SPL Phonitor X DAC/AMP - Official Thread

Happy Cake Day @reallyoldcob. Now that’s a stack. Wow.

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Does any user know if the XE manipulates the L/R signals in the analogue domain to create a front/center image ?
I had someone ask this question at a audio club meeting and he hasn’t received an answer from SPL.

Great setup! I look forward to your impressions as mine is Qutest->Phonitor x->HD800S. I will share my impressions as soon as my headphones are fully burned in.

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No need to wait, I did a full review of the Phonitor X several years ago.

And I posted a more concise summary as the 15th post in this thread.

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Hi! Where would I post if I needed to discuss cabling for my HD800S. It did not come with a XLR4 cable and I am having to use an ‘adapter’. A cannot help but think that a dedicated good cable would be better.

Wait! Please clarify what you are doing. It’s electrically fine to go from an amp with a 1/4" or 3.5mm jack to an XLR4 adapter to headphones with a balanced cable. It’s not okay to go from a balanced amp with an XLR4 jack to headphones with a 1/4" or 3.5 mm jack.

See this post from @ProfFalkin

And here’s a cable thread:

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Just had a question, I had posted above but still don’t know the answer. " Does any user know if the XE manipulates the L/R signals in the analogue domain to create a front/center image"

All manipulation (i.e. the entire “Matrix” function) is done in the analog domain.

You can adjust the “angle” of the “speakers”, as well as how much crossfeed is applied. With the right headphones, and a suitable recording, you can achieve a number of effects, including a front/center image.

Bear in mind the “Laterality” control is really just a very fine grained balance (left/right) control.

Thank you so much, I’ll pass that along. .

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has anyone found anything as resolving as the Phonitor X/XE that’s closer to the size of something like a SMSL SU-9?

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I’ve heard that the One D doesn’t sound as good as the X / XE

@TylersEclectic compared a gsx-.mini to a phoniter. Might be worth checking out.

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Question for the class-- those of you who have used the Phonitor X with a Susvara–

I assume you set DIP switches 1 & 2 to ON, to maximize gain. Are you driving the Susvara off of the speaker outputs or the 4-pin headphone output?

Asking for a friend :wink:

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^^^ also interested for when I purchase a Susvara in 2049

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Received my Phonitor X with upgraded DAC about a week ago. I absolutely love it. I’m actually really enjoying the matrix as well. While it does “lower” the bass, I love what it does to the sound. Currently using it with ZMF Verite, LCD 5 and ZMF Ori. Just really enjoying all music. I came from the Burston Soloist 3X, which was nice, but something (lots of things) just sound better to me on the Phonitor.

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how’d you like the Phonitor with the Susvara in the end?

Phonitor x and the ZMF Verite Closed pair very well together. Two of the more prominent headphone reviewers local to me rate them quite highly - high praise considering that ZMF isn’t accessible or “meta” in Hong Kong.

My amp was working fine except for the LED light being out/flickering/sometimes on/sometimes not.

I hooked up my XE up (after the light was out) for the first time in months since I moved. Straight off the bat, the XLR input doesn’t work. Nothing comes out of the front jacks (XLR and 1/4").

Then, I hook up my phone to the RCA input. The XLR output doesn’t work, and the 1/4 inch jack puts out weak, distorted music. The VU meters seem generally unresponsive.

I also tried listening from the back jacks – same exact issue from both of them.

This is the second time my XE has crapped out/not worked properly. I think they have an issue with quality control on these boards. On the plus side, now my LED light is working.

So now I have a ticket in with SPL and I hope they can work with me to fix this. Is anyone else having these types of issues? It’s really incredible that I have an NAD 3020 that’s almost 45 years old, with minimal servicing, running flawlessly while I have a 4 year old amp that has crapped out twice.

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Update from SPL. Their new repair service is based in Las Vegas and is run by Thermal Relief Design, a mainly pro-audio repair service. They said they just got all the parts in and there are “many units” in queue. That doesn’t sound great for quality from SPL. They couldn’t get me a turnaround time but they did say they have 2 techs working as fast as possible on them.

http://www.thermalrelief.com/

At this point, I’d say think twice about buying something from SPL if you want to avoid repairs. I’d like to know if the same thing happens for their other products.

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