The All Purpose Advice Thread

I contacted Jeremy @ G1217 and he confirmed 4V input isn't an issue for the Project Polaris.

Interesting, thanks for the info. I don't have a multimeter to measure, I had simply read online that the output was 4V single ended.

 

Not sure if anyone here is into iem's but what are some good ones under $400? As far as signature goes, a slightly warmer sound is preferred. Thanks!

 

The Shure SE535 (used or street price) and the Mee Pinnacle P1 are both a relaxed and slightly warmer sound.

 

I own the Shure 535's and am not a big fan - they have weird mids and kinda grainy trebble. I am not an in ear expert and can't offer a good recommendation, but I couldn't recommend the Shure to anyone who hasn't heard them.

 

Thanks guys, I'll take a look at the P1. Was also looking at some in the Unique Melody line but the few impressions I've found were mixed.

 

I've heard that the MEE P1s are slightly hard to drive for IEMs. I always view IEM as a portable solution (and by portable I mean no friggin amp that I need to strap to my source gear to look like a miniature C4), so I was wondering if you could drive these fine through a smartphone or IPod?

 

It's a little less efficient than my BA IEM's, but still works fine out of the iPhone.

 

Is it worth selling the SE846 to buy the UERR? Or should I do my hardest to keep both...?

 

Question about tubes / tube life:

how do i know when a tube is getting worse / need replacement? i had a set of tubes (6sn7) that came with my super 7 which sounded ok for the most part, i assume they've gotten some extensive use. then i bought a bunch of cheap used 6sn7 tubes which also just sound ok.

Then...yesterday i got in my NOS & matched tubes and oh man they sounded SOO much better. bigger staging, clearer / crisper, MUCH more details. note these are better tubes but still, i wonder if theres a rule of thumb to follow on whether or not the tube is still good, or some way to keep reference. For example out of 4 RCA used tubes, 2 of them glow very bright, and the other dont glow much. it sounds like the ones that glow more have a bigger sound/ more impact, but both of these sound kinda loose. Similarly my NOS 6F8G Sylvania is significantly cleaner / louder sounding than my used RCA 6F8G.

I'm hoping that some tube experts can give me some advice on how i would know when my tubes are no longer at its optimum sound. for the time being i went the expensive option and bought a fresh set of 7 matched NOS tubes (6 matched 6SN7 and 1 6F8G). The only way i can think of it is to buy a reference set of the exact same tubes, that i never listen to to compare once in a while... but that seems like a total waste of money?

 

Hmmm that is a big question. I haven't heard the uerr yet, but own the uerm and auditioned the se846 at length when it came out (while stuck in an airport after a cancelled flight, with a kiosk employee who was bored and way too impressed that i owned customs).

My memory of the se846 is: incredible bass for an iem, uncomfortable fit. The mids were OK and the highs were OK, but fortunately neither were swallowed by the bass. That was in my opinion a big step up from the se535.

The big question, I think, is how much you like that bass. Uerr and uerm will likely seem very sterile coming from se846. Bass quality in uerm/uerr is still amazing, and I know people are saying uerr is a bit darker than uerm, but there is still a difference in orders of magnitude between ue offerings and se846.

So if the fit of se846 doesn't bug you, and you really like the sound, then I wouldn't sell it, and I wouldn't buy uerr without audition.

 

Hello friends... Looking for advice on Krell amps. I have a 2 channel speaker setup that is 8 ohms and 87dB sensitivity. Anyone have advice on good price to performance Krell products that could properly drive them?

If not Krell, something that could push some current into them, and retain a refined, detailed sound. I don't listen at high volumes, so it doesn't have to be anything crazy powerful.

 

A tube tester is the only practical way, short of auditioning them and gauging how they sound. Try to find a friend/vendor/etc. who has a tube tester, and can test them for you. Use a good tube to determine how it tests, then give your others a try. I'd recommend testing them a couple of times just to be sure, and if they're NOS, maybe run them for 20 hours and test them.

I doubt the glow of the heater can tell you much about the tube... In my experience, the filaments glow at slightly different intensities, but I doubt the heaters gradually decrease in light output. (I could be wrong about this as well, this is just my opinion/experience and also some electrical background coming into play).

While testing, you may also want to play with the test voltage a bit to determine how the mu looks at different voltages.

 

This is my first post. I've been going through posts for the past several days here for the past several days and I'm left with a few questions. Thanks to anyone that is able to help.

Apologies in advance if these questions have already been addressed in this thread.

My current gear is the JDS Labs O2/ODAC and Philips Fidelio X2; I've had these for about a year. I also have a pair of Adam F5's that I run out of a Sys. I just ordered the TH-X00 and also some Noble Savants. Typically I listen to EDM and classical music. On the software side of things I use JRiver, sometimes in WASAPI exclusive and sometimes in shared (I honestly can't tell the difference between these two, which may be relevant if you're giving me advice!).

My questions:

1. Are my headphones good enough to warrant a better DAC and amp?
2. Since neither the X2 nor the TH-X00 have balanced inputs, is the Mjolnir 2 a waste of money? After a lot of reading I'm leaning towards the Gimby paired with a Schiit amp of some kind.
3. Does the Lyr 2 sound more or less the same as a Mjolnir 2 running SE cables? Or does the Lyr 2 actually sound better because the Mojo is designed to run balanced cables? Or... does the Mojo sound better even with SE cables?
4. Does the Gimby benefit from the Wyrd? I've read conflicting reports on this site (and others) with regards to this.

Many thanks for your time.

 

@Vent Just my two cents, figured I'd chime in since I have/had a lot of the stuff in question

1. X2- no, TH-x00 can benefit at least somewhat from better gear, but does well on modest gear
2. Mjolnir 2 should definitely be used out of XLR to get the most out of it, both for power and quality. TH-x00 can be reterminated to XLR via DIY, but I'm unsure about the X2 situation. This isn't to say you shouldn't use the single ended out, but it's really just a convenience thing.
3. I found Mjolnir 2 single ended to sound better than Lyr 1, despite a little less power, with the exact same tubes, but cannot speak for the potential improvements Lyr 2 and over 1.
4. In my experience Gungnir Multibit does benefit from Wyrd, just a little. Could very well be a PC dependent effect. If my Wyrd died I probably would take my time replacing it, but I'm glad I have it

 

Would the Mjolnir be a good choice looking forward to getting balanced phones in the future? Bearing in mind it might be as long as a year or two and I'd be on SE until then.

 

Looking for advice on a portable DAC/Amp setup, Looking at

iFi Micro iDSD
Geek Out V2+ Infinity
Chord Mojo
Theorem 720

Has anyone heard all four and able to talk about the differences?

 

What are you driving?

 

Lime Ears Aether and Rhapsodio Solar CIEMs

 

After reading so much love for the HD650, I just went all in. Gungnir Multibit, Mjolnir 2, HD 650 and a balanced cable. Probably spent 40 hours digging through these forums; glad I can have my life back now. Ha!

 

All good choices!