The All Purpose Advice Thread

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

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  1. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    congrats, you have successfully triangulated a set of criteria that is not matched by any closed headphone on the market.
    reduce your bullet list by -2 and perhaps options are possible.
     
  2. TwoEars

    TwoEars Friend

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    Lol, yeah. I suspected as much, but maybe there is something which comes close?
     
  3. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Err... the LFF Enigma? Assuming he's still around these days.
    https://enigmatic-audio.myshopify.com/
     
  4. Zhanming057

    Zhanming057 Friend

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    Not to take away from jexby's take, but the Ether C Flow probably gets you closest to the full set of requirements. You get the mostly neutral sound, the tight bass and the transparency. Scaling to high-end components is a bit weak and the soundstage is, well, the soundstage of a closed headphone. 3.5/5 isn't too bad, I guess.
     
  5. Zhanming057

    Zhanming057 Friend

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    Re: Mscalar - I think that you'd be much better served by upgrading your DAC - the Mscalar doesn't do much to non-Chord systems, as far as my recollection goes. If you want more resolution out from the Yggdrasil, perhaps consider a used Delta-Sigma DAC in the $5,000-6,000 range?

    Re: IEM's - a couple of personal favorites:

    - Noble Kaiser Encore: great mid-bass, Noble is known for solid quality, and those are pretty drivable
    - LCDi4 if you have an iPhone. The Lightning cable has PEQ which elevates these IEMs, but they truly shine on desktop rigs. Arguably the best IEM's if you drive them with a strong 300b amp. Well, maybe not decent build quality but Audeze support is impeccable.
    - (used) 64 Audio u18t: neutral, super high resolution, pretty solid stuff, also very drivable.
    - QDC 8BA's - you can now get these stateside. I'm a fan of the brand and they make what are arguably the best-built acrylic pour IEM's in the business. Generally neutral with a slight midrange emphasis.
     
  6. obsiCO

    obsiCO Thai Fish Experiment Gone Wrong

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    I would go for ZMF Eikon anytime if I'm looking for a closed back especially if I like HD6XX. Sounds neutral-ish (just a touch hotter top-end than a modded HD6XX) with great rumbling deep bass and a bit better clarity, scales well to sources, and overall sounds quite open for a closed back. Pretty close to what you listed to me. Plus you can always adjust the sound to your liking by pad swapping. The downside is it's quite bulky and heavy for my tiny Asian head, and its staging isn't something to write home about especially if you come from HD800.

    I've demoed and love Eikon from various chains, from Modi Multibit -> Jot to Yggdrasil A1 -> Mjolnir 2, and it definitely scales. Shouldn't have missed that $500 deal on it months ago. :(

    I guess another candidate is Aeon Flow Closed which I like better than Ether C for its calmer top-end. I still don't care much for the two, however. They both sound too thin for my tastes.
     
  7. Bill13

    Bill13 New

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    Greetings

    Newbie Question: How do I paste my .jpg picture of a circuit diagram and/or frequency response curve plot to my post? I don't have a URL for images.

    For example, I used the Sound Easy CAD program to design a DIY (relatively simple) passive LCR E.Q. circuit, with EQ frequency response plot, for Focal Utopia (gives bass boost below 100Hz and have a notch filter which reduces the 6kHz peak).
    This EQ circuit can be placed at the input of a headphone amp like a Schiit Jot (spec ZIN=50K ohms) or Magni3 (25k ohms input resistance).

    Bill13
     
  8. LetMeBeFrank

    LetMeBeFrank Won't tell anyone my name is actually Francis

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    Create an account at imgur.com. Upload images to your profile. If you're on mobile upload them as Hidden. On PC/Mac copy the "Direct Link" URL. On mobile long press on the image and tap "Copy Link" or "Copy URL". Back on SBAF, click the button at the top of the text box to the right of the smiley face called "Image". Paste your link in the pop up box and click "Insert". Done.
     
  9. Bill13

    Bill13 New

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    Thankyou Let Me Be Frank for your reply.
    When I get a chance, I will look into how to create an account at imgur.com in order to upload images.
    I would prefer to simply paste an image file from my computer because it would take much less time and effort. Hope imgur.com doesn't charge me for using their URL link service.

    Bill
     
  10. Zhanming057

    Zhanming057 Friend

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    Whenever you upload files they have to be hosted somewhere. Think of it like storage racks for the internet. SBAF presumably doesn't have a lot of it, and Imgur specializes in giving it out for free (well, for ads and trying to sell you pro tier hosting services). Imgur has committed to keeping uploads from everyone perpetually, and they won't charge you anything unless you have extraordinarily high usage or need pro support.
     
  11. RedFuneral

    RedFuneral Facebook Friend

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    Does it generally hold true that planars lose more detail at lower volumes compared to other driver tech? And when a headphone is reviewed as having strong micro/plankton is it fair to say that speaks both of pulling up small details and maintaining technicalities at lowered volumes?

    I'm trying to capture the weightless sound of electrostats without locking myself into their limited amp market and owning the Sundara for a few months is why I'm posing the above questions. I'm referring more to a veiling effect than to the loss of sparkle due to the Fletcher-Munson curve.
     
  12. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

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    For the latter, largely yes. Micro is a bit differently used from plankton though. Similar yes. Associated yes. Identical no.

    For the former, I think it hard to generalize. Good planar > bad dynamics for sure. Good dynamics > bad planars, too. I just believe mechanical structure DO NOT automatically guarantee good quality. If you want a counter-example (against your belief) in planar, I recommend you to audition well-amped Susvara.
     
  13. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    Have any of you guys played around with a MiniDSP 4x10 HD? Or any of the other MiniDSP products that were connected through an analog input? I'm leaning towards using an active crossover for a PAP Trio 15 project, but my main concern is if the MiniDSP will wash out the sound of my upstream components and impart too much of a sound on its own.
     
  14. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    It's going to run your analog output through an ADC to do the DSP for the crossover if I understand correctly. May as well just feed it a digital signal then.
     
  15. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Build the pass lx-mini crossover instead.
     
  16. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    I was reading about that yesterday as well. Do you kind of need to know what Xover points/slopes you're using before building it? I kinda do, but I was drawn to the flexibility of the MiniDSP in case I needed to vary the points significantly from where I started. Also My version of the PAP mentions a notch filter on one of the woofers, which I thought the DSP might come in handy for. But I do like the notion of keeping everything analog.
     
  17. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    NP put out some simulation file to adjust those of you who don't know what to do.
     
  18. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    The minidsp would be fine if you're only running the bass through it. Marv was using a behringer like that, iirc.

    I wouldn't run your mids or highs in it tho, either build the pass or do it all in digital.
     
  19. winders

    winders boomer

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    Ok. Now that I have sold my Vali 2, Eitr, and Modi Multibit, I need a DAC for my office nearfield and headphone setup. My headphone amp is the Lyr 3 (HD-650 headphones) and I am using the pre outs for my powered monitors. My budget is $599.

    For aesthetics, it would make sense to go with a Bifrost. In the latest iterations, what do you guys like and dislike about the delta-sigma and multibit versions? Is the multibit worth it?

    Or, should I be looking at another DAC entirely?

    Thanks.
     
  20. yvv

    yvv Acquaintance

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    Also been trying to find the HD800/HD600 sound in a closed form. So far bought Audeze Sine, Oppo - PM3, the Aeon Closed. None of them is even close. The Aeon is quite decent though. At least it doesn't sound as closed as the others . Not neutral but no glaring faults in FR, tonal balance is slightly off, detailed but lacks the resolution and finesse of the Senns. Still playing with it trying to find the right combination of EQ and the inserts. To be honest, don't know where to go from this point. Audeze LCD-2 Cb?
     
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