You Have Proton

[The Computer Audiophile]

I'm using Grado RS-1 and Sennheiser HD600 headphones and they work great.

 

[flatmap]

Hi Walter, I've also had occasion to try Beyerdynamics DT990s and I thought these were a nice match-up with the Proton headphone amp. For example tympani sounded dense but also distinct and clearly defined.

 

Of course I use the AKG 702s with the Proton on a daily basis. With these, you get the very nice tonal colors and subtlety of musical line -- and retain all the vast spaciousness of the AKG brand. I knew I liked this combo straight out of the box, but you have to wait for the break-in improvement to get the full picture. I believe there are blackgates in the headphone circuit and these take their own time to settle out. Of course if you're getting 702's new --- your Proton should definitely be ready by the time your AKG's are!!! They can't be rushed. :-)

 

In comparison, however, I can get bigger and fuller bass support for the AKGs with a standalone HP amp. I tried out the Darkvoice 336 SE and this was particularly nice, big, well-supported sound. However, compared to the Proton's direct hp-out, I lost some clarity, purity, and subtlety in the trade. So this attractive desktop amp did not hold all of the cards. (I may still get one of these DV's for the shear fun of it. It strikes me as a great value; you can get some more info on it on head-fi.org)

 

I have to say that the AKG K-702's are just not that easy to travel with; they are big and they don't fold up. The Proton, however, will transform your listening while on travel. Great form factor, durable metal case, lightweight, and non-fussy to pack and take along.

 

Also, this is a really competent DAC. Consequently the music feeding the hp-out comes from a high quality source... and that's not to be underestimated, of course.

 

[Walter4Fun]

Dear Chris & flatmap,

 

Thanks for your information. In Europe I do not have possibility to audition Wavelength dac's. So I need info from users as I do not want to add a headphone-preamp during travelling.

 

Since the introduction of K500 model from AKG I like these models on my head for long sessions. So I would take it with me...

And it is an Austrian product!

 

Thanks for your profund help.

 

Best, Walter

 

[flatmap]

It was exactly the experience of trying my friend's K-501 at work that got me excited about the K-702.

 

The fit -- on my head -- is superbly comfortable. However there are some who are bothered by the bumps on the leather headband with the 701/702 series. Some versions of these have 7 bumps and some have 8, if I recall correctly. There is a rich discussion of such things over on headfi.org. :-)

 

There is also still a following for the K-501 in spite of the newer models. For my tastes, however, there is no question that the K-702 is a big and happy improvement. On rare occasion, when I pack up my K-702s for travel, I remove the headphone cord and slip the phones in a small ripstop bag -- the type used by campers to organize their gear. That helps.

 

On the Proton, it has the virtue of being (partly) battery-driven and so there is no separate power cord and no ac-to-dc power brick to carry along. Terrific portable solution as well as remaining very (!) respectable for the home setup!

 

[Walter4Fun]

Hi,

 

Thanks for your impressions! Did you compare the little Proton with some known DAC? How it sounds, its character?

 

Best, Walter

 

[Wavelength]

Gang,

 

I have not tried the AKG but so far from emails it appears that the 702's are the champs.

 

Thanks

Gordon

 

[flatmap]

Walter asks: Did you compare the little Proton with some known DAC? How it sounds, its character?

 

The Proton is a very satisfying musical device. However, for myself, this is my first experience with a quality DAC, so I'm afraid I don't have a good basis for comparison. I'm sure Chris will be able to bring some comparisons, when he's ready to review this. He's listened to lots!

 

I can say this has a clean sound and very low noise both through the headphone and line outputs. It has been a very good performer since day one, but after break-in (whatever it is that happens there!), I find that I am more and more excited to click this on in the evening. It has even eaten (a bit) into my vinyl listening time.

 

[ggking7]

I've managed to get my hands on a Proton and I'm blown away. I have to admit the only other audiophile DAC I've used is the DIY Paradise USB Monica, and I really loved it, but listening to all my old CDs again with this thing is a real joy. It's volume control, 24-bit support, and extreme portability is really great too. As for it's travel merits, let's not forget the Kensington lock anchor.

 

How are you guys listening to Redbook on it? Are you feeding 16/44.1 straight to it or are you upsampling first? I'm using Linux and when I really became blown away was when I started upsampling to 24/96 with the "Best" libsamplerate algorithm before feeding the DAC. libsamplerate is also known as Secret Rabbit Code.

 

[flatmap]

I'm just going straight to the DAC without upsampling. Earlier in this thread, I believe that Gordon mentioned that some people are using an upsample from 44.1 to 88.2, however.

 

Agree that it is a really nice design. Simple, but well thought out.

 

[ggking7]

flatmap, have you tried upsampling with libsamplerate first? It's night and day.

 

[flatmap]

Hi ggking7, perhaps I can give this a try.

 

What OS are you using this on? If Mac, are you using the DarwinPorts opensource site for libsamplerate, installing MacPorts first? And, if you do use OS X, does libsamplerate override the Audio Midi settings?

 

[ggking7]

I'm actually using Linux so I'm sorry I can't assist with the setup on Mac. I am anxious to hear your impressions though. I really can't believe how good it sounds and I'm curious whether this level of quality is normal for this price point since I don't have much experience with audiophile DACs.

 

[Wavelength]

Gang,

 

CG who has contributed here in the past just sent me an apple script that will upsample using the SOX upsampler inside of iTunes.

 

Basically you can click on a 44.1 track and convert it to whatever then play the upsampled track. He uses the highest quality factor.

 

When I have something I will put it out there.

 

Thanks

Gordon

 

[vortecjr]

Gordon, I am seriously considering the following Proton based system and would appreciate your input....

 

dell mini 10v with Intel® Atom Processor1.6GHz, windoes xp3, upgraded 6 cell battery for unplugged playback and swap 2.5" hdd for the 16GB Solid State Drive option. Need usb bluetooth mouse for control. Hdmi to wide screen ldc tv as interface.

 

Hardwired catagory 6 home network. Drobo connected to pc via usb in back room and shared music folder.

 

Foobar2k in directstream mode

 

cds already ripped to 16/44.1 wav and other 24/88.2 and 24/96 titles in wav converted from flac. fyi cds ripped by dbpoweramp.

 

USB Proton

 

Rotel processor in bypass mode for direct analog to amp (processor as vol contol only). or I could go direct to amp and bypass the processor all together as my amp also has a computer port for analog input. I spoke with straightwire (close to work and very cool guys) and they can through my dealer make a two channel rca to computer port with some of their interconnect strand.

 

Sound wise how will the Proton's DAC due all on its own in bypass mode compare to other very good sources (cd/dvd player)?

 

[Wavelength]

vortecjr,

 

Why not just email me? I mean CA is not my site so in the future for all if you have directed questions please email me and I would be happy to answer the questions.

 

First SSD on these let's call them EEE derivatives. They are some good ones and some really poor ones. I have an S101 and a 1000HA. I would put a hot read/write 2.5 drive in the unit. Go to newegg and look at the speeds for SSD. I would also put at least 32GB in as the S101 is already full.

 

Actually selling my S101 with 2GB of Memory on ebay at a loss as I need something with a larger drive to run Linux, 7 and XP on one machine.

 

Really the Drobo is connected via Ethernet not USB, right? As you cannot put more than 3M cable on a hard drive.

 

The Atom processors are pretty weak. You need to put 2G of memory I am not at all a fan of Foobar. I prefer and thing J River a much better product all around. I find the EEE much better than the Dell. Asus has really done it's home work and really setups and makes their computers really about the only off the shelf netbooks I can stand.

 

Otherwise, yes I have done all the above and it works pretty nicely.

 

Thanks

Gordon

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Guys - The Proton review is done and published.

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Wavelength-Audio-Proton-Asynchronous-USB-DAC-Review

 

[CG]

After some fooling around, I've found that a really good combination with this kind of DAC with a Mac.

 

Use Play (http://sbooth.org/Play/) as the playback engine.

 

With 96 KHz AIFF files, the sound is really, really good.

 

For CD files, I'm using pre-upsampled AIFF files played back at 88.2 KHz. The sample rate conversion was done with SoX (http://sox.sourceforge.net/).

 

iTunes is a great data base and track management system, but something isn't quite optimized in the playback chain. That's even with all the DSP features turned off, the equalizer off, and the gain set to 100%. At least in my opinion.

 

Now to figure out how to automate the process...

 

[flatmap]

I've added some notes about my Proton listening experience in a comment under Chris's review -- at the link above.

 

[jivers]

I got my Proton just before leaving for the Symposium. I now have it with me on vacation running off my Macbook Pro into Grado 325's. It's not nearly broken in yet, but I'm really enjoying it. By the way, to me 44.1 files sound best with Midi settings to match. I'm also listening to the HRx and other higher res files with the Midi at 96k. Is that right?

 

Jeff

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Jeff - It was really nice to see you on Saturday. I just got home to Minneapolis and I'm still recovering. Anyway, set Audio Midi to 88.2 for the HRx material. Since the Proton doesn't handle 176.4 which is the native HRx sample rate, you want to use a multiple of 176.4 such as 44.1 or 88.2. The math/down-sampling is simpler.