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gepardcv
3
Oct 23, 2015
1. The manual link is broken. "Error 403 forbidden" on Google Drive. Maybe that would answer my questions...
2. What is the output voltage of the RCA line out?
3. Is there a way to dim or turn off the display?
4. Does the volume knob attenuate only the headphone outs, or all outputs at the same time?
5. Is the volume control digital (in-DAC chip or other) or analog?
6. Jude's post mentions that plugging in a headphone mutes the RCA output. Is there a way to disable that feature (to, e.g., run an output to another amplifier)?
gepardcvFixed that formatting for you (our discussion does weird things with single line breaks).
1. Try the manual download again, just updated the hosting to somewhere better.
2. Not sure, I'll save this one for the Grace Bros.
3. Yea, right now you can setup the display so it turns off after a couple seconds of you not playing with the volume knob. That said, we're working on a firmware update to add an option that'll let you set the display to whatever brightness you want.
4. Volume knob attenuates all outputs the same.
5. Another one for Grace, Michael will be on and answering questions in a bit.
6. This is partially correct. The right headphone jack mutes the RCA out, but if you plug into the left, you can have both the headphones and RCA output running at the same time.
gepardcvHi gepardcv, 1. While Will is getting the manual link fixed I am making a few changes to the amnual (updated power specifications). We will have the fully polished manual ready in a few days so stay tuned!
2. The RCA line outputs are variable. For reference, a volume setting of "90" is "unity" on the volume attenuator and will result in an output level of 2Vrms for a full scale digital signal (0dBFS). The maximum output level with the volume at "99." is +14dBV (5.1Vrms)
3. There is a display off mode. After a few seconds of inactivity on the volume knob the display will shut off with only a decimal point illuminated to show that the unit has power. Any activity on the volume control will temporarily re-light the display.
5. (this is a copy of a response to the same question on Head=Fi) The m9XX attenuator is a hybrid design. Most of the volume control duties are handled in the digital domain with 32 bit processing but there are two analog gain ranges. This allows a full 98dB of volume control range, preserves a very low noise floor for IEMs, and allows high peak output voltage for low efficiency planar magnetic phones.
6. Plugging headphones in to the right hand headphone jack will mute the line outputs. Plugging in to the left hand headphone jack will leave the line outputs active.
-Michael
WillOops, Sorry Will, I did not read to the bottom to see you had already answered most of these questions!
Michael_GraceHey Michael, no worries, updated the owner's manual download on the description tab as well.
Michael_Gracegood to know that 90 is unity. Thank you Michael. Exceptional product you guys have done. I was pleasantly surprised by its performance and features. A+ from me!
Compassionator
207
Oct 24, 2015
Michael_GraceSorry to be blunt, but is this a jazzed up version of the JDS Labs Element? Visually, they look basically the same with the large volume knob on top. And/or has the m9xx been developed from scratch (circuit design, etc.) rather than modified from an existing product?
There was some talk on the ESS thread where the headphones were identified to be an existing product that could be or was "modified" brought to a different specification/voicing, but essentially was not "their" product. Not saying that this is the case, but I am a little skeptical given the price vs. the M905.
CompassionatorHi Compassionator, I had not heard of the JDS labs product until reading your post. I don't really know anything about it's design so I cant comment on that as a comparison to the m9XX.
The m9XX contains a mixture of new technology and adaptations of already designed/refined circuit elements from our other products. The USB streaming controller software running in the XMOS is very similar what is in the m920. Our XMOS firmware engineer Caleb Roberts has 5 years of experience with optimizing the XMOS code. The code running in the m9XX has not been "re-invented" but has been tailored to the requirements of the product.
The headphone amplifier is very similar to what is in our flagship studio monitor controller m905. But with a novel configuration of the output amplifier topology which allows for extremely low output impedance.
The DAC section is all new. It is based on the AK4490 from the latest generation of AKM 32bit dacs. AKM is, in my opinion, leading the pack of mixed signal semiconductor manufactures with many new high performance DACs and ADCs in their lineup.
The analog power supply design is based on our push-pull DC-DC converter developed for our m101 microphone preamplifier. Professional microphone preamaplifiers are extremely low noise, high gain circuits that require very quiet power supplies. Jamie Kraphol is our engineer in charge of the magnetics design for this power supply. He spent months optimizing this design for high power output, dual voltage operation (Buss Power vs High Power mode), and sample rate synchronous operation . So while the circuit topology looks similar to the m101/m103 it is a different animal in terms of performance parameters.
Obviously there are cost constraints when designing a $500 product vs. a $3500 product (m905). However, the careful selection of features and higher volume manufacturing allows us to bring exceptional performance to the m9XX.
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