The All Purpose Advice Thread

The HiFi Berry option only makes sense with the Digi+ Pro (w/ transformer) option. The iFi DDC functionality isn't bad, but isn't as good as it could be. If you HAVE to do something TODAY you'll be best served, from the options you list, with the Lynx card (though it's not without its complications).

But, really, wait a couple of months and there will be better, more cost-effective, options.

 

Thank you Torq. I'll do just that! Tbh everything sounds pretty great already. It's just that I read a lot of tempting descriptions on why spdif, pci,etc. is better and I wanted to see for myself =). Your solution is much more reasonable.

 

Sometimes it's easier to spend money than to hold on to it. I've finally reached that conclusion and am holding out until I find EXACTLY what I want, then enjoy it!

 

Ayyy guys how's it going? So I have had the ZMF Ori (formerly known as Omni) for a while and while I really like the sound, female vocals aren’t as magical as on the hifiman he-400i. I’m finding the Ori a tad too heavy for me too. Not comfortable at all for me due to its weight and clamping force. So I’ve decided to sell the Ori’s for good.

And now having further discovered my own preferences I will say that I’m a slight basshead, love forward midrange with engaging vocals and am sensitive to and not fond of treble peaks. So I’m looking for a FUN and ENGAGING sounding headphone and it has to be light-weight and comfortable. I listen to primarily progressive rock e.g steven wilson, porcupine tree, blind pilot also electronic music a lot too e.g deadmau5, lorn, daft-punk etc. and female vocal heavy music such as Rachel Sermanni, Bjork, Diana Krall. I love Jazz and pop music a bit too. My budget is below $400 as I feel uncomfortable spending more than that at the moment. I’m willing to buy used to get better deals.

I’m considering the following headphones and iems: Fostex th-x00, Bowers and Wilkins P7 wireless, Meze 99 classics, Oppo pm-3, Sony mdr-7550 aka 800st, Cascadia audio Talos, ZMF classic, ZMF Vibro mkii (used), fitear f111, in-ear stage driver 2, empire ears Spartan IV universal (saw a used one on headfi going for $425, a little over my budget but am willing to stretch because it seems like a good deal) and audio technical im02.

Which do y’all think would be the better fit for my needs? I’ll primarily listen at home but will also occasionally use them portably. My current set up is Schiit Modi Multibit and a Schiit Magni 2. Thanks in advance!!!
Edit: I'm heavily considering Audeze sines with pad upgrades as well.

 

TH-X00 (Mahogany) would likely be a great fit - they're fun and engaging and reasonably efficient. The only concern would be with regards to comfort. Some folks find the pads a non-starter.

 

Well I'm just worried about the fostex's mid suck out. I might be a sight basshead but I can't do without my mids.

 

hello,

non-audio advice request.

i am coming into a modest inheritance and MrsForBin is allowing me to blow it on whatever i want.

i haven't built a new desktop since 2010, and i really want to play with RAID for secondary storage.

so, i need recommendations for a desktop RAID 10, PCIe, SATA controller card.

only need 4 internal ports.

cheers.

 

E-Mu Teak. No mid suck out, less etched treble, and far better balanced with that sub bass boost intact. Also lighter since the Teak cups are thin as f**k. Email Chan directly at [email protected]. Takes him sometime to reply, but the Teak is significantly better than the THx00 in my opinion.

 

I just got a emu teak on ebay. Really can't wait for it to arrive.

 

I also recommend th-x00. Although I didn't have x00, I had denon d5000 (2012 revision) roughly for one year. At least for d5000, midrange was very lovely, not ruler flat tho. I assume x00 would be quite similar with d5000 except small improvements.

There are many good discussions about x00 here, also you can find helpful articles at inner fidelity.

 

From recollection the D5000 is much more similar to the Teak than the THx00. The THx00 has a lower midrange dip and etched treble which makes it fairly V-shaped sounding while the old Denons and the Teak are more a descending slope type of sound signature.

 

Wow, now you have me *really* intrigued

 

I travel a lot for work, family, and vacation between my home in the US West Coast, the East Coast, and Europe. Good music and good reading are essential for the longer flights (eg. 11 hours from SFO to ZRH). My current lightweight travel music source is an iBasso DX-90 with Etymotic ER-4PT in-ear earphones with their universal silicone tips. I'm wondering if I could get significantly better noise isolation with custom IEMs, such as with Noble Audio Django silicone CIEMs. Alternatively, I could go with third-party custom sleeves for the Etymotics, such as those from Sensaphonics. Even the most expensive of these solutions is a small fraction of what I've spent on personal travel since I got the Etymotics, so I'm not too worried about price, just about improved isolation if that is available. If I also get good advice on upgrades to the DX-90, I won't complain. It's a reasonable portable source, but its battery life has never been great and it's getting worse as the battery ages (I know, I can get a replacement battery), and its (relative to my non-portable setups) upper-range stridency is getting a bit old, and there are lots of new DAPs on the market but a pretty confusing landscape as to which ones are real progress. I don't care about streaming, Bluetooth, wifi, or other cost-and-complexity-increasing features, just maximum storage and sound quality in a small, lightweight package.

 

You'll get a bit more isolation from a well done custom tip, but the ER4 tr-flanged tips are pretty much the standard for isolation. If that's not cutting it, then your next best choice is active noise cancelling. The Er4 will sound better than any ANC headphone that I know of, however.

 

Thank you, very useful, I just did not know how much further in isolation one could go beyond the tri-flanged tips, which is what I've been using. I listen for many hours without fatigue while traveling by selecting the right music and level, but there's enough background plane noise that I wondered if there was a significant step up. I think I'll stay with the ER4s then.

 

For even better isolation you can use the ety foam tips on the ER4s. Worked wonders for me on the London tube and buses. However these don't last as long as the tri-flanged ones.

 

I have both the ER4S and well-done acrylic UERMs, and the former isolate better than my CIEMs. I'd expect silicone CIEMs to isolate about on par with the ER4S.

However, if you're crazy enough, you could of course try to wear ANC headphones on top of your ER4S. I once tried this with a couple of open IEMs and posted my experience on head-fi. The biggest drawback was an impact on sound quality, but that only applies to vented IEMs. With the ER4S, this might actually give you just the few dBs on top of their passive isolation that you're looking for.

 

..or some really serious ear defenders!

(You would have to be fairly crazy, though.)

 

My experience of isolation (from best to worst): silicon customs > acrylic customs > foam > tri-flange silicone > dual-flange silicon. My ear canals are quite oval. Assumed customs are well-fitted. Not a fan of digital ANC sound repro.

 

Thanks, but that would break my travel-light rule. If it does not fit on a small pocket in my backpack, it's too big. Only break the rule for skiing or mountaineering gear