The All Purpose Advice Thread

I'm looking for something similar and almost went in on the EDC3 drop, but I want MMCX to use with my Sony MUC BT necklace.

Tried the SE215 yesterday and with stock silicone it sounded like I was in a wooden crate with a 3-way speaker, but the tweeter was busted. The foams with wider bores let out just a lil bit of the treble.

MEE PX was the exact opposite for me: super bright. The search continues.

 

hi
my friend has the he1000v2 and Mjolnir 2 what tubes do you guys recommend for this pairing?

 

recommend you guys jaybird x3 since there basically 100$ have a eq and sound fairly good.
they have a big plus of being wireless and being isolated.
I personally used them then upgraded to the jaybird run for gym use

 

Well it also depends on the amplification you plan on using. I would suggest thinking of "best" in terms of each headphone while it's connected with its most (or top tier) synergistic amplifier.

I'll stick with my HD650 headphone comment, but say its at its best with an Eddie Current tube amp, like the Zana Deux Super. An HD800 might be at its best with a DNA tube amp, like the Stratus. Focal offerings like the Utopia and Clear (though I think they are slightly heavier then 400g) also benefit from tube amps that slightly boost bass. I haven't heard the HE1000, but there are a couple here that love how it pairs with the Mjolnir 2 and the right tubes. You seem to like Stax, and I've heard the SR007 sound very bass soft, then sound quite bass pleasing on the Blue Hawaii.

Unfortunately with a weight restriction, many planar magnetics might be off the table, but I'm super curious about the direction Audeze is going with the LCD-2C.

Read read read, I guess...

 

How much can you tell from a quick and dirty listen to headphones in a store?

I tried the Klipsch HP3s last night in- straight out of my phone, with a fair bit of background noise, and only skipped to specific parts of tracks that I am familiar with. My impression was that the HP3s sounded really... bad. Very heavy on the bass and treble, and recessed (female) vocals. I only spent about a minute with them, definitely less than two.

Would an impression like this be improved upon with better gear or more time? Is tonal response pretty constant? Do you adjust from "this sounds like pants" to "hey this is good" with more time?

The HP3s were a write-off anyway, the headband caused a pressure point on top of my head within seconds, but am wondering how reliable "stick it into a phone jack" impressions will be be in the future.

 

I am looking for some comparison between Questyle CMA400i and 600i if there are any other reviewer who experienced both and can share their feedback.

I am also interested in some feedback on Sony TA-ZH1ES if anyone has experienced and could relate this to Chord and Questyle amp/dac want to use my Sony Z1R and Focal Elear and later Utopia. unfortunately where I live in EU there are no opportunity to get demo on these stuff and my sole reference is reviews from this site and head-fi and only option is to buy blindly and flip it for a little loss.

 

Re using the Sys "backwards" (i.e. 1-in, 2-out):

After bringing my stack home I tried it in reverse and this is indeed the case. There isn't any significant attenuation until around 9-10 o'clock, and as you turn it down further things start to get very distorted. So it's true that the Sys can only be used backwards at full volume, as stated by Schiit.

You might want to check the sound from 9 o'clock on down. Doesn't sound great when SyS is run backwards on my unit.

I'll be getting either this or the Parts Express version so I can split the output from Sys to Magni 3 and the MxCTH when I get it. The Parts Express unit is half the price and you can get it red or black for channel differentiation, but they charge more for int'l shipping than Amazon so it actually works out to be more for me.

 

^^^^
I have moved on from the Sys in this configuration. I don’t know that it was distorted, but the attenuation seemed a bit funky, and the sound did suffer a bit *i think*.

I went total overkill, and horse traded for @Gaspasser ’s Freya. It will start life with me in passive mode, or j-fet mode. A Saga would have been fine, but the Freya stacks perfectly with the Gungnir Multibit, and the horse trading was just too much fun to pass up.

I should have some impressions in a couple of weeks.

 

I want a cheap, small, portablel dac/amp, 1-2output impedance for my Massdrop plus.

I don't care about utmost sound quality I just mainly want the impedance match.

 

DACPort Slim is 1 ohm and $99 on Massdrop

It won't work with an iPhone if that's important

 

I bought the cheapest samsung smartphone I could get, I don't f**k with expensive phones. Thanks for the lead!

 

I've been buying cheaper Android phones from Craigslist for years...mostly HTC. I finally broke down and bought the Galaxy note 8 and I couldn't be happier. The features, design, speed are just impressive.

 

If you're intending to run them out of your phone, or a similar source, then it's not a terrible test. Otherwise, if they are very impedance/power sensitive, I'd try to hear them out of a decent source- if that's how you were intending to run them.

Noisy try-out conditions will rarely let you dig out the details and nuances of gear- but a pronounced "EWWW" response from a suitably representative chain is usually pretty reliable.

 

Agreed. I can tell what I dislike fairly quickly. Whether or not I like something to pay good money for takes more time and consideration in a more ideal environment.

 

Interesting. I have had (and like) the SE215 for several years now. I would like an upgrade in air and resolution, but rather like the tonal balance. I'm not sure I could handle too much more treble. I haven't liked almost any IEM I have tried other than the Andromeda which still wasn't perfect (likely due to my sources). If you think the SE215 was broken and the MEE PX was too bright, I think the MEE would have made my ears bleed.

 

@fraggler Interesting. Andro and HD650M are my preferences tonally (Clear I think might be ideal for me for over ears), which doesn't seem too far from yours, other than the SE215. I had to shelve it down starting at 2kHz and levelling out at -8dB at 125Hz to get it listenable. Even then it sounded really murky. I used Tyll's measurements as a guide and I ended up pretty much flipping his FR curve upside down. Maybe tips and ear canal differences account for some of it.

 

This is a repost from https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...eadphones-to-balanced.1143/page-2#post-194052 but this thread seem to be more appropriate.
I would like to use ER4-SR with the DP-X1 balanced output but cannot find a 2.5mm TRRS cable and the ER4-SR connectors do not look like "normal" MMCX. Considering reterminating the SE cable but those wires are tiny. I found some posts about going balanced with ER4-SR but they were not conclusive, someone even said that some kind of a mod would be required. If you are already using ER4-SR with balanced connection or planning to please share your experience.

 

Looks like they are still MMCX, but at a bit of an angle. These look like they should do the trick if you build your own cable: http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=5734 A normal premade MMCX to 2.5mm TRRS should work, but might stick out awkwardly.

 

The link is very useful, thank you, I have not found those connectors anywhere else.
I tried Shure cable to see if the MMCX will fit but they to not attach well, There is something in those Etymotics connectors that keeps them in place that is missing from a regular MMCX. But I can build a cable using connectors from lunashops, which will more fun and a bit cheaper or, for quicker results, I will most likely just buy an SE cable for ER4SR and reterminate it.

 

Are there any other tiny 1-2ohm output impedance portable amp/dacs besides the dacport slim? It's currently inactive on massdrop.