Post by yeaster on Jan 11, 2014 13:47:25 GMT
Hi guys!
My first post here
Wanted to give a shout out to Jeremy for his excellent customer service and share my initial impression of Ember. Was initially sent a wrong package but it was so easily settled thru email and he's really responsive! Thanks Jeremy! Just picked it up from my parent's place. 
I'm no guru in describing sounds or music and I'm definitely a klutz when it comes to electronic stuff. I listen to mostly rock, R&B & pop songs (hahaha, somehow I can't appreciate classical music), hopefully you guys can bear with me on my experience.
Some quick initial impressions of project ember compared to lyr. (Using with HE-500). Only differences in terms of setup is the RCA cables connecting to the amps and that the Lyr has been run it for at least 1000 hours compared to a fresh smelling Ember. My setup is pretty simple, Audio-gd DAC19 -> Ember / Lyr (only using Siemens E88CC for both amps, simply love the "airiness" characteristics of it).
1) Ember is totally silent (no noise at all) when there is no music while there is a fair bit of noise on Lyr
2) Ember is extremely cool (I'm really VERY surprised that a tube amp can run this cool). The Lyr is HOT.....
3) Ember's small footprint is really suitable for a small table like mine.
Next up is to the music. Testing on only 3 songs now... (Counting Stars - One Republic ALAC, Radioactive - Imagine Dragons 256kbps, Roar - Katy Perry ALAC)
Summary from the 3 songs:
Ember's soundstage is smaller compared to Lyr's (Ember feels like I'm at the front of the concert while Lyr's feels like I'm sitting at the back of a room with the music). Ember does have a "3d"
effect that is not so obvious on the Lyr.
In terms of details, to be honest, I can't really identify any differences between the 2. Things I'm hearing on Ember, I'm also hearing on Lyr.
Bass slam on Ember is strong and deeper compared to Lyr. Lyr seems to have a tad lighter bass but in terms of quantity, Lyr has more. So it really depends on what songs you listen to and what type of bass you like. On a poorer quality rip, Imagine Dragons, the bass on the Lyr is bloated and drowns out the rest of the music. At this point, the Ember is a clear winner with the bass being more controlled.
Conclusion
Project Ember is definitely a keeper. I like the well controlled bass of the Ember and it get me engaged more to the music. It only loses out on the wider soundstage of the Lyr.
I'll still be keeping the Lyr for the soundstage and also for sentimental value. It has accompanied me the 2nd longest (longest being my dac).
I'll be using the Ember for most of my listening time and using Lyr when I want to listen while multi-tasking.
Hopefully you guys can understand what I'm describing! Cheers and great job on the Project Ember!
My first post here
Wanted to give a shout out to Jeremy for his excellent customer service and share my initial impression of Ember. Was initially sent a wrong package but it was so easily settled thru email and he's really responsive! Thanks Jeremy! Just picked it up from my parent's place. 
I'm no guru in describing sounds or music and I'm definitely a klutz when it comes to electronic stuff. I listen to mostly rock, R&B & pop songs (hahaha, somehow I can't appreciate classical music), hopefully you guys can bear with me on my experience.
Some quick initial impressions of project ember compared to lyr. (Using with HE-500). Only differences in terms of setup is the RCA cables connecting to the amps and that the Lyr has been run it for at least 1000 hours compared to a fresh smelling Ember. My setup is pretty simple, Audio-gd DAC19 -> Ember / Lyr (only using Siemens E88CC for both amps, simply love the "airiness" characteristics of it).
1) Ember is totally silent (no noise at all) when there is no music while there is a fair bit of noise on Lyr
2) Ember is extremely cool (I'm really VERY surprised that a tube amp can run this cool). The Lyr is HOT.....
3) Ember's small footprint is really suitable for a small table like mine.
Next up is to the music. Testing on only 3 songs now... (Counting Stars - One Republic ALAC, Radioactive - Imagine Dragons 256kbps, Roar - Katy Perry ALAC)
Summary from the 3 songs:
Ember's soundstage is smaller compared to Lyr's (Ember feels like I'm at the front of the concert while Lyr's feels like I'm sitting at the back of a room with the music). Ember does have a "3d"
effect that is not so obvious on the Lyr.In terms of details, to be honest, I can't really identify any differences between the 2. Things I'm hearing on Ember, I'm also hearing on Lyr.
Bass slam on Ember is strong and deeper compared to Lyr. Lyr seems to have a tad lighter bass but in terms of quantity, Lyr has more. So it really depends on what songs you listen to and what type of bass you like. On a poorer quality rip, Imagine Dragons, the bass on the Lyr is bloated and drowns out the rest of the music. At this point, the Ember is a clear winner with the bass being more controlled.
Conclusion
Project Ember is definitely a keeper. I like the well controlled bass of the Ember and it get me engaged more to the music. It only loses out on the wider soundstage of the Lyr.
I'll still be keeping the Lyr for the soundstage and also for sentimental value. It has accompanied me the 2nd longest (longest being my dac
).I'll be using the Ember for most of my listening time and using Lyr when I want to listen while multi-tasking.
Hopefully you guys can understand what I'm describing! Cheers and great job on the Project Ember!
