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Audiophilia: Headphones, Amps, DAPs, and Empty Wallets

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Posts

  • raging_stormraging_storm Registered User regular
    I guess I should splash in here but I'm mostly a headphones guy. Reasons are I travel a lot, and also reasons are I live in an apartment so I can't have a ripping sound system. But I can have ripping headphones! Bit of a splurger so I have a Chord Mojo2 with Dan Clark Audio Ether (open backed, looking at moving up to Dan Clark Expanse and Chord Hugo 2) for at home. I have Questyle M15 with Moondrop Blessing 2 for on the go! Along with various other stuff but those are the crown jewels. Don't judge when you as well are in your mid 40s and have firmly decided against kids and are at the peak of your career you all of a sudden end up with lots of funny money especially if your SO is there as well.
    TOGSolid wrote: »
    Naphtali wrote: »

    Oh those rat bastards have any entirely separate spare parts website? I went to the regular senny page and the HD 600 product only had a couple bits listed for accessories so I was like ?????????

    Thanks a lot! Looks like the US page is out of stock and while the EU site has em, it won't let me get em shipped to me.

    Bastaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaards


    Lots of companies do this. Just put in a help ticket and they'll send you the prices in .pdf with a link to their site as well! I have been breaking SONY MDR 7506, Senny HD 280 PRO, Shure IEMS, Etymotic ER-4s for well, decades in some cases now and buying parts or getting them fixed cheap on the fly.

    The odd thing about this hobby, and let's be honest fun experience that does sound BETTER! Is that the reputable companies and dealers who don't make/sell woo woo snake oil will stand by their product and do sell the parts you need or will just fix it at a reasonable fee.

    Also call their US team and ask them. Odds are they have it. Their site might not be up to date. After I couldn't keep repairing my HD 280 PRO anymore as (well cat ate the cable top was shattered) I called them up and got a "send it in" from them. While 200 MSRP it retails for 99 cause always discounted and at 50 they sent me a new one. This was over a DECADE after the first purchase and multiple "our customer did the repairs" on their site. Shure, Sony, and Etymotic all have the same policy with their "pro" gear.

  • CormacCormac Registered User regular
    I'll vouch for Dan Clark Audio's customer service being excellent and fun to talk to. They had an odd mix up when I ordered some new earpads and something went funky with their database that necessitated calling me to sort it out. I forget the exact reason but we had a good laugh over the whole thing.

    Steam: Gridlynk | PSN: Gridlynk | FFXIV: Jarvellis Mika
  • raging_stormraging_storm Registered User regular
    Cormac wrote: »
    I'll vouch for Dan Clark Audio's customer service being excellent and fun to talk to. They had an odd mix up when I ordered some new earpads and something went funky with their database that necessitated calling me to sort it out. I forget the exact reason but we had a good laugh over the whole thing.

    What headphones do you have from them?

  • CormacCormac Registered User regular
    Cormac wrote: »
    I'll vouch for Dan Clark Audio's customer service being excellent and fun to talk to. They had an odd mix up when I ordered some new earpads and something went funky with their database that necessitated calling me to sort it out. I forget the exact reason but we had a good laugh over the whole thing.

    What headphones do you have from them?

    Aeon Flow Closed.

    Steam: Gridlynk | PSN: Gridlynk | FFXIV: Jarvellis Mika
  • raging_stormraging_storm Registered User regular
    Cormac wrote: »
    Cormac wrote: »
    I'll vouch for Dan Clark Audio's customer service being excellent and fun to talk to. They had an odd mix up when I ordered some new earpads and something went funky with their database that necessitated calling me to sort it out. I forget the exact reason but we had a good laugh over the whole thing.

    What headphones do you have from them?

    Aeon Flow Closed.

    Good choice! What dac and amp?

  • CormacCormac Registered User regular
    edited October 2022
    Cormac wrote: »
    Cormac wrote: »
    I'll vouch for Dan Clark Audio's customer service being excellent and fun to talk to. They had an odd mix up when I ordered some new earpads and something went funky with their database that necessitated calling me to sort it out. I forget the exact reason but we had a good laugh over the whole thing.

    What headphones do you have from them?

    Aeon Flow Closed.

    Good choice! What dac and amp?

    Currently an ifi Zen Dac v2 and Zen Can. With the bass boost on they're a perfect match, for me, with the Aeon's. The bass boost just adds fullness that really makes them fun to listen to. When the stock earpads wore out I switched to the perforated ear pads which helped bump up the mid-tones and bass a little bit (had those a few years before I got the ifi stack). They're my current daily drivers for music.

    I also have a Gustard A20H and Focal Elears with the Elex ear pads. Those two are a great match and are very fun and punchy. The Aeon's with Gustard are dead neutral very music and/or mood dependent but still very enjoyable to listen to.

    The Elears and ifi combo does nothing for me at all. It doesn't sound bad just blah.

    I have custom length and color Hart Audio cables to makes switching between amps super easy. I'm able to leave the 4ft and 8ft cables permanently plugged into the amps on different sides of my office and have 18" splits on the headphones to swap between them. I like to run everything balanced. Whether or not it makes any audible different I don't know, but since the amps are balanced I figured why not take advantage of it. I will say I just prefer the never 4.4mm balanced connector to the traditional 4-pin.

    Cormac on
    Steam: Gridlynk | PSN: Gridlynk | FFXIV: Jarvellis Mika
  • GimGim a tall glass of water Registered User regular
    Ooo, an audiophile thread.

    I just got an HD 6XX to replace my aging DT 880 PROs. I'm really digging the sound so far!

    My current headphone stack is a Topping D30 Pro feeding a Monoprice Monolith headphone amp.

    v42wyle06mib.jpg

    (There's a MOTU UltraLite-mk5 in the middle for microphone/DAW tracking purposes.)

    For speakers I have a Yamaha AVR feeding a 3.1 setup featuring 3x Adam A5X speakers and an Adam Sub7 (with a miniDSP DDRC-88A for Dirac Live correction).

  • KamarKamar Registered User regular
    I've always stayed with low-impedance headphones I could plug directly into my motherboard and have sound decent with the onboard headphone amp, not so much because I don't feel the temptation to throw money at that kind of thing, but because I know myself and more power is going to lead to me deafening myself (faster).

  • DrovekDrovek Registered User regular
    Kamar wrote: »
    I've always stayed with low-impedance headphones I could plug directly into my motherboard and have sound decent with the onboard headphone amp, not so much because I don't feel the temptation to throw money at that kind of thing, but because I know myself and more power is going to lead to me deafening myself (faster).

    In general I prefer open-back headphones' sound, but to be honest the closed ones are, for me, much easier to use in noisy environments at a far more reasonable volume. After much (young) abuse, this is pretty much the healthy option for me.

    steam_sig.png( < . . .
  • GimGim a tall glass of water Registered User regular
    I also prefer the sound of open-backs if I'm in a quiet location. Wouldn't dream of taking them out in public.

    If I'm out and about with my phone, I'll listen to music and podcasts with on a pair of Moondrop Starfield IEMs into a FiiO BTR5 Bluetooth headphone amp. The gel eartips constantly caused the IEMs to fall out of my ears (and would all fall off and usually get lost). After a dozen or so replacement pairs, I switched to foam tips which do a MUCH better just at holding them in place and have yet to fall off.

    Though honestly when it comes time to replace this setup I'm just going to get some regular wireless earbuds. The IEMs sound good but the cable management isn't worth the extra effort to me anymore.

  • CampyCampy Registered User regular
    So let's say I had a hypothetical friend, who has hypothetical super gross ears. Now just as a though experiment let's say that friend's headphones got a bunch of earwaxy horror gunking up their headphone pad mesh. Like... A lot of earwaxy horror.

    What would folks recommend to my friend as the best way of getting rid of it. I would suppose some isopropyl alcohol or similar?

  • Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    edited October 2022
    What model headphones? Most ear pads are removable, so you can probably wash it with soap and water, let it dry, then re-attach. However some models pads are more annoying than others to re-attached.

    Trajan45 on
    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
  • CampyCampy Registered User regular
    V-Moda M100s. I can get some of the affected pad parts off, but some of the mesh seems to be permanently connects to the speaker itself.

  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • raging_stormraging_storm Registered User regular
    Gim wrote: »
    I also prefer the sound of open-backs if I'm in a quiet location. Wouldn't dream of taking them out in public.

    If I'm out and about with my phone, I'll listen to music and podcasts with on a pair of Moondrop Starfield IEMs into a FiiO BTR5 Bluetooth headphone amp. The gel eartips constantly caused the IEMs to fall out of my ears (and would all fall off and usually get lost). After a dozen or so replacement pairs, I switched to foam tips which do a MUCH better just at holding them in place and have yet to fall off.

    Though honestly when it comes time to replace this setup I'm just going to get some regular wireless earbuds. The IEMs sound good but the cable management isn't worth the extra effort to me anymore.

    Getting the Moondrop Blessing2s and use that.

  • BlindZenDriverBlindZenDriver Registered User regular
    So, speaker cables.
    This question isn't about which ones to get or for that matter if bi-wiring is a must, or if banana plugs beats using just spades... instead I'm wondering about symmetry :o

    Full disclosure, this question is mostly for fun and sort of philosophical rather than scientific. Only that does apply to much in the hobby so here it goes.

    The thing is that after having acquired a big amp I find my self in the situation, that the thing doesn't fit in the cabinet which sits between my speakers and my TV sits on. Currently I have the amp on the floor in front of the cabinet, but not only does it block opening a couple of the cabinet doors it is also sort of a trip hazard. As a solution I am considering placing the amp to a side, only this then puts it much closer to one speaker than the other and my question is thus - should I keep my speaker cables at equal length or or go with a short cable and a long one?

    The short cable will be maybe 3 feet and the long one 9-10 feet in length

    I'm thinking that the electrical difference will so close to zero it can't be hear or measured without specialist equipment, same thing with the travel time of the signals since electricity moves something like 90% of the speed of light in cables.

    Note, the placing of amp will put it further away from my pre-amp and the audio sources. However I do plan on moving the pre-amp and the main source, a DAC, as within 4-5 feet of the amp so while not ideal I hope it will be okay.

    Bones heal, glory is forever.
  • CormacCormac Registered User regular
    I think the rule of thumb is to always have speaker cables be the same length. However, I think that's more of a visual thing than actual philosophical thing or more of a marketing thing because companies want to sell length matched cables (if you aren't just buying the materials and making them yourself).

    I've always made them the same length because it felt right even if it makes absolutely no difference. Knowing what I do now I'd just make them or order them in the exact lengths needed and not worry about having equal lengths.

    Steam: Gridlynk | PSN: Gridlynk | FFXIV: Jarvellis Mika
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    It should make no practical difference having a few feet of length difference between cables.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • raging_stormraging_storm Registered User regular
    It doesn't make an ass of difference in the length. It's not faster or slower in any factor you can really measure. Hence why surround systems with all sorts of lengths work perfectly fine. Also why powered monitors where the input goes directly to one which then sends it to the other work just fine as well!

  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    yeah signals propagate through copper wire and fiber optic mediums at about 70% of the speed of light, you are not going to notice a difference until you start getting up to the scale of continental distances

    BahamutZERO.gif
  • KamarKamar Registered User regular
    edited November 2022
    Think I'm giving up on IEMs for good, I produce enough earwax that they just aren't viable for me. That said, the TRN V80s that I bought a while back and have been using sounded great and did their job fine, just, not for me.

    Ordered some Koss KSC75s as a cheap walk-around headphone until I decide what I should use for mobile listening. Though maybe they'll be good enough to just keep using, Koss seems really good at that cheap audio quality thing, since the PortaPros I bought years and years ago have always sounded incredible for the price--I just find them uncomfortable and now the audio cuts on mine if the wire isn't just right.

    Not for the first time, I'm eyeing the Drop + THX Pandas.

    Kamar on
  • NaphtaliNaphtali Hazy + Flow SeaRegistered User regular
    Kamar wrote: »
    Think I'm giving up on IEMs for good, I produce enough earwax that they just aren't viable for me. That said, the TRN V80s that I bought a while back and have been using sounded great and did their job fine, just, not for me.

    Ordered some Koss KSC75s as a cheap walk-around headphone until I decide what I should use for mobile listening. Though maybe they'll be good enough to just keep using, Koss seems really good at that cheap audio quality thing, since the PortaPros I bought years and years ago have always sounded incredible for the price--I just find them uncomfortable and now the audio cuts on mine if the wire isn't just right.

    Not for the first time, I'm eyeing the Drop + THX Pandas
    .

    Unless they've radically revisited the design since the original release, I cannot whole-heartedly recommend them. It took me two RMAs before I got a pair with no issues. It also doesn't look like Drop has done a V2 or anything and you currently can't buy them from Drop either.

    Steam | Nintendo ID: Naphtali | Wish List
  • DixonDixon Screwed...possibly doomed CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited November 2022
    Yeah I have a pair from release, and they are decent but I just never used them. They are very uncomfortable for me and the HD6xx sounded better.

    I currently use the closed Aeon RT's with a Qudelix 5k for travel headphones. The Panda's I've actually loaned to a cousin.

    EDIT:

    Actually that is a lie, it's mostly AirPods Pro 2 now for travel...

    Dixon on
  • Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    I've been using my Drop Panda's for awhile now. I can't really compare them to other high end sets, since I'm coming from the M50x's. They sound better than my Apple Beats Pro's. So far they've been rock solid, though just last week the cups started coming loose a bit.

    If Covid isn't a major issue, I'll probably try and go to CanJam 2024 in NYC to look at a higher end set. I can't see myself going $500+ without trying them out.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
  • NEO|PhyteNEO|Phyte They follow the stars, bound together. Strands in a braid till the end.Registered User regular
    It's time for yet another visit to this aged thread. The Astro A40s I was recommended back in 2014 are still chugging along nicely, though the cable has again frayed at the end of the plug, and it's gotten structural, I lose the right can if it wiggles wrong. Replacing the cable is simple enough, but I figure while I'm at a point where the excuse can be made, I'd check in on if there's been any revolutionary developments in the audio world to consider getting something new for.

    It was that somehow, from within the derelict-horror, they had learned a way to see inside an ugly, broken thing... And take away its pain.
    Warframe/Steam: NFyt
  • raging_stormraging_storm Registered User regular
    Kamar wrote: »
    Think I'm giving up on IEMs for good, I produce enough earwax that they just aren't viable for me. That said, the TRN V80s that I bought a while back and have been using sounded great and did their job fine, just, not for me.

    Ordered some Koss KSC75s as a cheap walk-around headphone until I decide what I should use for mobile listening. Though maybe they'll be good enough to just keep using, Koss seems really good at that cheap audio quality thing, since the PortaPros I bought years and years ago have always sounded incredible for the price--I just find them uncomfortable and now the audio cuts on mine if the wire isn't just right.

    Not for the first time, I'm eyeing the Drop + THX Pandas.

    THey should come with a cleaner. Also do yourself a favor and get a hearing aid cleaning device. This is like a soldering iron suction device. Problem solved.

  • Mai-KeroMai-Kero Registered User regular
    NEO|Phyte wrote: »
    It's time for yet another visit to this aged thread. The Astro A40s I was recommended back in 2014 are still chugging along nicely, though the cable has again frayed at the end of the plug, and it's gotten structural, I lose the right can if it wiggles wrong. Replacing the cable is simple enough, but I figure while I'm at a point where the excuse can be made, I'd check in on if there's been any revolutionary developments in the audio world to consider getting something new for.

    So I actually just picked up a new set of A50s (on sale currently although I'm still 90% sure I could have gotten a better pair from a different company if I didn't care about the wireless charging dock.) They sound wildly good in some ways, and Dolby Atmos seems neat? I listened to some Alabama Shakes and the 'soundstage' is definitely present, but in games they seem a little weird. Music/voices sounded incredible, but effects (mostly gun stuff in Destiny 2) seems... less present than the other audio? I've probably just got it equalized poorly.

  • MegaMan001MegaMan001 CRNA Rochester, MNRegistered User regular
    https://a.co/d/9BB6x8k

    I just bought this on preorder. It's all the music Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts recorded for the now canceled Netflix Cowboy Bebop show.

    It's really good. Highly recommend for anyone who likes jazz, cowboy bebop, etc.

    I am in the business of saving lives.
  • NaphtaliNaphtali Hazy + Flow SeaRegistered User regular
    My Fulla 3 is starting to flake out, again (3rd time this year, less than two years old and already been RMAd twice). I'd likely just get a Fulla E (or maybe a Hel 2E, idk), but I am just really leery now about longevity of Schiit stuff (the RMA support has been good, but still).

    Uh, any recommendations for USB DACs with headphone & microphone support?

    Steam | Nintendo ID: Naphtali | Wish List
  • raging_stormraging_storm Registered User regular
    Naphtali wrote: »
    My Fulla 3 is starting to flake out, again (3rd time this year, less than two years old and already been RMAd twice). I'd likely just get a Fulla E (or maybe a Hel 2E, idk), but I am just really leery now about longevity of Schiit stuff (the RMA support has been good, but still).

    Uh, any recommendations for USB DACs with headphone & microphone support?

    You're not going to like this but the Fulla is probably your best bet. If you want to swap brands (you seem unlucky I've never had a problem with schiits, shit!d) you want EPOS. EPOS bought out Sennheisers gaming branch sort of how lenovo bought out IBMs thinkpad/station line. The quality is still there. The GSX1000 if you have the cash is really fucking good. They also have a ton of Sennheisers air traffic control and enterprise stuff so they aren't just "gamer" now. The GSX 300 is also good though lacks a bunch of the features that most people aren't going to use anyways. It's bassically Sennhieser so if you like that brand it's a good route to go.

    https://www.eposaudio.com/en/us/gaming/products?skip=18

  • NaphtaliNaphtali Hazy + Flow SeaRegistered User regular
    Yeah, from what research I did after my initial post there just really aren't a whole lot of options in that niche.

    I know the Fulla is basically the ideal from what I'm looking for, but all I can see from multiple reviews/reddit round ups is you either get one that works (and this seems endemic across the Fulla and Hel lines), or you have nothing but trashfires (like mine). It's really very unfortunate.

    Steam | Nintendo ID: Naphtali | Wish List
  • GimGim a tall glass of water Registered User regular
    My monitors of choice are Adam Audio. I have a 3.1 setup using three A5Xs and a Sub7.

    In the past couple of years they stopped producing the A3X/A5X/A7X, so in case I need to replace anything I decided to see what their current lines are like. The T-V/H series seems to be a pretty well reviewed budget line. The current A-V/H series is pretty on par with the previous A-X series; if I had to re-do the system I'd want to splurge on some A7Vs and a Sub10. And then there's the S-V/H series. The S5V measures from 25Hz to 50kHz and is over two feet tall. Each speaker is listed at $9,100.

    How much plasma can a person donate per week before it starts becoming a problem?

  • raging_stormraging_storm Registered User regular
    Gim wrote: »
    My monitors of choice are Adam Audio. I have a 3.1 setup using three A5Xs and a Sub7.

    In the past couple of years they stopped producing the A3X/A5X/A7X, so in case I need to replace anything I decided to see what their current lines are like. The T-V/H series seems to be a pretty well reviewed budget line. The current A-V/H series is pretty on par with the previous A-X series; if I had to re-do the system I'd want to splurge on some A7Vs and a Sub10. And then there's the S-V/H series. The S5V measures from 25Hz to 50kHz and is over two feet tall. Each speaker is listed at $9,100.

    How much plasma can a person donate per week before it starts becoming a problem?

    How much do you like cookies and orange juice?

  • ButtersButters A glass of some milks Registered User regular
    edited January 2023
    I think my old man dumped about that much per tower on his pair of Sonos Fabers. They are legit amazing speakers but no WAY are they worth that at least not to me.

    Butters on
    PSN: idontworkhere582 | CFN: idontworkhere | Steam: lordbutters | Amazon Wishlist
  • MegaMan001MegaMan001 CRNA Rochester, MNRegistered User regular
    Before I go crazy did anyone here snag the Empire Records OST Vinyl from Record Store Day and wsnt to sell it before I spend hundreds on the secondary market?

    I am in the business of saving lives.
  • minor incidentminor incident expert in a dying field njRegistered User regular
    The gold double LP from like 2012? I’m afraid I’m not getting rid of mine, but there’s one on Discogs for like $173.

    Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
  • GimGim a tall glass of water Registered User regular
    Gim wrote: »
    My monitors of choice are Adam Audio. I have a 3.1 setup using three A5Xs and a Sub7.

    In the past couple of years they stopped producing the A3X/A5X/A7X, so in case I need to replace anything I decided to see what their current lines are like. The T-V/H series seems to be a pretty well reviewed budget line. The current A-V/H series is pretty on par with the previous A-X series; if I had to re-do the system I'd want to splurge on some A7Vs and a Sub10. And then there's the S-V/H series. The S5V measures from 25Hz to 50kHz and is over two feet tall. Each speaker is listed at $9,100.

    How much plasma can a person donate per week before it starts becoming a problem?

    How much do you like cookies and orange juice?

    They're the only food groups I recognize.
    Butters wrote: »
    I think my old man dumped about that much per tower on his pair of Sonos Fabers. They are legit amazing speakers but no WAY are they worth that at least not to me.

    There's a bar I've been to that has custom-made speakers that were originally used in Disneyland for years and years before they got rid of them (even though they were still perfectly functional speakers). The owner was so proud of them and he'd spin vinyl in a small room behind the bar that would play over those speakers, and they just sound so god damn good.

  • MegaMan001MegaMan001 CRNA Rochester, MNRegistered User regular
    The gold double LP from like 2012? I’m afraid I’m not getting rid of mine, but there’s one on Discogs for like $173.

    That's the one, got a link?

    I am in the business of saving lives.
  • DiarmuidDiarmuid Amazing Meatball Registered User regular
  • MegaMan001MegaMan001 CRNA Rochester, MNRegistered User regular
    Diarmuid wrote: »

    Gah! Doesn't ship to US

    I am in the business of saving lives.
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