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After being asked for the 308th time, Merv lists top 5 headphones
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IMPORTANT: New Members Read This Don't Be a Measurement Fascist Merv's Top 5 Headphones - 2023 Edition $1000 Challenge

Last Activity:: Apr 17, 2025 at 12:23 PM

Joined:: Nov 11, 2019

Messages:: 349

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Positive ratings received:: 1,575

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Negative ratings received:: 1

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Gender:: Male

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scblock

Friend, Male, from Denver

Pyrate

FiiO R2R DAC. But is it any good? https://www.fiio.com/k11r2r Aug 19, 2024

scblock was last seen:: Apr 17, 2025 at 12:23 PM

1. scblock
  I'm giving HiFiBerry OS a shot on my desktop streamer. Quick setup, looks prettier than RoPieee, less flexible. We'll see if it sticks.
  
  Dec 10, 2020
  2. scblock
    No direct brightness support for the official touchscreen in the interface. I had to do some ssh garbage to drop it from blinding to normal, which isn't ideal.
    
    Dec 10, 2020
  3. StageOne
    The UI looks good, but too bad it won't work with my Allo DigiOne
    
    Dec 10, 2020
  4. scblock
    No automatic screen off after idle that I can see, and seemingly no way to turn it off manually (this box is in my bedroom). Not sure whether I want to set up a development environment to poke at this, or just put the other SD card back in.
    
    Dec 10, 2020
2. scblock
  Oh geez Apple... AirPods Max. Why am I tempted by this? https://www.apple.com/airpods-max/
  
  Dec 8, 2020
  1. Dr. Higgs likes this.
  2. View previous comments...
  3. Ksaurav402
    They are priced $800+ in India in local currency
    
    Dec 8, 2020
  4. Dr. Higgs
    I'll probably end up picking up a pair eventually. I'm curious how well they will seal with that gimbal mechanism. I've had issues getting a good seal at my jawline with any headphones that pivot directly at the top of the cups. If they come out with an Apple TV that supports spatial audio, these would be killer for a home theater setup.
    
    Dec 8, 2020
  5. Biodegraded
    The case looks like some kind of fetish bra.
    
    Dec 8, 2020
    
    gixxerwimp likes this.
3. scblock
  That crushing disappointment when you open the lyrics in Roon and they are for some other song.
  
  Dec 5, 2020
  1. Claritas likes this.
  2. scblock
    The lyrics for a good chunk of this Sleigh Bells record are wrong. This is frustrating.
    
    Dec 5, 2020
4. scblock
  I’m away from home and all my good gear, but a cheap DAP and pair of IEMs is doing a good job. Good music is still good.
  
  Nov 22, 2020
  1. Jinxy245, robot zombie and dncnexus like this.
  2. dncnexus
    Whenever I go on business trips I bring along my PortaPros for the hotel. Take a little of the good music with me
    
    Nov 22, 2020
    
    Jinxy245, scblock and robot zombie like this.
  3. robot zombie
    YES man. I will always have a pair of portapros for that. Maybe not a high-end experience but sometimes you don't need all of that jazz to jam out. If the music is good I'll still listen for hours. Vital for sanity at work.
    
    Nov 22, 2020
    
    Jinxy245, scblock and dncnexus like this.
5. scblock
  I wonder who I have to thank for these Audio Advisor catalogs that started showing up recently. They sure love Parasound.
  
  Oct 28, 2020
  1. Tchoupitoulas, rott and monacelli like this.
  2. View previous comments...
  3. Soups
    I get a good laugh from the fake testimonials next to the even more fake stock photos. Because if they show what audiophiles really look like, those $10K speaker cables aren't going anywhere.
    
    Oct 28, 2020
    
    Tchoupitoulas likes this.
  4. Tchoupitoulas
    Apart from a couple of small gifts purchased for me from Amazon, my wife doesn't go anywhere near audio stuff. But she did treat me to a pair of headphones from Drop a couple of years ago. She's been getting the catalog ever since...
    
    Oct 28, 2020
    
    crenca, scblock and monacelli like this.
  5. scblock
    Well that’s suspicious isn’t it...
    
    Oct 28, 2020
    
    Tchoupitoulas likes this.
6. scblock
  The LP I've been waiting for isn't here yet (soon I hope), but another I wasn't expecting so soon arrived, so all's well!
  
  Oct 18, 2020
  1. Cakecake and Lyander like this.
  2. scblock
    And now the other record showed up. This is great.
    
    Oct 19, 2020
7. scblock
  I think I like The Con Demos better than The Con. Sort of how Nebraska is my favorite Springsteen album.
  
  Sep 16, 2020
8. scblock
  Brainwavz B400 IEMs with Comply foam tips fit well under my motorcycle helmet. Decent wind noise reduction, and 4 hours of Tegan and Sara.
  
  Sep 12, 2020
  1. Deep Funk and Gazny like this.
  2. Biodegraded
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y7NGqfZteg
    
    Sep 12, 2020
    
    scblock likes this.
  3. Senorx12562
    Ciems have always been by far the best for me for use under a helmet. Unparalleled comfort and isolation. Once I tried them, never used anything else.
    
    Sep 12, 2020
9. scblock
  I have a truly shameful string of adapters hooked up here to get an iematch in between an XLR headphone cable and a noisy high gain amp.
  
  Sep 11, 2020
  1. Gazny and Hammy like this.
10. scblock
  I took the day off and spent most of it listening to records and baking. Made for a pretty nice Friday.
  
  Aug 21, 2020
  1. Jinxy245, Merrick, ChaChaRealSmooth and 8 others like this.
11. scblock
  I wired up a spare Sennheiser cable for 4-pin XLR balanced tonight. My soldering still sucks, but everything appears to have gone well.
  
  Aug 16, 2020
  1. Hammy, Azimuth, EagleWings and 4 others like this.
12. scblock
  Despite its limited power and bass control, the mids and vocals from my Bottlehead S.E.X. so good through my Vandersteens. I missed this.
  
  Aug 2, 2020
  1. dark_energy, monacelli and Gazny like this.
13. scblock
  I know an idiot who burned himself on his tube amp tonight. He’s me.
  
  Jul 30, 2020
  1. Thad E Ginathom, Azimuth, crazychile and 7 others like this.
  2. E_Schaaf
    I burned myself on some tubes a month ago and there's still some skin discoloration. Well into the second degree with peeling shortly after it happened. Crazy how hot they can get
    
    Jul 30, 2020
  3. scblock
    The tubes on a Bottlehead S.E.X. are pretty close to the potentiometer, at least after a few drinks.
    
    Jul 30, 2020
14. scblock
  Just finished an old-school mix tape, LP to cassette. Swapping 13 records to grab individual tracks takes a lot of time.
  
  Jul 22, 2020
  1. JK47, neogeosnk, fraggler and 2 others like this.
  2. Melvillian
    You need two tables and a mixer ;)
    
    Jul 22, 2020
    
    JK47 likes this.
15. scblock
  I can’t seem to stop listening to Tegan and Sara lately. It’s been months, listening almost every day.
  
  Jul 10, 2020
  1. Deep Funk likes this.
  2. Deep Funk
    They are catchy.
    
    Jul 11, 2020
16. scblock
  I listen to the Bottlehead S.E.X. through these Klipsch 2-ways in my home office more than anything else now. At least it sounds good.
  
  May 27, 2020
17. scblock
  I should have grabbed my little Raspberry Pi touchscreen player before I left the office. I could make good use of that Digi+ Pro at home.
  
  Mar 26, 2020
  1. wbass likes this.
  2. wbass
    I've been looking for something like that. With a touchscreen. What are/were you using? Or is it DIY? (Thanks.)
    
    Mar 26, 2020
  3. scblock
    RPI 3 and official touchscreen. SmartPi case. Digi+ Pro. Extension GPIO cable because the case and card IO ports don't play well together. I'm using moOde player. It's not polished.
    
    Mar 26, 2020
    
    wbass likes this.
  4. wbass
    Much obliged. I could do with a project like this.
    
    Mar 26, 2020
18. scblock
  Since I'm spending most of my time here now I put my old U-Turn orbit at my desk, to the Lyr 3 with the built-in preamp. Sounds alright.
  
  Mar 23, 2020
  1. DigMe and gaspasser like this.
19. scblock
  Working from home for now, like many. Good news is my Lyr 3 is back from repair and sounding great.
  
  Mar 16, 2020
  2. e.schell
    What was wrong with it / what did they repair?
    
    Mar 16, 2020
  3. scblock
    The left channel failed with DC on the line. Not sure why. The repair was replacement of the main board under warranty.
    
    Mar 16, 2020
20. scblock
  Test For Echo playing on the Crack, a glass of scotch, and rereading Ghost Rider as I sketch out summer motorcycle trips in my head.
  
  Mar 2, 2020
  1. Jinxy245, LetMeBeFrank, magnium and 2 others like this.
  2. magnium
    Are you drinking The Macallan? It’s Neil Peart’s favorite drink. May he rest in peace.
    
    Mar 2, 2020
    
    Jinxy245 likes this.
  3. scblock
    Unfortunately no, as I had none on hand. Now I’m debating whether to travel on my GS with Macallan out of respect, or to find my own whiskey.
    
    Mar 2, 2020
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About

Gender:

Male

Location:

Denver

Occupation:

Wind and Solar Performance Lead

Gear List:

Listening Room
DACs
Schiit Bifrost Multibit

CD Player
Parasound C/DP-1000

MD Player
Sony MDS-JE530

Cassette Player
Sony TC-WE475

Transport
Pi2AES on a Raspberry Pi 3

Turntables
U-Turn Orbit Plus / Ortofon OM5E
Schiit Sol / Nagaoka MP-110
Schiit Mani (later generation)
U-Turn Pluto (integrated into the table)

Preamp
Schiit Saga / Russian Tung Sol 6SN7

Amplifier
Schiit Vidar

Speakers
Vandersteen 2c (sequential serial nos, purchased new in Denver circa 1984, purchased used by me late 2000s)

Headphone Amp
Schiit Folkvangr

Living Room
Schiit Modi Multibit
Schiit Asgard 2
Bottlehead Crack w/Speedball

Desktop/Near Field
DAC
Schiit Modius

Headphone Amps
Schiit Lyr 3 / Russian Tung Sol 6SN7
Cavalli Liquid Platinum / Stock Tubes
Shortest Way SW51+

Headphone/Speaker Amplifier
Bottlehead S.E.X. 3.0 w/C4S boards

Speakers
Klipsch R-51M

Portable Players
iPod 5.5g (retrofitted with 200 GB SD card)
FiiO M6 (mostly retired)
FiiO X5 Mk III (mostly retired)
Sony A50 Series w/MrWalkman Firmware (to replace FiiO M6)
Sony WM1A (to replace FiiO X5)

Headphones
Sennheiser HD650
Drop/Sennheiser HD58x
Drop/Beyerdynamic DT 177x Go
Focal Elegia
HiFiMan HE-400i
Beyerdynamic DT 990 Edition/Premium 600 Ohm
Drop/Meze M99 Noir
Sennheiser HD569
Koss Porta Pro
Apple Airpods Max

IEMs
Brainwavz B400
Massdrop/Noble X
Drop/JVC HA-FDX1
Etymotic ER4XR
Apple Airpods Pro

I like music and music equipment. I also make mixtapes.

Mixtapes: https://steveblock.com/mixtapes/
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