The All Purpose Advice Thread

Meaning, it should be comparable with the JRiver implementation and thus just fine.

 

The unified driver worked -- many thanks.

@schiit Maybe it's worth continuing to advertise the installer for XP on the Schiit drivers page, for those hapless fellas who still have a box laying around with this OS...

 

Hi guys, newbie to the forum here !

I am also considering to buy a new amp for my cans and I would like to listen your opinion. For the record the cans I mostly use are either the HD800S or the LCD2.2F but I also occasionally listen to the HD700 and the Fidelio X1 as well. My current rig is a Gungnir Multibit -> WA7 fireflies (single ended of course). As I would like to go fully balanced I am considering either a WA22 , a Mjolnir 2 (LISST and Tubes), the IFI Pro iCan or even a Rag.
With my current setup and especially the amp part I think I am missing a lot in detail, openness and in general I feel the WA7 although a decent amp, is still pulling my cans and dac behind especially HD800S and LCD2.

What would you suggest considering I would love to be able to drive both bright and dark headphones to their best ?
Please also keep in mind that It is not always easy to audition these amps (except the IFI one) as they are not available in Greece at the moment.

Thanks a lot !

 

So the Darkvoice is up again on Mass Drop as usual:
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/dark-voice-366se

I have debated getting a high end Woo Audio or DNA or Eddie Current but I just cannot click that order button lol. I'm afraid of the buyers remorse from spending that much money.

I would like to add some tube sound to my setup but I am afraid the Darkvoice will not power my LCD-2 properly. They are my daily driver tho I still love my HD650.

Anyone heard the Darkvoice with the LCD-2? Did it get loud enough?

I could always use it as a preamp for my Asgard 2. I dunno.

 

Insert <beating dead horse emoticon> ...

@Azteca So what are examples of non-transparent digital volume controls? I guess the ones built into Windows?

Aside: While searching for the beating dead horse emoticon, I found this thread. This "lady" is more concerned about the feelings of horses than non-whites. Not starting a political discussion, just flabbergasted at what I found on the Internetz and had to share.

I'm very happily "happless" and choose to continue using XP both at home and at work. If it ain't broke ...

 

As long as you don't put it on-line... The lack of security updates makes XP insecure. Not that Windows, whichever version, is secure, or generally most other OSes for the matter, but XP is surely and steadily accumulating OS flaws and bugs that are being discovered by the hacking community and added to their arsenal of exploits, and that make the holdouts -- esp. if they're many -- a particularly juicy target....

Not to sound like an ass, but my understanding is that "Most digital volume control isn't transparent..." For instance, one of the selling points of Fulla is that it provides you with analogue volume control.

And if you use digital controls, then bye-bye bit-perfect output: the player/OS will use a (very likely suboptimal) algorithm to hack at the bits to reduce volume. In this sense, I've read several reports from users of RPi + Digi+ that if you touched the volume control on their distro the output was notably worse from the DAC, so for best SQ you better leave volume to 100% on the RPi and use your analogue controls on the amp/preamp. Could be placebo, etc., but I suspect there is something to this.

Here's an ESS impassioned defence of digital volume control, and that they can make digital as good as the best analogue volume control:

 

Found a used Torpedo 1 amp for sale, but I'm having a hard time finding much info about it. It sounds like it would work well with Sennheisers 6X0, 800, but not so great with planars.
What are some comparisons to the T3, or any of the Schiit products?

Thanks

 

"Hack at the bits" - what does that mean? It sounds like language meant to evoke fear. If you mean "attenuate" then yes. When you take a 16 or 24 bit signal, convert to 32 bits (giving you effectively infinite dynamic range) and slide it down a few dB with several decimal points of precision (I assure you cannot consciously identify less than .1dB changes) how does that "hack at the bits?" When the best DAC in the world can resolve maybe 21.5 bits, and by the time it gets through the amp and transducer certainly less...
I am not saying that volume control can't affect timbre. I'm just saying that "bit perfect" is an easy phrase to throw around. Absolutely, if you're using gear with a nice big volume knob or remote in front of you, why not use that knob and leave digital maxed? But if you need to use digital volume control for proper gain staging with your amp or, as I use it, to provide consistent average loudness throughout your listening sessions, do it. For me the increase in enjoyment from consistent average loudness far outweighs any minor, theoretically possible audible changes brought about by use of digital volume control. YMMV, not all are implemented the same, but I bristle at audiophiles and audiophile manufacturers hyping up a plausible-enough Boogie Man to make us empty our wallets and twist ourselves into pretzels to get good sound.

 

With regard to the 6khz peak, would modding the HD800 make more of a difference than switching to a tube amp or vice versa? Especially if you want to keep a very clear and resolving amp with slam like the Jotunheim, but don't like the occasional treble peak.

 

How is the reception here on the new Schiit Full 2?

It is almost in stock at Schiit Europe and I am about to order it.

One thing I really want to know: separate power supply for a pure signal from the USB is really as simple as a using an old iPhone adapter with basic USB cable?

I want to be sure I get the separate power supply right.

 

Hello!

I need an advice and would love any suggestions
Before I start asking and all I think some history would help you to suggest better so please bear with me.

I am a pc gamer and my first good headphones were Steelseries V2, after some excessive abuse the v2's broke and I bought ATH-m50xBL and loved them.
After some time I decided to upgrade everything I had and I did, except for headphones. Recently I was thinking a lot and reading reviews and etc and trying to decide.
Finally I have decided to order a pair of E-mu Teaks from good fella Mr. Chan and they have arrived already and I'm in love with them.
The sound of these cans are so much better than my previous ones.
I love to hear music, in the past few years I have been playing less and just enjoying listening to music.
Partagas D 4 with some cognac XO and music is my typical evening these days.
I don't quite yet have the knowledge to make my own decision regarding dac/amp so I thought I would ask for a suggestion here

I am looking for a desktop dac/amp that would go with my Emu-teaks.
Max price is probably to 500$ but if the difference in quality is quite high and the difference is 100$ higher it's OK.
I listen to almost everything but these are the main ones: edm,trance,rock,classic. (Ludovico Einaudi is a beast)
Would love to any suggestions!

Thanks in advance!

 

Okay I am looking for something very different from what I already own, which is AKG K612, HE560 and RE400i, I also own the M50, but we shall not talk about those....
As said I want something very different to mix things up, but I still want a decent amount of detail, I don't care about the wear style and closed would be nice, but open headphones are also fine. I have a O2/ODAC combo and a Yamaha R-N500, but on the go I only have my phone which is a Lumia 930 (soon to change)

My budget is 200€ and I live in Denmark.

 

Hello everyone, I need an advice.

Plonk down 100-ish dollars for a balanced cable for my hd650 ==> Jot with built in DAC.
Or... Save up and spend it for something else, like taking my gf to a nice dinner?

 

A balanced cable will add to the experience. If you're handy you could reterminate the stock cable. Then you can do both...

 

For those of us stuck in the 90s, having collected thousands of classical CDs and not finding enough time to transfer everything to a hard drive yet, which solution for transport/DAC makes the most sense. I have the HD800s and HDVA600 already, so I'm trying to figure out how to get the bits to the amp. I am looking at 3 options:

1) Buy a transport, buy a DAC

If so, I'll probably pick up the Gungnir Multibit for the DAC. Perhaps the PS Audio PWT for a transport, or maybe something cheaper if there is a good recommendation.

2) Buy a DAC, use my computer as the transport

This is for my work rig, so I already have a computer here. If the transport won't matter that much, I'll just play the discs on my computer (a Dell laptop) and then I can get an even better DAC.

3) Buy a CD Player

Or is it best to get the transport and DAC in one unit? I haven't kept with this CD player market, but I used to have a Meridian 508.24 back in the day that I quite liked. Perhaps something along those lines -- Marantz, Ayre, EMM, Cary, etc. Or maybe there is something even better these days.

Sorry for the noob question, and thanks for the advice.

 

Hi all -- I am returning my Chord Mojo since the USB input died within a few weeks of gentle use. Even though I liked it I was concerned about build quality and went for refund instead of replacement.

So, now I am looking for a new transportable DAC/amp. This is mainly for apartment use in my bedroom where I have opted against a bedsite stack and want something I can use with my phone, Ipad or MacAir and which can drive Senn HD6x0. I had considered Oppo HA-2 but suspect it may not be able to drive the Senns well. Strongly considering the GOV2+ in some configuration. @HitmanFluffy had lent me his at the last NY meetup and it seemed nice but I was just using it as a DAC and not an amp.

If I go that direction, I am not sure if I need the + version and if so whether I should get Infinity upgrade. I definitely want a version that has a battery, not any of the USB dongle-type units. Also, is there a volume control on the unit itself. Any thoughts on GO products or other recommendations are appreciated.

 

I believe we discussed this via PMs a while ago(?) but I was quite underwhelmed with HD650 out of the HA-2, even though I have positive remarks for the HA-2 overall. Just lacked dynamism and punch. Since, I have since had a GOV2+, with HD650 (or anything really) it was certainly improved over HA-2, especially the 3.5mm TRRS balanced out.

 

Any need to pay extra for the Infinity version?

 

Spend half the money on supplies to make the cable yourself, spend the other half on groceries. Then ask her to do the braiding while you make her dinner.