The All Purpose Advice Thread

Do you have a halogen light nearby? I've heard them make a similar noise through a phone.

 

Figured it out. Thanks for the reply

 

Hi SBAF'ers.... Just a quick question for you....

I have a Schiit Valhalla 2 tube amplifier and, in an effort to tidy up my listening area / living room a little I put it on a shelf. My OCD worry is now kicking in a little and I am wondering if a tube amp on a shelf with 5inches of clearence is a good or incredibly silly idea.

Are we talking fire hazard, tube burnout, or just a slightly scorched shelf?

Much appreciated for any feedback.

Thank you.

 

@Robert777 , I have less clearance using my Valhalla 2 and no problem with fire or scorched surfaces. I can't speak to tube burnout, but I imagine that tubes were designed to operate in pretty tight spaces.

 

While the Valhalla 2 can get warm or even hot, I do not think you have to worry about a fire hazard. and it certainly shouldn't scorch your shelf. I Would recommend putting on the rubber feet that came with your Valhalla 2, but as far as being a fire hazard or ruining your shelf, I seriously doubt it.

 

Rogue Audio recommends 6" above my Cronus Magnum II, which sports 4 KT120 tubes on the power end. So I'd imagine even 3" or 4" for your Valhalla would be fine, but I wouldn't go so far as to say clearance doesn't matter at all.

 

Whatever the device, if it is electronic, then it will live longer if it lives cooler. Got this from an elder hifi repair man, link lost, a few years back. Put something under the feet to increase air space below, and give it headroom to breathe.

Probably matter less to those who don't want to still be looking at the same electronics next decade, but hey, regular in/out/left/right/up-graders are probably passing their old stuff on, so there is still reason to think about how long it is going to live.

In this tropical city, a friend used to run a big tube amp with a fan blowing on it. Can't say that added fan was a great addition to the sound, but he really liked that amp, and it got hot.

Anyway, the repairman whose blog I got the ventilation, ventilation and more ventilation hint from reckoned that having not quite enough airflow designed in was one way of making sure that people bought new sooner. Or took stuff to him for repair.

 

Hello again, hopefully this will be short and easier to answer (no responses before ):

I have been asking people's opinion on hd600 vs hd650 for an all around headphones and would like to know yours if possible. I do not want to perform any irreversible mod to any of them, but I won't be afraid to use a bit of EQ if needed (especially since I also value deep bass for tracks that demand it like organ etc or movies). From my research it appears the new hd 650 is a lot closer to the hd600 with slightly less distortion(bass), the bass extends a bit further but has slightly less treble, however it is more refined/detailed. If this is correct would then te 650 have more potential EQ wise?

Thanks!

 

HD650 hands down IMO

 

I think any headphone sound signature can be heavily altered with EQ. That said, the HD650 sings beautifully with vocals and acoustic instruments. You may be unimpressed with the low end for movies and such, but may forgive that for its ability to engage you and not tire you out. Depending on your source, you may want to try Sonarworks plugins especially if you don't want to mod them. Your amplifier choice is important of course as well.

 

Yes I am afraid to mod them as I do not think I have a lot of skill when it comes to perform such task, I would probably create channel imbalance. As far as I understood dynamat mod would be the only one worth to do alone that could be reversed and would not create channel imbalance. Hopefully some EQ to sub bass might give the 6xx just enough to make them ok to nice with movies. Thanks for the quick responses!

 

Has anyone had a chance to pair Ifi Retro Stereo 50 with HD650 and HE500? I am seriously considering to purchase Retro 50 for headphone (now) and speaker amp (for future) and almost impossible to try before purchasing here. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

Have you, or anyone here, tried to tweak them with EQ or Sonarworks and how did this translate to movies and music that has more low end? Would you consider them ok in this scenario?

 

Here you go. Consensus seems to be positive.

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...one-try-sonarworks-headphone-calibration.699/

 

In the market for a new amp. At the moment, I have the HD600 and HD700. In the fall, I plan on picking up the Atticus. Currently, I'm running the Sennheisers out of the Xonar Essence STX. It's okay, but I'd like something a bit warmer to tame the HD700 a bit.

My budget is roughly $350. I'd like something that is semi-futureproof and works pretty well with all three listed above. That said, I'm currently looking at the Valhalla 2, Project Solstice/Ember, and LD III. I'm open to suggestions though. Anyone able to chime in?

 

Hi guys these days I'm not at home a lot any more due to work and school and if I am I live between two houses so lugging a desktop system between them isn't ideal. I was wondering what are the best candidates for a mobile stack or setup with a reasonably flexible budget, around half a grand.

I currently have a Fiio E17K that I can take around with me to drive my 650's where required. When I compare it to my iPhone 6 I notice it feels a little warmer, less precise and noticeably fuzzier for lack of a better term. As expected the E17k get louder than my phone but when I use it with my se535s I see no real benefit as I just get a more noticeable noise floor. My experimenting has led me to believe that it is the E17's amp stage primarily that is lacking.

I currently use Apple music in general and CD rips ALAC's on F2K on my iPhone and laptop for the music is listen to often. Are DAPs a worthwhile investment or should I stick to a DAC/AMP that I can use with my phone and laptop.

Any guidance on whats good in the mobile space right now would be greatly appreciated.

 

I am looking for some advice. I sold my DAC so I need to get another one, a used one is fine. I would LOVE to get a Schiit Gungnir or Gungnir Multibit but if that isn't possible, I am looking for a good Balanced DAC. If I cannot get a Gungnir or Gungnir Multibit, what do you guys suggest for a good balanced DAC? My budget is about $750

What do you guys think of the TEAC NT-503 Dual-Monaural USB DAC or the Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus USB DAC ?

 

I've heard the There Exists Alternatives Cheaper (TEAC) UD-501 some years back and was severely underwhelmed, not sure if the NT503 will be similar.

I was happy with the Geek Pulse series and they should be available fairly cheap due to LHLabs' reputation, perhaps you can consider a Geek Pulse X.

 

I actually have a base Pulse that I got for $250, and I am quite happy with the dac itself, though the amp section isn't ideal with my hd600s and dt880s. Lots o' power, though. I use it with the Vali2 and it is surprisingly close (though not quite) to my modi mb, especially for a es9018 implementation. The latest usb input is actually better than the modi's. Ymmv of course.

 

You will not find much love or TEAC DACs in general here, but, to compare with different DAC, at some point I did buy both Modi Multibit, and TEAC UD-501. I have to say that over SPDIF (either using Xonar Essence SPX, RPi Digi Plus Pro, or Gustard U12), in fully balanced setup, UD-501 is just way better sounding in terms of clarity, separation and sound stage. And that what counts the most for me, but that's entirely the matter of preference.
The UD-501 amp section.. forget about it.
And please remember that my impressions are using a reasonable quality SPDIF., the verdict on UD-501 with USB may be entirely different.
I have bad experience with Cambridge quality, my first DAC, DacMagic 100, was repaired two times (power supply) and died anyway (power supply).