The All Purpose Advice Thread - Part 2

At that price you could re-sell it without taking a loss. If nothing else you could get a free, long-term home trial of it. I tend to jump on these affordable opportunities if only to learn more about the hobby and my preferences, and to figure out what synergies there may be with my gear or not. Do it - and if it doesn't work out, sell it to us cheaply here

 

Haha yeah... but the chances of me selling it are slim to none. One of my oldest friends in audio, he and I both know he could sell it for more. Hes doing me a solid by offering it up for half the OG retail. Im leaning heavily towards pulling the trigger on friday, doing my diligence, I like thoughts/insight from folks that dont think like me.

 

I’ve owned or heard most of the Schiit DACs you’ve mentioned and most recently “upgraded” from a Gungnir A2 to a Yggydrasil A2 and for me, it was better across the board. I have no regrets on the change and I’ve compared/preferred it to a couple of more expensive DACs. If you like the overall Schiit sound, you won’t be disappointed with the Yggdrasil.

 

Got a friend laid up for a while after a bad accident. She's looking for HPs on a budget. Probably 200 Euros max. Fine with open-back. Probably needs to be able to be driven from a phone.

I suggested HE400SE, but, given her taste in music--a lot of Krautrock--she maybe wants something with a bit more bass kick. So...

--open-back
--not bass shy
--can be driven by phone
--available in the EU/Germany

Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

A gently used Philips Fidelio X2 or X2/HR

 

Drop HE-5xx - love it. May not be everyone's total thumpiness end game, but I think it's plenty and love it for the quality AND mostly thumpiness. It's $229, but often goes on sale or can be found used. https://drop.com/buy/drop-hifiman-he5xx

Oops. Just noticed the Germany / EU bit. Hmm. Missed because of your $200 sign. Ok, I'm not familiar with what's available in Europe... but if HiFiMan is, they make good kit. good luck!

 

HD58X, HD560S, PC38X

 

Oops, changed to 200 Euros.

 

Sennheisers regional websites offer a good selection of refurbished headphones at really good prices. Could always check there for deals.

https://global.sennheiser-hearing.com/collections/sennheiser-outlet

 

Relative pinged me for advice but I don't use iOS unless I absolutely have to; any idea how to output iPad audio to a Windows PC (laptop I believe) with minimal latency? Can be via a dongle or purely through software, but they're insistent on keeping it simple/"without delay".

(grumbles about Cupertino and its stupid walled garden)

EDIT:
He prefers wired and has an iFi Zen DAC; a dedicated streamer is more than he'd like to spend but he may cave if it's low enough latency. His main use case will be to play rhythm games on his iPad, which explains the need for immediate responsiveness.

 

iPad to USB dongle to iFi if you want to keep the DAC. iPad out through 3.5mm dongle to headphones is about as close to “instant” as it gets. You can run that 3.5mm out to a PC input, but then you have unavoidable DA-AD conversion lag.

There are some pieces of software that let the Windows PC be an Airplay target, but the ones I know are AP1 spec, which is not even remotely “instant”.

 

Yep, figured that airplay stuff would be an instant disqualification since he's going for rhythm game performance. Thanks, will pass that along! Thinking it might just be easier to have the iPad feed directly into the Zen but he might be capturing/streaming things ergo the PC. Didn't ask.

 

So this all started after my wife offered to help me buy a nice pair of headphones and the ETA Mini S caught my eye.

Typically for relaxed listening I listen to vinyl through headphones. I usually listen to vinyl to relax and have a pretty simple set up: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon -> Bellari VP130 -> Grado 225e/Etymotic ER3SE.

However, I recently noticed the Bellari (a tube phono and headphone amp) has developed a pretty bad noise issue where there's some hissing/squealing that varies on how things move around it and it can even pick up the radio. I spent a couple days troubleshooting to no avail. I should note this happened with everything unplugged on the Bellari. Attaching it to the Carbon made no difference in the noise, positive or negative.

To add to this my guitar tube amp, a Vox AC4, makes the same sound albeit at a much lower volume. This makes me inclined to think it's an environmental issue.

So on top of all that this hissing/squealing only happens on my tube equipment. My desktop pc, my lap top, my phone, my tv, all do not exhibit this behavior in any circumstances.

I'm inclined to invest in Solid State equipment (maybe the Schiit Mani 2 and the Magni) but I'm hesitant to if this will be an issue with those devices as well.

What would you all do in my situation? Would solid state make a difference or is even asking mean I just do not have the patience for this and should I look into selling off my gear and vinyl?

 

The one thing that I feel is still missing in my system is a decent DAC. I own a Jot 2 with the ESS module + a Clear Mg and a HD650.

Musicality is very important to me, I don’t like too dry systems, but I fancy microdetail and plankton a lot, too.

Judging from descriptions, I guess I’d like the BF2 and probably the BF2/64, too, but Schiit products aren’t easy to get here (especially used) and rather expensive compared to the prices in the US.

Now I’ve stumbled over the Meier Audio stuff, especially the Daccord-FF, which is sold for under € 400,– nowadays. I know Jan Meier’s work is held in high regard, but the DAC is quite old. How do you think does it fare against a Bifrost 2/64?

I can probably quite easily go and audition the Daccord-FF, given that I live less than 50km away from Jan Meier, but a Bifrost is much more problematic in that regard.

Another point: The Daccord-FF only has SE outputs. This doesn’t trouble me by itself, but to my ears, SE and balanced sound notably different from each other on the Jot 2 (because Jot 2, not because different cabling), and I like the cleaner and more detailed balanced sound much better.

Do I remember correctly that I could just use a simple SE-to-balanced cable here, as this is the input side where it doesn’t matter?

Also: At their current prices, buying a Daccord-FF plus Jazz-FF as an amp would actually be cheaper than buying a Bifrost 2/64. Another option?

I know I should just go and listen to Jan’s stuff and decide if I like it. But nervosa says I might be missing out … sigh.

 

I’m thinking about upgrading the power supply for the Sonnet Echo Express SE I, which I use to house the Lynx E22. The stock power supply is 12V, 5A. Can anybody recommend a good upgraded power supply?

I’m aware of the Uptone Audio LPS 1.2, but it looks like they’re no longer readily available. Would it be worth finding a used one?

Also, what specs are important for the new power supply? Will any 12V power supply work, or does it need to put out 5A as well?

 

If you're a DIY'er, the AMB Sigma 11 is a no brainer.

 

Thanks. I most definitely am not a DIY'er.

Do you know of any builders who can make one?

 

Anybody try a Peachtree Nova 150 as a headphone amp?

 

Do you have any way to measure actual power consumption? Killawatt or similar? The S11 simply cannot supply 5 amps. Not many linear supplies can. A switcher with a noise nuke might be a better option.

 

I don’t have a measurement tool readily available, but you raise a good point. This would be good to know. I suspect that the PCI-E card does not draw anywhere near 5 amps, but that’s purely conjecture.