I'm a marathon listener, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up with the slightly bright tilt, punch, and analytical nature of the setup after 8 straight hours.
I've inquired about the slightly warmer and less analytical nickel core transformers that I can roll into the amp and will probably also play with foam in front of the driver. Foam should help, yeah @Hands?
I'm hoping to get one or a T4 to pair with my Clears one of these days. People seem to also really like the DSHA 3F paired with ZMF dynamics... which if I ever decide to trade in the Clears it will be for an Auteur!
What are the similarities and differences between the 3F and the Asgard 3 on Utopia? Given how little I use headphones these days, I was thinking of slumming it with the latter for a long while.
Once I swapped it out for the DSHA3F, they woke up. It was almost like I had an upgraded Verum. It felt faster, with more incisive leading edges. There was a much welcome increase in slam/punch, and they felt even more resolving. I was just talking to @sphinxvc about how I'm learning again how important a good amp can be to your chain.
I got curious about what this amp could do with other headphones, so I started with Clears. It was such an involving pairing that I felt I might as well go full hog and get Utopias. I'm happy about the extra resolving power of the Utopias, but it might take a little work to tame it. It's a touch analytical/bright for me. Attacks are almost fatiguingly fast/square.
I'm used to (and really enjoy) relatively inexpensive woofers and soft domes. The speakers I have now are my ideal combo of tonal balance and roundness/squareness, so I'm going to see if I can get the headphone chain a little closer to it.
@AdvanTech, thanks for sharing! I have used Utopia only on the Ragnarok 1.5 (low gain only) and Torpedo 3 (Li Z). Neither is an ideal pairing, but I hate tube maintenance/nervosa so trying to figure out a budget solid state chain.
For what it’s worth, I feel like Utopia only works in a certain volume range. I use the NIOSH app on iPhone. Anything more than low 80s average SPL measured that way and I can’t handle Utopias. Ragnarok 2 loaner was a little better in this regard and I could do 85 average once the amp warmed up.
My ears can take more with HD650 and the ZMF cans I had on loaner.
Hm, I’m not sure what would fit the bill in your case.
Yeah, The Bhavas are still being used daily.
Interesting about volume with Utopias. I’ll play around with that tomorrow but I’m hoping that restriction won’t apply to my chain. That’s a bit of an odd trait for a headphone to have.
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