Comments on Profile Post by Collusion

@Collusion I like it, and it currently sits as my top pick, but even I'll be the first to admit that I'm feeling the mild regret of diminishing returns at this level.

I already felt that my RME Babyface Pro FS was embarrassingly close to my Prism Lyra, lacking just a bit in air and sweetness that I like in the Prism. The Mercury maintains most that I like from the Prism, and gains a better sense of staging. Not ultrawide like a Forssell, but just a little more rounded and some more depth, vs the Prism who's air gives it this "lift" or ceiling sense to the stage.

In comparisons of the usb vs optical (from usb->Lyra or usb->RME) vs coax (Schiit Eitr), I prefer the usb directly into the Mercury. I still have this nagging feeling that the usb input might be the bottleneck, but I'm not sure if I want to go down the rabbithole of DDC. (kinda want one with multiple outputs and a clock for purposes of comparing dacs though...)

I'm glad to hear you like it! How "velvety" does it sound? The best AKM4490 implementation I've heard is the RME ADI-2 DAC FS and I am wondering how big of a departure the Mercury is from that kind of sound.

The Babyface Pro FS is an AKM dac but I can't remember which (it's not a "common" one). I actually like it more than the ADI-2 Pro (not FS) that I used to own which did sound a bit etched-yet-velvet while the Babyface does not.
Coming in cold I honestly have a hard time telling Babyface and Mercury apart, they have a lot of similarities, with the Mercury nudging ahead a tiny smidge across the board.

I’m looking at the Babyface as a recording interface for my laptop. Is the headphone output serviceable? I sold all my gear a while ago, but still have some HD25s somewhere. I’m not expecting TOTL performance, but would be interested to know if there are any major sins of commission. Thanks.

@jowls I believe it's the same headamp stage as the RME ADI-2 Probut with lower overall output. It should be enough for the HD-25 though. For what it's worth, I like the Babyface Pro FS as an overall package more than the ADI-2 Pro

@Armaegis I see you also have 600ohm drivers in your HD-25. If you get a chance, would you mind checking if Babyface can drive them sufficiently? Not sure I still have the 70ohm drivers on hand. BFP ticks most of the boxes, and I have found one locally discounted by 35%. Thanks.

@jowls I can take it to about half max before it starts to clip. At that point it isn't "loud", but it's uncomfortable for me to listen at that level for too long. The HD25-13 drivers are a bit of a power hog though so I wouldn't say it's the best pairing and feels a bit thin in the mids (but the HD25 isn't really a producing headphone in the first place)... but at 35% off I'd say that's a very good deal on the BFP.

Thanks for that.