FWIW I used my amber 3 with a su-2 kte DDC via BNC for several months and ultimately sold it and went back to the usb input, I just found the usb to be more fun sounding. The DDC increased background blackness and depth as well as made it sound ever so slightly more detailed, but felt like it tilted the signature more sterile and lifeless in comparison. It took me like 4 months to finally switch back to the native usb out of curiosity and I never hooked the ddc back up after that.
Granted it will depend on your digital source, but this was my experience.
Amber 3 not turning on when I got home…. Yay. Tried different power cables and reseating the fuse, still no light from the back switch or the front button. I have some fuses coming in on Friday, I pray that that fixes it. Only other thing may be one of the tubes is out, but that wouldn’t explain why the back power switch doesn’t light up when I turn it on. I hope it’s just a fuse issue.
@Snooze, i used my Amber in my 2 channel and honestly if the power cable made a difference i was unable to hear one. I tried various decent cables, <$500 ea. but ultimately used the shortest length that got the job done and didn’t sag like crazy from the weight.
USB was an other matter entirely, i still can’t explain why or how but for some reason the USB cable makes small differences in sound reproduction. Problem is you don’t know what you are gonna get there. Again, ultimately there were no negative outcomes using various brands of USB cables, just some very minor differences, all of which were pleasant and honestly i was never troubled enough one way or the other to say i had an outright preference. Congratulations on the new toy, hope you enjoy. Happy listening🤗
Worth a shot, I don’t have a multimeter but I can grab one for cheap tomorrow to do that.
Update: Got a multimeter and did a quick continuity test with the fuse in question. Annnnnd nothing, so it’s 100% a blown fuse. Replacement(s) will be here Friday, and a fuse upgrade may or may not be inbound as well (will share my thoughts here if everything is still in working order). Thanks for the suggestion @db_Cooper!
Now I just have to survive the next three days without my main rig…
Yeah, I got a 5 pack of slow-blowing 5X20 1.6A fuses for cheap and then I also ordered one of these, with the same size and spec… I’ll get to see how a $1 vs a $250 fuse compares lol.
Update: I just got the audio magic fuse in. I was supposed to have the cheap fuses come yesterday but I guess USPS lost it or something because it said “delivery attempted” yesterday even though they had no problem delivering the rest of my mail, lol oh well at least the nice one is here. Once I get the cheap ones in though I’ll do a proper comparison between the cheap ones and this new one.
Yes, my DAC turned right on and is working with no problems after doing the fuse swap. and I must say that so far I am really liking it, though that may just be because I have been unable to use my system for the last 4 days haha. It’s kinda perfect that it ended up this way anyway because once the cheap ones come in I will have used the audio magic one for a few days which will only make the differences between the two more apparent. Anyways, I am just happy to be using my system again, happy listening everyone!
My mail carrier told me that’s a trick locall post offices use to make their on time delivery metrics when they have too much mail to deliver. Your package likely never left the PO.
I was thinking since i had the day off and the atrium was supposed to arrive tomorrow, i would just set it up on its box temporary and watch people cringe as i post pics of it feeding a bhc.
But right now I have the stock tubes and i also purchased 2 Genelex GL KT77s. They were on sale for a good price and i figured with the Russia situation i might as well just grab them.
I liked the KT77 tubes from my guitar days, better than the EL34s. Reading on other forums people tend to regard them highly (of course not higher than the $1k gec kt66 and other hard to find nos tubes🙃) and i believe it was one of Lukasz’s favorites too so i went with it.
If nothing else it gives me a set to change flavors
TLDR; Amber 3 is an engaging DAC that compliments my engaging horn speakers, has increased my sound stage depth, and has bass control that has once again shown me that tubes can be bass kings if they wanna be.
insert obligatory “I’m not a reviewer” statement here
Giving an opinion will be a little hard since I couldn’t A/B my Topping D10S more than once since my streamer takes a full reboot to change from USB to the digital hat and I’m not doing A/B tests with 45 second downtimes. Today I compared some songs on Spotify (the mix and master is more important than the file type, right? ) against TV->MiniDSP HD to have a DAC stand-in for the Topping. I also tested it against my vinyl gear, an old JVC turntable->Schiit phono. Switch time took about 10 seconds for both comparisons but I would relisten to sections at a time, noting different aspects each pass. Even if the variables were trash and the price brackets are widely different, it was still fun and it gave me some experience in analyzing that I’ve been pushing off for a while.
Albums I listened to/skimmed:
Nils Frahm – Encores 3
Life Without Buildings – Any Other City
Vampire Weekend – Contra
Topping D10S (single comparison, initial impressions only): The Amber has more bass presence, more pop. Nice.
Vinyl Comparison: Today was weird for my vinyl; I feel like I was getting way more surface noise than usual. Only one album had low noise today but I’ve tried to separate that from my opinion on the sound itself.
On my best record, the vinyl setup was a strong “good” (Which is a step above “okay” (Which is a step above “flat/lifeless”)). Nothing was bad or even mediocre. But nothing was awesome. The music as a whole felt a touch smoothed over. Soundstage was about as wide as the speakers but not deep.
On my worst record, the vinyl was veiled, low dynamics, voices are less distinct. The singer can start to hide in the music if not pushed to the front of the mix. Bass was more loose and not as low.
The Amber in comparison was clearer, instruments/vocals were more distinct. Dynamics improved and bass had more texture. The stage grew in depth, more 3D. Things sounded more lush/vibrant. These traits were hugely emphasized when compared to the worse-playing albums. Just a shame that vinyl is so much of a caretaking process and a lottery. It’s a little disappointing seeing just how big the difference between good and bad quality records whether it be dust in the grooves or a bad pressing, etc. Also noteworthy that Vinyl didn’t win out in anything I could hear. No category, analytical or emotional. Sometimes there were aspects that were equalish, but never better than the Amber. I had assumed that vinyl was supposed to have some desired characteristic that you couldn’t get in digital but imo it’s a romantic relationship, not a practical one lol. I pay tribute to my artists, I get physical art, but I’m not getting a better sound.
MiniDSP HD Comparison: Much, much closer and more consistent in its sound quality. It’s not EQ’d at all, just playing 2-channel. One objective thing I can say is that there is squarely more bass in the Amber. There are some songs where the low-bass coming from the miniDSP is completely absent. It HAS bass, but once that bass goes low enough, it’s not there. Past that, all I can say is that the Amber engages me more. Idk why it is because the aspects of the sound I was looking at didn’t seem to be different enough to notice/matter. And yet, I could tell that the Amber was giving me a more engaging sound. Don’t know why. I have a feeling the Amber would scale much farther than the miniDSP on more revealing, higher-end systems with some room treatment. I’m sure there are members here that can comment on the Amber’s scaling.
I think my Amber is so badass. It looks cool, runs quite, and sounds great without even trying. The comparison was just for fun; the sentiments I had on my first day is essentially my review in a few words.
How much better is Amber’s high gain over it’s low gain? Due to the sensitivity of my speakers, high gain is super impractical, but I can lower the digital volume on my rPi to compensate. However, that’s digital degradation, right? What’s the best play?
