The All Purpose Advice Thread

I find the stuff IKEA shelves are made of crumbles really easily when trying to screw/nail stuff into it. The board my shelf is made of is barely 12mm thick, including veneer.

Not sure I'd want just a thumbtack holding up my Clears. Maybe I'm not visualizing what you're talking about. I figure a nail or screw has to stick out by at least around 3.5 to 4 cm to support a hanging piece of whatever and hold the headband so the phones are hanging reasonably close to vertical. That much leverage is going to cause the nail/screw to loosen pretty quickly. I can see something like an aerosol cap stuck to the side working though. But again, WAF is a factor.

Anyway, I've got some ideas in case I decide not to go with the Brainwavz Hooka. Thanks.

 

Ah, if that's ikea, it's made of particle board and not MDF.

MDF is way more dense and durable. Particle board is sawdust mixed with binder .

 

For holes in weak materials, something like this can help:

https://www.polycell.co.uk/product/polycell-plug-fix-polyfilla/

 

Apple 4ktv, roku ultra, or nvidia shield for just movie streaming?

 

Yeah the IKEA stuff is crumbly... a strong piece of mounting tape would probably be better.

On regular wood, the nail wouldn't have to be set very deep to hold it in. A thumbtack is more than strong enough to hold up weight, and a paint cap on top of the thumbtack will hold up no problem. The tack should hold up the weight without issue, and the cap portion that sticks out creates a twisting motion but that is countered by the shelf wall pushing back the other way.

But anyhow, you could also snoop around the hardware store and look up ornamental knobs from the cabinet section for options.
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p....e-black---rockaway-collection.1001020931.html
Just tossing out random things to look at for you.

 

If you have an Apple Ecosystem (Mac, iPad and iPhone), go with the Apple TV. They work together seamlessly.

Else.. Roku

 

@gixxerwimp
I've seen people use these before too which can fold up to be more discrete:
https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/60152590/

 

I love my Nvidia Shield. I use Plex to stream movies and music from my PC, but you could do the same for free with Kodi. It plays 4k YouTube, Prime, and HDR Netflix. It's also great for streaming games from your PC to your living room.

I've been using it for over a year as my primary media device in the living room, so let me know if you have any questions about it.

 

In search of a free option I ended up installing Equalizer APO, which is working well to prevent fatigue but the top end still doesn't always sound quiiite as realistic as I'd like. But, even without the equalizer my ears are breaking in quite nicely to the new presentation (if this was a new unit I'd swear it was the amp breaking in), and I've also noticed that the Taurus really does need a couple hours warm-up for it to sound right. Planning to stick with this for a while.

 

If you are okay with the look and your ears fit, the NAD HP50 is a solid can. Used ZMF or Mr. Speakers fostex planars are nice. Senn 569 or the replacement forgot the number are really comfy and sound good.

 

I have some leftover Brazilian pecan wood that I could probably make into a pretty good headphone hanger.

 

On budget and similar size / looks to the hd25 but the Senn HD-26 Broadcast cans seem to have come way down in price and they also have a DJ version right about $319. I felt the Broadcast 26 to be really good and leaps above the HD25 and Amperiors I owned. Super smooth Senn 650 ish sound in a nice feeling on ear. The broadcast did have a mic option. I never found anything else smallish that I liked better and I have had a bunch. https://en-us.sennheiser.com/broadcasting-headphones-studio-recording-stage-hd-26-pro

 

My experiences after using several portable models...
Momentum (V1): Needs some amping, Fiio E7 (vs my iPhone 5s) worked wonders. Esp the bass gets better with something better. It's a warm sound signature, you probably know this already.

HD25: great isolation without too much discomfort. Basically pretty close to a "flat curve" with some mid-bass emphasis. There's basically no soundstage to speak of and some cold/metallic highs. They look kinda fugly. That's why I sold them.

Oppo PM3: Totally an easy-to-listen pair. I'm a fan of rock, metal etc. and these are basically too polite for my tastes. They're doing everything to not offend the listener. Fit & finish is very good.

Audeze Sine: These are out of production also, I believe. Sound-wise these are the best portable hp I've found, esp with the Cipher-cable for iDevices and EQ-app. Comfort is quite ok when sitting still, but yeah. They're on-ears with shallow pads. They sound very good, though... I'd guess there's lots of deals to be found.

Edit: HD598Cs is one nice closed pair with some extra low-bass and upper mids in comparison to HD600-series models. soundstage is much larger than all of the above, from memory.

 

Assuming you will be using service like Netflix or Amazon, etc. I have had outstanding luck with Roku. I have had 2 of them, current one is an older disc. model but still functions perfectly. They seem to support most of the streaming networks. Wifi works well enough from my router about 25 feet away that I never have buffering issues.

 

I used to use HD25 in the office, but found that N hours a day lead to some discomfort in the end (squishing the ears). They stay in my sound bag now. Instead, I am using the HD598Cs, which are HD650-sized, but closed back and insanely comfy (more comfy than the 650, and without the weird loud scrunchy velour). They're a bit more sensitive/efficient than I expected, though- so when I dragged a Vali 2 in to drive them, I ended up putting 20dB attenuators on the back to give me a bit more play on the volume.

They sound remarkably pleasant for what they cost (£120-ish from Amazon, from memory). Decent closed-backs feel somewhat thin on the ground, so these were a nice surprise.

 

How about ATH MSR7? They are not dark for sure, but they are pretty flat with the well controlled bass.The sound is very clear at any volume, they come with mic cable, and work great with Vmoda Boompro. I also used it with a BT receiver s well.
Tyll liked them for a good reason: https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/incisive-audio-technica-ath-msr7.
Isolation is very good, the only minus I can see that they sounds good only with the stock pads, but the stock pads are a bit tight for my big ears, would probably be perfect for small ears. I decided to sell them for two reasons: I have big ears and wanted BT with noise cancellation. Ordered Senn PCX 50.

 

Just adding a data point. I had the MSR7 and the 598Cs at the same time and I gave the MSR7 away because they sounded thin and brittle in comparison to the Senns. I am a fan of the 598Cs, I think they are underrated. They do mids well for a closed phone. Treble is not where these shine but the emphasized bass is fun and they have that musical Senn tonality which counts for a lot for me.

 

Quick question, did the 598C replace the 569? Seems the 569 is disc. If not, anyone know what did replace it.? I really liked the 569 when I spent a lot of time with them at rmaf. Ditto on the brittle highs on the MSR7 to my ears.

 

@Armaegis FWIW I have the HD598Cs and like them a lot, but sound-wise I prefer the HP50 - the tonal balance seems more natural to me at the extremes. The Senns would likely be more comfortable for long sessions; with small ears but a wide head you might not have an issue with the pads on the NADs, but possibly with the headband. Both together would be within your budget - you could buy both and return or sell the one you like least.

@bixby HD569 are still showing on the Sennheiser Canada site - MSRP $189 vs the HD598Cs $299, from which I presume they're intended to be at two different points in the mfr's range.

 

After much research, upgrading my Bifrost Multibit to a Yggdrasil v2 makes a hell of a lot of sense. However, I keep coming back to the artificially large soundstage on the holo spring dac. If one uses only speakers and closed back headphones and specifically listens to poorly recorded rock or blues 98% of the time...think Howling Wolf, Sex Pistols, Smashing Pumpkins...could the artificial soundstage warrant considering the Holo? I know you can never really fix what is broken but just wondering as I cannot buy both and it does not seem likely anyone will ever start recording music I like in large quantities and not panned too hell.