Project Ember II Discussion Thread

I'm still playing around with this amp, good tubes to roll, and good headphone pairings.

I'm hoping we can carry this discussion over from the old abode.

I took my Ember to our meetup in Nashville this past weekend and everyone who listened came away impressed. I'm currently using a Russian 6N6P Gold Grid (purchased from Jeremy at G1217). I find it to have a nice balance between clarity and that touch of tube magic that I've grown to enjoy.

So far, I've heard it with the HE-500 and HD650 and feel that it does a fantastic job with both. I was also able to audition the HE-6 this weekend and felt that the pairing was perfectly fine. Around 2 oclock on the volume knob was the sweet spot for me on the high gain, low impedance settings. The Ember puts > 2W into the HE-6. I know there are amps that can do better, but this is a pretty good option for a tight(er) budget.

The HE-6 owner has generously agreed to let me take them home for an extended audition, so I'm really looking forward to digging in and seeing how it works out over the long run.

 

Well hello there. You recommended that very tube to me at Head-Fi.

I also got that recommendation on DIY Audio Heaven, so I bit and got that along with the Project Ember II.

Hoping this relatively small amp will be ideal for me at work.

I also have my eye on the Lyr 2 for home at some point, but that'll be down the road.

 

Enjoy! Let me know what you think.

 

I thought the Polaris was great, but the Ember is heavenly.

I swapped out the tube to the 6N6P Gold Grid and adjusted the LED to match the tube glow. I'm feeding it with a Schiit Bifrost Multibit (which I did not get to try with the Polaris--it could easily account for a large portion of the difference).

This is just a gorgeous sounding amplifier. I first tried it with my Sennheiser HD650s and I'm now listening with the JVC HP-DX1000. Bliss.

I'm even able to use my 16 Ohm IEMs with it without any background hiss.

I love that you can adjust output resistance and input attenuation.

It's small and beautiful, which is ideal for my work setup.

 

Glad to hear you're liking it! Keep us updated.

 

Really enjoying it. This is my desk at work right now. If I want bass boost, I use the Project Ember II as a preamp tube buffer for the iFi iCAN Micro. If I want slightly nicer sound without the boost, I plug right into the Ember.

Schiit Bifrost Multibit -> Project Ember II -> iFi iCAN Micro (if I want extra bass) -> JVC HP-DX1000

 

I've been doing extensive listening with the HE-6 and an Amperex Bugle Boy 6DJ8. This tube is very dynamic and tight while also having a bit of warmth. On low gain, low output impedance, I only need 12 - 2 o'clock for volume. Skyline, your tube must be really low gain! Though, I am very ignorant on the subject of tube gain... On high gain, I can barely turn the volume up past 10 o'clock. It's pretty cool how much overhead you have with Ember, even with the HE-6.

 

Wow, I'll have to try the HE-6 with a different tube. With the 6N6P and high gain, I have to get around 12-2 on the volume knob. If you're doing that with low gain...

 

Yeah, that seems a little off... No idea how a tube can change the gain by that much.

 

Well, it's a very high current tube. It even makes a little "tizz" sound when you first turn on the amp. It's one of the tubes that wouldn't be possible without the supercharger.

That said, I don't remember finding much difference on the volume knob between it and my 6DJ8 Amperex. I'll have to play with it a little...

Also worth noting that I have the Ember II and believe you have the Ember I. Differences in the gain module could account for a little, I suppose? I'm also bypassing the input caps, but I doubt that has any bearing on it.

And, of course, we could have different volume preferences, but I've always been known to listen at slightly low levels.

 

Does anyone have impressions of Ember and HD800?

 

I've tried it and enjoyed it.

If I remember correctly, someone commented on the pairing on the old site saying that he enjoyed the Ember/800 better than the Bottlehead Crack/800 due to the fact that the Ember didn't warm up the sound as much as the Crack does. He felt that the Ember kept the 800 truer to its intended sound.

 

Interesting. According to the differences posted by Frans at DIYAH, I believe Ember 1 and Ember 2 should not differ in terms of gain. I also had Jeremy make all the upgrades on my Ember (supercharger and cap bypass). Plus, I don't listen loudly either. Odd!

 

Glee!
Thanks Skyline

 

Probably a difference between tubes and listening preferences, then.

I know that you prefer the 400/500 on low gain and I use high for that as well even though I barely get to 10 oclock with this setting.

 

Ember II arrived two hours ago. Have been listening with Modi 1 and HD650 on med gain... I'm impressed

 

The stock JJ ECC82 tube is ... well quite shitty to my taste by far. Lucky to have also ordered a GE 6JD8 smoked glass and I've been listening to this for about three hours straight. Not wanting to take off 650

 

I have the 6N6P Gold Grid on mine at work. I use different headphones there, but it sounded great with the HD650s as well.

 

I have the same tube! Jeremy recommended it when I asked for sth that'd tame the treble on my HE-560.

 

Planktons just keep incoming. HD650 keeps scaling. On the other note, Ember II is slightly noisy with TH900, and is radio-like noisy with UERM. Maybe need to tweak the settings to find a solution? Still the system overall sounds a little bright and coarse. Bass can be tight or slightly loose. The root of the problem should be Modi 1, but I'm royally satisfied.

In comparison of Lyr 2 in memory, Ember II lacks a bit of brutal power, but gained an edge of declicacy. These two might just be interchangable in most situations.

If more people know about Ember II, some sugar-coated medium-high end (~$800 US) amplifier will have a hard time selling. Things like WA6 are dwarfed by Ember II.

I bought this very tube because you answered me in the all purpose advice thread. I'm owning you a big favor!