The All Purpose Advice Thread

Is it possible to do that on iPhone 4S?

 

If by "that" you mean foobar 2k mobile on ios, then yes.

 

Sweet then I'll just do that instead. I'll ask you for help when I get home from vacation if you don't mind

 

I have a question about trading, and I hope this is the right thread to post. If not, please redirect or remove it.

So, if I were to trade a budget amp and ship it from west coast to east coast, is there anything I can do help protect both traders from being scammed, other than checking the feedbacks/reference provided?
I mean I use paypal when I buy stuff, but for a straight trade I don't know. How about traders send money (not gift) through pp to each other for the same amount, and treat the trade as 2 separate buy and sell? Am I being too paranoid? I have dealt with various buyers on CL, but my experience is limited to local sales.

Thanks in advance!

 

Totally in the right place!

Unless I personally know (and trust) the other person, I would do the money thing and treat it like two separate buys. The stairs are too high with no medium of exchange and no external moderation (eg PayPal) available if shit goes sideways.

 

I'm currently using a modified Eastern Electric MiniMax Dac w/ only SPDIF coaxial input fed from Gustard U10 USB Transport. Recently I got a chance to buy an used Lynx L22 Soundcard (basically a Lynx Two w/ 2 channels) for ~300$. Should I go for that deal and use it as a spdif transport or sell the Gustard to buy other usb interface like AGD DI-U8 or used Hydra X ?

 

So do I upgrade to the Modi Multibit or do I go for the Bifrost 4490?

 

It's actually like this. You upgrade to the Modi Multibit. And then, fearing that you may be losing out, go for the Bifrost 4490. And then sell me the Modi Multibit.

 

Hey does anyone else have the issue with connecting iphones with their schitt wyrd / DDC / DAC being inconsistent? mine works like 1 out of 10 times. sometimes wyrd recognizes it right away, other times it wont work and then the phone would say something like "this device isnt supported by the iphone".

After much testing between the iphone and my computer i realize that its far better sounding than connecting to my laptop (warmer, more organic sound, larger sound stage, more punch / impact / slam.) Connecting to the computer works 100% tho, and once im connected on the iphone it stays working too (as long as music is playing,)

Any recommendations on how i'd make the connection consistent or how i can improve the sound from my computer to the wyrd / DDC /DAC?

 

Looking for some advice opinions on setting up a headphone alongside speakers. If I buy an expensive DAC it will definitely be part of the equipment rack. For the headphones though I have a couple options:

-Stack headphone amp on DAC and use long headphone cables
-setup headphone amp on end table next to couch run long interconnects to the DAC.

Is one setup more desirable then the other in terms of cable lengths? Does it matter?

 

@Cspirou IMO having one lengthy interconnect for the DAC - Amp so that the Amp sits near your listening seat is better than having a headphones with lengthy cables connected to a distant amp. This is because the potential of spending / working for a cable twice (or more) vs once.

Chance #1:
Because not all headphones comes with necessarily long cable of course;

Chance #2:
Your option #1 means that some day in the future where multiple headphones are in the equations (you add to your collection of cans, etc) you might stumble upon the fact of Chance #1 repeating itself which will then cost you again in finding / building a lengthy cable for that headphones.

Another consideration for value:
Custom interconnects are easier to re-sell or re-used for another setup in case of a change in your system;
Custom (long) headphones cable is relatively more difficult to re-sell. Most people IMO actually want a shorter custom cable rather than a 5 meter cable for example.

So... I think having a long interconnect is better than spending for a long headphones cable.

 

I agree with ray, but I would pick long interconnect just for the convenience of having the amp, and thus the volume control, near me while listening.

 

Are you by chance using the Camera Connection Kit (CCK cable)? That usually makes a more consistent connection, plus gives you the added benefit of being able to transport hi res content without the playback being downgraded during playback. Third party players are required.

Also try a hard reset of the iPhone while connected, instead of unplugging are replugging back in. That will resolve many connection issues too...

 

I have not tried K7XX.
I did so with my K701 though. Vali brings out some good things in K701. Notably dynamics, slam, clarity.
It's not hiding what's wrong with K701 in the first place, either.
Thus, Vali might be good with K7XX due to less weirdness in fr response.

 

Is there a big difference between the Vali 1 and the Vali 2? A buddy of mine has the Vali 2 and the K7XX and it sounds great! So if they are different I can't help you.

 

I agree with the posts suggesting option 2.

I thought I'd add that I have had occasion to add length to a headphone cable for convenience. I used Grado 450CM Headphone Extension Lead - 6.5mm connections.



I did not notice any degradation in the sound and it seemed like good quality at a fair price ($40 in the USA). Grado says you can daisy chain up to three. I only tried one.

 

Actually yea I'm using the Cck Lightning to USB adapter. I've tried the hard reset too and it doesn't always work, so my current solution is to just unplug and replug until it works :T do you think it's the ddc(USB to spdif)? Or maybe I have a faulty cck and I should buy a new one? Any other suggestions?

 

Well, the usual crap is to pull things from the chain and see what happens. You know eliminate what you can. Unfortunately, your Theta doesn't have USB. Because my first suspect would be your USB to SPDIF converter. I'm far from an expert, but I think those things have weird voltage swings, or at least potential for weird voltage swings. But I'd also suspect the Wyrd, and maybe consider trying another powered USB hub. The Wyrd never was intended to have high power, just clean USB power. At least that's a less expensive science experiment.

 

Ah thanks for the tips. I just realized i have my GOV2 that i can test this with using a split power / data cable. (should have thought of that earlier) So it looks like it is indeed the CCK that is faulty (same thing happened here where iphone to GOV2 doesn't work most of the time, but when the GOV2 is connected directly to a mac it works 100% of the time.)

guess i just need to buy a new CCK cable. On that note, are there any lightning to USB B cables that you guys would recommend?

 

Can anyone help me?

I bought my Valhalla 2 used and I'm hearing this LOUD ASS buzzing/humming noise.. It's clearly audible.

I'm starting to suspect that it's my source because when the source(input) is not plugged in, I hear NO buzz/hum at all.

But when i plug in my source(from my Xonar essence STX), THERES THIS LOUD ASS ANNOYING BUZZ/HUM.

Any solutions anyone?

What's the cheapest DAC I can get? Apparently my STX as a DAC is better than the Modi 2 so I don't want to exactly downgrade...