Justin S
Last Activity:
Mar 26, 2024 at 8:24 PM
Joined:
Mar 14, 2018
Messages:
210
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93
Positive ratings received:
1,565
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Negative ratings received:
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Like 1,506 1,255
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heart 10 41
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Epic 36 74
Agreed, ditto, +1 13 21
Gender:
Male
Location:
Toronto
Occupation:
Filmmaker

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Justin S

Friend, Male, from Toronto

Pyrate Contributor

ZMF Classics are bananas. w Lry+ and a Ken Rad, cable and mesh tweaks, early Massive Attack is glorious... It's all there. Mar 22, 2024 at 10:35 PM

Justin S was last seen:
Mar 26, 2024 at 8:24 PM
    1. Justin S
      Justin S
      Yes. I am preferring the headout of the Hilo to the Jot 2. It's cleaner, more resolving + sharper imaging. Distracting me from work.
      1. dematted, Vtory and Gazny like this.
      2. ColdsnapBry
        ColdsnapBry
        Jot2 just never really clicked with me. I almost preferred my Asgard 3 in some ways.
        Mar 30, 2022
        dematted and Justin S like this.
      3. Justin S
        Justin S
        I do like the Jot 2 and love it with the Yggdrasil LIM and the Geshelli J2. With the Hilo, it presents rounder, and a bit too thick. The headout on the Hilo is really surprising. I am going to sell the Jot2 and look for a good tube hybrid for some color when I want it.
        Mar 30, 2022
        dematted, Gazny and ColdsnapBry like this.
      4. Azimuth
        Azimuth
        I hate when that happens.
        Mar 30, 2022
        Justin S likes this.
    2. Justin S
      Justin S
      Linx Hilo arrived at the office. The routing is a game changer. Preliminary listening - it's very good. "neutral" but not boring.
      1. MellowVelo likes this.
      2. Justin S
        Justin S
        It lets you instantly flip betwee sources: Zero detectable difference between the USB and AES inputs (Purr1n's magic usb card | PI2AES). Serious clocks?
        Mar 28, 2022
        Michael Kelly likes this.
      3. Justin S
        Justin S
        Even the shitty motherboard optical sounds very good. This thing is crazy. The head out is a bit closer sounding but more resolving than the JOT 2 (it has a dedicated DAC). I think I'll flip the JOT2 and and try to find a tube hybrid for when I want some colour. Any recommends for Focal Clear OG?
        Mar 29, 2022
    3. Justin S
      Justin S
      After messing around a with a few things for my work suite. I think I'm going to pick up a Lynx Hilo. Seems to make the most sense.
      1. MellowVelo likes this.
      2. Justin S
        Justin S
        2541 sold, used Hilo bought for almost the same price. In the meantime, the Geshelli J2 is valliantly filling in.
        Mar 24, 2022
    4. Justin S
      Justin S
      Jot 2 High Gain with a 2541 (+upressing) and Focal Clears = Spacious Phat Slamming Happiness. With a BF2 and Senns = Wall-of-Sound Sadness.
      1. Cryptowolf and SoupRKnowva like this.
      2. View previous comments...
      3. Justin S
        Justin S
        Yes. I just turned it off. I had two offers at my price this morning. I'm going to live with it and await the LIM Gungnir :-) What are you running there @rlow ?
        Mar 10, 2022
      4. rlow
        rlow
        Yggdrasil A2 in my 2-channel system, and Modi Multibit in my headphone rig.
        Mar 10, 2022
        Justin S likes this.
      5. Justin S
        Justin S
        Cool. I am definitely curious about the Yggdrasil A2.
        Mar 10, 2022
    5. Justin S
      Justin S
      2541 arrived today - early to say, but I feel like 2541>Jot 2>Focal Clear is a pretty sweet combination.
      1. sheldaze, mrflibble and Tchoupitoulas like this.
      2. View previous comments...
      3. Justin S
        Justin S
        I keep going back and forth on it. I feel like I imprinted on the LIM when I first got the Focal and now nothing else is doing it for me. I imagine I should wait a while with the 2541 before making any rash choices.
        Mar 8, 2022
      4. Justin S
        Justin S
        This is a bit like "watch Justin twist in the wind in real time" but holy jumpin! This thing went from meh (compressed, muddy, soft) towards fabulous (dynamic, spacious, realistic sounding) over the course of the last day - I'm at about 60 hrs on it now.
        Mar 9, 2022
        rlow likes this.
      5. Justin S
        Justin S
        Well after a couple of weeks in, I decided to sell the 2541. I missed the Yggdrasil.
        Mar 21, 2022
    6. Justin S
      Justin S
      Trying to get rid of boxes. Sadly, the JOT 2 as pre into powered monitors is a bit colored.
      1. View previous comments...
      2. GoodEnoughGear
        GoodEnoughGear
        IIRC you have trim pots on the 8020s? If so you might give digital attenuation a try. Get to max comfortable volume on the pots at digital full scale and attenuate in JRiver/FB2k/Roon etc.
        Mar 2, 2022
        Justin S likes this.
      3. Justin S
        Justin S
        I have been thinking in that direction. 2X2 xlr switcher and be done with it. At least then I won't have 3 volume knobs on my desk (SPL 2control, 2541, Jot2) :-)
        Mar 3, 2022
      4. Justin S
        Justin S
        Just emailed with Al Freundorfer at Mapletree Audio. He's going to build me a 3in X 2out XLR switcher. My SE source (a video monitor) has a volume control on it and sends more than enough signal with an adapter to the Genelecs for my purposes. So it'll be 2541 | Video Monitor -> MAD Swticher -> Genelecs | Jot 2. That'll be a tidier desk and more importantly, direct connection to the 2541 for monitors and headphones.
        Mar 3, 2022
        GoodEnoughGear likes this.
    7. Justin S
      Justin S
      New Bifrost2 in the house. This is my second time with the BF2. Oh boy it's rough out of the box. 12hrs in and it's starting to open up.
      1. View previous comments...
      2. Justin S
        Justin S
        The older Allo DigiOne is definitely painful with the BF2>Jot 2>Clears. It sounded great with the LIM - likely better clocking on the Yggdrasil. I'm going to drag my PI2AES to the studio and see how that sits.
        Feb 27, 2022
        crenca and Michael Kelly like this.
      3. Justin S
        Justin S
        Yes. The PI2AES is an improvement over the AlloDigiOne on the Bifrost 2. Without the PIAES, the BF2 presents some itchy treble behaviour over S/PDIF, and I find Unison from my computer on the BF2 from my computer just a bit mushy. While the PI2AES improves the situation, I'm still not 100% convinced my the BF2>Jot2>Clear combination. I find it a touch woolly.
        Feb 28, 2022
        Michael Kelly likes this.
      4. Justin S
        Justin S
        I'll be dammed. My current thinking is that PI2AES+Geshelli J2 > PI2AES+BF2 with the Jot 2. The G-J2 doesn't have the density of the BF2, but it is more spacious and more clear sounding. Looking for a 2541 or Yggdrasil GS now.
        Feb 28, 2022
        crenca and Michael Kelly like this.
    8. Justin S
      Justin S
      Newly minted Friend!
      1. Ksorota, sheldaze, Jinxy245 and 18 others like this.
      2. Justin S
        Justin S
        Thanks, gents. I have flirted with a number of other forums and the combination of rigor, hilarity, and "f**k that" at SBAF feels like a good fit. Happy to be SBAFs with you all.
        Feb 19, 2022
        Michael Kelly likes this.
    9. Justin S
      Justin S
      Almost "Made" (don't f**k it up)
      1. View previous comments...
      2. purr1n
        purr1n
        You got promoted to Friend for being in the film biz because I'm in the biz too.
        Feb 15, 2022
      3. Thad E Ginathom
        Thad E Ginathom
        Here, you can, and have to, say "f**k". No stars. We don't give stars for stars ;)
        Feb 16, 2022
        Jinxy245, Cryptowolf and Justin S like this.
      4. Justin S
        Justin S
        Aaaaay. Friend-status! Let the f-bombs fly! Thanks, @purr1n .
        Feb 16, 2022
        Jinxy245, Gazny, rlow and 1 other person like this.
    10. Justin S
      Justin S
      @purr1n 's magic budget USB card is good. Certainly better than my motherboard USB. I prefer it to the Allo S/PDIF on both the LIM and G-J2.
      1. Gazny, Soups, Qildail and 1 other person like this.
      2. Justin S
        Justin S
        I'm an idiot - I was feeding Roon Crossfeed to the Allo when testing this out - it always sounds a bit muffled when comparing to direct feed. PCIE USB board is still better than Mobo USB...
        Feb 9, 2022
    11. Justin S
      Justin S
      Well that escalated quickly. Elex last week, Clear OG on order this week. Moar.
      1. SoupRKnowva and rhythmdevils like this.
      2. View previous comments...
      3. loadexfa
        loadexfa
        I did the same and have been very happy with the OG Clear. I imagine a Utopia is in my future.
        Feb 6, 2022
        Justin S and rhythmdevils like this.
      4. Justin S
        Justin S
        They have arrived. Out of the box, shiny-new-toy first impressions = more bass, more bass texture, more space. Moaaar! I'm sure there's a lot to discern here, but I'll put some burn-hours on them and assess against the Elex this weekend and post in the OG Clear thread.
        Feb 9, 2022
        rhythmdevils, rlow and loadexfa like this.
      5. Justin S
        Justin S
        I put up some brief impressions and a little comparison on the Clear OG thread. The short story is the Clears have better bass extension - almost to a fault, and better detail. They're very likeable. There's a little scoop in the frequency response around the mids that I'll try to figure out. I like them and will be selling the Elex.
        Feb 15, 2022
        rhythmdevils likes this.
    12. Justin S
      Justin S
      I'm a noob at PEQ settings so am starting with GoldenSound's suggestion for the Elex. Subtle and good. ASR's suggested settings are funny.
      1. Cspirou
        Cspirou
        No idea what ASR EQ is supposed to be but I imagine they want everything to look like the Harmon curve
        Jan 31, 2022
        Justin S likes this.
      2. Justin S
        Justin S
        The ASR eq is is +7db Low Shelf at 80Hz and a 3db Q3 notch-y bump up at 4700Hz. All this without adjusting for headroom. I tried it for fun - it's coarse and weird. It make the Elex sound more consumer-y. GoldenSound's is a little 1 db lowshelf at 53Hz and a wide 2dB Q0.5 peak at 400hz. It fills out the low midrange a little and adds an almost imperceptible amount of lowbass. It's nice.
        Feb 1, 2022
        Cryptowolf likes this.
    13. Justin S
      Justin S
      Got a good deal on a nice used pair of Focal Elex headphones. While not a radical change from the HD600s, they're different.
      1. View previous comments...
      2. Justin S
        Justin S
        Spent a few days with the LIM/JOT2/Elex. The LIM will have go back to the living room in the coming days so I'm now flipping between the Geshelli J2 and the LIM in my suite. The J2 is pretty good. I had been thinking the Elex would require at least a BF2 to get me part way to the LIM. The J2 is a little less "fluid" and doesn't have the heft of the LIM. I'll keep flipping back and forth and see where it leads.
        Feb 1, 2022
        WoodyLuvr likes this.
      3. Justin S
        Justin S
        So with the HD600s I strongly preferred the ALLO S/PDIF on the G-J2 and on the Yggdrasil. I found the USB softer and less focused. With the Elex, USB on both is better. It reads as more substantial and spacious with the Elex. (Roon->W10->USB>G-J2 (BAL) | Yggdrasil LIM (SE) -> Jot2 -> BAL -> Elex.) I'm going to try @purr1n's magic USB card now.
        Feb 3, 2022
        rlow likes this.
      4. Justin S
        Justin S
        Magic USB card installed. My preliminary impression with the card is that USB through the G-J2 and Y-MIL is more clear, spacious and substantial feeling than Mobo USB and the Allo S/PDIF. I'll test more and draw up a post for that thread.
        Feb 4, 2022
    14. Justin S
      Justin S
      Hours listening to the JOT2 with 600s thinking, "Not as great as I remember". The gain was set to high. Back to low gain, back to awesome.
      1. rlow
        rlow
        Why does Jot 2 high gain suck compared to low gain (at least with HD6X0)? This was quite confounding to me when I had the loaner. Which reminds me, I need to write up my impressions…
        Jan 23, 2022
        yotacowboy, Jinxy245, jnak00 and 2 others like this.
      2. Justin S
        Justin S
        In my system with the HD600s, high gain flattens out the presentation, and glosses over subtleties. It is weird because I associate high gain with emphasising dynamics and staging. On my erish 2, high gain is more engaging.
        Jan 23, 2022
        rlow and Cryptowolf like this.
    15. Justin S
      Justin S
      A 600s-with-a-silver-cable kind of day.
      1. Qildail and Gazny like this.
    16. Justin S
      Justin S
      Settled into a headphone rig that is keeping me up late.
      1. hikergrl, atomicbob, jnak00 and 3 others like this.
      2. View previous comments...
      3. roshambo123
        roshambo123
        Also running a Jot 2 + HD600 chain for my work setup. Really enjoy it
        Jan 16, 2022
        Justin S likes this.
      4. Justin S
        Justin S
        I found that the J2 really scaled with something other than my noisy workstation motherboard. I pulled out my old DigiOne last week and it made a significant difference in the sound.
        Jan 16, 2022
        roshambo123 likes this.
      5. roshambo123
        roshambo123
        Yup. Adding Modius was an improvement over mobo audio here also.
        Jan 16, 2022
        Justin S likes this.
    17. Justin S
      Justin S
      Erish 2: didn't know that the 600s went that low.
    18. Justin S
      Justin S
      Erish 2 in the house. Early days, but with the HD650Ms I am asking myself, "what veil?"
    19. Justin S
      Justin S
      Erish 2 in the house. Early days, but with the HS650Ms I am asking myself, "what veil?
    20. Justin S
      Justin S
      Resistance is futile. Erish 2 in the wood box ordered.
      1. Merrick likes this.
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  • About

    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Toronto
    Occupation:
    Filmmaker
    Gear List:
    Home system: PI2AES with SBAF ABNN>AES> Yggdrasil LIM>SE>Heed Obelisk SI III>Harbeth P3ESR XDs + REL t7i.

    Work: USB | S/PDIF (PI2AES Lite) ->MOTU Ultralite MK5/Geshelli J2S -> Monitors: Genelec 8020s + 7040a

    Headphones: USB | S/PDIF (PI2AES Lite) -> MOTU/J2 (SBAF ABNN after SMPS)- > Lyr+. ZMF AUTEUR CLASSIC, HD 6xxM (sbaf kissmod), HD600, Modded DT770s.

    Previous equipment. Harbeth P3ESR Standards, Harbeth C7ES3s, Neumann KH120As, Dynaudio M20s. Project Debut III/Graham Slee pre, Soekris 2541 (2x), RME ADI-2 DACfs, Bifrost 2, Holo Spring1 LV2, Schiit Fulla, BF2 (2x), BF 2/64, Gungnir Multibit Multibit A2, Heed Dactillus, Denafrips Ares, Auralic Aries, AudioLab M-DAC, Rega R-DAC, OG Schiit Freya, Schiit Magni 3, OG Burson Soloist, MassDrop LCX, Burson Fun, ZDT Jr., BHA-1, Lynx Hilo

    Previous Headphones: ZMF Aeolus, HD800S, LCD-X 2021, Focal Clear, Focal Elex, OG Sennheiser 650, Sennheiser 58x Jubilee, OG AKG Sextetts, Nhoord Red custom build, Symphones Magnum V8 custom build, Elleven Acoustica G1 custom build, Elleven Acoustica R1 custom build, Hifiman He400i, AKG K702.
    I am a filmmaker. I have also owned and operated a couple different animation/video-post studios and have been buying and trading gear since the 90s. I am relatively new to hifi.

    Signature

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