just some pictures of my current setup consisting of Shanling M30 connected via Red Dawn XLR to Ferrum OOR powered by Ferrum HYPSOS.
2nd picture showing the possibility to change the voltage input into OOR.
Haven't really recognised big differences between the voltage levels though so far.
just some pictures of my current setup consisting of Shanling M30 connected via Red Dawn XLR to Ferrum OOR powered by Ferrum HYPSOS.
2nd picture showing the possibility to change the voltage input into OOR.
Haven't really recognised big differences between the voltage levels though so far.
Well actually M30 is still doing quite well, especially in its Transistor amp mode with Susvara and does have a slightly wider stage and smoother presentation.
Ferrum setup is tighter, more controlled, better layered with more details and slightly less bright, also a little more punchy.
Ferrum OOR sounds more organic, guitar strings sound more realistic.
It also seems to have a blacker background and a tad faster but really nice decay.
I am often shocked how much different the mixes are sounding with Susvara and I always tend to switch the headphones back and forth to realise it's the mix and not the bad source player.
One song sounds like neutral and a tad boring and the next one full-bodied and punchy.
Vocals are almost always great.
I have switched today to Dekoni Elite Denefrated Sheepskin pads which is bringing in a tad more detail and rendering than with the stock pads.
Thank god I am enjoying quite some of my beloved Rock and Indie tracks like e.g. Arctic Monkeys, Breaking Benjamin.
I was afraid I needed to go for PHI TC for such genres but so far feeling fine with Susvara still.
Still in Susvara new toy mode.
Need to go asleep now as I need to get up early tomorrow.
Will report again how the setups sounds with Traillii and Denon-AH-D9200 during the weekend
Well actually M30 is still doing quite well, especially in its Transistor amp mode with Susvara and does have a slightly wider stage and smoother presentation.
Ferrum setup is tighter, more controlled, better layered with more details and slightly less bright, also a little more punchy.
Ferrum OOR sounds more organic, guitar strings sound more realistic.
It also seems to have a blacker background and a tad faster but really nice decay.
I am often shocked how much different the mixes are sounding with Susvara and I always tend to switch the headphones back and forth to realise it's the mix and not the bad source player.
One song sounds like neutral and a tad boring and the next one full-bodied and punchy.
Vocals are almost always great.
I have switched today to Dekoni Elite Denefrated Sheepskin pads which is bringing in a tad more detail and rendering than with the stock pads.
Thank god I am enjoying quite some of my beloved Rock and Indie tracks like e.g. Arctic Monkeys, Breaking Benjamin.
I was afraid I needed to go for PHI TC for such genres but so far feeling fine with Susvara still.
Still in Susvara new toy mode.
Need to go asleep now as I need to get up early tomorrow.
Will report again how the setups sounds with Traillii and Denon-AH-D9200 during the weekend
Difference is there as I described but M30 is no slouch and using high quality components inside - so there might be still small issues with amplification but the difference isn't as huge as one might wish for investing in an additional amp.
On the other hand I had Roksan K3 power amplifier for a short time connected through speaker TAPs and while you had the larger stage feeling it's tonality didn't match so well with M30.
I will continue listening a bit over the weekend and then decide if I sent Ferrums back and either wait for the M30 power amp module to be published next year or look for Burson Timekeeper or benchmark AHB2
There's one strange thing coming to my mind which I am curious about:
I tried switching the OOR amp volume mode yesterday by turning that knob on the backside, turned the volume dial all down to 0 on my Shanling M30 preamp and slowly raised the volume there.
I now expected to come to the same super high volume as using the standard way (regulating volume on OOR) but:
- it seemed the volume doesn't get higher than usually on M30 when listening to Susvara there directly
- the OOR Gain switches had no function, volume was always the same no matter how I changed the OOR gain
Difference is there as I described but M30 is no slouch and using high quality components inside - so there might be still small issues with amplification but the difference isn't as huge as one might wish for investing in an additional amp.
On the other hand I had Roksan K3 power amplifier for a short time connected through speaker TAPs and while you had the larger stage feeling it's tonality didn't match so well with M30.
I will continue listening a bit over the weekend and then decide if I sent Ferrums back and either wait for the M30 power amp module to be published next year or look for Burson Timekeeper or benchmark AHB2
I have a very interesting post to share
I will now really need to make some thoughts about my chain.
With the "lower tier" TOTL DAP M8 Ferrum and Susvara are sounding phenomenal....
Denon AH-D9200 is low impedance and really doesn't need extra amplification - I tested it briefly with my default setup M30 - XLR out - Ferrum OOR AND it sounded very good but I couldn't say better than out of M30 directly.
I think it's really also a specific Susvara use case combined with personal preference like in my case smooth musical signature with body.
M8 as source seems to provide that without obvious downsides (ignoring double amping as it doesn't have true LO but that might be even the secret sauce due to the M8 amp implementation) and I feel like I am getting the very best out of it with Ferrum and Susvara - still crazy if you consider the price of M8 vs M30 and the price tier of most Susvara owner's desktop DACs...
Really tempted to get this stack. But it is a fairly large jump from the A90, in terms of investment. I wondering what I should think of in the 1.5-2k range. Anyone? And keen to hear more impressions on the Ferrum, to decide if it's worth it.
I am also just starting to collect experiences with this Ferrum setup but the last 2 days were really showing that the source feeding into the OOR is really so important.
I was writing before that the stage width on OOR isn't as wide as I was hearing on the M30 headphone out.
Yes, but after now listening through the LO of M30's smaller brother M8, the stage width is wide again.
I have the feeling that OOR is reproducing the properties of the source, keeping the source signature (i.e. not adding bass or mids etc.) but leveraging these in terms of effortlessness of presentation, headroom, tightness of the notes.
My suspicion is that the XLR out of M30 isn't performing in the same way as it's headphone out.
Therefore I was enjoying even Susvaras at the top boarder of M30's amplification out of the headphone outputs but not as much when running into Flux-FA-10 or Ferrum OOR.
Now trying different sources it's becoming obvious that not OOR is the bottleneck.
I know M8s sound signature very well and it is reproduced 1:1 on the OOR but just with the benefits mentioned above.
So for people questioning if they should buy it: it is a neutral amp but with top quality amplification, tight and crisp, nice decay, can go slow but also fast.
If you are looking for a specific sound signature (as I did for pairing with Susvaras), you definitely need to regulate that on your source!
E.g. smoothness and musicality - go for a tube DAC/preamp or even a TOTL DAP like M8 and potentially DX300 Max (if someone will confirm this in the future).
I am also just starting to collect experiences with this Ferrum setup but the last 2 days were really showing that the source feeding into the OOR is really so important.
I was writing before that the stage width on OOR isn't as wide as I was hearing on the M30 headphone out.
Yes, but after now listening through the LO of M30's smaller brother M8, the stage width is wide again.
I have the feeling that OOR is reproducing the properties of the source, keeping the source signature (i.e. not adding bass or mids etc.) but leveraging these in terms of effortlessness of presentation, headroom, tightness of the notes.
My suspicion is that the XLR out of M30 isn't performing in the same way as it's headphone out.
Therefore I was enjoying even Susvaras at the top boarder of M30's amplification out of the headphone outputs but not as much when running into Flux-FA-10 or Ferrum OOR.
Now trying different sources it's becoming obvious that not OOR is the bottleneck.
I know M8s sound signature very well and it is reproduced 1:1 on the OOR but just with the benefits mentioned above.
So for people questioning if they should buy it: it is a neutral amp but with top quality amplification, tight and crisp, nice decay, can go slow but also fast.
If you are looking for a specific sound signature (as I did for pairing with Susvaras), you definitely need to regulate that on your source!
E.g. smoothness and musicality - go for a tube DAC/preamp or even a TOTL DAP like M8 and potentially DX300 Max (if someone will confirm this in the future).
I'm not worried about the Qutest. I have a Dave and owned the TT2, so I know what to expect from Chord DACs, they are fantastic imo. I have the D90, which is a very good DAC (might actually be a good way for you to try a solid desktop DAC without breaking the bank), but the Qutest is likely to be a step up, supposedly a little more refined in terms of sound signature. The next step up is considerably more expensive again, probably a Holo Spring 3. Any concerns I have are mainly around the Ferrum, since it's so new. And I'm still looking into slightly less expensive options.
I'm not worried about the Qutest. I have a Dave and owned the TT2, so I know what to expect from Chord DACs, they are fantastic imo. I have the D90, which is a very good DAC (might actually be a good way for you to try a solid desktop DAC without breaking the bank), but the Qutest is likely to be a step up, supposedly a little more refined in terms of sound signature. The next step up is considerably more expensive again, probably a Holo Spring 3. Any concerns I have are mainly around the Ferrum, since it's so new. And I'm still looking into slightly less expensive options.
I'm not worried about the Qutest. I have a Dave and owned the TT2, so I know what to expect from Chord DACs, they are fantastic imo. I have the D90, which is a very good DAC (might actually be a good way for you to try a solid desktop DAC without breaking the bank), but the Qutest is likely to be a step up, supposedly a little more refined in terms of sound signature. The next step up is considerably more expensive again, probably a Holo Spring 3. Any concerns I have are mainly around the Ferrum, since it's so new. And I'm still looking into slightly less expensive options.
if you are interested in holo dac and chord dac, i recommend you to try hibiki dac. there are hibiki sds and hibiki bds2, sds is delta sigma like Dave and with only 30% of the price it out performed Dave with significantly more information restored from the source. Bds2 is r2r and it is only half the cost compare to holo may but again out performed it. I used to own Dave and tt2)
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
