MP3car Authorized Group Buy!!! Audiophile Sound Solution- The HIPPOhi-fi Bloat DAC!! - Page 15

juve021 · 08-22-2008, 07:48 AM

East coast here, nothing yet!

nobb · 08-22-2008, 08:18 AM

^Are you guys talking about the first batch, or the second? I would have thought that the second batch just started shipping...so I dont think Ill be expecting mine until maybe mid September (Canada).

sonneboz · 08-25-2008, 10:44 AM

I'm a East coast, second batch order, and just received mine today! I was a little shocked to see the packaging, especially coming from AU, it was a lightly padded envelope...

DAC feels pretty solid, connections to RCA's look good, can't wait to hook it up

juve021 · 08-25-2008, 07:43 PM

Dang, you stink! I'm East Coast, 2nd batch, where's mine?!?!?!

UrbanLegend · 08-26-2008, 01:56 PM

Woke up this morning and Lo and behold my DAC came in the mail today. First impression: TINY. For those still waiting i haven't tested it out yet, but as soon as i do i'll report back.

p.s. it comes in a lightly padded envelope and don't expect any instructions. It should be pretty straight forward, Cheers!

sonneboz · 08-26-2008, 05:52 PM

Quick question, when I have my PC speakers plugged directly into my mac mini, I can set the default output to 96000 hz, when I set the output to USB DAC, it limits output to 48000 hz. Am I a tard?

nobb · 08-27-2008, 11:52 PM

My DAC is here. Packaging was thin and there is no LED on the DAC as shown in the picture (not a big deal). I am testing this on my laptop right now (Vista) and havent gotten a chance to install it into the Carpc yet.

The sound quality is great and I can hear details I never heard before on the stock soundcard. However, the functionality of using a DAC is a bit disappointing...so I am wondering if maybe someone can help me get a few issues straightened out. I thought it would be just like using a soundcard, but I guess I was wrong.

I plugged in my DAC, loaded up Windows Media Player and played a song. I notice that using the main volume slider on Vista does NOTHING to the volume output of the DAC. The only way to control the volume is with the volume slider in WMP. Is there a way to make the main volume slider control the output of the DAC? I tried the MatchVol application here:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/soft...e-control.html

MatchVol did absolutely nothing, no matter what settings I tried. Maybe it doesnt work with Vista?

I then loaded up Centrafuse and noticed that the volume buttons within CF do absolutely nothing to the DAC's volume. I go into CF's settings and no matter what I try to change, the volume is still unchangeable.

If anyone has any idea at all on how to get the volume working properly, that would be greatly appreciated.

UberSteve · 08-28-2008, 05:21 AM

I had the exact same problem nobb. My post is a few back -> http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/1245181-post207.html

Solution: I went back to XP ;-( Though even with XP, it's still not perfect. In XP, the Bloats volume is controlled only via the Wave slider. If you select "Use Pre as Master" in CF, it will control the Wave slider. However, the mute button in CF is hard coded to the Master mute, which doesn't mute the Bloat....

I did get another solution working in Vista which involved CF -> Virtual Audio Cable -> ASIO4ALL <-> AudioMulch.

In VAC, enable volume control for your Line. In ASIO4ALL, enable the VAC as input only, and set the Bloat as output. With AudioMulch, enable ASIO, the hook the ASIO Inputs and Outputs together.

However, with the above setup I was getting clicks in the audio every minute or so. I beleive this is due to input/output buffer clocks slowly drifting out of sync.

In the end, I went back to XP....

HTH

-Steve

PS. Seems noone over at the CF forums has any ideas, see -> http://forums.fluxmedia.net/general-...t-usb-dac.html

nobb · 08-28-2008, 09:57 AM

^Damn, that is the answer I was afraid of. I dont think I would want to give up Vista just for an extra bit of sound quality.

I was going to use the DAC in my home setup, and not carpc. But I guess now I will have to put the DAC in the car instead since I use a headunit for volume, so not being able to adjust the volume isnt too big of a deal. But this might turn out to be a problem for the future when I want to go headunit-less.

I have tried ASIO4ALL before, but I dont remember why I ended up giving up on it. I think it wasnt compatible with WMP? This is my first experience with a DAC, and to be honest it is not as great as I had hoped, due to functionality issues with controlling the volume. Do all DAC's have this issue? Maybe I should just get a soundcard instead for my laptop?

juve021 · 08-28-2008, 04:21 PM

East coast 2nd batch, FINALLY got it today! At first glance, build quality is very good. Plugged it into my XP htpc running sagetv and I could immediately tell a difference. Much more crisp and clean. However, I am also having that volume control problem. It seems when you open up volume settings (double-clicking on the speaker icon in sys tray), there is no entry for main volume only have "speaker" "wav" "Synth" "cd player" Thats why the slider for main volume isn't working, its not mapping to main volume at all!

Problem with my carpc tho....sounds is excellent when playing mp3s however I can't get xm to play thru it. I have xm direct plugged into line-in on my mb which uses ALC 97 chipset and it won't work. I even tried the line in plugin but its a no go...booo

HuseyinOzsut · 09-01-2008, 10:42 AM

Well, after reading this thread I also made my mind to buy hippo bloat. So will there ever be a third group buy?

2L_SS · 09-01-2008, 06:38 PM

I'm in Ohio and still nothing, when was the second batch shipped?

bluehatch · 09-02-2008, 06:44 PM

yeah i missed the GB to, but i see there are some people selling similar setups.. i think i might buy one from him

http://stores.ebay.com/Personal-Audio

vactor · 09-03-2008, 08:10 AM

i have an extra Bloat (ordered 2) that i can sell if anyone wants it. still in plastic etc etc. same price as GB and actual shipping. i love mine, it blows away the SilverStone it replaced
vse0@yahoo.com

nobb · 09-03-2008, 10:58 AM

I also have a Bloat I am willing to part with if anyone wants it. I simply think it is too awkward to control the volume with and not a very practical device to use outside of the carpc, so I rather stick with a soundcard. Same price as the group buy + cost of shipping. PM if interested.