X's firmware. But when I try the latter, I'm confronted with this message:
Clicking OK seems to do nothing.
I have to say that I'm not particularly impressed to date. Had I not had the means to look into what's going on, I'd have been none the wiser, and would have been living with the effects of this 'leaky' filter.
But the dealer from whom I purchased the X (Igloo Audio in the UK) has been very responsive, and I'm confident we'll get to the bottom of things once MA support return from their holiday.
I'll keep this thread updated as soon as anything else happens.
Mani.
Last edited: