Looking for new Headphone DAC/AMP

[DigDug]

And as it turns out, the device can work perfectly. I guess it was just my assumption that it would use the ASIO driver for best sound that led me down the wrong path. For those interested, setting up the Geek Pulse (and incidentally, a GeekOut V2, borrowed for setup purposes) is a minor bit of a challenge. Here's how I finally got the beastie to work with JRMC under Windows. It is playing now to give it some hours before serious listening.

 

1. Download and install the LH Labs driver. Windows does not even recognize the GeekPulse as a USB Audio Class 1 unit, so it is absolutely unusable with USB unless you install the drivers. For Windows 10 use the LightHarmonic_DriverSetup_v3.26.0 or above. This version will not work with Windows 7/8 according to the notes.

 

2. Plug in the beastie, then reboot the computer. If you are like me, and are using a remote desktop, open a command window and type in the following command: shutdown /r /f /t: 0 This will force the machine to reboot immediately. If you are actually on the console, then you can use the GUI options to reboot.

 

3. Right Click on the Windows Icon in the bottom left corner of your Windows desktop, select Control Panel and Sound. Ensure that the LH Unit is showing up, select it as the default output, and under the Properties Tab, make sure the following settings are set:

 

[TABLE=width: 500]

[TR]

[TD]Tab Name[/TD]

[TD]Control[/TD]

[TD]Desired Setting[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]General[/TD]

[TD]Device Usage[/TD]

[TD]Use this device (enable)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Levels[/TD]

[TD]Speaker Volume[/TD]

[TD]Set to 10 or so. *Warning, this setting may save your ears in the event of an accidental full volume strike against them. It happens...[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Enhancements[/TD]

[TD]Disable All Enhacements[/TD]

[TD]Make sure you disable all enhancements for the best audiophile quality.[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Advanced[/TD]

[TD]Default Format[/TD]

[TD]Not important, pick whatever you choose. The player will adjust this for you based upon the music.[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Advanced[/TD]

[TD]Exclusive mode[/TD]

[TD]CHECK "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device." *important*[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Advanced[/TD]

[TD]Exclusive Mode[/TD]

[TD]CHECK "Give exclusive mode applications priority"[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

Now you are ready to tangle with the J. River Media Center Settings. These are actually pretty darn simple. They are much quicker to do than to read about. Think about 3-5 minutes of work and you are done.

 

These are specifically for JRMC version 21.0.50 under Windows 10. You might see small differences in the Mac Version and if you have a different level of the software.

 

Tools -> Options -> Audio - this will being up a dialog box.

• Under Audio Device -> Select "LH Labs Geek Pulse [WASPI]"
  
• Under Audio Device -> ... Device Settings set your selections like the image below.
  

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25368[/ATTACH]

 

• Very important to select both "Open Device for Exclusive Access." Not important to select "Play a little silence on DoP stop", but it does not hurt either.
  
• EXTREMEMLY IMPORTANT - DO NOT CHECK "Maximize device volume during playback". Double check you have this UNSELECTED.
  
• EXTREMEMLY IMPORTANT - DO NOT SET THE BUFFERING VALUE ABOVE 100ms. (If you hear clicks and pops, check this setting.)
  

 

---

Under the DSP && output format setting, you don't have to do much. Just make it look like this:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25369[/ATTACH]

 

Important Points:

• Make sure you enable the output "Output format"
  
• Do not enable any other tabs at this time
  
• Be sure to setup the changes for output greater than 384K as shown in the screenshot.
  
• Very important - set the Greater than 786K setting to 176.4K as shown. (Really important.
  
• If you enable JRSS mixing, USB volume control may or may not work for you. i recommend not to do so at this time.
  

Set the Bitstreaming to Custom -> DSD (If you don't do this, you won't be able to play DSD encoded music. If you have trouble with DSD, this is the first spot to check.

 

I strongly recommend setting the other settings to these values, though some of them are personal preference. If you do decide to set any settings differently, do not change the System Volume settings. This is for your own protection.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25370[/ATTACH]

 

Limit the volume to 80% at least to start. This will depend greatly on your headphones sensitivity. But play it safe.

 

• You must choose Volume Mode -> System Volume
  
• I highly advise selecting "Play Files From Memory" as well.
  

 

Only a few more steps and you are there.

 

Now click the volume setting icon on the main JRMC display.

• Ensure that "System Volume" is selected
  
• Ensure that "Volume Protection" is enabled
  
• Ensure that "Enable Volume When Bitstreaming" is enabled. If you do not, you will have no USB volume control when playing DSD. **Important**
  

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25371[/ATTACH]

 

Now you are done with JRMC!

 

On the DAC, press the volume button in and turn it until you see 'Volume Mode', press the volume knob again to select that option, and then turn the volume knob until it indicates the volume mode is in USB. Push the know again to save the setting. The volume on the device will immediately go to -0.0db.

 

Again on the DAC, follow the above procedure to find HP Gain. Set it to *low*. Seriously, this puppy can put out 3 watts of power - that is enough to shred ears, headphones, and certainly one's nerves. You can always turn this up later if you need more power to your headphones.

 

**WARNING WARNING WARNING**

Double check those volume and power settings before you test playback. Better yet, use a cheap set of headphones to test with!

 

 

 

 

**IMPORTANT*

 

Next, shut down the computer, power cycle the DAC, and then reboot the computer. **Do not skip this step. **

 

 

 

At this point, you can carefully start playing cuts from your JRMC library. Try PCM at various sample rates first. They should all appear on the DACs display with the correct sample rate. Ensure you have full volume control from the JRMC application, and from JRemote or whatever remote application you are using.

 

Once you are satisfied that everything is working well with PCM, try some DSD files. If they sound great, and you have volume control, you are done.

 

If something doesn't work, go back and double check the settings.

 

This will also work for the GeekOut V2 DAC, save you have to set the power level with the side buttons.

 

Just a very cursory listen to this, once my ears stopped ringing and I figured out my Oppo PM3's were actually okay, but it does sound nice. The display is not bothersome at all, even in a dark bedroom.

 

By the way, the procedure to setup JRMC is very similar on a Mac, save you don't need to load a driver and setup the defaults in the OS. Be sure to set the DAC to low power and for USB volume control. And be sure to enable "Enable Volume during bit streaming."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great job Paul. The Geekout is great sounding, but tricky to setup volume. ?

[DigDug]

+1 for the new Dragonfly Red.

[gillesdacartes]

Try out Schiit's products! The two men behind that fantastic brand are true Geniuses in the audio world. They're a few of the men on earth who actually have enough knowledge to see that 24bit files actually don't exist. Due to this fact they're new top notch DAC is 21bit and sounds absolutely astonishingly. Without any kind of doubt the best I've ever heard in that price range. BUT they're making really cheap DACS as well. They're combos of headphones amps + Dacs are very cheap and fantastic built. I bought a couple of USA made OPPO HA-2 about a couple of weeks ago. That is an awesome product, within your price range. Supports DSD 11.xxx files + PCM 32bits/384kHz. The production design is extraordinarily high leveled as well. Absolutely usable both as portable and stationary DAC/AMP. Go for Fulla Schiit instead of Dragonfly if you want something real cheap and designed by the best men in this world!! Good luck. Remember to pay for Norwegian player TIDAL (totally lossless). Great library!

[ALRAINBOW]

Bryan ifi nano or better yet micro. It does real dsd and its PCM is ok too. The amp,is very good. Might be a bit bigger but the choices your are picking are garbage sorry ....

 

you pu can by one used and save money too.

[davide256]

Had both the Nano and Micro, sold the Micro and still have the Nano. Good amps, technically versatile and musically correct but lacked tone color depth compared to a tube headphone amp like Microzotl 2. Reviewers seem to universally like the Chord Mojo headphone DAC/amp, I hope to audition one soon.

[TubeLover]

Reviewers seem to universally like the Chord Mojo headphone DAC/amp, I hope to audition one soon.

 

The Mojo is an exceptional value!

 

JC