The All Purpose Advice Thread - Part 2

I too had the JBL 306s. They had something that was amiss for me as well. I thought it was a bit too much bass bleed into mids. I used them in a nearfield setup for music and TV, but returned them in a few days as they did not work so great with TV and I had no way to eq the tv signal.

Yet, I bought and really like the JBL 305mkII for my desktop. A little EQ to pull back the slightly hot lower treble and they are good enough.

 

Per the attached picture, your powered speakers (when located on the desktop) will be very close to the back wall. From long experience with that kind of placement (using both powered and passive monitors), I strongly recommend you select monitors that are either sealed/acoustic suspension); or have passive radiators instead of ports; or if ported, have ports in the front.

I had the Yamaha HS7s and was distinctly underimpressed. Just couldn't get them to sound good.

Several years ago I read 100s of user comments and a few reviews about powered monitors then available. Some of the best are/were too large and expensive for me (ie, ATC SCM19 powered). But many many others were obviously not intended for music lovers..very few people reported using them for music appreciation and liking them in that way.

The one I was always drawn to is more $$ than the items mentioned above: the HEDD Type 07 powered monitor. A number of people reported liking those for music

 

Thanks for the tip on the placement. Sort of buried the lede there. They'll be close to the wall, so I suspect my options will be further limited, and one of the reasons I'm leaning towards going with powered monitors in the first place.

I'll check out that HEDD monitor you mentioned.

 

Great Hive Mind: I need to run multiple sources to a single subwoofer (but not at the same time obviously). My original plan was a simple A/B switch. Any gotchas here I should be aware of?

 

Could you not just run the sources into a DAC and/or preamp and then hook the sub into the preamp and control the volume that way?

 

Are there any HPs that do classical music better than the HD800's with their expansive soundstage? An SDR mod or equivalent would be a must. Please keep in mind I'm not made of money. Thanks SBAFer's.

 

I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm a fan of ZMF headphones. And the best of all of them for classical, in my experience, is the Verite Open.

It's fast as hell, but not ultimately as airy and resolving as the HD800 (a headphone I admired but never enjoyed enough to own). And it can't quite equal the soundstage of the HD800. But what it does better than any other headphone I know, is convey the rich tone and timbre of instruments, voices, and performance spaces. I find it to be a hypnotic listen on classical (which has been my favorite genre since childhood).

Those in the detail/resolution/accuracy camp don't usually care for the VO, but those of us in the tone/timbre/musical realism camp tend to adore the VO.

 

Hi, I'm looking into buying a bluetooth dac/amp for my phone. What are the best in terms of ease of use (easy to pair, low latency, battery life) and sound quality? I'm mostly using it with JVC HA-FDX1 and UERM. I've eyeing the Qudelix 5K and Shanling UP4.

 

I think this is really interesting. Similar point about the HD600 in a way, maybe more of a budget VO.

@roughroad, you seem to be wanting more budget options so I hesitated in responding, but I think the HD800’s classical prowess is overblown. It sounds good for symphonies because it has the wide soundstage, but classical is so much more than that. It sounds uninvolving and aloof with chamber works or solo pieces for example.

I really like the Focal Utopia for classical, but to @Pharmaboy ‘s point it is more about resolution and accuracy than timbre. I don’t think its timbre is bad, but it won’t be as on-point (especially with respect to instruments with a wooden body) as a resolving driver in a wooden cup. Classical sounds better IMO on a headphone without a dip in the midrange, which I believe the HD800 has. So did the Focal Elear, which is why I hated it with acoustic/classical. Maybe a Focal Clear would be a more budget-friendly option than Utopia, with much of its benefits.

I’ve also read good things about the AKG K612 for classical over the years, but never listened to one.

 

Any recommendations for workout eartips for the galaxy buds2 pro? I've been using the comply tips specified for them and they work ok at holding them in my ears but don't sound great.

 

Disclaimer, these are just impressions out of meet/store demo settings, but I feel like the K612 could be "good for classical" in the way Currawong'd mean it. More than slightly painful to listen to IMO, and I think I heard it out of an iFi Zen stack at the time so it possibly had the benefit of being warmed a touch in voicing.

edit: turns out ultrabike had measurements and impressions: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/akg-k612-pro.3203/

 

Since the golden days of headfi, the K600 series always had an underdog following. The 700 family gets the billing because bigger numbers are better, but the 600 series in my opinion is the star of the family. They are a bit tougher to drive overall with the higher impedance, though if you crunch it out technically they are almost the same sensitivity per mW.

 

I remember Uncle Erik on head-fi was very pleased with the K600 series way back which is why I'd always sorta had them on my "want to try out" list since I got into the hobby. Wasn't until relatively recently that I finally got to demo a pair, so it's after my tastes had decidedly skewed "neutral leaning warm/dark", so it could have just been my ears lacking the correct calibration settings. But yeah I'd definitely not buy one without having the option to return at no loss. IMO YMMV etc

EDIT: to be clear I still haven't gotten ears on the classic K601s, but had hoped that the modern K600 might have some of that refinement I kept hearing about.

 

@roughroad, I've seen people recommend the Audio-Technica ATH-ADX5000 for classical music, although it's pricey at $2,000 and I've not heard it myself. It's said to be quite bright, I believe. The ZMF Auteur Classic might also be worth looking into, although I agree with @Pharmaboy about the Vérité being very good. I wasn't as much of fan of the Vérité for orchestral works. I much prefer my Raal SR1a for classical, but it's very pricey. The HD 800 SDR comes pretty close to the Raal at 1/3 of the price, used (of course).

I'd give serious consideration to buying an HD 600 or 650, which can be had used for just over $200, and having it JAR-modded.

@Za Warudo - you might also consider looking into the iFi GO blu: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/ifi-go-blu-review-and-measurements.11523/

 

I am so sorry if I'm spamming this thread right now haha, but (another caveat, I was just using a Zen stack again and a PROPER rig may go a ways towards ameliorating the issues I had therewith):

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...audio-technica-ath-adx-5000.6994/#post-289734

 

Well of course this is the AKG K family, they aren't known for bass in the first place. I'm just saying if someone is considering the 700 family, the 600 is worth looking at if you have an amp that can push it. Bonus is that it is cheaper.

 

Strong 2nd to the HD650 for classical music. Also an ultra-strong recommendation for the Jupiter Audio Research modded HD650 (JAR640) for this genre...any genre, really.

I'd never heard the stock HD650 until 3-4 years ago, and was immediately impressed with the sound (though not the janky comfort & frame). The JAR650 takes everything good about the HD650 and makes it better.

 

One of the two sources is an AVR; and it has HDMI everywhere. That said, I'm probably going to end up with a preamp here eventually, so I appreciate that tip -- for some reason I always forget about running preamp outs to subs.

 

What's the other source? If you have an AVR, that's effectively a preamp and likely has sub outputs already, no? Maybe you could just hook your other source into the AVR, hook the sub into the AVR, and be done.

 

I've got a vintage dac incoming, not much info about it, it has toslink optical and coax inputs only. I have a toslink out on my motherboard, is it worth getting a used gustard u16 or something similar for coax output?