The All Purpose Advice Thread

Obviously you meant a Mutec and said Audio Regen by mistake!

 

It can't cry, it's dead.

 

I am looking to invest in a Bottlehead Crack for my modded HD650's. How do I go about finding good tubes to pair with it? I have a list of all the available tubes that are compatible with the Crack but I don't know how to go about getting the ones that are right for me and my system.

Edit: I found this website and I really enjoy the sound of the Clean and Compressed tube but the tube is not the style supported in the amp.
Link for the list of tubes.

 

In terms of a power tube I'd say a Tung Sol 5998 is the easy choice. That's the one I enjoyed the most by far with my Crack when I had it. Tightens things up, stays somewhat warm and just gives a nice authoritative sound. In terms of driver tubes you have a few choices of direction to go. Personally I didn't find driver tubes to make a huge difference with speedball installed. I liked running 12BH7s more than I did the 12AU7s.

 

@Ryu check out the bottlehead crack thread here - http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/bottlehead-crack.120/

OJ did a great job of cataloging posts where tubes are discussed. See what fits your preferences and try em out

 

Thanks for the quick responses! I will definitely check these out. Will post back if I have more concerns.

 

I am currently looking for a new pair of IEMs that have a sound signature similar to the HD650. I have been recommended the a pair of used IE8 since my budget is about $200. Does anyone know the difference between the Sennheiser IE8 and the IE80? Could you guys make any other recommendations?

 

Haven't heard the IE8 or IE80 but from what I've heard about them, they aren't that great. I'm honestly trying to find pretty much the same thing for IEMS and am still looking around.

Heard pretty decent things about the MEE P1. Also want to try out the Cardas A8 since it seems to have a pretty warm, smooth sig for around 200-300$

 

Tonally IE8 is warmer and much bassier than HD650. The timbre and cohesiveness is great in the IE8, attributes that aren't easy to find among in-ears in my experience. These have Sennheiser house sound for sure.
While fairly refined sounding for such a warm headphone, at the same time their bass might not be for everyone, there's just too much of it. I think these sounded nice with some jazz and vocals, but not that great with edm.
Again tonally there are better matches to HD650, though all that I've heard had some weirdness in timbre or lacking in some other area compared to IE8.
Mee P1 is one of these sinners. Tonally much closer to HD650, technically surpassing IE8 in many things, but the treble is papery-metallic, lacking in note weight. Didn't like these with female vocals for example. Regarding edm though the P1 is much better. Better bass balance (more sub bass relative to mid-bass of IE8), faster transients, unique headstage and imaging that work well with synthetic source material.
Probably some win-win situation can be had by going CIEM road.

 

I need some advice on how to consolidate my current gear.

Later this year my wife and I will be moving to Portland. This will have two major effects on my listening habits: First, I will be permanently working from home, which removes my need for an office rig, and two, I'll be taking public transit a lot more often, meaning my portable setup is more important.

My wife has decided she does not like the idea of headphones that isolate too much outside sound, she worries that there will be an emergency and I won't be able to hear it. That means closed headphones and IEMs may have to go the way of the dodo for me.

Here is what I currently have:

HD600
LFF Paradox
Oppo PM-3
Empire Ears Spartan-IV IEM

Schiit Valhalla 2
Schiit Vali 2
Cavalli Liquid Carbon
Leckerton
ALO Rx Mk. 3-B

Clearly I need to get rid of some stuff. I'm never getting rid of the HD600, and given my wife's concerns about closed headphones and IEMs, it's looking like the Paradox and Spartans will likely have to go. I was going to get the Andromeda but now that's probably not going to happen either.

Here are the two thoughts I have:

1. Keep the HD600 and Oppo PM-3, dump the Paradox and Spartans. Use the PM-3 for going out (as it will be isolating but not as much as an IEM). Keep the Liquid Carbon for the versatility and the ALO Rx for an on the go amp, dump all the other amps.

2. Keep the HD600, get an HD800, keep the Valhalla 2. Get a solid pair of earbuds (if there even is such a thing) for on the go and keep the Leckerton to drive those if necessary. Sell everything else.

Keep in mind my long term goal for home is to move more towards a solid 2-channel home stereo speaker setup, so ultimately the headphone use at home will be lessened. However, when I do listen to headphones I want them to sound good. I'm still undecided on how to go about making a good on the go rig without IEMs, I'm not sure if the PM-3 is really an improvement when it comes to hearing the outside environment.

I keep running different configurations over in my mind and just when I think I've decided what to keep and what to sell, I change my mind again, so some outside perspective would definitely be appreciated.

 

@Merrick

Just to comment on one aspect of this, I've had a ton of portable closed backs, and the PM3's are way up there in terms of isolation, easily competing with lesser isolating IEMs (such as dynamics with a bassport, or single flange silicon tips). If less isolation on the go is a priority, you could conceivably get a different pair that sucks more at isolation and still have some awareness. Other portable closed backs allow me to listen at a low/medium volume on the street and still have awareness of street noise...etc, whereas that's not quite as true with the PM3.

The MSR7 and MDR-1A/R immediately come to mind, but I compared a bunch in terms of isolation at the bottom of this post a few months ago http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...est-commuter-headphone.1369/page-2#post-36760

 

@Merrick - this is the fun part! I know you have bought most of this stuff used and at good prices it should be relatively easy to sell and get back close to what you paid.

My general advice is to not worry too much about which way you go. Sell as much as you can, get some new stuff. Some you will like better, some you will wish you had held onto. This is experience.

My more pointed advice would be to not worry too much about the hd800's. They are a nice improvement over the hd6x0's, but out of the Valhalla or vali the difference is not going to be earth shattering. On that note, to improve on the Valhalla / hd600 combo you would have to make a significant jump in cost of gear. If you end goal is a traditional hi-fi 2 channel w/ turntable setup, I would almost call this the perfect setup. I personally have not been a fan of the LC, and thought it worked best in a balanced setup. This would be one of the first to go if it were my gear (cost to performance ratio balance, hype still strong due to hf & limited production).

I am much less knowledgeable about portable products, but I found it freeing once I gave up the portable daps, dacs, and amps. Now I use a cheap decent efficient set of iems and my phone. I found that when I am out that critical listening isnt a priority like it is at home, but your situation could be different.

Good luck and jealous of your situation. You have lots of gear equity that you get to redistribute!

 

I can definitely understand the desire to move toward speakers. Keep in mind that your Schiit are actually the most versatile pieces you own because they can also function as preamps. Personally, I only buy headphone amps that also function as either preamps and/or speaker amps.

 

IMO here's what I'd do in this situation - and I've been in this situation quite a few times at this point:

1. Keep the HD600 & Valhalla 2. That's just a great pair and gives you the best bang for the buck as far as saving money is concerned.

2. Get your portable squared away. My recommended options, from high isolation to low isolation: UE4, PM-3, MDR-1R (dynamat + acoustic fibre modded) or MDR-1A. Personally, I think the PM-3 is the happy middle here. PoochZag's recommendation of the MDR's is very sound if you're looking for something that doesn't have as much isolation as the PM-3, but still sounds pretty good. I used a modded 1R for quite a while and it worked very well. Use the Leckerton for the UE4, PM-3, or MDR-series phone depending on which one you decide on. (It will work great with any of them - the ALO blows with IEMs which fucks up its versatility.). All three will also sound decent enough from a smartphone if you don't want to use a portable amp.

3. Sell the Paradox and ALO Rx to me Sell the Spartans, Liquid Carbon, and Vali 2 to other people.

4. If you want something new to try out, buy an HD800. Get the cork mod and SD resonator mods and enjoy the f**k out of them on the Valhalla 2. Alternatively, as JoshMorr says, you could just enjoy the HD600 and Valhalla 2 combo and spend the money instead on your 2 channel system vinyl system.

 

@Merrick for less-isolating IEMs, I really enjoyed my Senn IE8 when I had them. They had some kind of variable bass port that also rendered it unable to isolate that well.
Of course, if you really can't afford to isolate at all (e.g. earbud / PortaPro level isolation), I would advise just going cheap. If you can't isolate, you can't hear the quality anyway, so why fuss over it?

 

Thanks guys! Looks like the LC will go (although I do have balanced cables for all my headphones, but my Bifrost Multibit isn't balanced).

@AustinValentine if you want the Paradox, it's yours. I'll PM you about it. Still not sure if I'm going to keep the ALO or not, since I can do balanced out from my GOV2 and Pono and it improves the sound on both of them. The Pono is one of the reasons I'm considering keeping the PM-3, as I have a balanced cable for the PM-3 and it pairs very well with the Pono.

For those who have used the Audeze Sine, how much does that isolate? Since that has the lightning cable option I could see that being a strong compact option that negates the need for an external amp. I wish I had listened to it at Canjam. The Sonys are possibilities but I'm not sure I'd like the sound sig based on what I've read. I'll look into the IE8 as an option as well.

As for the HD800, it's more of a want than a need. I just figured if I were going to keep the Valhalla 2 it would be nice to have more than just one pair of headphones that can work with it, even if those headphones are as excellent as the HD600.

Thanks for the help and if anyone else wants to chime in, please do!

 

Cool cool!

Also the Sine isolates slightly less than the PM-3. (FWIW, I also think that - even without the lightning cable - the Sine sound's better than the PM-3). For some reason I spaced on recommending that, but as you say it would be very good ampless option too. It would also help with the wife isolation issue.