The All Purpose Advice Thread

@CoLdAsSauLt

If I was you I'd try hearing some more TOTL cans like the Utopia or SR-009 before you commit to upgrading your system for the LCD-4. The Utopia should also go nicely with your Stratus which could be interesting. With the HD800S in mind you could also try the SuperBAF mod and also a pure copper cable, that should be nice with the DNA Stratus and fairly cheap compared to other upgrades.

Unless you like to listen at +100dB the Taurus in balanced mode should be powerful enough to drive the LCD-4's to their full potential. I'd be more tempted to get my hands on an Yggdrasil (needs long warm-up) and try that in your system. DAC's do make a big difference at this level. Second hand is good but Schiit has a return policy as well. The thing you have to remember as well is that amps do sound different... not just better or worse..... a bright amp will often give you a sense of a bigger soundstage so if someone on a forum changes their LCD-4 amp and say "the soundstage really opened up on the LCD-4 after I changed to so and so amp, it must have been underdriven"... well... maybe, but maybe they also just changed from a dark headphone amp to a brightish amp. Correlation is not causation. Then there's buyer's bias, if you just dropped $4k on a custom amp with a 6 month lead-time you bet your ass it's going to sound amazing and you're going to tell everyone about it. Basically trusting other people's opinion at this level in the game is dangerous.

If you ask me about the DT-990 vs HD650 I will say that the HD650 shits all over the DT-990 from a Hi-Fi perspective and you should get the HD650 unless you only listen to German techno. But if you ask me about the HD650 vs HD800... not so clear cut. Lots of people on here prefer the HD650 to HD800. We could talk about Tyll as well, probably the most respected headphone reviewer around here if you ask me. But there are lots of people who don't particularly like what Tyll likes. From what I've seen Tyll tends to favor brightish headphones with quite a lot of bass, a bit of a V-response. So if you're a midrange guy you might not prefer what he prefers.

You need to go into this stuff with an open mind and be prepared to experiment a bit yourself. Bascially asking for something that is "better" at this level in the game is pointless, you need to figure out what you want from your system. More soundstage? More resolution? More midrange? Tighter deeper bass? Just asking for something which is better and "which doesn't leave anything on the table" will only lead to a wild goose chase.

 

Many thanks, this is working great!

 

With a lot of talk about usb quality, are there any daps with a true line out that are as good/better as the Modi 2 dacs? (Though, I imagine none compare with multibit.) I have multiple listening stations but its a pain lugging around a laptop...

 

I'm new to the ZX2, having just recently purchased one. Not sure if its DAC section is "better" than Modi 2. But from what I can dig out online, the WM-port has both digital-out and line-out signals. The most common line-out cable referenced is the FiiO L5, "currently unavailable" on Amazon but in stock at B&H (Sony doesn't seem to make one of their own). Forza Audioworks also does a fancier one.

 

Fully balanced Beta 22 headphone amplifier ( B22 ) /Sigma 22 power supply.
I did not post it in used deals because I need some serious advice on that.
http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/deta...eadphone-amplifier-b22-sigma-22-power-supply/.

It looks amazing, but anyone here had any experience with Beta 22 based amps?. From the pictures it looks like a decent build but I have no experience so it is just I like what I see., that's all.

 

What are you looking for in the B22? It’s an extremely powerful MOSFET and best suited for inefficient cans.

 

Driving HD800S, HE500, AKG 240K DF- that one is very hard to drive. And the headphone amp in general. My BHA-1 has intermittent channel imbalance problem and Bryston guys cannot find the issue. They will fix it eventually, it is still 18 years of warranty left but I am seating without the amp for weeks. And I may sell my two Nuforce HA200 to get this one. But essentially you are right, I do not know what I am getting into.
I was drifting towards Mjolnir 2, or Sennheiser HDVA 600 (down to $850sh on Amazon) when this one popped up.

 

I'm looking for a small/medium portable Bluetooth speaker to use for both music and podcasts. But most of them sound bad, either tinny sounding, or boomy bass, or some horrible coloration in the midrange.

I tried a cheap AmazonBasics model at one point. It got good reviews and I was hoping it would be acceptable for podcasts, but it as horribly thin sounding. Plus it had an obnoxious habit of making loud beeps when turned on or off, or connecting or disconnecting from Bluetooth. That's unacceptable when trying to fall asleep to podcasts! I haven't tried them major brands, UE Boom etc, Oontz etc as I don't want to waste a bunch of time & money buying and returning every model to try to find a good one. Is anybody happy with any of those?

Bose ones I've heard in stores actually have pretty good quality overall, but they have a big peak in the upper bass. I suspect this will be fatiguing for listening to speech. Also, this sort of loudness-compensation that you can't turn off makes it difficult to play quiet music without the loud bass being heard in other rooms. If Bose would let you switch off the damn bass boost, I could live with one of those.

I saw a positive review of the Denon Envaya Mini, with good measurements, but it's too expensive at $150 and some reviews indicate other problems with battery life.

So, does anyone make one that actually sounds good and is reasonably priced? It doesn't have to be truly hifi, just decent sound with no major offensive flaws. Rolled-off treble is better than harsh treble, for instance. And I'd like something that looks respectable, in black or some neutral color, nothing fluorescent.

 

This one is not bad, and you can find them used for cheap on ebay.

https://digitalaudiodirections.blogspot.com/2015/04/creative-audio-labs-value-in-three_27.html

My daughter still uses one daily after 2 years with no issues.

 

I have the Mini. Very impressive for the size. But I would now go JBL Flip 3 (and get another to pair in stereo later).

 

A similar question came up in the All Purpose Advice Thread a little while ago. Here is a good reply on the subject from @Vansen [link].

 

Quick question but can't find the answer on the web.

Decided to pick up bass guitar, got a small practice amp (http://shop.fender.com/en-US/bass-amplifiers/contemporary-digital/rumble-25/2370200000.html)

I wanted to plug my headphones into it and use MacBook as source when I want to play to tunes. I have a Vali 2 as an amp.

If I wanted to drive my headphones with the vali 2 and use MacBook as source, do I plug in MacBook via aux on the guitar amp and plug vali into the headphone jack on the guitar amp? and then the headphones into the vali? Where should I be doing the volume control?

 

That sounds about right. Volume can be on either the bass amp or the Vali... I believe the bass amp has a compressor built in, so the more gain you have there the more of an effect it will have.

 

What are some of the best mids that you guys have heard, under $2k? IEM, full size, any type is ok. Thanks!

 

Well for mids and only mids, there's the Beyerdynamic DT48...

 

How much does seal matter on an open headphone like HD 650? Because of the shape of my head I almost always have a gap between the earpads and my head on the bottom of my ear. Would this not affect sound as much on the 650?

 

Hmm, there's a 2nd version of the Soundcore. It gets good reviews, and it says it has better bass. Has anyone heard it? I wonder if it actually has better bass, or if "better" means "boomy."

 

There's one from Xiaomi that seems to be better than the Soundcore. There's a review and comparison:

(FR graphs at 2:40)

But I'm wary of buying a no-name Chinese product sold on Aliexpress. Who knows how consistent or reliable they are? Are the batteries even safe?

 

Xiaomi is like the last Chinese brand you'd call no name.

 

Wow, no mention of Riva yet? The Turbo X and S are great. The S is small, transportable, and has a great tonality for a small room.