The All Purpose Advice Thread

@rlow , I ended up getting a TH-X00 to supplement HD650s for more bass-heavy music. I think it also helps not to compare speakers vs. headphones, they are two different kinds of experience, like cinema vs. theater.

 

A quick vintage item for headphone lovers.

was digging through my old components box and found my teenager headphones, I think I bought them about 1972 or so. Koss Pro4AA.

And to my amazement, they still sell them!

 

I was thinking of ordering another pair of XLR cables and pre-amping my Cavali Liquid Lightning (driving SR009's) with my EC Balancing Act. Think that'd be a worthwhile thing to try? Is there any reason I shouldn't do that?

My source is an Auralic Vega. I was thinking the ECBA pre might make it sound a bit less Sabre, but not at any great cost of resolution.

 

Thanks for the advice, will check it out. Big diff in the SQ?

You make an excellent point. I was going to sell other stuff to fund it, but the market may be a little dry right now anyhow. Plus, the Canadian dollar is crap right now, so buying new in US dollars makes no sense. Plus will all the mess going on, it feels a bit selfish and insensitive. Still I’m curious for the future what others would consider as worthy upgrades.

I do get that for sure. However today for the heck of it I tried plugging in a cheap pair of Blon-03 IEMs to the same stack.

The result: I way prefer the sound of the Blons to the HD650s. Far more clarity and dynamics, and decent tone without being fatiguing. The only thing I don’t prefer is the fit - they kind of annoy my ears after 30 mins or so. Will maybe look around for some new tips.

Am I realizing that I just don’t like the HD650s? Or maybe that stack just really can’t drive them to full potential? Or they need to be modded to be any good?

 

Better-defined attack & decay in the bass, nice smooth mids, more treble extension. To be fair though I might not have given the stock tube enough burn time after reading people's experiences with other tubes in the Vali 2 thread. I already had some nice 6&7DJ8s when I bought the amp, and I was using one of a couple of those before buying the 5670W upon good reports there.

You're not alone with the fit issues, the short nozzles have been mentioned as annoying by others. You could try everted KZ 'starline' tips, e.g.:

https://www.audioreviews.org/blon-bl-03-review/

I can send you a pair if you like; got a few here.

 

As good as the 650s midrange is, and there's very little at any price point that can equal it, let alone beat it, even today; it's not enough for me.

Voice + acoustic guitar is just not my main genre.

In any case, your stack is fine, change the tube and look into different transducers if you decide to spend money.

It's probably a great time to buy used, provided you give anything you buy 2-3 days untouched for any virus on it to die.

 

Okay, so I'm trying to figure out how to upgrade my system and plan for end game.

Current chain is: Laptop -> Gungnir A2 Gen 5 USB -> OG Saga -> Threshold Stasis s/150 II with faceplate mod -> modded 6-screw HE-6

End game is: speaker setup at home and a desktop rig for the office. Ideally at home, I'd have a turntable and a DAC.

Right now, I feel like the setup is pretty decent but a little ... I don't know. Clinical? Not organic? Maybe I'm not jiving with the HE-6? Maybe the amp is too noisy? I don't particularly want to buy an HE-6 specific amp for $$$ if the goal is to end up with speakers for a home system. That's a big reason I ended up with the HE-6 w. speaker amp -- it would be easy to transition to speakers. I listen to mainly indie rock, vocals + guitar, etc.

For a desktop rig, I'm thinking Bifrost 2 -> Lyr3 -> ZMF Atticus.

One consideration is that I'll be working from home few the next 2-3 months until I move to a different state and start a "real" job making a lot more money (recently finished my PhD).

Options I see are?
- do nothing until after I move in a few months
- get rid of HE-6 and speaker amp to buy an Atticus and Lyr3
- sell HE-6 and try to find some affordable speakers. Eventually upgrade amp to mono'd Aegirs w. Freya S
- buy a better speaker amp for the HE-6 that will also work well when I can afford speakers
- sell everything, buy the desktop rig, and then figure out a speaker setup later

Any thoughts or advice?

 

Have you heard the Lyr3 with the Atticus before? I haven't heard either, but if the Lyr3 sounds like the first Lyr, I'd have trouble recommending it as an end-game for dynamic headphones. Like, I got my Vali1 years after selling Lyr1, so this isn't a very sound impression at all, but I prefer it to what I remember of the Lyr.

 

No, I haven't. I have heard the Lyr2 with my previous pair of HE-560, and I thought it was alright but not awesome. But the meet was too loud for me to do any critical listening. I was using a Gustard H10 at the time, which I thought was much better than the Lyr2.

I know SBAF doesn't like impressions based on what you've read rather than what you've heard (which I fully support), so take the following reasoning behind why I'm interested in the Lyr3 with a grain of salt:

From what I've read here on SBAF: the Lyr3 is supposedly a LOT better than the first Lyr but it's definitely not end game for the Atticus. Many people now like the Lyr3 the best of the Schiit headphone amps -- it's what formed the basis for the Aegir. But end game would likely be something like the ampsandsound Mogwai SE but I don't think that's something I could keep at work. Depending on the work environment (not sure if I'll have a real office or not, but I doubt it), I may end up with a Modi/Magni stack (or something else small) for my DT-150s instead of the Bifrost2 + Lyr3 (or similar) + Atticus

 

Given the current economic climate, try not spending at all, particularly if you are planning on buying blind. Replacing the Gungnir A2, which supposedly sounds on the 'not organic' side, with something like the Gungnir A1 or Bifrost 2, might help fix the tonality issue, while keeping your bank balance intact.

 

Yeah, okay. Not the advice I wanted, but the advice I needed and will likely be taking.

 

Leatherworking is taking most of my hobby time and all of my hobby money, so I might downgrade my headphone setup once again. Any recommendations for best SS amp (for simplicity) under $200ish for HD800 and ZMF Auteur or Verite? I am hoping to keep all transducers this time around and downgrade to budget dac and amp. I have a Modi 3 on hand which I will likely use unless a good deal on a V2 Modi Multibit pops up. Was looking at Magni 3 + or Asgard 3, but not many head to head comparisons. I do have a WHAMMY that could be it, but wanted to compare to some commercial offerings. Preamp funtionality a must. Thanks!

 

I have a Magni 3+, Verite w/6 different pads, and live on the northside of Chicago, if you ever want to sample that pairing. It certainly doesn't sound bad to me, but I lack other similarly-priced amps to compare it too.

 

I have an old set of powered monitors (M-Audio), a Modi multibit and a spare Rpi w/ Digiberry+ hat that I thought I'd throw together for a workshop system (this extra time at home has me digging out all sorts of stuff...).

I plugged the rca's from the modi into the monitors and get static as soon as I plug them in. When I try to play music the static increases. If I connect a phone to the monitor's RCA in then no static and can play music from the phone without a problem.

I confirmed that everything works with other equipment, just not with each other. Any possibility that the modi output is too hot for the monitors?

-----edit for grammar-------

 

Hello friends,
Just ordered the HD6XX recently and they are on the way.
I am about to use it for mixing with Sonarworks/ Morphit and thought to apply only the Dynamat mod in order to leave the sound the same but with more precise, and tight bass and with better impact dynamic wise.

Anybody expreienced with any kind of mod while using Sonarworks/ Morphit?
Will modding it (in general and specifically Dynamat mod) clash with the calibration and be a bad idea?

Thanks alot,
Itamar.

 

Don't create or make multiple posts asking the same question. You created a separate thread for this question, which you shouldn't have. A post to the all purpose thread is fine for this question.

 

I was informed by this, thank you.
I opened the thread because im new and did not knew that this was the place to ask.
Later, I asked here because this is the place to ask.
Thank you for your help.

 

Your best bet as a newcomer or old timer alike is to use the search function with the appropriate key words. The results will include literally hundreds of posts about mods and their effect to the Senn 600 series as well as many posts about eq. That should give you the impressions you desire.

 

Believe me, im no old timer and searched google a lot, what lead me here.
I didn't find any satisfying answer regarding the calibration+mod issue.
You are very welcome to light my eyes though

 

use the effing search function HERE, not on effing google!

I try to help and now you make me press ignore.