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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:: Dec 1, 2022 at 7:20 AM

Joined:: Nov 19, 2016

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Gender:: Male

Birthday:: Jan 26, 1989 (Age: 33)

Location:: Seattle

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Vansen

Gear Master (retiring), Male, 33, from Seattle

Staff Member Friend

Not in the market for a closed back, but this Mini-C is finally close to everything I've been waiting for a closed headphone to achieve. Nov 30, 2022 at 11:18 AM

Vansen was last seen:: Dec 1, 2022 at 7:20 AM

1. Vansen
  Not in the market for a closed back, but this Mini-C is finally close to everything I've been waiting for a closed headphone to achieve.
  
  Nov 30, 2022 at 11:18 AM
  1. Cryptowolf, atomicbob, obsiCO and 5 others like this.
  2. Vansen
    More isolation would be my first wish, since it's a closed back.
    
    Nov 30, 2022 at 11:19 AM
    
    dasman66 likes this.
  3. dasman66
    I can't wait to hear it... because I really like the Ollo closed back I have on loan right now. It's the best closed back I've heard to date. Based on everything said about the mini-C, I suspect I will be deciding between the two of them
    
    Nov 30, 2022 at 12:22 PM
  4. Vansen
    Just put the Mini-C on the BA for the first time and damn. If I ever need a closed headphone, this is it for me. Sometimes you just know five minutes in.
    
    Nov 30, 2022 at 1:07 PM
    
    obsiCO, Merrick, Tchoupitoulas and 1 other person like this.
2. Vansen
  I don’t know why I still have a Gustard X16 running occasionally, but the AES input on it sounds like crap compared to the rest of the DAC.
  
  Nov 11, 2022
  1. nishan99 likes this.
  2. Vansen
    And forget about USB inputs or SE outputs in this DAC.
    
    Nov 11, 2022
    
    nishan99 likes this.
3. Vansen
  Making Magni Piety’s and of course this has to be one of the first serial numbers assembled. https://imgur.com/a/aqF3ddd
  
  Oct 29, 2022
  1. dasman66, Soups, Azimuth and 10 others like this.
  2. View previous comments...
  3. Cspirou
    You’re working with @CEE TEE ?
    
    Oct 30, 2022
  4. HotRatSalad
    Even though I have 3 headphone amps I love, I still want one !
    
    Oct 30, 2022
    
    Cryptowolf likes this.
  5. Vansen
    We’ll call myself a cheerleader rather than business partner or employee!
    
    Oct 30, 2022
    
    Priidik and Azimuth like this.
4. Vansen
  307a EC Balancing Act in the house, which also happens to be the very first prod BA! HF heater included. https://imgur.com/a/VujJtfc
  
  Oct 12, 2022
  1. CEE TEE, Kashalott, RestoredSparda and 11 others like this.
  2. Ksorota
    Make sure to swap in the National Unions; they were my favorite tube pair!
    
    Oct 13, 2022
    
    Vansen likes this.
  3. Vansen
    This is quite a special amp @Ksorota! Hasn’t disappointed after being at the top of my want list for about ten years. Thanks again!
    
    Oct 13, 2022
    
    Ksorota likes this.
  4. ufospls2
    super cool
    
    Oct 16, 2022
5. Vansen
  On another note, the MM phono stage on the Yamaha A-S801 is decent a w/ stock Marantz TT-15S1. My price together was $1500. Not bad value.
  
  Sep 6, 2022
  1. HotRatSalad and Qildail like this.
  2. Vansen
    I want to compare this to a Mani 2 for review. Would also have my Manley Chinook.
    
    Sep 6, 2022
6. Vansen
  3D printing has come a long way. Laser Sinter w/ Nylon 12 next to OEM part to save the day: https://imgur.com/a/GSoPmEf
  
  Sep 6, 2022
  1. Sqveak, Thad E Ginathom and abraxas666 like this.
7. Vansen
  Hot take: the HP out on the 2021 Apple MBP 16” doesn’t suck. Could possibly be the best stock HP amp built in a notebook to date.
  
  Aug 4, 2022
  1. Cryptowolf, obsiCO, yotacowboy and 6 others like this.
  2. View previous comments...
  3. Lyander
    No chance I'm ever getting into Apple's ecosystem (sorry @YMO) but I am wondering how this compares to some of the more popular dongles and compact desktop stuff, e.g. the baby Schiit or Zen stack?
    
    Aug 5, 2022
    
    Cryptowolf and Vansen like this.
  4. YMO
    YMO isn't an Apple Fanboi
    
    Aug 5, 2022
  5. Vansen
    Call me a heretic, but I’d rather listen to an HD6xx out of it than most of the dongles currently on tour. I don’t see it replacing a baby Schiit stack though.
    
    Aug 5, 2022
    
    Cspirou and YMO like this.
8. Vansen
  Dinner has been served from the green egg… https://imgur.com/a/zzNEwFF
  
  Jul 30, 2022
  1. Azimuth and Cryptowolf like this.
  2. bixby
    Those "eggs" look delicious!
    
    Jul 30, 2022
9. Vansen
  RIP Mac Miller - every time a posthumous album comes out, I always have to go back to Swimming.
  
  Jul 22, 2022
  1. Emojiless likes this.
  2. Vansen
    Swimming is a far more depressing album than I normally to listen to, but it’s a beautiful work of art from an artist about overcoming the very thing that turned out to be his demise.
    
    Jul 22, 2022
    
    Emojiless likes this.
10. Vansen
  Holo Spring 3 just showed up and the UPS driver was like, "enjoy the DAC!" as I signed for the completely plain brown box.
  
  Jul 13, 2022
  1. Josh83, Cryptowolf, zottel and 5 others like this.
  2. View previous comments...
  3. Tchoupitoulas
    Weird, when I sent it, I told the guy at UPS that it was a "digital to audio converter for music playback" and the guy gave me a blank look - the others who work there know me now and we have nice chats about audio, but not this guy - so I said, it's like an amplifier (I know) and he replied, "cool, that keeps it simple."
    
    Jul 13, 2022
    
    Jinxy245, Cryptowolf and Vansen like this.
  4. CEE TEE
    Fed-Ex delivered my fixed PS Audio PWD to the wrong house and refused to believe they did. A few days later, some really tall dude drops off the opened box at our front door. He must have been thinking "WTF- this huge thing only does WHAT? WHY?" Took him a few days though!
    
    Jul 13, 2022
    
    Vansen and Cryptowolf like this.
  5. Biodegraded
    @Vansen , @Tchoupitoulas , @CEE TEE - all of you just met Amir.
    
    Jul 14, 2022
    
    Jinxy245 likes this.
11. Vansen
  CapriSun anyone? https://imgur.com/a/kFvAkDB
  
  May 19, 2022
  1. Riotvan likes this.
  2. View previous comments...
  3. Thad E Ginathom
    What's NSFW?
    Oh wait... the cactus sex going on in the background
    
    Cactus sex makes me uncomfortable.
    
    May 20, 2022
  4. Vansen
    NSFW? Huh? Everything in that photo is safe.
    
    May 21, 2022
  5. Riotvan
    Gear porn ;)
    
    May 22, 2022
    
    Vansen likes this.
12. Vansen
  This EC ZDT drives my modded HE-500 with authority. Having owned an original ZD, this is waaaay better [amp] than I was expecting.
  
  May 19, 2022
  1. Jinxy245, atomicbob, Azimuth and 2 others like this.
  2. purr1n
    Transformer coupled vs high-Z OTL.
    
    May 19, 2022
    
    Vansen and Azimuth like this.
  3. Vansen
    Neither my ZD or ZDT were meant for my planars, and I certainly didn’t expect them sound decent on the ZD, but it’s a nice bonus with the ZDT.
    
    May 19, 2022
13. Vansen
  These Noctua fans are impressive and nearly silent. Swapped 2 oem 26cfm fans out w/ 3 5.5cfm in my router and run 1c cooler w/ no noise.
  
  Apr 4, 2022
  1. atomicbob, Lou Casadonte, Lyander and 2 others like this.
  2. View previous comments...
  3. Vansen
    @rhythmdevils
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084JG4619/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_HVSR0A6JEZ0C7BSZZFE3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
    
    Apr 4, 2022
  4. rhythmdevils
    Thanks @Vansen I'll probably get one now that I have the links! Awesome.
    
    Apr 4, 2022
  5. atomicbob
    I've replaced many lab instruments' stock fan with Noctua. Fan noise drops while internal temps either remain the same or a little cooler.
    
    Apr 8, 2022
    
    Thad E Ginathom, Vansen and rhythmdevils like this.
14. Vansen
  I haven’t logged into last.fm in years, but saw it in my signature here. I guess Roon has still been scrobbling my tracks all this time. Lol
  
  Mar 17, 2022
15. Vansen
  I need to listen to more DACs… this old Assemblage DAC-2 of mine can’t be as good as I think it is, but it pairs so nicely with my system.
  
  Mar 16, 2022
  1. Cryptowolf, brencho and Merrick like this.
16. Vansen
  I snagged a pair of Pioneer CS-99a for about 1/4 the price they sell on eBay and recapped them. Man these sound bad. No bass and shouty.
  
  Mar 15, 2022
17. Vansen
  Supply Chains aren't recovering yet in my world. TI just upped the price for one of their chips to $400 per chip in a $175 product of mine.
  
  Mar 11, 2022
  1. Gazny likes this.
  2. View previous comments...
  3. Sqveak
    Like a TPM for biometrics?
    
    Mar 11, 2022
  4. Vansen
    In our implementation, the chip allows the processing of payment information without handling decrypted data at any point. It’ll drop back to a reasonable price in the future, but TI chips have been a roller coaster for us.
    
    Mar 11, 2022
    
    atomicbob, Azimuth and Sqveak like this.
  5. famish99
    roooooough
    
    Mar 11, 2022
18. Vansen
  Several months in w/ a pair of Ken Kreisel DXD-808 subs via @CEE TEE ...I never thought a sub could sound so good with music.
  
  Mar 11, 2022
  1. atomicbob, Cryptowolf, Merrick and 1 other person like this.
19. Vansen
  Uh oh… the pupper just licked my tonearm because she’s interested in a record that just arrived.
  
  Feb 26, 2022
  1. Lou Casadonte, 9suns, Jinxy245 and 5 others like this.
  2. Ziva
    Ha. Better than the cartridge…
    
    Feb 26, 2022
    
    Merrick and Lyander like this.
  3. Cspirou
    Dude! Nice to see you here!
    
    Feb 26, 2022
    
    YMO likes this.
  4. 9suns
    "Ass so big, I told her to look back at it" Great to see you again!
    
    Mar 1, 2022
    
    Vansen likes this.
20. Cakecake
  Where r u
  
  Mar 29, 2020
  1. BillOhio, FlySweep, E_Schaaf and 15 others like this.
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Jan 26, 1989 (Age: 33)

Location:

Seattle
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