New Members - Introduce Yourself

Hi everyone! I a proud husband and the father of two wonderful girls. I'm a middle school teacher, and to be honest probably shouldn't be in this hobby when it comes to budget constraints. I like to draw/doodle when I have the time.

I've spent the last 2 and a bit years listening to IEMs, and in that time I have tried an awful lot, from $15 to ones with an MSRP of $730 or so (although that's not necessarily what I have had to pay).

I am always looking for something that's a good all-rounder at a low enough price point that I won't be tempted to sell it to help with household costs, or to try to outdo it for value all the time. My favorite IEMs for the last half year or so have been the YanYin Aladdin, but just recently I have been enjoying the Penon Serial with ePro EP00 tips (smallest size deeply inserted). The Lotoo LE M1 was a surprise find (apparently from years back, I can't believe it didn't make waves as an awesome neutralish tuning). I'm expecting a comparison-fest between the Olina (Oxygen clone), Serial, Aladdin, Globe and Fan, to work out which combination of 2 covers a good contrast of tuning and timbre, at a good combine price. I got some Blon 03 again for the first time in a while and I am a bit at a loss for just how good they are, and how long and happy of a listen they provide. I also have a DQ6 with cotton lining the nozzle which is a fantastic sounding mod.

Like many of us, I struggle with creating a separate hobby/addiction out of reviews/gear shopping, when the same amount of time could have been spent listening to what I have and enjoying it. Guilty of that big time, trying to work on it by selecting 2 IEMs that cover all the needs, but I already mentioned that...

That's all for now! Excited to join a place full of enthusiasts that isn't governed by sponsorships an shills, or at least avoids the worst of it!

 

Hello. 38 year old hermit... I suppose trying to be less so, even if only virtually. Haven't bought much equipment recently, though I am looking for a dac I like so I guess looking for some advice.

Long ago in the late 90s I got some Sony MDR ??(model #s forgotten)... mostly to play video games (also my pc speakers were truly god awful.) Before that I had listened to a lot of cds/tapes but on total crap, the cheapest headphones imaginable from the 80s/90s from portable cd players/walkmen. I don't even remember how I arrived at the sonys, probably from playing playstation or I just picked something. I actually found the most benefit from them from playing fps, heaing pickups in quake / footsteps in cs etc but I broke them at a lan sometime around '05... I had used my friends HD600s which he used to play previously, I liked those a lot so I got some HD650s. I really got into this foolishness sometime after that, made a bunch of diy things, got LCD2s around 2011 (so I guess classics?) and tbh after that I bought a house and have mostly moved to speakers.

My amps for headphones are a 4 channel b22 and ehha1 ... I still just use the 650s and LCD2 when I'm being considerate to others, (or playing video games maybe,) otherwise I just use speakers. I've replaced the earpads at least once for both in the past 18 months. I'm not sure where that really leaves me for points of reference for headphones/hp amps... I guess I've heard someone's drop thx whatever, and some portable amps that aren't worth mentioning.

I guess in speaker land, again I've got more experience with diy stuff from diyaudio or a b24 than too many commercial products, though I have used some standardish HT avrs or some integrated amps. Currently running maggies off the b24s or a marantz avr when I'm watching tv. Never really been that active on any forums, more of a lurker... now that I'm thinking more about it, even my main preamp is diy... I'll just keep my thoughts about amps and such to myself for now. After being away from this for a few years I don't really want to diy a dac right now. I guess I sorta let ASR "trick" me into some chifi ess dac, and personally I liked it less than my previous stuff which is like some old wolfson or tda projects. Based on my own choices in my diy projects kind of leaning towards a LiM Yggdrasil or spring 3 or some such. Honestly I use my vinyl more than a dac right now, I actually like my vinyl setup for the most part. Mainly using a hana ml & phonoclone or aqvox phono 2ci currently... turntable isn't too crazy, a clearaudio concept ;/

I've purchased the parts to make a pi2aes, except the pi 4b, they're out of stock or I am unwilling to pay scalper prices anyhow, but undecided on a dac so far. WTF is wrong with me sigh. I feel like if I had a competent streamer and better dac I would use a dac more, right now it's barely more convenient for me than vinyl and that is kind of ridiculous (seating position is nowhere near the dac, only have crappy sources gaming pcs / laptops...). Trying to correct this a bit.

This is probably the most I'm going to write here for a while. I mostly keep to myself so my flowery audiophile language capabilities are severely lacking, I've not had conversations with myself about microdynamics and whatnot so I'll try to get my shit straight.

 

Hello everyone, new guy here. While I'm far from an audiophile, I dabbled with audio for the last 10 years. I all but quit once life got serious (marriage, kids) but now I've taken an interest again, this time in headphones, as I mostly listen to music in my work office.

I purchased a few pairs recently and I'm enjoying experimenting with different gear, within reasonable costs of course. Currently, my favourites are HD650, the main reason being I can listen to them for hours without fatigue. I'm interested in trying some more, ideally setting on two setups - one for home use and one for office.

I'm looking forward to spending my time here and getting to know you guys.

Cheers!

 

Hello Guys,

I have been lurking here for a while, and some members said it's best to introduce oneself...so here goes.

I am a young adult from Hungary, in my early 30s now. I have always loved music since I was a little child, the love for music came from my dad, and his love for music from my grandpa. I remember changing the bass and treble knobs on my grandpa's AMP, just so the music would sound more to my taste. Of course he later changed my settings back to his settings.

Started my way into the audiophile world by buying an Audio-Technica AD700X headphone, and a FiiO e10k olympus 2 amp/dac. Then came ASR, and I fell for it...bought a JDS Labs ATOM stack (imported from the USA), needless to say, I just cannot enjoy it...sounds boring, sterile, shrill with no dynamics, etc. I came back to my FiiO e10k, and suddely there's dynamics, no shrill treble, little headstage, but the sound is not mashed together like sh*t...anyways...

I also have several other headphones, namely: AKG k371, AKG k712 PRO, Sennheiser HD559, Grado SR 225i. Also have the Sennheiser GSX 1000 AMP/DAC and a Sennheiser GSP300 gaming headset (it has really good passive sound isolation, so there's that).

Currently searching for an amp/dac which can be bought in my country, and sounds somewhat similar to the e10k, just on another level (more power, more headstage - wider and hopefully some depth too -, maybe a bit better dynamics, but with the same sound style - good bass, good mids, rich but not offensive, not shrill treble).

I do not care so much about measurements anymore, I am looking to enjoy, not analyze my music, and I believe my ears.

Hope to learn a lot from you guys, and glad that I have joined the forum.

Peace!

 

Hi everyone! Long time lurker. Was a registered user during the Changstar days but didn't really see the need to register after as I could freely browse and enjoy the threads here. Eventually got bored as we're still in the pandemic and PH still isn't as open as the US and other countries so I finally registered.

Have been into headphones for quite some time. Like most people, I spent the majority of the time in mid-fi purgatory but I enjoyed the journey so not really ashamed of that. Finally upgraded some years ago and have been happy since.

Outside of headphones, I love basketball so I play casually every now and then, and also just following the games and all that stuff. Nothing else really outside of those.

Looking forward to continuing lurking and reading except I can now thumbs up and occasionally even comment. I've always loved SBAF because I feel it is the closest thing to demoing a headphone. I thoroughly enjoy the impressions thread and I legit think the folks here are cool.

 

Greetings SuperBestAudioFriends! Long time lurker, sometime poster on AudioKarma and Head-Fi. Discovered this forum because I stumbled on to ASR and read some unfriendly comments about SBAF there. It made me think people wanted to discuss something other than measurements here.

I've never invested much, by audiophile standards, but I have bought some solid budget gear and enough experience listening to various equipment to know how I like equipment to sound. I like to think I have an eye for a bargain.

Happy to find a group that is so active in discussing all sorts of audio equipment.

 

Good afternoon, it seems I'm the latest rando to stumble in here. I'm basically a cliche - 40-something divorced middle aged guy. I'm a lifelong music fanatic and "audio-curious" person who finally got into audio seriously about 4 years ago, having found myself, for the first time ever, both with enough disposable income to do so and without a spouse who would bore into me with their cold malevolent devil eyes at the mere suggestion of investing in some audio gear. I won't badmouth my ex further than that, she's a fine person in many ways, but nonetheless getting divorced was one of the best things I ever did for my personal happiness and fulfillment. Anyway.

I gather this is largely a headphone-centric group so I'll stick with that for now. I got my first real-ish 'phones, the Grado sr-80e, which sounded good for metal and rock, sounded bad for hip hop and techno, not comfortable at all so I got the Sennheiser 6xx. Very comfy, much better sound than the Grados, a little rolled off, small...let's call it "intimate" sound stage. Then I got the A-T ATH-R70x and I reeaaaally like those. 3-D soundstage, solid bass for open back, very detailed, more silky treble extension than the 6xx. Vocals are perhaps a tiny bit recessed. Will probably be in the mood for another step up the headphone ladder soon. I'm infatuated the AKG K712 pro based on purely superficial reasons (they look AWESOME).

I love both my Roon setup and my vinyl equally well (a lot of people seem to be in the digital camp or the analog camp - I love both). I have a vinyl headphone setup in which I swap in one or the other of my decks (Technics sl-1500c or Fluance Rt-85) with a Topping L30 headamp and Schiit Loki Mini+ eq. I run a Ortofon Blue cart which is very nice and lively, or my Sumiko Moonstone which is just an awesome performer extracting unreal levels of detail. My current digital headphone setup is a Roon endpoint with a Schiit stack which is perfectly adequate for now.

I guess that's about it. Anything else please ask. Looking forward to exploring here and talking audio with you folks. Thanks for allowing me to join. Cheers!

 

Hi there! I'm a headphone enthusiast with over 20 pairs of cans scattered around my home. I've been lurking the forum for ages I'm considering to enter the world of headphone measurements via the miniDSP EARS system so my posts are probably going to be related to that. Have a good one!

 

Hi!

Some keywords:
50, the Netherlands, son of 2.5 yrs, live together. Office365 specialist. Scuba Diving.
Have:
Dynaudio Heritage Special, Primaluna Dialogue Premium (+bunch of tubes), Chord TT2, Chord Mscaler, usb-dx, ultrarendu, microrendu, etherregen, Topaz isolation transformer
Had:
Audeze LCD3F, Totem Model One Signature, Linn Index 2, PSVANE TC5, Rega ElicitR

 

Long time lurker. Never used this account up until now. Excited to be here!

 

Long time lurker …finally signing up. Love reading all the articles and forum posts. Lots of Schiit gear, bunch of streamer gizmos, a few speakers, some headphones and a couple stacks of vinyl. Mild concert addiction (every genre). Deadhead… plus a bunch of other stuff. Probably just continue to lurk but may post a thought if some gear gets really dialled in and foot will not stop tapping.

 

After a lifetime of refusing to go down the audiophilia rabbit hole (no more than $200 on headphones/IEMs, no more than $100 on components), I've cracked. The community here seems like the best fit for me; head-fi is a little too woo-woo, and ASR seems like a revival tent for logical positivism.

I'm in the process of acquiring a bunch of mid-fi gear, mostly used, to figure out what I like:
* for headphones, DCA Noire/HIfiman Arya/Sennheiser 6xx
* for amps, Schiit Jotunheim/Burson Soloist/Wells Milo (dipping my toes in the woo-woo water, just a little)
* for DACs, RME ADI-2/Chord 2Qute/Bifrost/Soekris 2541
* for monitors, Genelecs 8020Ds

I figure that once I go through all the A/B combinations, I'll know which half I want to keep, and hopefully better understand what all the words in the reviews actually mean.

 

Welcome to SBAF! Nice to have another person with some kind of background in philosophy, I assume (the comparison of ASR to logical positivism is quite apt, I think). I'd recommend trying some tubes while you're at it - Valhalla 2 pairs really well with the 6XX!

 

Some background in philosophy, and extensive background in working alongside people like Amir et al; I've had a lot of time to think about the parallels.

Thanks for the recommendation for a tube amp, I've been a little leery of them because the tube rolling rabbit hole seems bottomless. I did, however, just get the Milo, which is supposed to be a very "tube-like" solid state amp, and I like it quite a bit. Can you recommend any resources on the ins and outs of different kinds of tubes?

 

Hello, I've been in the hobby for about 6 years now and mostly lurking forums and discords. I'm currently studying to a be a controls engineer and live in Ontario Canada.
Current headphones I own - HD600,HD580,ETA Mini, Focal Clear OG, Stax SRX-MK3, T60 Argon, DT770-80, DCA Aeon Noire
Current speakers - RP600M
Current source gear - Bifrost 2, Dual 510 with Picker XSV3000, Rebel amp, Bottlehead S.E.X, Stax SRD-7

 

Hello All. Been lurking for years. Mid forties, married with children, living in the SF Bay Area.

I’ve always had my hand in audio, but the last 3 years really dove into headphones. Deep. Like, way too deep.

Been working my way through gear, and my current chain is Matrix XSpdif- Sonnet Morpheus- Bakoon 13R - Susvara or OG Focal Clear.

Thanks for making space for me!!

My current endgame.

 

Hi everyone! Having enjoyed many hours of fine reading here, I thought it time to register and introduce myself. I'm about to hit 40 this year, living together with my two kids and wife with whom I share none of my preferences for music, audio gear or engineering I am currently also a maintainer of the librespot project, which you might know or even use as an open source Spotify Connect implementation that's included in many open source audio distributions.

I think I inherited the audio bug from my dad who has always been into hi-fi, or what the connaisseur would probably call mid-fi with separates from the well known premium audio brands. One thing that's left a lasting impression on me were his pair of Cabasse speakers of old -- I honestly don't know which ones, but from the looks of them from the 60s or 70s. Regardless, that has always stayed with me was their warm, mellow, enveloping sound. I just love it.

I love tinkering and have previously built a pair of SEAS A26's and stereo Hypex UcD180HG HxR amplifier -- both modded and blogged about on my website. The A26's appealed to me because of their first-order filter design -- the masterful simplicity of that just rung with me. Also, perhaps more importantly, as good-sized monitors, they barely passed the test of WAF

The Hypex was a different beast, some might say not quite so simple at all. At that time I went for it because they were available as modules (I didn't dare venture into more advanced soldering territory that time) and because back then, I was very much into the "the ideal amp is a wire with gain" kind of thinking. From my earlier Cabasse story I guess I should've known better, but back then I thought to let the music speak for itself with absolute neutrality.

Because my wife and I do not share the same musical taste, I found the A26's mostly dulled out doing TV front duty. I thought that was a pity not just for them but also kept me from enjoying the musical I liked, so I sold them to go head-fi. I am glad that the A26's found their home with a fellow DIY audio enthusiast.

Fast-forwarding to my current setup, I own a pair of Beyerdynamic Amiron Home headphones, powered by my self-soldered AMB β22 headphone amplifier (two-board setup) with a stepped attenuator, powered by an AMB σ22-regulated linear power supply. The source is a Soekris dam1121, again DIY'd, the analog section powered by another AMB σ22 and the digital section by a DIYINHK LT3045 with Murata chokes. As input functions a headless Raspberry Pi, outputting I2S through a IanCanada IsolatorPi and then a Allo Kali Reclocker. The dam1121 is loaded with custom quasi-NOS filters provided by the kind community on diyAudio. Knowing these filters, I would never want to listen to a Soekris with stock filters again.

Again you could ask why I built the AMB and not a "less neutral" amp and I'd say you are right. I loved the prospect of doing a complex build and that was certainly satisfying. But the bug has again bitten and I am continuing my quest for warmness...

Cost no object I'd love to get my hands on a Holo May DAC paired perhaps with a pair of Grimm LS1be speakers and glorious cans like Focal Clears or such. But alas, I have yet to win the lottery!

Thanks for having me here, looking forward to conversing with you.

 

Hi all, not new to the site but new to posting here. I'm setting up a Raspberry Pi/streaming setup and looking forward to learning more than I know now. I'm mostly a headphone listener (Senn 600, 650) and exploring that side of it also.

It's good to be here.

 

Hi,
I'm a broke guy who is interested in audio but can't afford to actually get into it.
I've been lurking here a bit and noticed Zach asking a question I think I can answer, so I'm going to do that now before going back to lurking for the foreseeable future.

 

Howdy,

Relatively new to the hobby. I’ve had various IEMs and portable amps/DACs over the years as I spend lots of time airlining. I’ve always wanted to have a decent HiFi system and am finally at a place in life where I’m able to get a reasonably good system together. But it’s all relative, right? When I tell the sales person at the HiFi shop that I have Klipsch Forte IVs and a Primaluna EVO 300 I get a dismissive eye roll because I don’t have a Macintosh, Chord DAC and MartinLogan speakers. Maybe I drank too much marketing Koolaid, but I think my system sounds pretty darn good.

Besides the Forte IVs and the Primaluna I’ve got a Bluesound Node, who’s OS I hate. I’m in the process of building dedicated fanless audio PC that hopefully sounds as good as the Node. I'm also shopping for a DAC, perhaps Holo Spring-ish or an Yggdrasil LIM. Leaning Yggdrasil. Sorry audio store guy, the wife outlawed a Chord DAC because it "looks stupid as f**k". Her actual words.

Anyway, glad to be here. I've had a great time reading through the forums and really enjoy the general attitude here.