The All Purpose Advice Thread

I'm actually thinking of getting something portable, which I can then use for work.

I've owned the Mojo, IDSD Micro, Dragonfly Red, Oppo HA-2 and ibasso D14. I've read the idac2 is great as are the Geek Out V2 variants.

Has anyone else done this? Or I can get a new Fiio X5iii, and use that as a dac when I'm home.

 

@shuto Regular Bifrosts typically go on sale between $280-300, so I'd wait until one of those pop up unless you desperately need one right now. But I'd recommend waiting a little bit. There's typically one around that price range every week or so on hifishark.

 

Your amp is balanced, yes?

...

 

Hi!
I'm currently using a nad m51 as dac/preamp for a pair of jbl lsr 305 for my general music/movie enjoyment and I'm kinda ok with this combo, but I'd like to explore further the speaker world, so I was considering to buy a pair of ls50 and a used cambrige 651w as amp, unfortunately I can't afford anything more expensive and I'd like to stay on the same size (speaker wise).
Would it be an improvement of what I'm using at the moment? Or just an expensive side step? I'm completely ignorant of the topic and I'm deciding on the local (more or less, I have to order the speakers in AU) availability/ price ratio.
Thanks a lot.

 

I've been a KEF fan for a long time. Pair them with the right amp and they should destroy the 305. Which amp pairings are best are debatable, but I've not been fond of Cambridge since I last bought their Azur DAC. I'd suggest doing more homework on the amp part. Maybe Musical Fidelity amps.

 

Thanks for your suggestions, I'm afraid that I have to deal with the lack of options of the local (NZ) used market, at least in my price range (sub 1k $). Happy to know that the ls50 can "destroy" the jbl's, this is exactly what I'm looking for. I've been proposed by the kef dealer to wait for the schiit power amps , he may have a point.

 

They are comfy as hell, though they don't sound great.. I have some QC25, and they're fantastic for flights. They are very easy to drive (because they do some of their own amping maybe?). Isolation and ANC is pretty good (of lows and mids), too. However, they don't sound great, or scale with better gear- so it's really worth having a demo before pulling the trigger, to see how much the somewhat mediocre sound quality bothers you. Personally, I don't mind too much, as it's often more comfortable to keep the noise out than have my IEMs in, and isolate less of the low rumble in those very specific circumstances.

I'm curious about the Sony MDR1000X, though, which seem to have good writeups. They also have a cool momentary ANC defeat, if you raise one hand to the earcup, which appeals. It'd be interesting if someone around here took them for a spin (paging @Torq? possibly up your street?).

 

Just picked up a Parasound D/AC-1100 from Ebay. Looks to be in good condition, and I'm excited to own one again. Its output voltage is 3.0v. Would it be better to get the -3dB, -6dB or -12dB RCA attenuators for them so that I can get close to 2.0v?

 

I bought the MDR1000X a few weeks ago and have been meaning to post a proper comparison between them and my other ANC headphones (BOSE QC35, QC20i, Momentum 2.0 Wireless Over-Ear). I'll still do that but a quick summary would be:

• The QC20i are something I take on every trip as they're tiny, super-comfortable, and provide enough noise reduction to let me relax and hear a movie or zone out to some music. No idea how they manage it, since they really don't "seal" in the ear or anything, but they work extremely well and I can't argue about the space they take up. And while they are not, even in quiet environments, something I'd consider using for active music listening, they're fantastic when I'm travelling light.

• The Momentum 2.0 ANC Over-Ear are really well built (easily the best built in this group), sound decent enough to actually enjoy music with ... even when un-powered. But the ANC is not up to the levels of the BOSE or the Sony, cannot be defeated in wireless or powered mode, and results in obnoxious wind noise if I just walk around in them. They're also too big to carry when space is an issue (often, for me).

• The MDR1000X I bought to test with my WM1A in "LDAC" mode. While not nearly as well built as the Sennheisers, they sound surprisingly similar .. and the LDAC capability makes enough of a difference that with my DAP the Sony's edge ahead on sound-quality. Battery life and utility is comparable to the Momentum. The Sony's ANC is noticeably better than either the Sennheisers or the BOSE, especially for higher-frequency noise. The "cover the right ear-cup to listen to the outside world and mute your music" feature is surprisingly useful. But, the LDAC capability excepted, the ability to turn off ANC is extremely useful in situations where I'm moving around, walking outside or I don't need it but still want to be wireless (since turning it off kills the low-level noise common to all ANC implementations and prevents "bumps" from foot-falls and "whistling" from wind-noise). Also, they pack slightly smaller, and more easily, than the Momentum's.

• The QC35 didn't last very long ... I think I returned them in a week. They offered no real advantage over the QC20i, and since they're MUCH larger to carry around that was pretty much a deal killer. Also, they get really funky if you turn them up, especially in the bass.

A shorter version would be:

I keep the QC20i for my travelling (and take along proper IEMs as well) - and the Sony MDR1000X is responsible for me putting my Momentum 2.0 up for sale. Though it's worth noting that, if you don't have an LDAC-capable player the better-build of the Sennheiser's might well make them a better bet for you.

 

Thanks, good sensible summary. The wind noise issue is something people rarely mention WRT ANC headphones, too.

(I have a WM1A, as it goes. It's surprisingly nice. If it had two card slots, I'd probably want to have its children.)

 

An extra card slot would make it just about perfect.

If it could do streaming, without f'ing everything else up to get there (which is unfortunately true of everything I've tried so far), that'd be a bonus too ... but it's working out nicely for me so far.

 

Yes, I'm prepared to forego streaming to avoid the mess of a full and out of date Android install or similar, too. The payoff is stability, great battery life, and elimination of hassle.

It's surprisingly hard to find a DAP that sounds really good and isn't a hot mess of tortured UI and gotchas. I'll take a well-implemented device that does one thing and does it properly over one that does everything in a half-arsed way.

 

I've been looking at the WA6-SE too. What did you decide to go with?

 

Minna-san, konnichiwa!

TL;DR below, near the end.

I want to ask a bit about some schiit gear.

My preferences:
I love my rig: custom gaming PC considered great 6 years ago - wyrd - modi 1 (usb powered; I think it's a 4396) - mgani 1 - HD600, 6XX, 598;
I adore the technicalities of the HD600 (dynamated) in comparison to the boring 598.
I don't care about ultimate bass extention, I've had HE400 - it gets boring fast.
I do care a lot about macrodynamics (slams, attacks, impulses, transients).
I care moderately about instrument separation, treble extension, clarity.
I care somewhat about resolution + inner detail/texture,
I don't care that much about microdynamics, detail presentation, treble presentation or plankton.
I love mids.
A lot of my music is mp3 320. I consider that good enough by all means. I even tolerate 128 (when I don't have a choice ).
Some of my anime and game soundtracks are mic'd very well. I also listen to electronic and rock/punk.

I am already determined to purchase a Jotunhem soon. Now I'm interested in modi mb.

Question is, in context of Jot+650 and my preferences, how significant would be the difference between wyrd modi 1 vs modi mb (fed by motherboard optical or wyrd)? How easily perceived is that difference compared to the the difference between magni 1 vs Jotunheim? Simply more subtle? Or the two scenarios are incomparable (dacs, amps, apples, oranges)?

I'm also thinking about adding a Lynx way down the line.

BTW, any other cheap dac with coax input (that rivals modi 1, 2 or uber in any way)? Or modi mb is simply the best in its price range?

TL;DR:
I'm just wondering if I can live with my wyrd modi 1 - Jotunheim. Like, how critically would I have to listen to modi mb to notice its benefits? Or is it rather something magical where the multibit just adds that last few percent of realism, making the breakthrough to unicorn level captivating sound?

Yes, I've read the entire modi multibit and Jotunheim impressions threads. Yet I thought I would ask about my specific case. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!
Cheers

 

Buy a second-hand Emotiva DC-1. It will work better than the Modi Multibit, given this set of priorities. Also will give you balanced outs for the Jotunheim.

 

get a modi 2u ak 4490 be damned. you're listening to lo fi mp3s with no depth, real separation, and you don't care a bout detail or timbre or proper tone or anything like that so just say f**k it and get the cheapest thing possible that actually works.

Modi 2U for the coax input. If you did not want coax input, I would say embrace ur lo-fi and get the Focusrite Scarlett solo for 100 bucks. MURRR FEATURES than Modi 2 vanilla. You dont givva fook about hte ADC actually workineg so otherwise I would say to get a Steinberg but you don't care so MODI 2U. NOT Modi Multibit. YOUR MP3S DON'T HAVE ANY OF THAT STEREO IMAGING. THe Modi 2U will outresolve them fine.

If you have a Modi 1, then don't buy crap unless you want that coax. Don't buy the wyrd as you won'y hear it unless you're picking up a f'ing radio station or something or hearing television static not in ur mp3s through the USB like this old really bad mac powerbook gstrang whatever i had. u don't care so don't spend money and justget something that actually f'ing works like the modi 2u or the steinberg imo if you actually ever want a pre to powered monitors or somecrap like that buy i don't think you want that but i hope trump bans anime u know and slaps a 6000% import tariff and jails all lolis cuz that would be sweet and ban anime music would get rid of a lot of stupid questions you know so I would be botehred less by people realizing that hteir clipped voices of 43 year old japanese women pretending otbe 12 actually soudn that way on real hardware and that yes they're supposed to sound like shit and shit like that. get modi 2u and death to anime.

EDIT actually don't buy shit bro for anime or gaming. bro. keep ur curent setup or buy SCHIIT FULLA 2 if u like rolled off warmth for anime as u don't give a fug about treble and shit for anime nah mean - ghost face. just buy that shit dog. it will be fine for ur hentai and league of legends of warcraft. ur anime is not miced well.

 

OR:

A Schiit Fulla 2 is a good option too. Very affordable.

 

Yeah I edited my post. I second that. Great option and has a knob to compulsive turn as the animu protagonist powers up and @Renekton can turn down the screechy laughs of 43 year old 5'2" omwne pretending to be twelve year old school girls who power up and become ninjas in skirts to travel back in time and save Nagasaki from nukes by stopping aeropurranu with power of love and ripping giant beating heart out of school girl body to distract pilot and get japanese kami god to stop the enola gay. Kim Jong Un travel back in time to steal nuke and he is final boss and must be stopped by ninja aztec schoolgirls to save neo-tokyo.

@Renekton
BUY FULLA 2. FINE FOR U.