Merrick

That sucks! Today looked good this morning with the rain washing away the smoke. Then the day went to shit. A Mud Bay just opened in Sherwood last December. I've never been there. Don't have any pets. I'll avoid it on principle and lack of pets.

Good luck, @Merrick :)

Thank you all for the well wishes! I’ve been taking courses to get a Google certificate in IT support, which is where I was planning to take my career anyway. Getting fired is simply accelerating that plan.

Yes, thank you.

Is the is the ABKCO records 2010 release?

It’s a more recent Japanese SACD release. Some have argued it’s the same mastering as the ABKCO release but IMO the SHM has more detail and texture.

Lol, you're not. I'm more into the more melodic stuff but I do have Koenjihyakkei on vinyl.

Sunn O))) as well

Wut, no Univers Zero or Thinking Plague?

Portable™

I realized what the cable reminds me of: http://kaiju.wdfiles.com/local--files/wiki:sandworm/sandworm_1988_01.jpg

I use the shorty that came with my Clears on occasion and keep it in the travel case for convenience. I don't think they're that cheap to make, just poor design decisions. My favourite way to describe using them is like wrestling with a hungry python. When I got Stellia, they didn't even make it out of the fancy box.

XDuoo XD-05 plus with good opamps, but not really portable, more like size of big phone but thicker.

@purr1n Semi-portable is fine. This is more for listening on trips rather than around town, I have airpods for casual listening. I’ll check the xDuoo thread for opamp recs. Thanks!

The 2011 remaster is a remaster of the 1996 remix, which is the mix I fell in love with. Much cleaner than the 1973 mix! The demos are indeed fantastic too.

I did not know that! The version I always knew was the original CD release that my father had, which was pre 96.

To be accurate, the CD release of the 2011 is the remix, the downloadable version is the original mix. The remix removes the reverb and double tracked vocals, and depending on the song pushes the vocals forward. Unfortunately the mastering isn’t as good as it has been for the original mix.

I think to do real balanced is why they had to go with different chips. It still could happen with the AD5781.

I am, that would get rid of my Eitr > RDAC setup on my desk. All in one setups are my preference except amps.

@Pogo put the new "Lupa" 8-knob EQ on top of the stack, for reasons which I assume are obvious :)

Darmok and Jalad IMO! @ Tanagra

You forgot Naughtius and Maximus.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kx_G2a2hL6U/maxresdefault.jpg

Hooking my GOV2+ Infinity up to a Liquid Platinum and Lyr 3 really brought out the best in the device and I'm annoyed I spent so much time listening to the onboard amplification.

HD580 is great. I can imagine it being a good pairing

I don't have to imagine, I can listen to exactly that chain with the HD580 but with Gold Lion tubes in the LP. It's good. But I like Audeze LCD-2 style headphone sound in that chain better.

@Hammy An LCD-2 style headphone is on my list to get, but not in the cards at this moment.

So you're going to put your stuff as far apart from each other as possible right? For ultimate isolation and AuDiO qUaLiTy

@ChaChaRealSmooth is this what they mean when people want audio all around the house?

Just order a few connectors and chop them up

Doing more serious listening and I’ve had the amp running all day. I’m not detecting any distortion with the FDX1 at reasonable listening levels. I’m running the pot between 8 and 10 o’clock depending on how loud the track is mastered.

I’m also surprised at how spacious this combo sounds for an IEM. I love the FDX1 but other than Andromeda I’ve never experienced a seriously spacious IEM. The LP doesn’t elevate the FDX1 to Andro levels of head stage, but it is more spacious than I thought the FDX1 was capable of.

That being said, while this does sound good I would not call it an optimal pairing. The Lyr 3 in low gain with the TS tube brings out the best in the FDX1 far more.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts comparing the two amps, but I would recommend holding off the cap mod for the LP. Spend some time with the LP in stock form with whatever tubes and see if you like the way it sounds. If you don't, then maybe consider having the caps upgraded by Ksorota. I'm not sure I made the right decision by having the caps swapped in my LP.

I'm skipping the mods purely for warranty reasons. 5 years is generous and I don't want to muck that up.

@Skyline Good point, I’ll do the caps mod five years from now.

The RPi (at least RPi 3) is such a terrible USB source, even Gen5 couldn’t do much with it. Unison manages to make it possibly passable, but IMO, still not great.

Edit: Typing almost the same thing as rtaylor, too slowly :)

@rtaylor76 @rlow That's totally fair, and a better USB source could change the equation, but the RPi setup works best for my main system, so for me that's the USB source that mattered most.

I found Unison to be just a bit better than a HiFi Digi+. There was just a a tad more detail and clarity with Unison.

Everything sounds best late at night. The sleep deprivation is part of it, but it's kinda chicken/egg. You get sleep deprived because it sounds great and then it sounds better because you're sleep deprived but comfortable.

Not even kidding. The closest I think I've gotten to total transcendence has been those moments when I can barely keep my eyes open but the music is making me want to fight it.

Yeah, definitely miss my Gungnir Multibit. BF2 is good but.. not that good.

If I had my DAC's sound everywhere I would not be able to listen to music at all while working. It pulls my attention too much.

@k4rstar The player does have a high OI, so it’s not suitable for OI sensitive BAs like CFA IEMs. The Andromedas sounded pretty mushy out of it. It’s great for DD IEMs or cans, and planars that aren’t so insensitive that they need speaker taps to power them. The Pono can put out a good amount of power in balanced mode but even in SE it can power a good amount of cans.

I've been a fan of the Pono from the beginning. It managed to combine the spacious Sabre sound with an amp section that enhanced and worked with that sound. Synergy.

I use a variety of headphones with the Pono. All with balanced cables. Latest is a Audioquest NightOwl which sounds really neat with the Pono.

My only advice is bug @tommytakis and make him flip his pair. : /

@Merrick yea.. a well driven FDX-1 is pretty special. Reminds me of the Elex in many ways. Not surprisingly, I enjoy the Elex a ton, as well. Been keen on hearing the Elex w/ the Lyr 3 (seems there's some great synergy there too). It's either the Lyr 3 or a good budget ss.

Sadly the Elex is out of my price range. C’est la vie!

I like the first part of this, the dark road of spending not as much!

I do have a SW51+ ordered but I would have ordered that even if I didn’t get the Gungnir. I have HD580s and the FD-X1, and unless I come across an insane deal on a modded pair of HD800s, I’m not super inclined to get more headphones. And upgrading my turntable will cost me more than I could possibly afford right now.

It’s been on for 11 hours now and the magic is creeping in. I’m listening to Revolver and hearing details I’ve never noticed before. More than that, the music has an immediacy and realism to it that no other DAC I’ve owned has come close to, including the OG Bifrost MB. I’m going to be spending many nights rediscovering my music collection. And if this is the warm up period, I can’t wait for the final sound.