The All Purpose Advice Thread

The only A&K players I liked were the original AK100 and AK120 - those used, respectively, 1 and 2 WM8740 DAC chips. The AK100ii/AK120ii, AK240 and AK70 all use the CS4398, which I do not care for at all - never heard anything that used it that I liked. The AK3XX series and KAAN all use the AKM4490, which is much better than the CS4398 based stuff, but too warm and bloomy and infested with "Velvet Sound" nonsense for me to take seriously - especially at their price points. And then SP1000 uses the AKM4497 ... which probably also falls foul of "Velvet Sound".

The AK Jr uses the WM8740 and is probably the only unit they currently sell that's worth bothering with.

If you're talking about distortion with TIDAL on Android based players allow volumes, I've only ever experienced that on the Onkyo DP-X1 ... and that got fixed ages ago.

Otherwise I'm not sure what you're talking about.

No, not really. It's almost unique and very enjoyable, but it's a specialty piece.

And it would depend a great deal on what other constraints were in place for the definition of "DAC/amp" anyway. That could range from something like the AudioQuest Dragonfly all the way up to a Merging NADAC.

No, I'm acquiring a Hugo 2 to run it through the "Life after Yggdrasil" cycle. It'll get compared to Yggdrasil, and then other relevant DACs.

Having determined that my one use for a DAC/amp (portable, transportable or not) is not very compatible with wires, I'm sticking with the Sony WM1Z, IEMs and the MDR1000X for portable/boat use. If Hugo 2 should prove to be better than the WM1Z that'll be academically interesting, but I've no intention of going back to dealing with a "portable stack" - so unless it trades blows with more serious DACs then it'll be sold shortly thereafter.

Had the Head-Fi Hugo 2 tour not turned into such a farce, I'd have just auditioned it properly via that.

 

Thanks as usual! Very helpful!

The DX200 sounded significantly worse at low volumes than high compared to other players and dac amps I've used. The bass faded out and the treble became tinny... I was assuming it was the distortion you were talking about but maybe its just bad / defective. Either way Mojo sounded way way better at low volume, as did my phone even...

 

What are the best digital music lockers that accept FLAC? I want to be able to stream my home library on my phone, and Subsonic has never worked for me. The only one I found that looks comprehensive is Vox, but it's pricey. Are there any alternatives I'm missing? Google Music converts to MP3 and iTunes Match converts to AAC. I want something that will just stream my files to my phone as is.

 

See this chart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_online_music_lockers
Besides Vox, there is Style Jukebox and iBroadcast. iBroadcast appears to be free at this time.

 

Plex is worth a look.

 

I use Plex but IIRC doesn't it auto convert the files on the fly?

I looked into ibroadcast before and something about it seemed odd, I don't remember what though.

 

I think it has a setting to preserve original format. I could be wrong but worth a look.

Edit: contradictory info on plex site about this

 

Hi Guys,

I have a Mjolnir 2 and a Dynalo Mk2 which I want to compare. I have only one dac the Modi Multibit fed from a laptop via USB.

How do I feed the signal from the Modi Multibit to both amps at the same time? I plan on using 2 x HD650s so I can instantaneously switch between them.

A solution available in the UK would be helpful.

Thanks!

 

RCA splitter would be the easiest option. I think you can also use a SYS in reverse, just flip the switch to use the other amp.

I hope you're not getting two HD650 just for the comparison especially since there can be minor variations even between units.

 

Two of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0009MFRW0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

(And for people in the U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009MFRW0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Someone... maybe Torq or AtomicBob, recommended these to me for doing the same. Works great. No audible degradation. (May not be true for cheaper connects.)

 

Hey Paul, I was just reading the advice thread and figured this may be of some help. I had been doing a lot of research on the Chinese Ebay clone amps (this one in particular http://www.ebay.com/itm/Finished-KG...780512?hash=item33b74f9e60:g:l7wAAOSwxfNXOFC3)

Being a KG design, similar to the KSA5 clone (supposedly the boards were designed by him for the clone...I think,) I sent Birgir (Spritzer) an email asking if he knew anything about the quality. He said

"The ebay amp I’d be wary about. It uses our amp boards for the Dynahi but not with permission and we have no idea what they have changed. The power supply is some unknown design but claims to be a S22. I wouldn’t touch this one without a good once over by somebody who knows the circuit well. "

Whether or not that would apply to the KSA5 clone you are looking at, I'm really not sure. At $200USD, it might be worth a shot simply out of curiosity, but I'd hate to see you or your headphones get damaged or hurt by the amp. Hope that helps somewhat.

 

@Merrick - in the settings for 'Web' / 'Player', hit the 'Show Advanced' button on the right and tick the 'Direct Stream' and 'Direct Play' boxes. Also (I'd guess) select 'Original' from the dropdowns under 'Streaming Quality'.

 

I am looking for a replacement for my dying Geek Pulse.
After some research.
Just want to make sure and see if missed anything.
DAC: Yggdrasil
New ones should come with Gen 5 usb, so I shouldn't need a decrapifier from PC to DAC.
Amp: Mjolnir 2
This will be my first tube amp as well. stock tube at start,
Mullard E188CC in near future, maybe by xmas... Philip seem to be harder to find, and more expensive.)

This will be mainly used with modded HD800 and ATH-w5000

Is there anything critical mistake I should be aware of?

 

Hi there, just have joined the forum and been lurking here in the pst few days.
I'm ready to jump on the HQ train but now I'm still taking a breath before doing it as I've joined the he-4xx drop, if you are asking why i ve choose to wait so much its only because I live in EU, so I will pay the headphones like 220e when standard he-400i are priced 330€ still now here ( no matters that hifiman sell then at just 250$ in USA).
So, now I got to buy everything that comes before the headphones... an amp, a dac and I'm thinking to buy a little pc cause I'm listening music from cellphone; I'm thinking to buy to some alternatives: a schiit stack (w/ multibit), a moji, a geek out v2A, hrt music streamer II+... maybe there was something else but can't remember now... btw as I've said before I will wait the new year for the He-4xx so got plenty of time to watch second hand shit... I'm looking also to new massdrop
Line of amp and dac, but remember that I live in EU, so the massdrop real price for me will be: original price+20$ of spedition+ 25% .
Waiting and curious about your answers

 

You explained your situation very well but I don't see many questions there. What exactly were you looking for? Product advice? What is your goal? To build a great baseline rig for many different headphones, or one tailor made for a specific pair?

 

Hey there,you got a really funny and nice dog!
Sry if i ve been a little unclear about my needs (and for the poor English), let's get clear to my needs for u all: I need some advice for a basic main setup to use with he-4xx cause these will be my headphone for long time ( Maybe next year I could buy a pair of HD6x0, but that's it) so an amp and a dac.
About amp and dac: I can buy a desktop cause usually I listen the music always in the same place, but I'm thinking about the comfort of a portable device like the mojo or something like a geek out or the hrt streamer if the difference in sound between these and basic desktop amps and dac are not so noticeable.
After that, I'm just saying that I'm listening music from deezer on my phone and I am thinking to buy a little pc where get flac audio ( got no pc now, just broke like a y ago and just went ahead with smartphone and pc of friends when in needs) but just it, doesn't need a pc advice
And last, the rig will be used with he-4xx that will be sent to me as Christmas gift from massdrop so I ve plenty of time to watch second hand market if I see something interesting.
Thanks, have a good evening mate.

 

The only 400 series HFM headphone I heard was the stock 400i and, to be blunt, I greatly disliked it. I'll step aside and let others make suggestions.

With that said, there is a great discussion going on here related to your questions of entry level gear: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/way-of-the-noob-your-two-cents.4877/

 

Here is a presentation my colleague JJ and I presented to the PNW AES:
http://www.aes-media.org/sections/pnw/pnwrecaps/2017/johnston_smith_mix_jan2017/

You will find I used an emm6 mic and Scarlett 2i2 interface with Room EQ Wizard to find room reflections examining the Energy Time Curve. These are the places to put acoustic treatments. This is FAR SUPERIOR to any digital corrections, which should only be employed after all the time domain issues have been addressed. An annotated example is part of my slide deck.

 

Hello all,

Does anyone know where I can source some SBAF mod material? Rugpadusa no longer carries the comfort grip liner, is there another style that will work?

And incidentally, if one prefers the voicing of old Philips chip NOS DACs but wishes for less roll off up top and more resolution all around--short of spending mega $$$$--are the Analog Devices-outfitted multibits the best budget option? Or would the mid-tier Metrum lineup, R2R Audio-gd, et al. be worth a look too?

 

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...oversampling-dac-comparison-master-list.4049/

Which Philips chips? The new MHDT Labs Orchid is outstanding and is now my main DAC. It uses a TDA1541A chip, which I replaced with a better spec chip than the R1 it comes with (pretty easy to swap since it's socketed).

There might still be an Audial Model S in the For Sale section, which is said to be one of the best implementations of that chip.

The Metrum Amethyst is also very good.