The All Purpose Advice Thread

Thanks for the recommendations guys.
- A bunch of votes for the HD598C which is interesting. I've owned the 598 a bunch of times but have never heard the closed variant.
- the HD26 is one that I didn't even think about, but it's so... chunky
- I used to have the MSR7... it was sold within a week

 

It has yet to vanish on this side of the pond, at least.

 

I think the 569 is newer than 598c

 

I've read that the 569 and the 598C are the same headphone. Not sure why there are two model numbers, but the 598C might be an Amazon thing.

 

Just got off the phone with Senn USA. HD-569 is current with a new item number 506829. They are out of stock at Senn. , yet their website lets you select one to checkout. I suppose after you enter all your info it will say sorry, not avail.

And indeed the 598C is an amazon exclusive and not a replacement for the 569.

Senn 569 now magically avail at B&H and Crutchfield. for $149

 

A friend asked me what portable dac/amp he should get and I have no idea what to recommend to him. He says he listens to music mostly on his iphone and the jvc fx-850 I gave him as I didn't need them any more. I doubt he needs anything that great if he's pairing it with his phone. Would the Fiio Q5 be a good recommendation? He says it can't be too big so the ifi audio idsd micro black label would be much too large for him.

 

Not sure if your friend is intending to listen on the go or in a quite hotel room or both. I have been down the separate dac amp route with a phone and would never go back that way again. The bulk is just way too much, and then you have the ubiquitous OTG USB cable disconnect problem with most dac amps I have used.

Better off getting something much cheaper if he must use his current phone, but the better solution would be to get a phone with a better dac and amp, like the LG V or new G series or others.

Besides if he does use it on the go, the background noise is going to seriously impact the eventual quality of sound from any source.

 

He's one of those iphone people that will never try an android phone. He would be using it at home in bed or around the house. I was hoping for him to say he listens to music off the computer which would make it a lot easier to recommend a dac/amp or a stack of both. I'll look and see what else is out there. He's just getting started because I gave him my leftover IEM and sent him a few flac files to show him how much better the quality is. I'll ask if he would be interested in something like the hiby r3. But I believe he mentioned awhile back that he's on the apple music family plan and they uploaded all of their music and feel tied to the service. I'll suggest using a tidal trial membership to sway him once he hears the difference.

 

@LVF1
Isn't Apple music iTunes? And if so do they even support flac? It's been a few years since I left the appleverse, but if Apple music downloads streamed or played locally via the phone, there is no sense getting a better dac. It is already lossy to begin with and no dac will improve that. And unless he likes superloud, really no reason for an amp with the JVCs.

 

Newer Jotunheim (I assume it's the newer version since it comes with the balanced AK4490 DAC) with a Klipsch HP-3? Someone selling at an okay-ish price locally, which saves me the trouble of dealing with customs. The only issues now being I have a perfectly good Bifrost Multibit sitting around, which effectively renders the internal DAC redundant. Still a ways cheaper than buying a vanilla Jot from the USA and dealing with all the asspain involved therein, though.

With basic vent mods the HP-3 is about perfect for me save for too much energy up top, but given how the current Yotunheim () is reportedly skews warm I'm hoping it'll help with the balance somewhat. I don't expect it to not sound like a SS amp, mind, but I'm hoping it's less strident than others.

 

I thought Apple music is their version of streaming? Not sure though. Apple has their own version of flac, I forget what it's called though. Alac maybe?

 

Yes Alac is like flac.

I think Apple Music streaming uses 256k aac which is lossy, and I believe they sell music on iTunes to download in aac as well. iTunes can play and rip in alac which is a lossless compression algorithm like flac. This can be used with your own cd if you are ripping and if you wish to use iTunes to play it back. Of course all of this may have changed over the course of years since I used to be using Apple.

And I think if you upload your lossless music to the cloud for streaming anywhere you get it back in lossy aac as well.

 

Hi. I may need to downgrade some equipment and was wondering what is more important in my chain (basically what I should keep)

HD800
Gungnir Multibit
Torpedo III

The HD800 is staying, so its between the Gungnir Multibit and T3. If I sold the Gungnir Multibit, I would get Modi Multibit as an alternative. Selling the T3 I'm not sure what mid-fi amps would be comparable.

 

I would keep the Gungnir Multibit. There are quite a few good mid-tier amps lately that works well with the HD800, such as the Lyr 3.

 

Hmmm, I imagine the Gungnir Multibit punches so far above its price range that its not worth selling? Would love to hear more opinions.

 

I would keep the T3 over Gungnir Multibit on three grounds (a) it's taken you literally years to figure out an amp/HP combo you really like, and if you sell the T3 you'll be back on that merry go round again. (b) Gungnir Multibit and Modi Multibit are similarish in character, though with better technicalities in the former case, so a downgrade would not change the overall nature of your experience much. (c) if you buy another T3 later it may not be the same sound because builds vary.

 

How old is your Gungnir Multibit? New/recent Modi Multibit sounds pretty darn close to Gumby1 so I think it would be a low pain downgrade.

 

The current version is said to be "warmer" than before, but I've never heard anyone describe a Jotunheim as being actually warm. I wouldn't count on it to tame a bright sound.

 

That's all I needed to hear— just needed to make sure I wasn't mischaracterising the amp or that I'd be passing up on something I mightcome to regret, haha. Grazie!

 

Not sure, got it used.