The All Purpose Advice Thread

Discussion in 'Advice Threads' started by purr1n, Sep 26, 2015.

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  1. Galm

    Galm Still looking for Little Red Riding Hood

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    Is there a go to store to demo Campfire Andromedas or Stax headphones in NYC/anywhere?

    NYC has a bunch but I've only been to one, is one well respected here?

    I like the idea of andromedas but switching from the flawed but imo fun ie800s could be jarring. Mostly concerned if the bass is going to be like hd800 or more like a Utopia type. I much prefer Utopias bass.
     
  2. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    Any ideas on some nice IEM's for $100, similar in signature to TH-X00 or HD650 KISS
     
  3. gaspasser

    gaspasser Flatulence Maestro

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    I am looking to find headphones for my wife for iPad Netflixing that can take a beating. She lays on her side on the headphone and falls asleep with them on. She has successfully destroyed iems, ear buds, over-ear, on-ear, wired and wireless.
    I read about Bedphones but the Amazon reviews suck. I would greatly appreciate any help, thanks.
     
  4. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    Closed headphones with a removable cable? Like 598Cs?
     
  5. Mshenay

    Mshenay Barred from loaner program. DON'T SEND ME GEAR.

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    Not sure how well the newer model is built, but the HD 25-1 ii is damn rugged, I use it as my Gym Phone... it's been bumped, danged and dinged more often that I'd like to admit, without any change to the sound.

    They remain my #1 recommendation for those who destroy
     
  6. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    For ruggedness, the AIAIAI and V-Moda headphones are also worth considering.
     
  7. Mshenay

    Mshenay Barred from loaner program. DON'T SEND ME GEAR.

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    Any one ever do a V-Moda vs? I do remember the story of the vModa winding up in a river right? An it survived some how
     
  8. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    HD280Pro. Very hard to destroy, would isolate you from her Netflix better than some others, and would be hard for her to fall asleep in because they're so big and lumpy! No mic though, if that's an issue.

    Alternatively HD598Cs as @a44100Hz suggested. These are less rugged and less isolating, but more comfortable and the cord will be easier to replace if it breaks. If she'd prefer on-ears, Senn Urbanites seem pretty rugged (my wife screams herself to sleep with the Walking Dead wearing these).

    I alternate between 280s and 598s for bedtime music listening. Given adequate fluid intake, I've even managed to fall asleep with the 280s once or twice...
     
  9. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I had a bunch written up at headfi, but I think the migration killed my links so they don't work anymore. The large V-modas are all fairly typical of DJ can sound though, with pronounced bass and treble. Isolation is lousy and an intentional design choice as they put in vents to smooth out the sound. Build quality is excellent, and they will survive a toss down stairs to concrete, and yes there was a photo series of a guy who put it at the edge of a frozen lake for artistic pics and it fell in. The one exception to durability is don't drop them on the cable jack itself when a cable is plugged in. The bending due to the plug moving inside will crack the jack housing. Portability is great with the hinge mechanism. Fit/comfort is generally good, although for me I wish the cups could rotate a bit on the vertical axis, but this would weaken it somewhat.

    Sound on the smaller models is much smoother and hifi than the big ones. Reasonably flat with a slight bass tilt.
     
  10. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    Or buy like 20 Veclan monks for $100. |\/| (They're seriously $5 each)
     
  11. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Softer pillows?

    Seriously... I wonder if, for instance, memory foam might help with this. The idea would be not so much softness, as adapting to the shape of the phones lump on the side of her head.

    Don't know how she does it: I can barely lie on my side wearing soft earplugs, let alone earbuds, and certainly not 'phones.
     
  12. Poleepkwa

    Poleepkwa Friend

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    My daughter (11) has had a pair of white M80's for over 3 years. Still going strong.The prices these go for secondhand makes it a really worthwhile investment.
    @Armaegis have you tried the new Crossfade wireless yet?
     
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2017
  13. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Not the wireless ones. In the past I've owned the LP (hacked it into an ortho actually), LP2, M80 and XS, and heard the M100. The M80 and XS are actually quite decent. The LP/LP2 are bass heavy and not my cup of tea, but not horrible for what they are (but not a DJ recommendation from me). The M100 sways even further into the bass range, but with the XL pads is comfortable enough that I'd recommend it for someone who wants that sound and super durability/portability.
     
  14. The Absurdist

    The Absurdist New

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    Goal: Find a product that streams Tidal wirelessly to Yggdrasil using Tidal on iOS.

    Chromecast Audio seems to be close to this idea, but has a DAC, which I obviously don't care about.

    Right now I'm wondering if my ideal product exists. There's a lot of streamers that support Tidal. All of them seem to suggest that I should "enter Tidal credentials...then use app XYZ to access Tidal". This is exactly what I'm not looking for and my brain is just firing category errors. It seems terribly wasteful that each streamer implements their UI. Spotify Connect seems to have the correct idea about how to structure the relationship between a streamer and the app.
     
  15. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Use the optical out on Chromecast Audio or coax on the Sonos Connect.
     
  16. Thenewerguy009

    Thenewerguy009 Friend

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    Can anyone point me in the right direction?

    I want to eventually try A/B test with DACs in the future & wanted the ease of hitting just a button to switch between them. Having to unplug everything from one DAC & replug it to another would seem to really mess up the quick thought needed for A/B comparisons.

    Is there a box that I can hook both DACs & then connect it to a amp & then just push a button to switch between them with no interruption in music?
    Anything with XLR balanced & AES & Coax digital connections?
     
  17. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    Other than a box I built for myself ... the only other one I know of is the Van Asltine ABX Comparator.

    @atomicbob Sometimes uses the Van Asltine ABX box.

    If you're not looking for the ability to do a blind(ish) test, then you can do most of what you need with any audio player that can group outputs/devices (e.g. Roon will do this, even for differential transports), and output to them simultaneously (no issue having two DACs connected via USB, or via two independent S/PDIF interfaces, simultaneously here), and just routing their outputs to different inputs on your amp - then manually switching between them.

    It's worth noting that some of the subtler differences don't show up well in A/B or A/B/X style testing and require more protracted listening.

    Level matching is the biggest challenge here, which my box, and the Van Asltine both address. Putting a passive attenuator in line between the DACs and amp is the simplest way to handle that, though to do it properly you need to be able to measure the outputs ... matching by ear is essentially impossible to even a tenth of the precision that such boxes enable.

     
    Last edited: Jul 25, 2017
  18. dropadred

    dropadred New

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    Well, basically Schiit SYS will do that job for you, will it not? Then you just use outputs for any HP/Speaker Amp you wish to test it with.

    And good luck, you have chosen a tough job to do, DACs are not an easy one to compare.
     
  19. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    You'd need three of them, if you wanted to level match. As well as something to measure the output with - since it's almost impossible to match accurately enough by ear (and a typical SPL meter isn't going to get that job done for a variety of reasons).

    If you're not going to level match properly, then you may as well just feed both DACs into different inputs on your amp and use it to switch between them directly. Driving two DACs from a single source is easy.
     
  20. bigfatpaulie

    bigfatpaulie Tried to screw other friends while playing victim

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    Does any one have any experience with a Mark Levinson No. 36s? I just was wondering how it stacks up to modern DAC's.
     
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