Super Best Audio Friends

Do any of you guys remember the phil.askey site before it became DPreview.com? And when Ken Rockwell actually wrote good informative reviews, going quite a bit into the nuances of operation? Sure Ken Rockwell was 100% Team Nikon back then, but that's what made him great. He offered a reference point where people could understand where he was coming from, even if you used Canon. Between those two sites, readers could get a pretty good picture of camera gear. Askey's site would do all the pixel peeping work. Ken could just call it as it is. Sadly those days are over. They are still good resources, but they have lost a bit of what made them special. Ken reviews everything and anything that comes out as soon as possible, sort of rapidly going through the same old motions. DPreview is mechanical and soulless. Things are made even worse because every single YouTube review of camera gear sounds like an extended informercial advertisement. Basically camera gear reviews in 2022 are like HF and ASR for audio. This is why I'm going to take a stab at it.



I've always wanted a big wide aperture portrait lens. A few years back, I got to try out the Fuji XF56 f1.2 (full frame 85mm equivalent), but really wasn't happy enough to buy it. Well, I was happy with it's size, but it never got the background right - the bokeh was unimpressive. The XF56 wide open is f1.2, the depth-of-field is really more like that of an f1.8 or f2.0 lens because of the APS-C size sensor. But maybe it wasn't necessarily the bokeh. I rarely shoot totally wide open with super fast lenses (will say a bit more about this later). The XF56 just looked too perfect. Too sharp. The photos I took with it looked too antiseptic for what is supposed to be a portrait lens. (I blame the high capabilities of today's digital and the Internet's tendency to go "NWAVGUY/ASR/DXO" for this trend toward moar sharper, moar details, moar megapixels.) What I wanted was the Fuji APS-C equivalent of the Canon 85mm f1.2 for full frame. This Canon ain't exactly the sharpest lens in the world, many have criticized it for this, but the photos that it takes are stunningly beautiful. These kinds of lenses are supposed to evoke emotion. I guess pick your poison: 8K Gonzo Porn or Bob Guccione / Penthouse.

Switched between the B3 and Yggdrasil A2 in my system for about a month. Was initially planning on letting this go after a week but a friend told me to hold it longer to give it a fair take. True enough, I started liking it a little more after swapping firmware on my DI20HE but most of the major hangups I initially had didn’t change.



It sounded decent with the stock tubes (Pavane 6sn7 “blue balls”, Sylvania grey plate 12BH7, RCA 5U4G) but was a little too laid back. Switched to Raytheon VT-231s and Marconi 12BH7 which gave things a bit more sparkle in the treble. Overall, the impact of tube rolling was noticeable but not as dramatic as other tube DACs I’ve tried (Abbas, Audionote ect.)

On a scale from 1-10 with 5 being neutral and 10 being cold. The A2 would be a 4.5 and the B3 a 4. I’d describe the B3 sound signature as lively, midrange forward, somewhat warmer than neutral, with a moderate touch of bloom. The latter effect was similar to having something like a mild sepia filter turned on. This helped soften the edges of sibilant recordings but also somewhat exaggerated tonal colors. Compared to the A2, tones are slightly denser and more vivid but have less texture and variety. This is a pleasant sounding DAC but achieves this at the expense of some transparency.

So I was thinking about putting this DAC on the APx555, doing an SINAD panel, posting some THDN and IMD sweeps, cranking the up volume, proclaiming I hear distortion, posting a vote for how I should my Pyrate Skull figure, and then calling it a day for my "review". Except I would be a complete total asshole if I did this. I just can't see anyone who would do such a thing and call it a review.



I've had the Pasithea for about a week now, listening to it here and there, comparing to other DACs, comparing to my vinyl rig, letting it warm up. @GanGreinke was kind enough to loan this DAC to me. He uses it with the EC Aficionado, runs i2s from a Xingxer SU-6 DDC, and runs upscaling software. I think @GanGreinke was using the Yggdrasil A2 with the EC Aficionado which I personally don't think would be a good combination. As the Aficionado can be dry sounding, it pairs better with richer, lusher, smoother sounding DACs. I think it's important for readers to understand that my set up is different and that any serious listening is from my record player through speakers.

I’d like to introduce the ETA Mini Closed headphone! We have been selling this headphone for a few weeks now, but I finally have enough parts on hand to go slightly more ‘public’ with this launch. I have enough to make about 9 pairs in the next few weeks, with more parts on the way on a routine basis. There are currently over a dozen pairs already in the wild. Each headphone is made to order.



This headphone was optimized for general purpose use, comfort for longer listening sessions, and passive isolation. The tuning goal was a sound signature that suits a wide range of genres and systems. It can be ordered through our website for $400USD - https://www.etaheadphones.com/product-page/mini-closed

Now I wanted something different, something with a little more character, but one that still sounded "correct". For digital guys, think NOS DACs, that tone, but without the NOS soundstage (because that's just all sorts of fucked up). But this is really very much oversimplifying it. I wanted different, not as replacement because I was tired of what I already had, not as side-grade, but as something complementary to exist at the same time.



This is where the Ikeda IT-345 comes in. Of course! Low compliance carts. The classic carts like the SPU (where there is now a modern take with the elliptical needle), the DL-103 which is dirt cheap, and if I wanted to go mono, the Miyajima. There also seemed to be quite a good selection of under-the-radar low-compliance carts in Japan where the price hasn't gone through the roof. I decided I was going to get this arm and use it with my DL-103 and enjoy it for long as I can while I put on the roadmap an eventual SPU purchase. There's no need to rush. High-end audio is journey for me where it's best to really appreciate what one has on-hand, to maximize that pleasure, before moving on. Besides, I can't find an SPU for a good deal right now. Needle Doctor is dead. Soundstage Direct is long dead. SPU carts seem to be special order items. I wished companies like Ortofon would say just FU to the dealer model and sell direct.

This is The Cap, an aluminum body cap that the body of the DL103 can slip into without any tools. The fit is a bit tight. Just smash the cart in it. Unfortunately the stylus cover of the DL103 will not fit after The Cap is installed, so be forewarned lest you rip the cantilever off with the sleeve of your shirt. (Oh, this happens. This is why I advise a special ritual* of donning the secret vinyl T-shirt before any use of the record player.)



First of all, I will say that I like the DL103. Audiophiles are weird and seem to be getting weirder as they age with some saying the DL103 is cult-like. Or maybe this is coming from Millenials who don't understand the DL103's history as a broadcast cartridge. I'm sure much of what I heard on the FM radio when I was a kid was played back on the DL103. The fact remains, the DL103 is a great moving coil cartridge. No, the conical needle tip ain't gonna bring up the small details (and surface noise) to the forefront like the line contact and ellipical tips. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with this. One rather famous designer of DACs prefers conicals. Not everything is about moar details, moar details - especially with vinyl which IMO is beyond detail.

The contents of this mod and this post and the entirety of this thread is copyright © Whitney Dafoe 2022. It is only permissible to be here in this thread on SBAF and you do not have my permission to copy paste any part of it elsewhere. Links to this post anywhere are fine.



I thought about doing this mod commercially for a second, but it’s so easy to do, it’s much easier than any of my other mods, so I instantly wanted to just share it with the community, partly to give back for supporting my commercial mods and letting me share them with you all, and also just because it would be a bit silly to ship your SR-1a all the way to me just to do this. (I’m hoping to share mods for some orthos as well when I have the time and energy to write them up).

This might be a fail, but if you were to recommend one album, basically your favorite album, for whatever reason, what would it be? This list might be an SBAF "Essentials" List.

Artist, Album Title, Pressing/Version, if relevant

• Only one album.
• No commentary.
• No comments.
• No replies.
• No explanation.
• No judgement
• Hits and compilations OK

Just make one album recommendation. No replies. No comments. No requests for clarification. Use PM and have the person update their post if need be. Make sure they PM me too, so I can update the list.

Just likes. I encourage everyone to dislike any posts other than a person's one album recommendation. This is an intelligence test to see if folks can follow directions. The goal is to have no noise and all signal.

I'll start:
Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense

Animation of the previous three measurements Again, observe how CF is nearly the same for all three but considerably different amounts of NFB are utilized for each amplifier design.



Several key points to remember:
1. THD+N masks differentiating distortion components
2. Each amp has different D2 / D3 sweep signatures
3. THD+N @ 1 KHz is 0.00216% for Heresy and 0.00252% for Magni – very similar – yet sweeps demonstrate clear differences between them
4. 4+HD+N is nearly identical for all three amps in the range of interest

20220529 Poll Results to date:


Between these measurements and the SBAF poll one might infer a preference exists for amplifiers with lower NFB needed to achieve a particular CF distortion performance.

Well, there's been a lot of buzz about this cute little box, but surprisingly enough, I don't see a thread on it here. I bought a B-stock unit from Schiit after hearing some trusted SBAFers say a few too many nice things about a product that's about a tenth or a twentieth the cost of a lot of the gear we purchase here, so I thought I would buy one to see what the hype was all about. A few days later, my B-stock unit from Schiit arrived, and I was quite surprised at just how tiny this little thing is...



Yeah, it's small, especially compared to the Mjolnir. But it packs a good punch. I'm going to discuss the dac here, as all my headphones are higher impedance, and so aren't really a good fit for the amp. According to some others, the amp works great with low impedance phones, though they'll have to verify that with impressions.

I am not new to Chord DACs. I have owned a Mojo1 and a Hugo 2 and have tried the Dave with and without M-Scaler a couple of times in the past. I was once a Chord fan boy, as I was led to believe that other DACs don’t hold a candle to the Chord DACs. But I discovered later that there wasn’t much truth to that statement.



Depending on where you are coming from, the tone of the Mojo2 will fall anywhere between neutral and neutral-warm. It has an even-handed tone and presentation, with nothing really standing out nor missing. It has a sort of cohesiveness to its sound, which I would say is one of its strengths. An other area, where I am noticing it to be strong is the pace, rhythm and timing, for the lack of better descriptors. Neither slow nor fast. Mojo 2 seems to do these aspects on point. This aspect, combined with the cohesiveness makes for a nice sense of rhythm and flow to the music.

Originally posted at Head-Fi: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sch...most-improbable-start-up.701900/post-16951998

Texas Audio Roundup
July 22-23
Austin, Texas

Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/texas-audio-roundup-tickets-335542455517

Of course, I'll be there, as well as some other Schiitheads. Hopefully you can come and see us at the first-ever Texas Audio Roundup! All the best, Jason