The All Purpose Advice Thread - Part 2

Yes, sorry, Sony WH-XB910N. One other thing is that even without the noise canceling on the isolation is superb.

 

Brain trust of SBAF - can someone recommend me a Schiit stack or something comparable? I've been out of the headphone game for a while and not up on all the changes in the last few years. Now that I see you can get DACs built into their amps, it makes the choice even more confusing. Anyone have a high level breakdown of the smaller stacks in their lineup?

I want to get small set up for the bedroom. This will be on my nightstand so something somewhat small (maybe Bifrost size is the max and that's sorta pushing it). I want to get one of the Schiit stacks since they're good dudes, but open to other brands as well.

Source will be Chromecast Audio --> Toslink ---> stack. I'll be streaming Spotify with this setup, so don't need DSD or any fancy formats. Will need SPDIF input, and USB is optional. Headphones HD650 and probably LCD-X.

Preference-wise, I'd prefer balanced and neutralish, but I do prioritize euphony/musicality over ultimate resolution/detail (not that they're opposite, but if I had to choose one over the other). I can't stand treble glare and generally would want something non-fatiguing.

 

@Questhate What's your budget? You could go as low as the Fulla for $109 or all the way up to a Bifrost 2/Lyr 3 for $1,198 with tons of options in between.

 

No budget really, I'm mainly trying to balance the form factor. I was debating between the small stacks (Modi and Magni/Vali) vs. one of the bigger ones with built-in DAC, though I guess I could stack a Bifrost and Lyr and it'll take up the same footprint. It'll be on my nightstand so just trying to keep it minimal as I can.

I guess the question is, if I can get ~80% of the performance of a Bifrost + Lyr in a smaller form I'd probably opt for that.

 

edit
NVM, missed that you need toslink. Can't do that with the built in cards for Schiit.

 

While I own a Jot 2/ESS myself and love it, this requirement kills that option: The built-in DAC cards are USB only (at least those I looked at myself, but I think it’s all of them).

 

oh that's super helpful. thanks for flagging.

 

like @zottel mentioned, the DAC cards for Asgard/Jot/Lyr are USB-only. also, it may be worth noting that there were plans to release new versions of those DAC cards (still, probably USB-only) as well as Modi Multibit, but they're on hold due to parts shortages.

 

If you are trying to go as compact as possible, you could also consider iFi stuff. Slightly different flavor from Schiit, but still quite good. Shape is a bit weird, but I used my iFi iDSD micro black with my HD650 with really nice results for a while.

 

I did a lot of listening along similar lines while auditioning the SW51+ loaner. For HD650, a Vali 2+ is a really nice match, and it responds to tube rolling. In the end I went with an ECC84. I found a ModiMB V2 somewhat too bloomy in the low end; got better results using the DAC of an iFi Micro BL. Thinking of giving Modi 3E a try for a nice compact stack.
I have no idea how an LCD-X would sound with this rig. @rhythmdevils is on record as saying Audeze don't pair well with tube amps.

 

Since I sweat too much under my over ear bluetooth headphones on the daily commute I'm looking for recommendations on bluetooth iems.

Requirements: little or better no hiss, have to fit tiny ear canals, decent Android compatibility, pricerange $10-$300 (high fidelity is welcome but no requirement)

My prime candidate so far have been the Bose Quietcomfort earphones because they seem to provide a very good fit for small ears as they don't require deep insertion. But many reviews complain about very distracting hiss when ANC is off (I rarely need ANC) which is a no go for me, especially given their price.

 

What’s the difference between microdetail and plankton? Or maybe, what the heck is plankton, anyway?

(Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but searching for plankton obviously won’t yield anything meaningful to answer that question, and by browsing I couldn’t find a thread with a title along the lines of “audiophile wording explained”.)

 

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...logy-subjective-terms-used-on-superbaf.11665/

 

Exactly what I wanted, thanks a lot! (Looked in the wrong sub-forums.)

 

I'm somewhat new to tubes and have some questions about tube matching for my amp which requires a pair of 6DG6GT/6W6GT Power tubes.
First off, what is the important tube test for that shows a pair of tubes are matched? Do they need to be matched exactly to the same number? What would happen if they weren't matched - would that hurt the amp or headphones or will the sound just be off in some way (balance/tone/etc)? Is there a way to have the same make/model of tubes matched if they aren't already?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Sony XM4 was pretty good, need the headphone app to eq out some bass bloat. These were musical and euphonic, I hear the XM3 is more neautral/revealing in the upper frequencies but that’s not my preference. I liked them but went back to BT headphones as all IEMs generally become uncomfortable to me after about an hour.

 

Not sure if this is the right advice thread... not exactly audio related... my daughter is getting reading to spend a semester abroad in Spain (Madrid in June and Burgos from Aug to Dec) and I want to make sure I send her with the correct/most bullet-proof power converter. She would be powering/charging standard stuff - powerbook, iphone, tablet, sony wireless headphones, etc. (no hair dryer or curlers)

Is something like this what she needs, or should we be looking at something else?

 

The chargers for the items you listed are very probably all universal voltage (check on the labels) - so all she'll need is the plug adaptors. Hair dryers, curling irons etc. would be a different story, if sourced in N America 110V & high current draw. Mrsdegraded once blew up a hair dryer in the UK. Before she'd met me, of course.

PS congrats to your daughter, should be fun!

 

Err yeah I would expect those items you listed to have switching power bricks that would be okay with 220v

 

Hey guys, really outside my knowledge/experience on this one.

Can I use an adapter like this to turn one of my 4 pin XLR headphone outputs (from a Decware Zen Taboo Mk III) into a set of single ended “line outs” for my speaker power amp, effectively tuning it into a preamp output?

https://www.amazon.ca/Pin-XLR-Silver-Headphone-Adapter/dp/B07WRM43F2

Or maybe I need a transformer box to get it to proper line level and to deal with the balanced to unbalanced conversion?