The All Purpose Advice Thread

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

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  1. penguins

    penguins Friend, formerly known as fp627

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    So I have an arcam rHead for C/IEM use. Nothing wrong with it, but after listening to other higher end amps, I'm wondering if I need to step up. Would still be perfectly content running rhead though. Does anyone have any suggestions not Massdrop THX789.

    Requirements:
    - Very black/quiet background, quiet as or quieter than rhead. rhead is quieter than most amps, including many amps considered TOTL here, and I can still easily background noise, enough that it impacts the music. With that being said I don't use a linear power supply. On the flip side a $50 or $100 DAP can easily be dead silent.
    - Needs to be a noticeable step up in SQ from rhead.
    - Fine volume control at all levels for C/IEM use.
    - Neutral and accurate / clear sound. But not the bring and slightly "hot" THX789 sound.
    - Has SE outputs available (not XLR only output).
     
  2. E_Schaaf

    E_Schaaf MOT: E.T.A Headphones

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    Thought about posting this in the Bifrost 2 thread but it seemed just a bit off-topic -

    It's interesting how, with the release of Unison, we're now hearing impressions about Eitr being 'compressed' and 'rounded'. When Eitr came out everyone was head-over-heels for it... wasn't it a Golden Schlong 2017 winner? Many said it 'effectively killed USB nervosa' - ironic how the nervosa is back with a vengeance now that Unison is on the market. I suppose there will always be a new toy to have FOMO about.

    If there won't be a Unison Eitr (and I do totally understand the reasoning behind this), wondering what better PC -> Coax SPDIF / AES transports are out there (which hopefully approach a quality CD transport) as someone who owns 0 CDs, has a DAC with no USB input, and only listens from a computer as a source.

    I'm aware of the Lynx stuff, Rednet stuff. Not sure what advice I'm seeking. Just pondering how Unison may shake the market a bit.
     
  3. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    Everything sounds good until you hear something better.
     
  4. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Do us all a favour and be one of the first reviewers of the Schiit Asgard 3. If you don't like it, it'll only cost you $30 if you get it back to them within 15 days :D
     
  5. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    [​IMG]

    Schiit Jotunheim
    Schiit Lyr 3
    Schiit Yggdrasil A2
    Schiit Saga
    [​IMG]
     
  6. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    Honestly very few interface brands have reliable computer interfacing. There are only a couple super reliable usb brands and a few Thunderbolt brands that actually work ime. Otherwise you’re stuck with just trying stuff. The other brands just use third party drivers and are super hit or miss if they work at all. Then you get them to work but when the driver, program, or os hiccups, FULL SCALE DIGITAL NOISE.
     
  7. MrTeaRex

    MrTeaRex His head's not fat, he's my brother!

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    Isn't that the name of your new band?
     
  8. RobS

    RobS RobS? More like RobDiarrhea.

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    If Psalm is making Metal Machine Music 2, I'm ready to pre-order the mp3 version at 128kbps.
     
  9. Inoculator

    Inoculator Friend

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    I decided to sell my office setup (Monolith THX), and pick up the new Bifrost 2 as I have really been enjoying the upgrade to Gungnir Multibit A2 Gen 5 at home so far. Looking for advice on an amp pairing. Balanced strongly preferred, budget recommendations appreciated ($500ish and under). Will be paired with a wide variety of cans (Koss Porta Pros, HD 6XX, and MD+ IEMS live at work, HD 800s and ZMF Auteur make appearances) Early in this hobby, I used the old version Jotunheim with Modi Multibit and HD 6XX and was quite happy with that setup. Since then I have enjoyed moving to the Liquid Platinum at home as my primary amp. The things I appreciate about the Liquid Platinum over the Jotunheim are the ease/naturalness of the presentation, the fluidity of the mids, and the holographic presentation.

    Really leaning toward getting a Jotunheim again, it would stack nicely for a tidy work setup, is affordable, balanced, and a sound I know I enjoyed in the past. That being said, I haven't heard the new revision of the Jotunheim, and I have gone through a fair amount of gear since then.

    Based on the early Bifrost 2 impressions, do folks have any advice on amp pairings they would recommend? (Recommendations for all budgets still helpful) I figure a lot of folks purchasing the new Biforst 2 would benefit from some amp advice!
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2019
  10. Tchoupitoulas

    Tchoupitoulas Friend

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    Hi everyone. I’d like to ask for some advice, please. I’m posting here because the issue might be applicable to tubes and tube amps generally. Basically, I’d like to ask if the problem I’m having is with a tube or my ZDT Jr amplifier itself.

    I have been using the ZDT Jr for only a short time, no more than 30 hours, and while I understand that tubes require longer to burn off impurities and to settle down, I have been getting quick bursts of loud popping sounds in the left channel of my headphones. It's happening more frequently and severely over the last few hours (it didn't happen at first). The pops - or perhaps “clicks” puts it better - happen only intermittently but do so quickly, often in a rapid, staccato series. The sound is quite loud - loud enough to make me wince.

    I think I’ve identified the proximate cause of the problem: 1) The pops happen regardless of whether music is playing; I hear the same kind of pop when I turn the amplifier on, and volume level makes no difference. 2) The pops are only heard with this ZDT Jr amplifier; I do not have it with my MCTH, which would seem to eliminate the headphones and source as the causes. 3) To determine if the tubes in the ZDT Jr are responsible for the sound, I switched the smaller tubes in the front from one side to the other, and the pops continued to be heard only in the left channel; when I switched the rear tubes from one side to the other, the popping sound switched over to the right channel on my headphones.

    Would I be right in thinking, then, that one of the rear tubes is the cause of the problem? Or could it be some other underlying problem with the amp? I haven't seen anything about this issues in the ZDT Jr. threads of various forums.

    I'm asking about this because Drop’s support gave me the option of returning the amp for a refund or keeping it and getting $20 back. Ideally I’d love to keep the ZDT Jr, I’m very much enjoying it with the RDAC and my HD 800, but I don’t want to get stuck with a defective amp. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Would it be reasonable to ask for a month to decide - and to see if another pair of tubes would solve the problem?
     
  11. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    @Tchoupitoulas , you did your due diligence and it seems pretty clear the issue is the rear tubes. I’m not sure it’s reasonable to expect another month to evaluate, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. I’m not very familiar with the ZDT jr, so I don’t know if $20 would buy you a new pair of tubes or just one. Personally, I’d rather have them send me a new pair of tubes and call it good.

    I guess you need to decide if you think you like the sound so far, ignoring the tube problems... if you think you like it, I’d probably take the $20 credit and buy a new pair of tubes even though you still would probably have to spend a bit more out of pocket. You’d have the opportunity to go with some slightly better tubes.
     
  12. StageOne

    StageOne Friend

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    I have a ZDT and experienced some of the same pops/clicks with newly acquired tubes. They usually go away within 10mins or so. If you swap rear tubes and it followed, I'd look for a new set of rears.
     
  13. penguins

    penguins Friend, formerly known as fp627

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    @Tchoupitoulas
    It's the tubes. $20 is enough for 3-4 of the same stock Voskhod rear tubes (if not more) or you can get a matched pair for no more than $10. + $10-20 to ship the tube.

    FWIW, I have a ZDT Jr. and IMO the voicing of the amp is actually pretty dialed in to the stock tubes. Upgraded tubes may or may not be upgrades to you.
     
  14. Tchoupitoulas

    Tchoupitoulas Friend

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    @crazychile, @StageOne, and @fp627 – thank you ever so much for your responses and for your kind help, I am most grateful. Thank you also for the reassurance and the confirmation about the tubes being the likely culprit. I’ve purchased a replacement pair (without upgrading!) and hope this does the trick.
     
  15. eyrepm

    eyrepm New

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    Hello, friends.

    I need advice on a speaker setup.

    Gear:
    - Schiit Ragnarok 2
    - Schiit Gungnir MB A2
    - Zu Audio Omen DW

    Goal:
    - Smoother sound (a bit too forward/tiring now)

    Questions:
    - What is the easiest/cheapest way to make the sound smoother?
    - What is the best way to make it smoother?

    I'm thinking of Yggdrasil A2 or actually Bifrost 2.

    Other things?
     
  16. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    Can you give a little more detail on what you mean by "smoother?"
     
  17. eyrepm

    eyrepm New

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    Yes. I feel the overall sound is a bit tiring and forward, if I'm using that term correctly. I was using the very first Bifrost until recently, which allowed me to really crank the system, and it sounded great. Now, on the other hand, it is a bit tiring and slightly unpleasant.

    I went for the Gungnir thinking I'd get more of the same, and greater detail and clarity. I did get the latter, but I also got a sharpness. I'd say the gear is "broken in" and warmed up well.

    So, in short, it's less pleasant to listen to now. Which is why I'm thinking I could perhaps go for the Bifrost 2 instead.

    Other than that, I wouldn't say the treble is too harsh, necessarily. It's not sticking out like sore thumb.
     
  18. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    Your just hearing that your speakers have aluminum tweeters now due to greater clarity on the treble from your DA. Honestly the fix is to just ditch them. Go soft dome. It is the only way. Don't even go ring radiator due to reflections off of the phase plug.

    To hide the problem, go Modi Multibit. That will hide everything. Maybe too much. Maybe Bifrost 2 is cool but I've never heard it so I can't recommend it. If you got cash to spare and want something that's like the original Bifrost and Bifrost Uber decked to 11, get the Lavry DA11. The Lavry Blacks are still awesome but it might reveal your metal tweeter too much. Who knows. Only you can find out.
     
  19. GTABeancounter

    GTABeancounter Friend

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    I can't disagree with anything you've said. But I would like to offer up another suggestion before eyrepm spends more $$$, I wonder if experimenting with a bit less toe-in (assuming the speakers are even "toed in" to begin with) could help. IE; less on axis sound = less high frequency energy at listening position.
     
  20. RobS

    RobS RobS? More like RobDiarrhea.

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    There was some talk about assy USB ports not doing so well with Unison and I really don't want to go down the USB nervosa rabbit hole.

    I want a laptop/tablet/portable device/ that can run Tidal, Qobuz, an audio player that can do WASAPI (eg foobar2000) and maybe around a 1TB of storage space for music files. It's going to be dedicated device only for music, so I'd imagine I don't need something powerful.

    I just want to hook it up via USB to the Unison port on the back of the Bifrost. If there is something relatively inexpensive that has a good enough USB port for Unison, and can run the audio programs I want, great. I don't care about brands. Maybe budget it under $300? Not sure if that's going to be feasible in the laptop market.

    Any recommendations?
     
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