2. digital
  3. 1204348535

P8i Users - Survey

Just wondering what other P8i users find in their systems:

Filters 1,2,3 or 4 ? - I find 2 suits me best - 1 is a bit sharp, the others are a bit rolled off

Balanced or unbalanced - I find unbalanced gives me a magical result - balanced perhaps gives me more detail, but does not integrate the sound stage as well or naturally as unbalanced.

Upsampling on redbook – I definitely (!) prefer non-upsampled – much more dynamic, clear and clean.

Burn in – mine seemed to take forever (ie say 2 months of daily use (1-hour average) to settle in – left on all the time). Fresh it was not pretty and I wonder if this might be the cause of some negative comments about the P8i?

Direct or via a pre (my ulterior motive here)? Presently I'm using mine direct to a Pass X350.5 and B&W 801Ds with Ridge Street cabling – it seems quite excellent. I haven’t tried it with a pre yet but would like to so that I can add vinyl again.

What pre if any would you suggest as a good match?

I’d be really interested to learn what other owners have found.

Thanks

Murray
murrayp

Showing 2 responses by murrayp

murrayp OP
13 posts
 
Hi Lenny,

Sometime try borrowing some single ended cables and try those - you never know - in my system it works better and i have the same Ridge Street Cables for both single and balanced.

Have you tried non-upsampling on CD? I prefer the snappier presentation to the smoother with upsampling.
murrayp OP
13 posts
 
Thanks Andy and Cathode.

Things move on and I've returned to balanced and now much prefer that. Possibly this results from the CD player becoming progressively burnt in - before it was just too much direct to my set up, now it's better. Most likely it's just me changing preferences.

May I ask what pres you tried Cathode? Are you aware of anyone who has modified their P8i? I'm quite capable of doing this sort of thing myself but hadn't considered it - guess I thought DCS would have had this sorted already. Guess I'd better try a power conditioner (though the power here is pretty clean).

Andy, I tried some of the mid level Crystal cable but found it didn't have the weight I enjoy in my sound. I tried anti cable too but found it rather mid focused on the speakers. What I have found is that three runs make a good power cord for me though!

If find quite big differences between upsampled and non-up sampling. Upsampled I find great for natural instruments, but non upsampled being more dynamic and exciting for pop/rock/electronica.
More to discover