The All Purpose Advice Thread

Here's the thread devoted to the amp, which I already linked you to earlier today, in which you'll find various tube impressions. I believe what you're asking for is what's in link #3 in the initial post of that thread.

 

Sorry in advance for the wall of text. Brevity isn't my strong suit. Many thanks to any who read and respond!

Hmmm... ...so a little backstory here.

Little by little, I've been easing my mom into good audio. This was born purely out of a desire to get closer to the music - she's not a gear-nut like I am. I have passed down two headphones to her, first my old ATH-M40x's and more recently HD598's, both of which have been cherished revelations for her. She has no external DAC, just an e12 and her phone or laptop. Unfortunately, she's starting to ask a lot more questions. I think she now has the itch.

Seems that what she's really after is a good speaker experience. With that in mind, I brought her over and sat her down in front of my good old M-Audio BX5 D2's fed by the 4490 M2U.

"Set me up with something like this." she tells me. She has a cheapo surround setup that sounds like ass. And now she knows it. The burden of enlightenment. I shudder to tell her that the BX5's aren't exactly the greatest... ...maybe she's better off not knowing.


The problem is, she wants to listen to speakers from the couch in a large living room. She likes to lay down there and drift off at the end of the day. So near fields are out. I've explained that she might have to spend a good bit of money for a living room setup. She will save up and I will chip-in.

I DGAF about speakers for now. Maybe after my first HP endgame. My mom does, and I wanna help her on her journey.

Any suggestions that aren't super-expensive but are legitimately good? Doesn't need to be anywhere near endgame. Just something she won't out-grow next year. She's not an audiophile and I don't think she'll ever be one. She'd rather let a "tech" set her up and just be done with it.

Should I look to passives, or actives? Get an entry-level receiver and some good floorstanders? Or maybe just some large passive bookshelves? Should I even bother with receivers or go dac > chi-fi power amp? 8" powered monitors with wide waveguides on stands?

Whatever we go with will not be replacing the surround system, I don't think. She still likes that for movies, so she doesn't want to replace it. She wants a 2.0 or 2.1 system for music, unless there's a surround system out there that can do both equally well and doesn't cost a ton... ...it's worth mentioning that her surround system cost her $500, but she can still return it and put that towards something better.

Maybe I talk her into a bedroom setup so we can look at smaller near fields, since she seems to like the near field experience?

I just don't know man! Why can't just she tell me she wants a respectable headphone setup for ~$500?!

Maybe I should have her try that first? I've got the M2U 4490 and a Vali 2 with a decent tube in it. When I get HD600's in a couple of months, maybe I'll have her try those with those. I mean, the best HP experience she knows has been the HD598 with the e12 and a laptop... ...shit, maybe I should let her plug the 598's into my Schiit stack and see if she still feels the same about personal audio. Even my DT990's might do the trick. Hmmmm...

I'm just really conflicted on what to do here. Don't really need definitive answers (though they are welcome,) experience will suffice. I know my path, but this is outside the range of my experience. We're in the starting phases here. This won't happen for a good while. Not till Christmastime, at least.

 

Does anyone here have experience with the AKG 182 (99 usd) and AKG 553 (it's on massdrop for ~120 usd). Which would you recommend? Are these easy to drive? Would you recommend other closed backs that are easy (from mobile and pc sources- no amps) to drive in this price range?

 

@ultrabike has the measurement for AKG 553 here. Note that 553 is a full sized headphones, too bulky for a portable use* despite how in some of its advertisement you could see the model wear the cans while riding a train or bus.

*) (have to assume you want a bit of portability too since you mentioned mobile sources)

 

Thanks for the reply. Sound quality ranks higher for me than portability (at least for this purchase).

 

The K181 (predecessor to the K182) had a very bassy signature; typical DJ style sound. Very high portability with good folding mechanism, and fantastic isolation. This at the cost of a rather high clamping force which can be uncomfortable (especially if you wear glasses).

 

Can someone detail how the th900s go with trance?

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

If you're not sensitive to treble and are only gonna use them for that purpose they are great albeit a bit pricey. They have too much treble for me but alot of people doesn't have any problems with it. Sadly most trance are brickwalled which is why I don't listen to that anymore.

 

You can read at length elsewhere on this forum on the Yggdrasil vs. Gungnir Multibit question. Based on what you'd say above, I'd say you'd be better served by going Gungnir Multibit. It's slightly warmer than Yggdrasil and the difference between them would be negligible for your "not the best ears." Also, the Yggdrasil is huge. Do yourself a favor and cut out a piece of paper the same dimensions as the Yggdrasil and see what that would be like on your desk. The Gungnir Multibit is a much more desk-friendly footprint, although coming from a Mojo, it's going to seem huge to you also.

 

I prefer warmer. I'll check other reviews for those 2, thanks for your advice. Desktop size, is definitely not an issue.

 

Would drivers from a closed can sound terrible in an open back? I am thinking about transplanting beyer tesla driver from T70(edit not my jubilee) into wood cups Im building. the t70 and t90 drivers looks the same in pic i have seen. grado style tesla power


Thoughts?

 

The T90 is already a (mostly) open backed headphone, but your enclosures are completely different in size/shape so there's no telling how it'll sound.

 

People are always talking about the expensive gear, so I just want to put up some thoughts on a low end setup that I really, really like, that could serve the budget conscious. (Maybe there is a better place for this post? Mods, please feel free to relocate this if so.)

First, I would like to point out for anyone looking to pick up a low-end Schiit amp, the original Vali is on closeout on the Schiit site for $99. I think this is a kick ass amp and easily better than the Magni 2 (Non Uber, I haven't heard the Uber), at least with my Senns (598 and 650). Not sure if this holds true for planars though. My Vali 1 has no microphonics that I can detect.

So, I think that the following is an affordable setup with synergy, a bit euphonic, not super resolving, but bouncy, lively, great tone, and non-fatiguing:

Modi 2U 4490 + Vali 1 + HD598
$150 + $100 + $125 = $375

I think that pairing an external DAC/Amp (hybrid or OTL) with the HD598 sounds more enjoyable than the HD650 out of a laptop out (ie with no supporting gear). The Vali (or Vali 2) tube amp is a crucial piece here, BTW. Just my thoughts.

 

I love the Laconic Night Blues Mini I picked up recently from Marv, but I gotta say in direct comparisons with the Vali 1 it displaced on my desk, there isn't some kind of pants-shittingly large difference. The NBM is subtly better and more fun, but not night and day better.

So I concur that the Vali 1 is a ridonculously good value.

 

I will always love the Vali 1.. a unique sound.. I'd love to find the other variants of that tube (a Raytheon subminiature?) for my incoming Torpedo (or the Vali 2).

 

Been around the block for headphone amps, and I actually went back the Vali as my main amp. It's the one amp that truly survived the test of time. I currently have the Bifrost 4490 as a DAC, but wouldn't mind stepping down to the Modi 4490. @lm4der is right on the money, and if I were to start from scratch, Modi 4490 + Vali would take you very very far in terms of sound quality, and you would have to spend thousands more for modest jumps.

Anyway, my digital/headphone chain has taken the backburner as I'm concentrating more on my analog/speaker chain. But whenever I have the itch for headphone and/or digital listening sessions, Bifrost4490/Vali/HD650 always comes to save the day.

 

Hi guys. I have a Kenwood DA 9010 Amp/Dac speaker system. I want to connect my laptop to it. I tried going from heaphone out (laptop), through RCA, to Analog In. I was double amping and ended up with terrible sound (lots of static). To go through Digital In in the Amp/Dac, I need a coax or a fiber input . How would I go from USB out (in the laptop) to Coax or Fiber in (amp/dac)?
Thanks in advance.

Kenwood DA 9010: http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/trio_kenwo_digital_integrated_amplifier_da_9010.html#a

 

you would use a USB bridge or USB to S/P-DIF converter as described here

 

Thank you!