The All Purpose Advice Thread

Modi MB and Vali 2 with stock tube. I'd say the forward mids are mainly coming from the Vali 2 because when I pair the Modi MB with the Asgard 3 the mids do take a small step back in the soundstage.
The tubes may change the treble presentation a bit but won't fundamentally alter the slightly dark character of the Modi MB + Vali 2 pairing.

 

hello,
looking for a source of headphone repair/diagnostics.
my Massdrop/AKG K7XX (please don't judge) have an intermittent disconnect in the right channel.
i am looking for somewhere to get them fixed.

 

I had a K7XX that had the same issue I think. The sound on one side would cut in and out depending on how I adjusted the cup. I ended up taking it apart (not difficult; search YouTube for videos) and it turned out that a wire had been severed. I soldered it back together and it worked just fine. Not a difficult solder job. I can count on my fingers the number of times I’ve soldered before.

 

Could use some advice for a amp/dac setup to go in the living room while listening on the couch. Currently using a Fiio Q5 over my iPhone via Roon with typically the Focal Elegia when I'm not at my desk using a BF2 + Jot/TA-20. I needed something closed for the WAF and got those at a steep discount, but after a while I decided I really wanted something better when listening to hard rock/metal and so have a ZMF Atticus on order. My other tastes lean heavily towards jazz and classical.

Not thinking of running the Atticus off the Q5. I could move the xDuoo TA-20 off the desk and over to the living room, but I don't always enjoy listing to my headphones off my Jot as the treble sometimes bothers me and I figure the Atticus deserves something nicer- especially since I do most of my critical listening there than at my desk. From what I gather, the Jot is also probably a poor choice with the Atticus (and all ZMF headphones in general). I was thinking of getting a Crack + SB for the Atticus, but the Elegia is 35ohm so that's a poor choice. Maybe Lyr 3? Other options I should strongly consider? Definitely leaning towards a hybrid tube amp. Bonus points for pairing well with my LCD-2C and Elex but I rarely get to use them on the couch.

As for the DAC, personally, I really like the BF2 I have- a definite step up in quality over my old Modi 3 and I tend to prefer a warmer sound so not looking at the D90 or much at other objective-focused delta-sigmas. Part of me says to just get another BF2 (or maybe used 1st gen?) and be done with it and part of me says I really should try something new, like maybe the Ares II. But if it ain't broke don't fix it? A bit worried the Ares II is a bit too smooth and I'll feel like I'm missing detail when things speed up. Modius would be cheaper and I gather it's closer to the BF2 than D90, but a bit worried it's going to be the weak link in the chain.

 

hello,
@edd, your suggestion is all well and good, however, i have an irrational fear of soldering. i am a bit too old, and a bit too shaky, to try it.
thanks though!

 

I've been out of the game for a while. I've given up on finding the perfect audio interface that has low guitar input latency and sounds great. I have an RME Babyface Pro FS that sounds okay and is a great guitar interface. That's not going anywhere.

What I am looking for now is something that is either an all-in-one combo unit or reasonably-sized pair (maybe max around 10 in wide/deep? It's not hugely important, but smaller than a Yggdrasil stack).

Needs: Balanced. Volume controlled preamp. Good smooth headphone output that works well with IEMs. Good USB implementation.

This will be used for Dynaudio BM12A active monitors and Future Sonics MG5HX in-ear monitors. Not much else. Bonus points for a solid single-ended preamp output to go to my Project Sunrise and Sennheiser HD650s.

Am I talking about an RME ADI-2 DAC or Schiit Bifrost/Jotunheim stack? How are current iFi products?

I dunno.

Price: Under $1k would be nice. Under $1500 would be fine. Under $2500 would be a battle with the wife but feasible.

 

@Luckbad take a hard look at MOTU Ultralite mk4. It has become a staple for my lab bench. Has instrument inputs, two mic inputs and you can see the DAC section measurements here .

 

Motu Ultralight Mk4 for $700 got love here

 

I almost bought one a few times. If it has good guitar and mic inputs, I could also ditch the Babyface...

I should probably pull the trigger huh?

Edit: They never seem to be in stock. Wonder if the AVB is the same performance.

 

@Psalmanazar has an AVB

 

@Luckbad You have the only low latency USB interface other than Steinberg. What you have has better sounding conversion than all Steinbergs except the AXR4 you can’t afford.

If you go Thunderbolt, you can get a UAD Apollo Twin, that’s about the same as your Babyface Pro in quality, or you can get a Lynx Aurora (N) that eats MOTU and RME for breakfast.

Honestly if you have to ask about the price and are using some used old TC Electronics Dynaudio monitors, you can’t afford this shit. buy a Lavry DA11 used. Use the optical output from your Babyface Pro if it sounds better than the usb. MOTU kicks RME ass sonically but RME USB is faster and Lavry is a god.

 

@Luckbad or a used Prism Lyra, Callia, or Orpheus. Or Dangerous Source or any D-Box (find a way to hook up the original) if you want TI Burr Brown sound to the hilt. And not the modern shit. The old fuzzy shit. Dangerous claims to be cutting edge yet uses older less clear parts (OPA134 and OPA2134) that are fuzzier than even NE5532. They just lack detail next to Lavry and Prism. You can’t afford Hilo clarity or the upper end Lavry.

 

@Psalmanazar I wonder if I should stop pussyfooting around and get a big boy interface. I can technically afford basically anything under $5k, it's just a matter of convincing my wife.

 

Dude. Unless you thunderbolt or a pci-e card, you can’t even use the good shit. Lynx and Prism USB are only acceptable. You need pci-e or thunderbolt to get the most out of them.

Maybe you could go with the new Apogee Symphony desktop but what’s the point? You can’t even use the Lynx Aurora (N) to the fullest extent. You have no reason to. I don’t think you have thunderbolt and I certainly don’t think you have a patchbay because yeah it’s db25 out.

buy a used Lavry to get your warmbutt but not lofi rocks off and move along with your life. Or a Burl bomber if you get a deal. You’ll love either. You’ll love a prism but not as much as the others. You already have pillowly but raspy but inoffensive monitors. Do you want more detail and a rip your ears off tone? You’re not making music man. You don’t need monitors and endgame converters that tell you that 95% of all modern music was made by imcompetent, lazy retards

 

Or as @atomicbob put it, you might even be happy with the MOTU and just play guitar amp sims at 96khz.

Or really just buy a small low wattage practice amp, none of that modeling shit, buy an SM 57 and a ribbon, buy some real mic pres, CAPI kits if you like API or the FMR Really Nice Pre for clean or better. And just have some fun with real stuff. Interfaces are whack. Their pres are boring and almost all chips. Even an SM57 scales

 

@Luckbad, for guitar recording and modeling, they are kind of old, but the Line 6 Toneports UX1 and UX2 are still made for a reason. You can pick one up used for cheap with the Gearbox software just for when you are dubbing guitar. Then use your Babyface for other actual stuff. The headphone outs on these boxes are horrible and have almost no power to speak of, however, near zero latency in guitar monitoring. At least in theory.

 

@Luckbad I have a Babyface Pro FS and I used to have the ADI-2 Pro (the original, it's had like two and a half revisions since then). To be honest I think I like the Babyface more.

I have the Prism Lyra. The usb drivers are meh (for Windows). The pres are nice though, and the dac is still my favourite of all the stuff I've rotated through.

Currently I use the Babyface to feed optical into the Lyra because I'm stupid that way when really I should just sell the Lyra and be done with it. I almost bought @Josh83 's Hilo on sale here, but I waited too long, which is just as well because I have too much stuff anyways.

 

@Psalmanazar How about the Rednet or other Dante stuff for low latency?

 

@Luckbad seriously consider the MOTU UltraLite mk4. Use it for awhile. Evaluate how well it does what you require. Make notes if it falls short of your expectations, which attributes and how it didn't meet your expectations. If it works well for you, keep it. If not, sell it and consider the difference evaluation time rental. Now you are armed with a LOT more knowledge for not much investment. This will guide you far better with ears-on listening time.

 

https://reverb.com/item/38559178-motu-ultralite-mk4-2016-black