The All Purpose Advice Thread

hey ya'll...

I had posted for advice on a new fanless/silent tablet or laptop. Just following up for general info. I cheaped out and bought a used Asus Transformer (2gb ram/64gb ssd version). Physically, it works as a tablet, or as a mini laptop with a keyboard. Came with Win 8 which I upgraded to 10. Primarily using with the Geek Out v2, also feeding MB Gungnir via USB, or Chromecast Audio via wifi/spdif. I paid $200 Cdn, so relatively cheap.

I won't go heavy into a tech review, moreso just a quick blurb for using to play audio and browse. The sound quality of the tablet USB is surprisingly better than the keyboard's USB, which sounded the same as my old Acer i7 laptop. I've never heard USB ports sound this different until now. Requires an OTG adapter, but worthwhile. Blackground improved, superior detail retrieval... I find this resolution adds slightly to instruments sounding more realistic, and backing vocals/nuances coming through that weren't as apparent before.

My opinion of Windows 10 isn't great. It seems to run very buggy... Start button/search stop working randomly, on screen keyboard is also glitchy as hell... also, lots of crap to disable and options buried in non-intuitive spots. MB Gungnir with Wyrd through WASAPI/ASIO runs into playback errors frequently and often the USB stops recognizing them (power cycling both is the fix). My goal is to streamline some of my music and ease of playability.

On the plus side, it runs quietly and at a tolerable pace, sounds great with GOv2, and is cheap. Not sure if my gear would work with Android, that is why I went with Windows. Anyone know if Gungnir Multibit and Geek Out v2 work with Android? Feel free to chime in.

 

I had one of those tablets for quite some time and loved it for media playback. Didn't have quite the problems with Win 10 that you are experiencing. Also never thought to compare ports. At any rate, the GOV2 should work with Android phones that support USB audio (5.0 and above I believe). There might be power issues though depending on your port. The GOV2+ I had briefly worked natively on my Note 4 without needing any special software or configuration.

 

I am running marshmallow and Gungnir Multibit works fine off my phone. That sentence is amazing. I have a wyrd in the chain too, but Gungnir Multibit should run fine direct from otg.

 

Check out the RHA T20i. I thought they were very capable for an under $300 set of IEMs.

 

I'll be sure to check it out. A lot of the recommendations on here for IEMs are expensive as hell or CIEMs, so I don't have a good idea of where to look.

HF is a disaster because there is a new Chinese IEM coming out every f'ing 3 days that is supposed to contend with IPod earbuds and an HD800 at the same time.

 

Boy, I know exactly what you mean. I bought those $5 Monk earbuds thanks to the HF thread, and they're a decent sounding little pair of earbuds (I gave them to my wife since I have IEMs). There are people in that thread actually claiming they sound better than an HD6x0, better than an HD800, all sorts of nonsense. I tried to pull people back into reality but got some really indignant responses from people. Ridiculous.

You might also consider those new LH Labs IEMs, there are some threads on them here. But yeah, give the RHA T20 a try. I likely would have bought them after Canjam if I hadn't won the Empire Ears IEMs.

 

Ugh I would possibly consider LH Labs since they seem to come up with great stuff out of nowhere like the GOV2. However, everything else that LH Labs has done has turned me off permanently from their products.

After looking at the T20, I realized that I need to reevaluate my price range since I really don't care all that much for IEMs other than traveling and such.
Any recommendations for some that are <$150 or so?

 

check out the RHA750, I've had mine for a few days. Definitely a more of a fun signature (but not offensive) and the isolation is great with my comply tips. The foam tips that came with them were lousy for me but a few of the other tips worked quite well.

 

Highly competent, inexpensive, potentially boring: etymotic mk5. It's a dynamic driver, but tuned by those wily bastards at ety, and it has a narrower body than the mc5, which lets you get deeper insertion for better isolation. Also it's $60, and fits on sale to $40 sometimes. This is my go to universal for all things, especially yard work and the bike trainer. Great isolation and I don't really care if I lose or destroy it.

 

Something like this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/M2Tech-hiFa...hash=item19fdbb8e28:m:mnMvzs7UE56eQfg17YMn2Lw

I don't mind spending a little more for a good converter, but don't want to spend the $450 on the mutec 1.2.

 

Interesting, that'd be better than a PCI-E card with SPIDF? Seems like it could still be subject to USB power/xfer issues, I'm curious whether anyone's got any experience with it or other budget alternatives.

 

Thanks Lurker! That was certainly interesting. I'm thinking it may be easier to turn to rings instead of one with a routed step like in the video.

Anyone have experience dismantling the LCD2 down to the wood? Anything I need to look out for in particular to avoid damaging the drivers?

 

I've only recently started trying some of the popular personal audio gear, and now I could use some advice what to explore next.

First, here's what I've heard with some short reactions:

Headphones in rough order of preference:
HD 600 — by far my favorite that I've heard, but I wish the soundstage were less inside my head
Grado SR325e — weird sound signature, but I love the detail and sparkle in the treble
K712 — great soundstage, just less fun overall than the HD 600
DT 770 80ohm — best closed headphone I've heard, fun but somewhat overpowering bass
DT 1350 — I use these at work, and like them almost as much as the DT 770
K240 — no bass, but I really like the big wide soundstage and clear mids on these!

Amps: O2, vintage Yamaha CR-1020 receiver (I think I prefer the O2, but the difference seems small)
DACs: ODAC, Schiit Modi 2 (these sound the same to me)

So, what to try next? Where am I going to find the biggest bang for the buck? Some ideas:

- Stick with the HD 600 for now and experiment with amps, maybe Asgard, or get into tubes with a Vali or Lyr. Currently using these with the Modi 2 & Yamaha receiver.
- Look for a higher-end headphone that will combine the detail of the HD 600 with a wider soundstage. Maybe HiFiMan or Audeze planars?
- Better closed headphone for my work setup, which is probably where I listen the most. Maybe Oppo PM-3, or IEMs. I have the O2+ODAC at work.

Any and all opinions appreciated!

 

I know many people, including me, will recommend that you build a system with synergy around your hd600's. These are fantastic HPs, and scale amazingly well. Many people have returned to this HP only to remark that they should have started with it and stayed there.

In that vein, start by getting a nice tube amp, options include - Vali2 (this will wet your appetite, but you might want more down the road), Valhalla2 (super resolving, my fav), bottlehead crack w/speedball (super delicious). Tubes seem to have a synergy with the HD6x0's, more so than solid state amps, typically.

Once you have a decent tube amp, upgrade the DAC to a Bifrost MB/4490 or higher.

 

When I use USB dacs with my phone (Android 5.0.1, Galaxy S4 LTE-A i9506) I have to use the "USB Audio Player Pro" app to avoid android resampling all my music to either 48kHz or 96kHz (this makes everything sound like shit much worse).
Without the resampling my phone actually makes a pretty good transport.

You'd be suprised by how different different PCs sound. Most of the time the different USB ports on one mainboard will sound different. I think @Hands measured the jitter for the different USB ports on his PC and picked the one with the lowest jitter (back on CS). This depends on the USB host controllers. For example the USB 3.1 ports on my mainboard sound different than the USB 2.0 ports.

 

While a noob myself, I'll share my personal experience with some of the headphones and amps you mentioned. Oppo PM-3 somehow was very dull to me. I had high expectations and really didn't like them. HD600 I enjoy with all my amps, especially Lyr 2.

But for me, the most enjoyable headphone-amp combination to date has been Hifiman HE-560 and Violectric V200. Neither of those is very popular around these parts, but they are my faves. HE-560 preserves most of what I like about HD600 and adds greater clarity, bass extension, and wider soundstage. Violectric V200 is highly detailed, dynamic, and clean (IMO, contrary to what some say). Overall, I prefer it to my Asgard 2 and Lyr 2.

Since the V200 has long since passed its days as flavor of the month, you can get one used for about half the retail price. Same for HE-560. So buying used, about $1100 altogether for that headphone and amp. To me, the biggest bang around for the buck.

 

Thanks for the helpful thoughts. I think I'll start hunting for a deal on a Valhalla 2 and/or saving my pennies for a new one. And maybe I'll see if I can get an opportunity to hear the HE-560 sometime.

 

I'm dying to know the principle at work behind this phenomenon. What does converting to SPDIF accomplish when immediately upstream of the DAC?
Is it that the Gungir uses different decoders for USB vs SPDIF and one handles the same set of binary data markedly better than the other?
Eliminating noise or a grounding loop would be one thing, but an affect on the sound stage is very surprising.

Thanks!