The All Purpose Advice Thread

Looking for a suggestion on an appropriate closed HP to pair with an EC Black Widow. I currently have a kiss modded HD6xx and an Atticus, and while the Atticus sounds good, I'm finding that I grab my Senn more often. Been wondering how an Eikon would do, or perhaps try to find a Paradox (from what I've read on CS).

Thoughts?

 

I'm utterly in love with my black widow v2 and Eikon pairing.

 

What is it about the Atticus that leaves you cold?

 

Ehh...not cold (love it's flair and drama), but just paired with the BW2, at times it's darker tone and mid bass bump can leave me wanting and overwhelmed respectively.

So, just wondering if a slightly more neutral can would answer.

 

Can only comment on the Paradox. One of my favorite neutral cans with the BW. Spends a lot of time on my head. Pretty sure LFF still makes them. Not sure how closed you need. Wife hasn’t complained about hearing them unless I crank them up. Which I rarely do. But they aren’t very isolating from outside sounds. Kind of semi closed IMHO.

https://enigmatic-audio.myshopify.com/products/paradox

 

I'm hoping for a touch of isolation, but total is not necessary. My listening space contains the main A/C return for the home as well as a house-fan inlet, so during the summer it can be a little distracting during low level listening. It's like having a high noise floor - can be dealt with, tolerated even, but still pisses you off.

 

I think you are on the right path. I could imagine the BW/Atticus combo could be too much of a good thing in certain areas...

 

I have same problem except it’s in my main 2-channel room, the living room. I live with it but it does piss me off sometimes. Wish I could afford one of those in wall units. They are whisper quite. Come on Powerball!!!

 

It's been a while since I've dabbled with new gear, but with work clearing up and being once again re-settled at home, I have embarked on setting up a new speaker system in my recently converted living area.

I've purchased a pair of Genelec 8030s, but aside from that, have not settled on any of the other components in my chain.

My desktop setup in my room is quite modest -- Modi Multibit -> Vali 2 -> THX00 / HD650. Also have a Jotunheim (w/o DAC) that has been somewhat idling around for a couple of months now.

As a stopgap solution, I'm currently using the following setup in my living room: Chromecast Audio -> Jotunheim -> Genelec 8030s (XLR inputs). No acoustic treatments, no regard for placements, just a quick hook-up. I have no doubt that this doesn't do the Genelecs any justice.

Does anyone have some recommendations on what to do from here? I'm quite open to shifting the Jot back to my room to pair with the HD650s, and purchase a new DAC (preferably with balanced outs) to slot in between my Chromecast Audio and Genelecs.

My budget isn't exactly fixed, but I'm trying to avoid going over $800-900 USD.

Any advice on gear selection? Or general speaker optimization advice? Cheers!

 

Hello, I have mostly been an IEM user, but I'm looking for some decent headphones for at home use (mini hi-fi system and PC). In terms of the sound signature, I would like something with elevated bass and treble, but also warm and unrecessed vocals. I listen to all sorts of music, but mostly dance, pop and R&B with female vocals and hip-hop. So I want something dynamic sounding. My budget is up to £300 ($370 USD), but I'm flexible. Since I will be using them exclusively at home, I'm not too concerned about isolation, but would like to be able to immerse myself in the music and not be distracted by outside noise. Any recommendations would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

I hate these adapters. Most of the time they just connect pin1 and pin3 together. If your dac can handle one of its legs shorted to ground, then you're mostly ok. Don't do it with a Yggdrasil or Gungnir.

I'd rather use a transformer isolator for safety. Something cheap like this:
https://www.amazon.com/ART-DTI-Transformer-Isolator-Interface/dp/B0009GUOQA
Or spend some $$ on a Jensen box.

 

Which is more important, the "V" shaped aspect of wanting strong bass and treble, or the more "mid centric" aspect of strong vocals? Sadly you can't have both...

If the bass/treble thing is #1, then consider the Massdrop Fostex TH-6xx line of wood headphones. They drive easily and are the classic Fostex "V" shaped signature.

If mids are more important, then maybe the Sennheiser HD580/HD600/HD650 (or Massdrop HD6xx), but they are open and need more amp power then the Fostex. The uber ugly Beyer DT150 is most likely the closest thing to the Senheisser sound in a closed headphone.

 

If you have not done anything about the speaker placement, I would focus on that first, as it will impact the sound most. I summarized my understanding on this and treatment earlier in this thread. You do not need to go crazy with placement and treatment, though.

Genelec also has a guide for room design, incl. speaker and listening position placement. They recommend placing the monitors either at least one meter away from the wall behind them OR as close to the wall behind them (min 5 cm) as possible (cancellation freq as high as possible as speaker directivity increases with freq) and countering the resulting bass increase with the dip switches.

First priority to me, after the placement, would be a subwoofer. Or switching to 8040. The 8030 bass falls off the cliff under 58Hz, and I missed the lower bass for rock. Electronic music might also not work. This depends on the type of music and whether speaker placement boosts the bass, though.

Second priority would be the preamp. Based on what I read on this site, Modi Multibit+Saga would probably be a very good source and preamp in your budget range. Jotunheim is probably a good preamp as well, but Saga has been praised here. Also, some of the recent Massdrop DACs and DAC+Amp combos seem to have been well-received here.

Third priority, the Chromecast audio optical output did not measure very well in some reviews, so you might consider a better transport. (Assuming you do not use the analog out, if you do, probably better switch to optical). If I were putting together a relatively inexpensive but good transport, based on my reading it would be a Pi with one of the audio-oriented Linux versions (there is a good, simple instruction thread here), and Eitr.

If you need to stick with Chromecast, maybe a toslink signal cleaner from iFi (forgot the product name) would help, but not sure if they live up to their promises.

This sounds like a Schiit shill, and I do not have own experience with this gear besides the 8030, but these are the options I would consider, based on my reading here.

 

So I bought a set of Sophia Princess 2A3 tubes after hearing @gbeast pair and loving them. When I used his in my system they had great treble and bass extension and zero noise with Auteur.

I received my set and first thing I noticed was an audible noise floor or hiss present. Next problem was the lack of bass in one tube loosing about 3dB extension compared to the other. I contacted Sophia Electric and they sent a second set to me and told me to return the pair I didn't want.

The second set was better matched but still had the bass roll off.

gbeast came by the other day so I could do a 3 way comparison and confirm what I heard with his tubes.

His tubes had the bass extension and ZERO noise. WTF?

So I sent the data I collected below to Sophia Electric and they said that they're new tubes and need to be broken in. Is this just them using marketing speak so I keep a pair or can tubes;

A: Gain frequency extension

B: Decrease noise floor

I'm not convinced and plan on returning both unless someone who has experience with 2A3 tubes can relieve my concerns.

Measurements sent:

1st set:

2nd set;

gbeast's set:


Thanks

 

I guess the bass and treble boost is more important, because I like a lively sound. But I'm surprised there aren't any headphones that have that type of sound signature but where vocals also sound pretty good and not recessed or thin. I've heard a few IEMs that fit the bill, although I admit they were difficult to find

 

This is a great starting point. Thanks for taking the time to break it down for me.

I do not have trained ears, but am pretty sure that the in-built DAC of the Chromecast is a severe limiting factor. There is a noticeable veil running analogue out to the Jotunheim and to my speakers. I'll definitely check out the dedicated threads to find a cost-effective transport solution. I've been yearning for a streaming option in my bedroom, and the Chromecast would fit there nicely.

I don't think I'll go down the subwoofer route though. As it stands, the majority of music that will be played on this system is acoustic / classical in nature, and my family in general isn't too particular about bass. Space considerations are also an issue (Singapore is not the place for large spaces unfortunately).

Do you have any recommendations for sources that will pair well with the sound signature of the 8030s? I don't foresee my Modi Multibit leaving the bedroom, and would imagine that the Genelecs could benefit from better upstream gear anyway.

 

Happy to help if I can.

I am pretty sure that moving from the Chromecast analog output to optical output to a solid DAC is the most important improvement after the speaker placement ;-)

Understand about the subwoofer. If the speakers are close to walls, you will get a bass boost that may help the 50-60Hz range with overdoing the bass if you set the dip switches carefully.

Unfortunately do not have experience or remember seeing anybody sharing experiences with the listed good solutions to feed 8030, so cannot comment on that.

I think opinions in general were divided on whether Modi-multi-bit or Bifrost-multi-bit (next tier up in Schiit MB portfolio) is better (there are comparisons around here somewhere). The introduction of Eitr and Modi Multibit gen 5 USB seemed to change some options on this, so the options could be Eitr+Modi Multibit or Bimpy (as it has the improved USB handling in-built). I think many people swear by Gungnir as a really good option, but it is above the budget limit probably. The recent Massdrop DACs and DAC-Amps I have not read on so not sure if there are good options there. You could check Marvey's blog (in his signature) for some thoughts on some alternatives.

For what is worth, Modi 1st gen + Magni 2nd gen with Genelec 6010 and Yggdrasil + Ragnarok with 8050 work for me without any obvious synergy problem, although obviously very different grade systems. But cannot compare those with the other likely solutions.

 

So awhile ago I was looking for an amp for the HD800, and decided to try out the Apex Sangaku. Had read impressions here about it lacking slam and macrodynamics, but I wanted to give it a shot and hoped it would work for rock music.

Didn't work out. Sent it back. Whoops, lesson learnt Now I'm looking at a BW2 or Liquid Crimson. Hopefully I find one soon...

I have a question about USB DACs though in the meantime: I experimented with a Wyrd and found I could still hear some weird stuff, so I was looking at getting a Gungnir Multibit with Gen 5 or another DAC and something to help with USB noise. So far it seems like the Schiit Eitr is a good choice, does anyone have any similarly priced alternatives over it though?

Am also unsure if it's my power that's causing any noise. I live in a new-ish apartment, running everything through a Tripp-Lite outlet. Is there anything I should be doing to ensure cleaner power (preferably not too expensive? Willing to pay to give it shot though).

Thanks all!

 

If you are indeed having power issues i would go for the Gungnir Multibit gen5, that way the usb module is fed from the internal psu which should be better then the wall wart from the eitr.

Other then that Eitr is the best you can get usb wise at that price point if you want to keep your dac.

 

This one is going to be marginally obscure:
I have one of the original Peachtree NOVA integrated amps. A decently nice preamp section with a 6DJ8 tube that can be switched in and out of the circuit, into a tolerable class T chip amp of 60 wpc.

I've also been doing a bit of tube rolling in my Liquid Crimson (after 2 years with the stock Genalex, and thanks in very large part to an extremely generous fellow SBAF-er). I have been surprised at how palpable the differences in the tubes are. Not night and day, not world or life changing, not "now the stock Genalex is crap" (it's not), but palpable.

So - Does anyone out there have a Peachtree Nova, and if so, have you tried rolling tubes? It is a reasonable disassembly project to get the amp out of the system, and then get the case slid off the chassis. If it makes little to no difference, I won't sweat it. If the character of the tube is noticeable (has a relatively cheap new manufactured 6DJ8), I'll give it a try, and stick my Tungsol PCC88 or something in there.

Thanks all!