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Pipo X7

93.109.130.121
Posted on January 27, 2015 at 04:36:20
fmak
Audiophile

Posts: 13158
Location: Kent
Joined: June 1, 2002
 I bought one of these in the east for $120 and it contains a free W8.1 Bing (Similar to W8.1 Core I am told).

First impression was a well made small box that works well and is fluid in operation.

I have since installed a XMOS usb dac on it and I am playing up to 192k files on it with good result, using an external usb drive with the music files.

Excellent value for money. It now lies next to my general purpose PC for music only!

One surprise; the unit plays 1080p video smoothly and with a better rendition on MP 11 than from my PC with 1GB fanless graphics card!

If you get one, you need to follow web instructions to back up the system, since you cannot restore if Windows fails to boot. Do not try to install Acronis as this caused the boot issue when I tried to restart after install.

For the money, one can buy 2 with a backup! It is even cheaper in Europe as it turned out.

 

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Looks like sensible answer to "I'm starting with PC audio, what should I get?" question - at under $100 in US., posted on January 27, 2015 at 07:29:22
carcass93
Audiophile

Posts: 7181
Location: NJ
Joined: September 20, 2006
 Not the only answer, of course - but a pretty good one. Connectivity options are outstanding for this kind of money.

 

RE: Pipo X7, posted on January 27, 2015 at 07:55:30
beppe61
Audiophile

Posts: 4705
Joined: January 29, 2004
 Hi ! thanks for the hint. Bought one now.
i like the idea of both OS and HW trimmed (and no fan at all ... good!)
You say that you are using " a XMOS usb dac " with it now.
may i ask which one ?
Thanks again.
Kind regards,
bg

 

RE: Pipo X7, posted on January 27, 2015 at 08:24:40
fmak
Audiophile

Posts: 13158
Location: Kent
Joined: June 1, 2002
 With the Pipo I bought and SMSL M8, which is a ESS9018 mini dac in a CNC machined case. Looks really sexy and has all the functions of a much larger one. It also sound very good and has turned my desktop PC into a match to my audio system in terms of sound staging and resolution.

This is a hard thing to do in my experience.

 

RE: Pipo X7, posted on January 27, 2015 at 09:54:17
beppe61
Audiophile

Posts: 4705
Joined: January 29, 2004
 Hi and thanks a lot again for the very valuable suggestion
Cute dac indeed ! i will keep it in mind if i will fail with my current one. Please let me quote you:

" ... It also sound very good and has turned my desktop PC into a match to my audio system in terms of sound staging and resolution. This is a hard thing to do in my experience. "

i think exactly the same. For me the 3D is the real challenge for a digital source. Most of digital tends to sound flat, 2D with the depth almost not existing.
One guy was bashing a dac from April Music saying that its 3D was huge but the sound not musical and dry and harsh.
I replied saying that i would have bought that dac without even thinking
Then i looked at the price ... quite above my budget, sadly.
I am always looking for a DAC able to provide a huge 3D soundstage
This is a good sign of utmost linearity and lack of noise and distortion
Of course a dac like this will make every "problem" in the recording quite evident (maybe that was the problem)
Thanks a lot again.


Kind regards,
bg

 

RE: Pipo X7, posted on January 27, 2015 at 11:07:27
soundchekk
Audiophile

Posts: 2426
Joined: July 11, 2007
 The M8 seems to be an interesting device.
I read over at Head-Fi that it seems to go into standby after 5 minutes being idle. That's not an issue.
BUT. Can you confirm that it needs manual interaction on the device to get it back to work?

Did you already try a different PS?

Talking about SMSL: I'm running a SMSL-SA160 100$ amp on my living room system.
And to be honest. To me that amp sounds damn good. ( I also have Abletec and Hypex amps around for comparison)

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blog latest >> The Audio Streaming Series - tuning kit pCP

 

RE: Pipo X7 - standby after 5 minutes , posted on January 27, 2015 at 11:16:37
fmak
Audiophile

Posts: 13158
Location: Kent
Joined: June 1, 2002
 It doesn't.

Not tried yet

 

RE: Looks like sensible answer to "I'm starting with PC audio, what should I get?" question - at under $100 in US., posted on January 27, 2015 at 11:30:02
fmak
Audiophile

Posts: 13158
Location: Kent
Joined: June 1, 2002
 I'd prefer 2 sata connections, but the BIOS is very extensive. Question is: shall I try changing and risking a reinstall?

 

RE: Looks like sensible answer to "I'm starting with PC audio, what should I get?" question - at under $100 in US., posted on January 27, 2015 at 12:41:07
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Cant you just make a copy of your OS disk with Exactcopy or Ghost and recover it that way? These sound like promising low cost opportunities. Pls let us know about the stuff you try.

 

RE: Pipo X7, posted on January 27, 2015 at 21:10:09
Bob_C
Audiophile

Posts: 2667
Location: NY
Joined: July 31, 2000
 "I bought and SMSL M8, which is a ESS9018"

LOL

Pretty funny Fred... I just got one also to play with.

Actually nice sounding. Does up to DSD128. The chip is the ES9018K2M which is a new scaled down chip targeted for mobile use etc. Specs are good though. It is actually the same chip being used in the Lampi Amber DSD DAC.

Fred can you please try DSD128 because I found a bug. My DAC flips channels when playing DSD vs PCM. I wonder if it just my DAC or a overall firmware bug.

thanks
Bob

 

RE: Looks like sensible answer to "I'm starting with PC audio, what should I get?" question - at under $100 in US., posted on January 27, 2015 at 21:13:40
fmak
Audiophile

Posts: 13158
Location: Kent
Joined: June 1, 2002
 installed ACRONIS 2013 and it wouldn't boot!

Will try Linux Boot Disk.

 

RE: Pipo X7, posted on January 27, 2015 at 21:14:11
Bob_C
Audiophile

Posts: 2667
Location: NY
Joined: July 31, 2000
 "I read over at Head-Fi that it seems to go into standby after 5 minutes being idle."


It actually powers off completely. You have to push the power button to turn it back on, then restart the music app to recognize the DAC. Not the end of the world, but some people might find it a pain.

 

RE: Looks like sensible answer to "I'm starting with PC audio, what should I get?" question - at under $100 in US., posted on January 27, 2015 at 21:17:23
Bob_C
Audiophile

Posts: 2667
Location: NY
Joined: July 31, 2000
 "installed ACRONIS 2013 and it wouldn't boot!

Will try Linux Boot Disk. "

Booting Acronis from a disk should work fine.

 

RE: Pipo X7-Will try and post, posted on January 27, 2015 at 21:19:29
fmak
Audiophile

Posts: 13158
Location: Kent
Joined: June 1, 2002
 but I am surprised by how good it sounds when warmed up. This will prompt me to try W8.1 Core on other PCs with only abut 5G install size. And this is with hyperfil still in.

There is a program pack called DAVICOM (DM9USB) in the Program file. I cannot find out much about it. Presumably it's the usb drivers. Do you know anything about it?

Have you tried disk imaging software and which one. Acronis 2013 caused a blank screen boot problem after installation.

 

RE: Pipo X7-Will try and post, posted on January 27, 2015 at 21:33:21
Bob_C
Audiophile

Posts: 2667
Location: NY
Joined: July 31, 2000
If you are talking about the X7 I do not have one, just an M8.

The driver with the M8 is a Xmos 2.23 and then there were a bunch of files for setting up Foobar.

I was suggesting of Acronis from a CD, and not installing it.

Thanks. If it is a firmware bug, maybe it can be fixed with a flash.

 

RE: Pipo X7, posted on January 27, 2015 at 23:18:30
soundchekk
Audiophile

Posts: 2426
Joined: July 11, 2007
 Thx for confirming Bob.

That's an absolute NoGo to me. Such a "feature" makes a device
like that totally unacceptable, no matter how good it sounds
or how much it costs.


Somebody should tell em to reconsider their weird firmware programing.

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blog latest >> The Audio Streaming Series - tuning kit pCP

 

" ... W8.1 Core on other PCs ... ", posted on January 28, 2015 at 00:26:29
beppe61
Audiophile

Posts: 4705
Joined: January 29, 2004
 Hi and very interesting plan again ... let us know about your results.
I think that this testing is extremely important
This is a complete OS ... not like Android, another "slim OS" option
And above all not the least support from audio dacs manufacturers for Android actually i do not understand why but that is ... )
I see many many people focusing on HW, while maybe they should focus OS.
This is quite revolutionary.
Maybe a cheap HW with a great OS outperforms a very expensive HW with a so so OS ? very interesting indeed.
Because i have already a lot of cheap HW ... to try.
The strange thing is the cost ... the HW with preloaded Win Bing costs less than a copy of 8.1 Core ? well ... this is strange.
Anyway ... thanks again sincerely for your very valuable advice.
I am curious to see this little pc ... very.

P.S. i cannot find an iso file of win 8.1 core 64 bit ... does it exist ?

Kind regards,
bg

 

RE: Pipo X7-Anyone who gets one should, posted on January 28, 2015 at 22:00:41
fmak
Audiophile

Posts: 13158
Location: Kent
Joined: June 1, 2002
 disable EIST in BIOS to get CPU speed up to 1.3 GHz when usb latency is dramatically reduced.

There is also a strange behaviour. If the hdmi cable is removed, there is intermittent disruption to usb audio output. May be the resident audio driver needs to be disabled. I do this so that my PC can be auto detected on boot with Pipo running.

 

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