The All Purpose Advice Thread

that's what some people said.. it's based on it's dac card

./shrug

going to test it out with the tune x and ground loop filter

 

I agree...

Though I figured if i'm going to buy a DAC, might as well buy one that will last me for a while.

Does DAC pairing even matter with amps?

Are there a certain DAC that works the best with the valhalla 2?

 

I've been really impressed with my Bifrost 4490/Valhalla 2 pairing. Use it with my hd650 and dt880.

 

Human heart is weak, man.
One surefire way to make any of your audio equipment last for a while is to disconnect yourself fully from audio sites and audio geeks! Too much temptation!

 

Quoting for truth. Sometimes it's best to just sit back and enjoy the music for awhile.

 

You know you're onto something when you stop looking at alternatives. Since I got my Musette, I barely read anything about DACs...

 

Looking for a nice, neutral, portable, closed headphone (circum, if possible). Is the PM-3 still regarded as the top dog? I know Meze got some attention but they aren't very portable.

The Q35 seems tempting, though I hate the idea of requiring active NC for better SQ.

I've also had the M100 and was very impressed, but I may be leaning towards more neutrality.

 

@Thujone AKG K181 DJ is a closed, portable, sturdy, relatively not picky and easy to drive, and neutral-ish headphones but it is of supra-aural design and not that comfortable for extended listening. A good stretching out the headband overnight is needed; otherwise the clamping is too much even for only 5 ~ 10 minutes of wearing it.

 

I've amassed a small collection of closed headphones, mostly portable-ish. I don't have the PM-3 or any Bose. I don't think I have golden ears, so I'll just say that measurements of AKG's K550/K553 and K181 DJ UE look good, and both pop up on Massdrop all the time for pretty cheap. For both those, you'd probably want to swap pads, which might mess with those measurements a bit. Otherwise they're built pretty well. M50 pads fit just fine on the K181 DJ, which is great because the stock ones are torture on my antihelix. My K550 (fold flat, but maybe not 100% "portable") is hard or impossible to get to seal with the stock pads, but aftermarket angled ones are good.

I think all Tyll's discussion of Harman's research has turned me into an AKG fanboy.

 

Thanks for the replies.

I had the AKG K553 and quickly sold it, was a little too boring IMO. In general, I haven't been a big fan of AKG's house sound. It's really impressive but it's too spacey for me. I've never felt like they had any balls. The K181 may be different, considering it's a DJ headphone, but I'm willing to spend ~$300 for something higher quality.

 

If I were spending $300 on a closed-back, it would definitely be the Oppo PM-3. Refurbs can be had for $299. Haven't heard anything that compares yet, but I haven't heard the Sine. Still think that is over $300 use. While the PM-3 is a little heavy, there is very little clamp, but it still isolates well.

 

Yeah PM3 matches your description well as long as you don't have elephant ears. Viso hp 50 also does the fairly neutral, portable thing well, the two sound quite similar with the hp50 a hair warmer

 

Hands, now suggest a step up to the Yggdrasil . And I do have the Mutec 1.2

 

What is your definition of 'balls' and what are you gonna use as amp ?

PM-3 is best choice with crappy portable devices as it sounds good (but never truly great) out of anything I tried. Unoffensive, rather neutral with slightly dull higher octave.The planar tactility or what ever the f**k is the property called, is there. For me it was boring, lacked in dynamics too much. If you like the planar sound more than the traditional dynamic sound then these might be worth trying out.

The NAD VISO is lacking in resolution compared to these two. IMO a tier lower hp.

I picked MSR7 instead of PM-3 as it had traits I looked for. Fast transients, better slam (even out of Clip+), more presence in highs. Lovely acoustic drums on these, fast and hard hitting. For bass lovers quantity might be lacking though.
It has some peaks in highs that I personally don't mind too much. The high end has some grain or edginess that might be troublesome with some bright metal and violins won't sound quite right with these.
This one scales quite well with better equipment and recordings.

Clamp force is rather high. But pads are comfy on my rather large head.

Portability wise, PM-3 would be very good, MSR-7 a bit less, K55x even less.

 

SoundMagic HP150 is very nice as well. Much cheaper alternatives then the others.

 

I agree with all of this, and the MSR7 is my favorite closed portable especially when price is considered (I've had like 9, I wrote a small shootout once I'll try to link, not that it's anything revolutionary). http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...est-commuter-headphone.1369/page-2#post-36760

I didn't mention it because I'm not sure "neutral" is the right word. They are kinda a subtle V-shape, but still with a present upper half of the midrange is typical AT fashion.

I like them more than the PM3 for many genres, especially anything rock or vocal heavy. Sound good from any source and easy to drive. Isolation is meh and comfort is double meh tho. Any type of pad change destroys their sound so you're stuck with stock pads