@M0N Hi. Just let me disagree with you, yesterday a had an audition and listening experience in sound shop of both D90 and m400, and i did not like d90 because of topping sound signature, but i liked quite a lot M400. From my point of view m400 is two tiers up from allo revolution, and three tiers from all theese cheap dacs like e30, modius, smsl m8a. Maybe you listened it straight from the box, with poor cables, or maybe some kind of psychoacoustics makde some tricks.
Actually i liked it so much, that ordered SMSL M400 from China for 859$, because in our local shop it much more expensive. Maybe im wrong,i dont know, but from i hear. Interested in how good paring with fa-12s it will be.
Actually one note about the allo. From the first time i tried to connect usb, the port became physically broken, i repaired it and then maybe in 7 days only silence go through RCA outputs. I talked with support, they told they sent replacement unit, but after that - silence, no track number or something. Assemble quality is poor, but sound quality is really better than e30/modius/x8, but not m400) m400 is a different world
I would agree, keep in mind that when I said it was trash, I meant trash for the price it goes for, it’s still going to be a step up from the entry to lower midrange dac options
It was very amp picky, given it has no output stage some amps didn’t handle the high output impedance very well, but given you had an amp that did handle it, it sounded better yes, but still very lacking for the price imo
If you enjoy it more power to you, don’t let something I say discourage you from enjoying something you have found you liked
@M0N Thank you for clarification, i thought that dac was total trash at all:)) from price point i think i agree, it is overpriced, something like 650-700$ will be fair enough for this when i compare it to allo for 260 + 120/130 for psu.
I made the transaction for this last Saturday night in a crazed frenzy. With the long holiday weekend and then winter storm effects on shipping, it has seemed like forever & a day. Today, it arrived at its new home.
Splurged on a Diamondphonic Black Diamond Series Digital Extra Deluxe Cable. Too good of a bargain to pass up, normally these things sell for $650 plus, I got it for like $12 dollars; Some assembly required.
Canare BNC, Belden 1505A Vivid HD 4k 75 ohm cable, Canare stress relief hood and some black sleeving. Just wanted to try the BNC connector on the Pi2AES into the Lampi. I’ll probably not be able to tell the difference over Coax SPDIF but hey, it’s part of the hobby right?
I have always liked having some light behind my monitor, as it makes it more comfortable to my eyes with less “contrast” from the monitor to the wall behind. I’ve had various led strips and bulb solutions but some time ago i started buying Philips hue bulbs, and now in my basement living room/man cave i have gone fully hue. I did end up with some hue color bulbs too…
I will not use the color much though (not synced up as ambilight), just trying it out for fun, mostly its used in warm normal light bulb color. Also, did a little swap around of my systems so i put up the B&W 685s2 speakers instead of my Dali zenzor 1s, and added an old lava lamp to go along to my prog/psychedelic rock
I have a lot of Hue lights in my home, it’s one of those things that now that I have them I couldn’t go back to regular lights, especially with all the sensors and programmable logic such as phone proximity to my house.
Love the Hue system, but it is quite expensive (at least here in Norway). Not tried the competing brands though,but Hue is easy to set up and is easily available in the local shops, so thats why i went with it. The “man cave” was the frist room i fully did with hue, but i also have the hall/entrance mostly with hue, and my “home office” room is also mostly hue. Will take it step by step since i already have led bulbs most places, so it feels a bit waste to change a perfectly working bulb
Non “e” update.
The drivers are good, but cables and pads are messed. Things easily fixed.
This pair I will probably self-mod. I have also have a pair of 125’s that I may have Grado “refreshen” for me.
The big thick cables and infinitely twistable cups can make for a very bad marriage in the wrong hands.
I am a bottom-dweller, always looking for a “deal”. Sometimes it works.
