The All Purpose Advice Thread

Your description and use case for them seems like a match. PM3 are somewhat similar to the tonality of the 650 in a way, but much less of that mid bass bump. They are less bassy than the other headphones you have, which may be a concern? But I wouldn't call them bass light at all.

Even though it's a portable it's true they come alive with better amplification. That said they did fine with my Galaxy S5 and 7, and quite well with Sony A15

 

So I just saw the used pair of Audeze LCD-2 I bought doesn't come with the cable, which isn't a problem.

There is a place in my town that will make cables but I wanna make sure they do it right.

So I see them here:
https://www.audeze.com/products/accessories/lcd-single-ended-cable

So all Audeze uses is a mini-XLR on one end and stereo 1/4th on the other? Nothing else custom?

 

@cskippy I was thinking of just use my Jot as the Amp unless you have a different suggestions. I already have the xlr cables to do fully balanced

 

@Eugene du Toit , FWIW, I was also considering the Oppo PM3, but was leery of the pads not being user replacable.

 

This is my setup too: HD650s at home, PM-3 for commuting. The tonality on the PM-3 I find quite good and all over pretty neutral: compared to the HD650s, my pair are slightly recessed in the lower-mids, with less mid-bass and more sub-bass (though total amount of bass is quite sensitive to seal) and with the same slight roll off up top. Great isolation as well. Only possible gotcha is that the pads on the PM-3 are quite small and may not agree with your head.

 

Yup, female mini XLR to each cup, and then whatever you want on the amp end. Here's a pinout diagram if it ends up being needed (left half of the diagram)

 

That's what I use for IEMs. It's the quietest amp I've heard with sensitive IEMs. It also sounds kinda good too!

 

Random question, at what length does USB begin to lose signal fidelity? Also same question for RCA coax. Thanks!

 

Take this with a grain of salt, but NA Blur on Head-Fi said:

From what I understand, you should always use the shortest cables possible for any connection.

 

Doing some quick googling, it looks like RCA S/PDIF can go up to 15 meters, or about 49 feet, and retain a good signal. Thanks!

 

what amp for HD800 between these two laconic NBM or ZDM, and would any of these two tame peak of sound of small crash or swiss on beginning of this song.


my knowledge of hp tube amps is poor if someone could help from picture
https://postimg.org/image/98fm3o8ah/

is that brown part below tubes on pcb burned pcb, and i am little bit afraid of that no name capacitors. Price is great and he will include replacement new tubes. Or to go with NBM?

 

Guys, I want to sell my Valhalla 2 and get a new amplifier.
Current headphones: Sennheiser HD600 & HD650 and very soon Fostex TH-X00.
I want something versatile, Jotunheim is teh way to go?
What you guys recommend?

 

Hello guys, newbie audio enthusiast here. I'm in the market for a pair of IEMs and perhaps a DAP. The problem is I only have experience with full-sized cans. I owned M50s, which sounded ok to me if not for the fatiguing highs, I also auditioned TH-X00s and LCD-X and loved both of them. I tried HD600s and it sounded too thin and analytical for me (this could obv be due to being very accustomed to v-shaped cans). Now, I understand I'm not getting full-sized closed-back performance from IEMs, but I just wanted to give a brief impression of the sound I like.
Some IEMs I considered: Ibasso it03 or perhaps used ca andromeda (was too late for b-stock deals yesterday). There are a couple of problems though, I don't have a decent source, mainly listening to my nexus 5x with fiio e5 and also there are no hifi audio shops nearby, so I most likely won't be able to try iems before buying them.
Budget is around $800. Any suggestions?

 

I have a ZDM from @The Life for our upcoming NY meet. We'll have the hd800s at the meet and report back. The ZDM here has different internals though, and gets really hot. No idea if it gets hot enough to burn the pcb though.

Can't really say much about the NBM though. It seems like they both have different sounds and the NBM seems like it would lean towards what my Sonett 2 sounds like.

Depends on what kind of sound you're looking for. If you can spring a bit more money, it seems like the Mjolnir 2 is the way to go if you want a versatile amp that's an improvement from the Valhalla 2.

If you like v-shaped, Andromedas aren't for you. You may like the Dorado though, and it should run fine off of your nexus. Dump the E5, it's probably degrading your sound more than it helps.

 

@thegunner100 thank You, and yes pls report back what You think about synergy , it gets hot very hot and it needs active cooling or chassis open. Han solo told me everything about amp except synergy with hd800 bc he never heard it and he said it would be unfair, he is really most genuine and generous guy.

 

Rolled from extremes, otherwise rather neutral. They lack air and macrodynamics is not their strong suite.
Soundstage is small, imaging is on bar with other closed hp-s of this type/price.
Comfort is good, noise isolation is better than most of this type of headphones I have tried. Build quality is one of the best I've seen for HPs.
All things considered these are alright with portable devices. Have you considered IEM-s? Much better sq/price ratio there.

No they don't. At least next to dynamic cans. Very limited scaling potential with these. It sounds 95% the same from Clip+ as from totl chain.
MSR-7 straight out murdered these from EC 2A3/EHHA/Stratus, while from phone or mp3 players the PM-3 felt a little better.

 

Pretty much. This terminates balanced, but shows you t'other end:

http://www.diyaudioblog.com/2011/11/custom-audeze-balanced-headphone-cable.html

 

Dammit. You make too much sense. I have seen a pair here second hand for 300€, so I got interested. I allready have some IEMs, but was looking some ear warmers for winter

 

I've been reading up on the Oppo PM-3s and a relatively odd opinion has been expressed multiple times - that they sound almost exactly like (and even less than) the AKG K533s. That is, the neutrality and signature between the two are almost exactly alike with a slight edge to the K533s. Would anyone be able to comment on this, especially since none of the reviews I've seen actually mention how well the general detail or separation on the K533s are? (Guess the assumption is that since they're a reference headphone, it must be good.)

Its essentially become one of those quirky unanswered questions circulating unbidden in the less trodden byways of this hobby.

Matasho

 

The Klipsch R-15M are on sale at best buy for $125.
Im thinking about getting them to upgrade from my Omega Mini Me single driver speakers, as I would like some more low end and more trebble (I do like Grado's, so I dont think the Klipsch Treble would bother me).
They seem like the best option.
Is there anything better?
Im not afraid of DIY if that better.