Was hot here too off and on all summer. I put rubber spacer feet between my Asgard and the BF 2 as I found the heat from BF made the amp run quite a bit
warmer than usual. Better now. Also decided to turn both off when I knew I wouldn’t be using it for a whole day or 2. Weather has finally turned toward fall
now so BF is on most of the time.
Appreciate all the comments on the upgrade. I may well consider that for the
future, but I’m still in my honeymoon phase with it for now. Really able to sit back and ENJOY rather than analyze!
PS @Gothique That’s Hot! Hope things cool for you soon.
That and solar/wind. The EU coastal countries are starting to invest billions in offshore wind farms and Portugal and Spain in solar. Portugal has already achieved 100% solar on some days in their winter. All accelerated by events to the east. Things are about to change at breakneck speed.
In America we have politicians that think with solar, power goes out at night. No joke. And interestingly enough, our most recent heatwave in the North East, we hovered around 36.5 for shy of a week but it broke. Inside temperatures in my apartment got to about 25 because the AC unit in the building was running at 100% capacity. Tube amps are not the best fit for the summer when it’s like that but a ss DAC, I’m surprised you got it there.
Me too. I mean it does get warm as I tend to leave it on 24/7 but never hot until this last weekend. I think it will do better with some clearance. I’ve noticed the biggest temperature differences with hotter gear if they have air on all sides. My Audio gd r2r gets really warm at times (it’s been off for a week or more already) and it has definitely benefited from being lifted up this summer. A lot of sub 1000 devices tend to only have little rubber feet.
Devices are usually safe to MUCH hotter than you might think, as long as the vents are clear with space for ait to flow, it’s probably not an issue. My BF2 used to get quite warm even in 70F internal temperatures, and generally devices are going to run at X over ambient rather than some specific temperature.
I’d be surprised if anything inside an amp or DAC wasn’t rated to 80C.
The LAu used to get so hot the volume knob would have been uncomfortable to hold for an extended period, and the WA33 is at similar levels or more.
The LAu states in the manual it needs 10in of free space above it though.
Good advice, thanks! I knew things were ok generally being warm but I really wasn’t sure what an upper temperature might be. It’s pretty low on vents isn’t it? My issue with it was more that it was hot enough sat in front of it without having a dac doing its best impression of a radiator in front of me!
Yes that’s a somewhat different issue.
I have AC, but my office window gets hit by the sun in the afternoon and it can easily be 5C hotter than where the thermostat is, the additional warmth from amps and DAC’s isn’t always welcome. And I can imagine any additional heat source would be unpleasant when it’s hot to begin with.
@Gothique , not meaning to worry you but I was one of the unfortunate folks whose new BF2 early on spiked in temperature and burnt out. It was fairly easy to have replaced and a new unit was sent to me after I returned the burnt out one to them. Just saying, I’m pretty sure I had that happen to me. It’s been a long while and my memory gets fogged up but that memory is buried in my head somewhere.
You can also simply place a fan near the units in summer if you absolutely have to.
Just make sure that there is no heat build-up.
On the other hand, there are also daps etc. that you can use on hot summer afternoons instead of the units.
With air conditioners, you have to be a bit careful because of the condensation that can form.
It’s not ideal, but even that usually works if it remains stable.
Otherwise, especially with tube amplifiers, it is almost better to leave them switched off and wait for the evening.
Most of the devices that heat up on such days are those equipped with toroidal transformers that produce a lot of heat, not even the circuit board itself.
The other thing is something personal, if you start sweating after 30 minutes, be it on your body or just on your head between the cushions, it’s no fun.
Despite the heat and sweating, I wish you a happy listing
Well I just had an interesting experience. For the 1st time since upgrading to the 2/64 card, I became fatigued while listening to my HE-500. This is the 1st time my HE-500 have ever caused me fatigue in any way. Looks like I’ll be swapping the og card back in. The more familiar I have become with the 2/64, the more I have realized that while it is better at technicalities than the og card, it is nowhere near as musical. There is a sheen that is present in the treble region that is very unpleasant. I’ve only noticed it during longer listening sessions of 2 hours or longer. Total bummer. But, if/when I sell my BF2, it will add value to have both cards.
I felt bad giving that post a heart. I’m bummed the new card doesn’t work out so well for your ears, but glad to have the information, if that makes sense.
Hello,
Otherwise, try a tube that is a little more rounded in the height range.
And with a bit of luck, it is also musical.
Old British/French Nos tubes are usually very good for this.Brimar,Mullard,Phillips,Thomson…
Otherwise you have the possibility to see if it works better without Spidf 2 than without.
I think the Matrix could bring in some sharpness if it should be coupled with the BF2.
And it makes the sound seem a bit colder and more neutral, just as an experiment and tip.
I havent experienced listening fatigue since 2019, so this definitely caught me off guard. I also was listening to very mellow soul music when this happened today (Bill Withers). The X-SPDIF 2 has never caused any issues with any of my gear in the past. The 2/64 is the common denominator, unfortunately.
Did you compare this to using USB straight into the BF2/64? I also have the Zen Stream feeding my BF2. The Quicksilver is my main headphone amp as well. I’m still using the OG BF2, so your insights are very helpful in my decision-making process. For now, I’m sticking with the OG.
No as that would be an unnecessary variable since my use case has always been with Coaxial for the BF2 (i2s for the Pontus II). It just boils down to the fact that I dont like the 2/64 for longer listening sessions. I feel the treble is top heavy compared to the rest of frequency range. It sounds unnecessarily forward and artificial in comparison to the OG Card (and other dacs ive heard and owned at various tiers above and below it). It isnt something one would notice until a few hours into listening because it is slight…but over time it creeps up on you. I also will add that I still have my full range of hearing according to my latest test (have to get checked annually by the VA due to exposure to loudness during combat).
I’m curious if you can’t use a tube roll on the amp to tone down the upper end a little bit or if you may be getting some digital glare from the Updated BF2.
To be honest, I could definitely try but I dont feel it is worth it. The OG Card solves the problem for me with minimal effort. Im not a huge detail freak (makes me part of the minority of folks in the hobby) and the 2/64 card’s areas of improvement over the OG card arent enough for me to make a sacrifice in order to use the new card. At least it will add value to my asking price when/if I decide to sell it. Ive spent $300 on much worse things in my life.
I keep my place relatively warm/cheap in summer and I was surprised at the heat from BF2/A3. I picked it up off matting and put Soundrise domes on both in stack. Big help, I feel comfortable now.
Each time I think it might be time that the Yggdrasil I have looks for a new home I’ll give it a listen casually and find myself sitting with that chain all night - head boppin’ n weaven…
It works really well with the V550 and using either the PC + DDC and AES input, or from the streamer directly via spdif coax. The headphone I like best from my small collection with this setup is the TH909.
