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Post by garbulky on Mar 1, 2017 12:57:11 GMT -5
The connector improvement is small compared to a DAC upgrade. However, let's be realistic here. How good is the sound quality of your speakers? Because electronics only make a relatively small difference in quality compared to a speaker upgrade. So for instance you could spend $500 on an upgrade but if the speakers aren't that great then you would not really experience much of an improvement at all.
Now I can vouch for the Airmotiv + DC-1. Even though I haven't heard the little ego, it also would be a good substitute for your computer sound card. The Airmotiv 4s speakers are clear and powerful for their size. In a small room, their bass and power are adequate.
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Post by alucard on Mar 1, 2017 13:45:00 GMT -5
The connector improvement is small compared to a DAC upgrade. However, let's be realistic here. How good is the sound quality of your speakers? Because electronics only make a relatively small difference in quality compared to a speaker upgrade. So for instance you could spend $500 on an upgrade but if the speakers aren't that great then you would not really experience much of an improvement at all. Now I can vouch for the Airmotiv + DC-1. Even though I haven't heard the little ego, it also would be a good substitute for your computer sound card. The Airmotiv 4s speakers are clear and powerful for their size. In a small room, their bass and power are adequate. I want to upgrade the integrated amp because the volume control is wonky. I have to fight it to turn down to zero when I take phone call for instance. I usually just hit the power button. Turning down actually turns it up and down, up and down - I dont have the patience to get it to 0 or 1. The A-100 is the replacement ($230) PC Card as a DAC is about as bad as it gets. Little Ego or Schiit Modi2 for $99 (i'd probably opt for the Modi2 Uber for $50 more) should be an improvement. Yes, the source material is not the greatest (pandora, spotify) and there may or may not be a difference when using this source material. I wanted to get away from using the 3.5mm but will make an exception for the Little Ego. So now were at $330. I think the Mission speakers are decent but I was looking at the Airmotiv B1 as a possible replacement. I listen near field and have limited space so anything bigger is a not something I am considering.
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Post by garbulky on Mar 1, 2017 14:02:14 GMT -5
The connector improvement is small compared to a DAC upgrade. However, let's be realistic here. How good is the sound quality of your speakers? Because electronics only make a relatively small difference in quality compared to a speaker upgrade. So for instance you could spend $500 on an upgrade but if the speakers aren't that great then you would not really experience much of an improvement at all. Now I can vouch for the Airmotiv + DC-1. Even though I haven't heard the little ego, it also would be a good substitute for your computer sound card. The Airmotiv 4s speakers are clear and powerful for their size. In a small room, their bass and power are adequate. I want to upgrade the integrated amp because the volume control is wonky. I have to fight it to turn down to zero when I take phone call for instance. I usually just hit the power button. Turning down actually turns it up and down, up and down - I dont have the patience to get it to 0 or 1. The A-100 is the replacement ($230) PC Card as a DAC is about as bad as it gets. Little Ego or Schiit Modi2 for $99 (i'd probably opt for the Modi2 Uber for $50 more) should be an improvement. Yes, the source material is not the greatest (pandora, spotify) and there may or may not be a difference when using this source material. I wanted to get away from using the 3.5mm but will make an exception for the Little Ego. So now were at $330. I think the Mission speakers are decent but I was looking at the Airmotiv B1 as a possible replacement. I listen near field and have limited space so anything bigger is a not something I am considering. Don't worry about the source being mp3's and not FLAC. Yes there is a difference between mp3s and flacs, but a DAC can make improvements to mp3's as well. I have heard the Schiit Gungnir multibit. The DC-1 was close to its performance, doing better in some ways - better fine details like room ambience. While doing worse in others - mainly the vertical height and dynamics. Because of that, I'm not sure if there will be a noticeable difference between the little ego and the modi. I don't know. I haven't heard either one. I do know Schiit makes some quality products. It isn't easy to compete with the DC-1 imo. There is also a cheap alternative to all of these. it is the Behringer UCA 202. It is $30. I have it. It is pretty good. Now is it DC-1 good? No. But it is darn good for what you pay for it. So if you wanted to dip your toes in to better DACs, check it out. it's limited to CD quality and not hi-res. www.amazon.com/Behringer-UCA202-BEHRINGER-U-CONTROL/dp/B000KW2YEIHaving said all that regarding DACs - if your experience so far has shown you that there are little to no differences in electronics, then you will likely find your experience not to change.
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Post by alucard on Mar 1, 2017 14:56:01 GMT -5
Do you think I am limiting the system by connecting the A-100 to the Headphone Out on the Little Ego as opposed to the Line Out of the Big Ego? I want to make sure I buy it right, not buy it twice. Thanks!
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Post by copperpipe on Mar 1, 2017 15:56:12 GMT -5
Do you think I am limiting the system by connecting the A-100 to the Headphone Out on the Little Ego as opposed to the Line Out of the Big Ego? I want to make sure I buy it right, not buy it twice. Thanks! no, you're not limiting it at all. The little ego was built with this connection in mind. It has a digitally controlled analog volume on the headphone out, which means if you lower the volume in your computer using windows volume control then you do not lose sound quality due to reduction in volume. The behringer does not have this feature, and I can't recommend it either (I own one, and on my equipment it is noisy and does not compare to my big ego). You can use the little ego in 2 ways: - set the volume in your computer, leave the a-100 volume near max output - set the volume in your computer to 100%, leave it there, and control the volume using the a-100 In either case, the sound quality will be excellent. Especially if you're still using mp3's (which is fine, they can still sound ok) then there is no need to worry about any possible downside of little ego vs line out on big ego. You're going to need terrific and skilled ears to hear that kind of difference, whereas mp3's are still the "low hanging fruit" in your proposed system.
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Post by Axis on Mar 1, 2017 16:15:32 GMT -5
Those little DC-1 sized ICEpower monoblocks are definitely still on the way. I don't have a date yet... but a guess would be some time around mid-year. And, yes, a DC-1 paired with a pair of Airmotiv powered monotors works very well for a desktop system (and I wouldn't even think of it as all that odd). Why are you and Emotiva not pushing this more as a Desktop solution ? What's going on behind the scene that we do not know ? Why are you not building a solid desktop system that blows every other solution out of the water ? Why !
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Post by garbulky on Mar 1, 2017 16:26:27 GMT -5
Hmm well that's a good question. The output is specified as "headphone". I'm not entirely sure if it's designed to be a line output. It probably is. Mayeb KeithL could shed some light on it. If it was me, and you are not me, I would buy the big ego. But I recognize that it's a LOT more money. You can also BUY IT USED by posting an ad on the Emporium. Or call Emotiva and ask if they have some B-stock which usually sells for less. (It's still new - just returned goods). Or you could go for the Modi. No lie...it's a great deal! Now that I see that it's designed as a headphone output, I would probably look at the Big Ego or the Modi. Especially if you are going with the A-100. You can also go with the Audioquest dragonfly. Those aren't bad either. Now the A-100 does give you a very large benefit. In that not only is it a very solid amp - I've heard the previous generation of the A-100....its a VERY powerful headphone amplifier. This allows you in the future to buy hard to drive high quality headphones like the Sennheiser HD600 and really benefit from some excellent sound quality.
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Post by alucard on Mar 1, 2017 17:32:44 GMT -5
Hmm well that's a good question. The output is specified as "headphone". I'm not entirely sure if it's designed to be a line output. It probably is. Mayeb KeithL could shed some light on it. Hello, I found a post from Keith where he said it would work. Also, this is from the Ego FAQ: Q: The Little Ego doesn’t have a line output; can I still connect it to my stereo or separate headphone amplifier? A: The line output on the Big Ego delivers the absolute best sound quality. However, the headphone outputs on both the Big Ego and Little Ego are very good, and you can use either to connect to your stereo. Not sure how much lesser using headphone outputs on the Little Ego is compared to line out on the Big Ego.
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Post by Axis on Mar 1, 2017 17:36:03 GMT -5
Hmm well that's a good question. The output is specified as "headphone". I'm not entirely sure if it's designed to be a line output. It probably is. Mayeb KeithL could shed some light on it. Hello, I found a post from Keith where he said it would work. Also, this is from the Ego FAQ: Q: The Little Ego doesn’t have a line output; can I still connect it to my stereo or separate headphone amplifier? A: The line output on the Big Ego delivers the absolute best sound quality. However, the headphone outputs on both the Big Ego and Little Ego are very good, and you can use either to connect to your stereo. Not sure how much lesser using headphone outputs on the Little Ego is compared to line out on the Big Ego. If you can afford it get the DC-1 alucard.
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Post by copperpipe on Mar 1, 2017 17:47:33 GMT -5
Hmm well that's a good question. The output is specified as "headphone". I'm not entirely sure if it's designed to be a line output. It probably is. Mayeb KeithL could shed some light on it. Hello, I found a post from Keith where he said it would work. Also, this is from the Ego FAQ: Q: The Little Ego doesn’t have a line output; can I still connect it to my stereo or separate headphone amplifier? A: The line output on the Big Ego delivers the absolute best sound quality. However, the headphone outputs on both the Big Ego and Little Ego are very good, and you can use either to connect to your stereo. Not sure how much lesser using headphone outputs on the Little Ego is compared to line out on the Big Ego. Trust me, you're stressing over a non-issue There are forum members ( Gary Cook) who use the headphone out (only) on the Big Ego, and ignore the line out, because the volume control on the headphone out is "that good". I personally cannot hear any difference b/n line out and headphone out. I use line out only because I have a physical volume knob on my desk which is how I prefer to control the volume. I find some of the recommendations here in this thread a little odd... A DC-1 is not going to give you benefits over an ego if you're still running mp3s. Anyway, I won't "beat you over the head" any further, but I guarantee you won't be disappointed with little ego.
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Post by alucard on Mar 1, 2017 18:37:32 GMT -5
Hello, I found a post from Keith where he said it would work. Also, this is from the Ego FAQ: Q: The Little Ego doesn’t have a line output; can I still connect it to my stereo or separate headphone amplifier? A: The line output on the Big Ego delivers the absolute best sound quality. However, the headphone outputs on both the Big Ego and Little Ego are very good, and you can use either to connect to your stereo. Not sure how much lesser using headphone outputs on the Little Ego is compared to line out on the Big Ego. Trust me, you're stressing over a non-issue There are forum members ( Gary Cook) who use the headphone out (only) on the Big Ego, and ignore the line out, because the volume control on the headphone out is "that good". I personally cannot hear any difference b/n line out and headphone out. I use line out only because I have a physical volume knob on my desk which is how I prefer to control the volume. I find some of the recommendations here in this thread a little odd... A DC-1 is not going to give you benefits over an ego if you're still running mp3s. Anyway, I won't "beat you over the head" any further, but I guarantee you won't be disappointed with little ego. Thanks. I'll go with the Little Ego over the Big. Worst case is I replace my dacmagic XS with it.
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Post by alucard on Mar 1, 2017 19:52:29 GMT -5
You can use the little ego in 2 ways: - set the volume in your computer, leave the a-100 volume near max output - set the volume in your computer to 100%, leave it there, and control the volume using the a-100 I plan on leaving the computer volume fixed and use the volume control on the a-100. With that, should I leave the Little Ego volume 'fixed' at 100%?
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Post by garbulky on Mar 1, 2017 20:38:27 GMT -5
You can use the little ego in 2 ways: - set the volume in your computer, leave the a-100 volume near max output - set the volume in your computer to 100%, leave it there, and control the volume using the a-100 I plan on leaving the computer volume fixed and use the volume control on the a-100. With that, should I leave the Little Ego volume 'fixed' at 100%? I think you need to ask KeithL this or give Emotiva a call. 100% on the little ego means it is outputting its maximum power for HEADPHONES. Depending on how much power that is, it may cause problems or it may overload or damage the input on the A-100. If it's not that powerful, it may not do any of these things. But that's what I suggest you ask Emotiva the best way to run these two Emotiva gear together.
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Post by Gary Cook on Mar 1, 2017 22:08:53 GMT -5
I plan on leaving the computer volume fixed and use the volume control on the a-100. With that, should I leave the Little Ego volume 'fixed' at 100%? I think you need to ask KeithL this or give Emotiva a call. 100% on the little ego means it is outputting its maximum power for HEADPHONES. Depending on how much power that is, it may cause problems or it may overload or damage the input on the A-100. If it's not that powerful, it may not do any of these things. But that's what I suggest you ask Emotiva the best way to run these two Emotiva gear together. From memory it's 1.8 volts headphone output and 2.2 volts line output. Both are perfectly fine for input to a power amplifier. Cheers Gary
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Post by Gary Cook on Mar 1, 2017 22:14:37 GMT -5
Hello, I found a post from Keith where he said it would work. Also, this is from the Ego FAQ: Q: The Little Ego doesn’t have a line output; can I still connect it to my stereo or separate headphone amplifier? A: The line output on the Big Ego delivers the absolute best sound quality. However, the headphone outputs on both the Big Ego and Little Ego are very good, and you can use either to connect to your stereo. Not sure how much lesser using headphone outputs on the Little Ego is compared to line out on the Big Ego. Trust me, you're stressing over a non-issue There are forum members ( Gary Cook) who use the headphone out (only) on the Big Ego, and ignore the line out, because the volume control on the headphone out is "that good". I personally cannot hear any difference b/n line out and headphone out. I use line out only because I have a physical volume knob on my desk which is how I prefer to control the volume. I find some of the recommendations here in this thread a little odd... A DC-1 is not going to give you benefits over an ego if you're still running mp3s. Anyway, I won't "beat you over the head" any further, but I guarantee you won't be disappointed with little ego. There won't be any noticeable sound difference between the line out and the headphone out if the volume slider (PC or Mac) you are using doesn't control the resister ladder in the Ego. In my case I have MacMini and the iTunes volume slider controls digital volume (lossy) hence I leave it at maximum. Whereas the master volume controls the resister ladder in the Ego (not lossy). Using it as per above I have no need physically or sound quality wise to use any external volume controls. Which just add the potential for more introduced noise anyway. Cheers' Gary
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Post by copperpipe on Mar 1, 2017 23:15:56 GMT -5
You can use the little ego in 2 ways: - set the volume in your computer, leave the a-100 volume near max output - set the volume in your computer to 100%, leave it there, and control the volume using the a-100 I plan on leaving the computer volume fixed and use the volume control on the a-100. With that, should I leave the Little Ego volume 'fixed' at 100%? I guess there is a third option as well; set the volume on the DAC (using windows main volume control so that it remains a lossless volume) to 80% (or whatever) and use the volume on the a-100 to make it louder or softer. After all, I doubt most people will ever need both at full volume, so you can reduce the DAC and increase a little on the a-100 if that is a worry. garbulky, I get what you're saying with respect to it being a "headphone out", but these devices are designed to do this according to the user manual. A direct quote from the little ego pdf: emotiva.com/resources/manuals/LittleEgo_manual_v10.pdfAnd Gary is correct as well, the headphone out will output 1.8 vrms; this spec can be found near the bottom of the above manual.
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Post by alucard on Mar 2, 2017 0:25:42 GMT -5
I plan on leaving the computer volume fixed and use the volume control on the a-100. With that, should I leave the Little Ego volume 'fixed' at 100%? I think you need to ask KeithL this or give Emotiva a call. 100% on the little ego means it is outputting its maximum power for HEADPHONES. Depending on how much power that is, it may cause problems or it may overload or damage the input on the A-100. If it's not that powerful, it may not do any of these things. But that's what I suggest you ask Emotiva the best way to run these two Emotiva gear together. I found the answer in the user guide. Set the ego to 2/3 volume and use the a-100 for volume control. "If you connect your Little Ego to a device that has its own volume control, just set the volume control on your computer and your Little Ego about two thirds of the way up so it doesn’t clip, or overload the input on your other device, then use the volume control on your headphone amp or other device to set your listening level."
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Post by garbulky on Mar 2, 2017 0:29:36 GMT -5
I think you need to ask KeithL this or give Emotiva a call. 100% on the little ego means it is outputting its maximum power for HEADPHONES. Depending on how much power that is, it may cause problems or it may overload or damage the input on the A-100. If it's not that powerful, it may not do any of these things. But that's what I suggest you ask Emotiva the best way to run these two Emotiva gear together. I found the answer in the user guide. Set the ego to 2/3 volume and use the a-100 for volume control. "If you connect your Little Ego to a device that has its own volume control, just set the volume control on your computer and your Little Ego about two thirds of the way up so it doesn’t clip, or overload the input on your other device, then use the volume control on your headphone amp or other device to set your listening level." Great! Looks like you got your answer there!
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Post by alucard on Mar 2, 2017 9:03:13 GMT -5
I just ordered the A-100, Little Ego, and Emotiva MSR Cable (male 3.5mm to male RCA). Thanks everyone for your input here.
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Post by garbulky on Mar 2, 2017 12:11:21 GMT -5
I just ordered the A-100, Little Ego, and Emotiva MSR Cable (male 3.5mm to male RCA). Thanks everyone for your input here. I think you'll enjoy the results!
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