[RobertSM]

The Meze Elite headphones are really sensitive to the 16 possible mode settings of the Silver Fox which I find great. Initially I found the Silver Fox a little too much on the warm side but with using a lower impedance for the Elite it is much more neutral sounding - more transparent and detailed. It is great to have those different choices. There is certainly even music where I will choose the warmer tuning, especially when I want to focus on voices. Should be interesting to hear which other headphones can offer this variety of tunings with the Silver Fox.

Thanks for your thoughts. I think it's super interesting and cool how this amp has such flexibility via the various mode settings to play with and to dial in a sonic profile that suits one's specific headphones and/or preferences.

I'm still a couple of months out before budget will allow me to join the club. And I'm still undecided if the silver fox or the little silver fox would be a better bet for me. But it's looking more and more like one of these amps will be the way I will go.

 

[ckhirnigs113]

The Meze Elite headphones are really sensitive to the 16 possible mode settings of the Silver Fox which I find great. Initially I found the Silver Fox a little too much on the warm side but with using a lower impedance for the Elite it is much more neutral sounding - more transparent and detailed. It is great to have those different choices. There is certainly even music where I will choose the warmer tuning, especially when I want to focus on voices. Should be interesting to hear which other headphones can offer this variety of tunings with the Silver Fox.

Which modes do you find warmer on your Elite? I have been switching between BTL, Parallel and Active G all while in “High Impedance” mode with my Elite. I didn’t see a reason to use any of the “Low Impedance” modes with the Elite since they just add resistors to the output to lower the noise floor. Are you finding the impedance modes to affect the sound on your Elite?

I did have to use “Low Impedance 2” mode with my Auteur, which adds a 100 ohms resistor to the output. There was a bit of background noise in BTL and Parallel modes if I left it in “High Impedance” or “Low Impedance 1”.

Disclaimer: All my experience is with the Little Silver Fox.

 

[yellowblue]

I am still with a Lavricables Grand 6,3mm for my Elite that will be reterminated to XLR tomorrow. But with 6,3mm I found "Low impedance 1" more neutral, transparent and detailed - but with less body and less dynamics. This was compared to High impedance. BTL, parallel etc didn´t make any difference - but I believe that will change when I use the XLR out.

 

[ckhirnigs113]

I am still with a Lavricables Grand 6,3mm for my Elite that will be reterminated to XLR tomorrow. But with 6,3mm I found "Low impedance 1" more neutral, transparent and detailed - but with less body and less dynamics. This was compared to High impedance. BTL, parallel etc didn´t make any difference - but I believe that will change when I use the XLR out.

Gotcha. I have only used XLR with my Elite. I thought about trying single-ended since I have a really nice 6.3mm silver cable, but I assumed the benefits of staying balanced from input through output outweighed any improvements from a fancier cable. My XLR cable is very nice as well, so I don’t think I’m missing out.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Which modes do you find warmer on your Elite? I have been switching between BTL, Parallel and Active G all while in “High Impedance” mode with my Elite. I didn’t see a reason to use any of the “Low Impedance” modes with the Elite since they just add resistors to the output to lower the noise floor. Are you finding the impedance modes to affect the sound on your Elite?

I did have to use “Low Impedance 2” mode with my Auteur, which adds a 100 ohms resistor to the output. There was a bit of background noise in BTL and Parallel modes if I left it in “High Impedance” or “Low Impedance 1”.

Disclaimer: All my experience is with the Little Silver Fox.

Confuse me a bit, but your explanation make it very clear to me about high/low impedance output haha. At first I thought the other way around!

 

[ckhirnigs113]

Confuse me a bit, but your explanation make it very clear to me about high/low impedance output haha. At first I thought the other way around!

The names of the different “impedance” modes are definitely counter-intuitive!

 

[Yifang]

So I have received my unit and hooked it up! The Qutest sits on top much better than I thought it would... very Qute!

Note that because I am using the Qutest, the input signal is RCA and so my points below may change if it was XLR input instead, particularly surrounding noise floors. In addition, I have an EQ with a preamp of -6.5dB, so my volume knob by default would be turned up more than those without EQ applied, thus a higher noise floor when there is no actual audio played.

First impressions : This thing is SOLID. Build quality is immaculate, and the volume knob is excellent!!! Feels very analogue and I am a huge fan.

Sound : Compared to my Burson Soloist 3X GT + Supercharger, something definitely sounds different. Whether this is a good change or not is still too soon for me to decide. However, it definitely feels as if it resolves a bit better.

Volume & Modes : BTL is supposed to be a big decibel jump but that seems to only happen on High Impedance, from loudest to quietest, where BTL > Parallel > Normal > Active.G.
On all 3 Low Impedance settings, from loudest to quietest, Parallel > BTL > Normal > Active. G. Note that there is barely any difference between BTL & Normal that I want to just put the same volume.

Noise floor is where it gets interesting.

With Meze Elites via XLR :
On High Impedance (most powerful setting), BTL has very very slight noise floor, almost inaudible but I can still notice it. Inaudible during actual listening though as to be expected. On Low Impedance 1-3, BTL is dead silent.
Every other mode (Parallel, Active. G, Normal) all have audible noise floors regardless of what impedance setting I use, generally speaking this is all inaudible during listening.
As such, I will primarily doing my listening using Low Impedance 1 & BTL mode with the Elites.

With V16 Divinity via 6.35 SE (Extremely sensitive IEM) :
On High Impedance, every setting has an significantly audible noise floor, while drastically less on all 3 low impedance settings. Reaching Low Impedance 3 on the normal mode (since using SE means that there is only normal and parallel while BTL and Active.G become normal), the noise floor becomes the lowest and is not very noticeable anymore. I will test this again when I get my 4.4 cable in and can cycle the balanced modes.

My only concern in this case is how are the impedance settings implemented and do they mess with the output impedance? If so, IEMs can easily have their frequency responses altered right?

 

[Slim1970]

So I have received my unit and hooked it up! The Qutest sits on top much better than I thought it would... very Qute!

Note that because I am using the Qutest, the input signal is RCA and so my points below my change if it was XLR input instead, particularly surrounding noise floors.

First impressions : This thing is SOLID. Build quality is immaculate, and the volume knob is excellent!!! Feels very analogue and I am a huge fan.

Sound : Compared to my Burson Soloist 3X GT + Supercharger, something definitely sounds different. Whether this is a good change or not is still too soon for me to decide. However, it feels as if it resolves a bit better, but that could also purely be placebo at this point.

Volume & Modes : BTL is supposed to be a big decibel jump but that seems to only happen on High Impedance, from loudest to quietest, where BTL > Parallel > Normal > Active.G.
On all 3 Low Impedance settings, from loudest to quietest, Parallel > BTL > Normal > Active. G. Note that there is barely any difference between BTL & Normal that I want to just put the same volume.

Noise floor is where it gets interesting.

With Meze Elites via XLR :
On High Impedance (most powerful setting), BTL has very very slight noise floor, almost inaudible but I can still notice it. Inaudible during actual listening though as to be expected. On Low Impedance 1-3, BTL is dead silent.
Every other mode (Parallel, Active. G, Normal) all have audible noise floors regardless of what impedance setting I use, generally speaking this is all inaudible during listening.
As such, I will primarily doing my listening using Low Impedance 1 & BTL mode with the Elites.

With V16 Divinity via 6.35 SE (Extremely sensitive IEM) :
On High Impedance, every setting has an significantly audible noise floor, while drastically less on all 3 low impedance settings. Reaching Low Impedance 3 on the normal mode (since using SE means that there is only normal and parallel while BTL and Active.G become normal), the noise floor becomes the lowest and is not very noticeable anymore. I will test this again when I get my 4.4 cable in and can cycle the balanced modes.

My only concern in this case is how are the impedance settings implemented and do they mess with the output impedance? If so, IEMs can easily have their frequency responses altered right?

My Silver Fox is dead quite in all modes. I'm not sure where the noise is coming from in your unit.

 

[ken6217]

Can you try another DAC?

 

[Yifang]

Can you try another DAC?

Unfortunately I do not have another DAC...

 

[Yifang]

My Silver Fox is dead quite in all modes. I'm not sure where the noise is coming from in your unit.

Three things I can think of are
1. I use an RCA input so that may have higher noise floor, though since it's noise floor without anything playing, I would imagine the DAC input to not matter and so it's most likely the amp. Maybe you can try RCA inputs too and see if that does anything.
2. Different hearing sensitivity to noise between us.
3. Different listening volume. The noise floor on high impedance mode especially heavily scales up as I turn the knob.

I will see tonight if there is still a noise floor after disconnecting my DAC. Will also try borrow a balanced DAC and see if that can change anything.

 

[project86]

I would try it with nothing connected at all, just the amp itself powering the headphones, to eliminate the DAC as being part of the problem. Also try it in another room or with different outlets to see if it is a ground loop or similar issue.

 

[Yifang]

I would try it with nothing connected at all, just the amp itself powering the headphones, to eliminate the DAC as being part of the problem. Also try it in another room or with different outlets to see if it is a ground loop or similar issue.

I'll try disconnect it tonight. I do have an iFi groundhog+ connected too that I used on my Burson to eliminate grounding issue, the noise floor doesn't seem quite like grounding noise but rather just normal power noise floor. Will report back.

 

[Slim1970]

Three things I can think of are
1. I use an RCA input so that may have higher noise floor, though since it's noise floor without anything playing, I would imagine the DAC input to not matter and so it's most likely the amp. Maybe you can try RCA inputs too and see if that does anything.
2. Different hearing sensitivity to noise between us.
3. Different listening volume. The noise floor on high impedance mode especially heavily scales up as I turn the knob.

I will see tonight if there is still a noise floor after disconnecting my DAC. Will also try borrow a balanced DAC and see if that can change anything.

Sounds good, let us know the results.

 

[ken6217]

This may not be the same, but I remember a while ago someone on the Abyss 1266 TC forum hearing noise using Violectric V281 and Qutest.