The All Purpose Advice Thread

If I wanted a single headphone that gave me the best aspects of a current-issue HD-650 (un-modded) and the LCD-2.2c*, what would I look at?

Focal Elear? Something from ZMF?

Don't care about stage with headphones, but do want to retain plankton and musicality.

Chain would be Gungnir MB -> Raganarok -> <CANS>

(I have no particular NEED to consolidate this pair of cans, just a desire to do so).

--

*I have no idea how close to "unicorn" my LCD-2.2c are, but they're embarrassingly close to my LCD-4.

 

@Torq .. I think the ZMF Atticus is up your alley. Elear a possibility too.. but I sense the Atticus' midrange is probably less wonky than the (un-modded) Elear's mids. Therefore, the former is almost certainly closer to the LCD-2.2 & HD650's even keeled midrange.

 

With reference to soundstage and bass, I would suggest:

WE396a - best (deepest) soundstage, bass slightly soft/rounded and slightly elevated. Fun.
Siemens E88CC - tight, accurate bass in neutral amounts, well balanced FR with some colouration in mids. Pretty good soundstage.
Russian Vokshod/Reflektor from 1970s - tight, accurate, slightly elevated bass, quite upper-mid forward. Good technicalities.

WE and Siemens should be <$100. The Russians maybe <$60. The whole 6922 family is a pretty poor value proposition IMO so don't go mad.

 

Well, I just got a taste for R2R with my dual PCM 63k tube DAC (yes it has a tube), I am currently just using a simple USB to coaxial digital to connect it to my PC. I have tried the gungnir MB and TBH I am not the biggest fan of it.
The Holo audio L1 and L2 has a price difference of about 200€ here in EU, is it worth getting the L2 over the L1? I was thinking about getting a gustard U12 or if I want to spend more then the Mutec MC-1.2 and then run AES to the DAC. I also need to upgrade my headphone amp, but that is first at the end of this year

 

R2R does not mean it's necessarily a non-oversampling design. Nor does it being based on a PCM63. And NOS vs. OS is going to make a big enough difference in the sound (bigger than anything else we're talking about) that you'll want to be sure about what you're getting into (or that you can get out of it if you don't like it).

I would make sure I was using an I2S interface before I spent the additional money on the L2. While AES is definitely better than USB, you won't be getting the most the DAC has to offer and I personally feel that an L1 via I2S will beat an L2 via AES. And, if you want to use it with DSD content, you'll either be limited to DSD64 or you'll have to use either the USB or I2S inputs to get support for more than that.

Also, there's not a huge point to using a re-clocker with the Holo Audio Spring DAC as it re-clocks its inputs anyway.

 

I know that my dual 63k an R2R DAC, but sadly it isn't working out for me that well because of a 2.2 VRMS output.
What is a good L2S interface that doesn't cost too much? Plus 200€ isn't too much price difference up in this price class, so if the L2 is a bit better than the L1 to make it worth the extra price then I will get the L2

 

Again, this doesn't address whether it's NOS or OS. It could be either. If you say, specifically, which DAC it is I can tell you, otherwise you're missing the point here. There's no point in me responding to further posts unless you're able to clear this up.

Because it's too high? Or because that's too low?

If it's because it's too high, then you're going to have issues with the Spring DAC as well - as that ran it's outputs on the hot side.

The Singxer SU-1 is the most cost effective non-DIY solution I know of.

 

That's a tough one, cause the Elear is a tricky headphone and it might not take over from both of those headphones. I participated in a group buy for it, listened to them for a while, didn't like em, swapped pads, liked em better but in direct A/B with 650 they still seemed "off". So I sold them. Then I got curious to mod more, because come on, how hard can it be to fix the Elear's issues? Turns out the answer is "very hard" cause I sold them the second time as well. People do liken them to a LCD2 so maybe you won't take issue with them as much as me. If you do go for them (and they're cheap used nowadays so it might not be a huge loss to try and sell), get a HM5 pad or if you have some zmf or alpha pads laying around, to throw on them with double sided tape. The Elear do sound cleaner/clearer than the 650 in many ways, but the FR is just weird and disjointed, and tonality is king. Mods do go a long way, so there's a chance you'll be happy post mods!

The ZMF is a possibility, with the Atticus being the (much) warmer/darker of the two. Since you're not super concerned with soundstage, that's a plus, but they might feel overdamped compared to the 650 (don't know the LCD2 well enough to comment on it). If you like dark, then the Atticus is a possibility but I'd personally probably go for the Eikon for the more natural tonal balance.

If you like Audeze another one to consider at a much higher price is the PMx2. Much more neutral though, but similar to Audeze in its smooth orthodynamic sound. I only listened to them briefly at a meet but I'm waiting for the loaner, whenever that thing happens. Sounds really good out of the Ragnarok.

 

I can't tell you the name of my current DAC, because it is a DIY that only really was in Denmark and you can find basically zero info about it online. The 2.2 is too high for my current amp. Not that this matters, since I will get a new R2R DAC this year and maybe keep my current one just for my speakers if it wants to work like it should with my receiver.
380€ is quite a bit of money for it, but if it is worth it then fine.

 

Then the Spring DAC is not what you want as its outputs run a bit hot and you'll have the same problem with it that you have with your current DAC.

It's a bigger upgrade than going from L1 -> L2 in my opinion.

 

@Torq, I wonder if @Marvey can sneak you on the Atticus loaner tour. That would sure help...

 

well as I said before I will upgrade my amp, just not sure to which. Probably a Valhalla 2 for HD 650's and such, not sure about the amp for my planar headphones. The reason why I haven't upgrade my amp yet is because I always have things over for testing that some person wants me to test for a weeks time.

 

Might be suboptimal for loaner. Patience for the greater good

 

Hi there,

You seem to have asked for amp advice 3-4 times now since Jan-Feb. Hope you found what you were looking for.

Now please take a few minutes and head over to the must-read-for-new-members thread:

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/must-read-for-new-members.3/

Then go to introduction thread and introduce yourself:
http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/new-members-introduce-yourself.17/

 

I have mainly been asking for friends, this time it is for myself

 

What are some closed back headphones like the MDR-Z1R without a crazy price tag?
Anything? I really like them, but for $1899 I could buy a used car.

 

What is it that you like about the Z1R? IMHO, a ZMF atticus or eikon would be a better performer for at least $500 less.

 

More bass compared to HD650, also seem more detailed, but not in a grado way.Quite parts seem even quieter, greater dynamic range I guess? Possibly punchier. They just seem to do things better than the HD650 to me. The closed backness will be nice for college, can use in public without hearing people/people hearing me. Also, comfort is better.

 

I actually really like the TH-X00 with the Dekoni x Massdrop Sheepskin pads without the attenuation ring. They are my closed back reference headphone now. Before they were too bassy with an obvious boomy or boxy bass imparted on everything. Now, they still have bass but all frequencies are well represented. The vocal presence region is slightly accentuated which I prefer.

 

Ive been thinking about those for a while... need to find some way to try them though.