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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/04/2021 in all areas

  1. Finally, I’ve had some time to sit down and dot down my final thoughts on the CRBN. They’ve been here for a couple of months, but I really wanted to have a Carbon CC up and running to try them on before I wrote anything final. I rustled up some pretty ghetto front and back panels this week, so I finally have one for my own system. Feeding it is a Denafrips Terminator DAC but I’ve tried it with a number of other sources plus whatever amps I’ve up and running at any given point, KGSSHV, KGST, CCS modified Stax amps etc. Now I want to start with how it’s been living with them for the past two months, in a word flawless. No issues at all with this second set, no imbalance, noises from the drivers… nothing like that. They are also supremely comfortable, and I’ve worn them for hours on end with no discomfort. Now this is Iceland so not exactly warm and the all-leather earpads might be an issue in warmer climates. Audeze might make hybrid pads like the Sennheiser HE60/90 but here I just open a window to cool down... 😉 Also, a word on driving them. They are inefficient and do need a lot of power. Anybody claiming otherwise is just full of it and thinks gain and position of the volume knob has anything to do with power levels. They are not quite 007 bad in this regard but they do reward a more powerful amp when pushing them. Baseline for excellent performance would be the KGST/KGSSHV line but even with the CCS modified Stax amps they work well at moderate volume levels. Push them though and yeah… you need power behind them. So how do they sound… well TLDR, how I’ve always wished the Sennheiser HE90 should have sounded but never did. These were my first impressions, slightly oversized soundstage and not as precise as others but far from the mess that is the HE90. Plenty of deep, well controlled bass too but not quite up to the 007 level. They can get bright when the source calls for it, slightly excessively so at times, but far from the forward nature of the 009’s. The soundstage is a bit larger than life, but it makes for plenty of presence and separation so while not pinpoint accurate, they are very close to it. Overall, they are just so balanced and pleasant to listen to regardless of what you feed them. Now for the only real issue, the damping is something which has annoyed me more and more. Now as some might know… I’m a bit picky… just a tiny bit… 😛 and while it is not always apparent, some songs or parts of them just sound off to me. This generally true for every headphones I use so I remove all damping when I can. Also, a large part of why I like the 007’s so much due to their innovative air damping. Now on the CRBN the damping is damn good, but I can still tell it is there. This is not like the Sennheiser HE-1 for instance, where that bloody amp with its mosfet based output stage and joke of a front end just spreads its dirty fingerprints on everything. This is far more subtle and only affects some tracks so for instance, it is too closed in when it shouldn’t be, bass has a twang to it that shouldn’t be there… something like that. This is a very minor gripe, and this is me being super picky so take it as you wish. Still, I’d love to try these drivers with less damping… 🙂 So, this aside, there is so much to recommend here. They are certainly not cheap but just holding them you can see where the money has gone. Plug them into a good amp yeah, they will impress. The only issue for me it they have rekindled an old project, take some LCD-2’s and fit them with custom electrostatic drivers. Anybody know of a cheap set I can buy? 😉 Now I’ve not received my SR-X9000000000000 yet so I can’t compare them but on its own the CRBN is a great product. They are not perfect (what is?) but as a first stab at making electrostatics, they are damn impressive. I’m adding this set to my collection, and they are certainly in my top 5 all-time greats. I really must say they are a breath of fresh air as the releases over the last few years have been such a disappointment. It really has been a 10-year slump now so here’s hoping we get something excellent over the next 10 years.
    20 points
  2. I doubt the X9000 will be on that list but we'll see: SR-007Mk1 SR-007Mk2 (latest version) SR-Omega HE-60 SR-Lambda Nova Signature (which the CRBN replaces) Congrats!! I was slow to order them as I really had to talk myself into getting a high end Stax again... ECC99's sound bad in that circuit so I'd stick with the 6CG7's.
    2 points
  3. Notes for the Future Yo-Yo Ma 2021 Example: {worthy listen}
    2 points
  4. Yes, I believe you're right. But in my opinion he's taken it way too far.
    2 points
  5. Isn’t that also patented by Larry?
    2 points
  6. I would have a riot if it was any other way.
    1 point
  7. What age is that? Stax used the SZ2 for the initial release in Japan and they are using SZ2 for sets shipping now. Special type of bad behavior there.... I didn't like the RME at all. For me most dynamics are just a disappointment so I tend to just leave them alone. The few that stand out over the years are the HD800 (once properly driven), Audeze LCD 2 and 3... can't remember any more off the top of my head. I've tried plenty over the years but none worked for me, Abyss, the hifiman crap, Mr. Speakers etc.
    1 point
  8. Thanks, that’s makes sense. Active server will just be on one machine. With the VMs I can do replication. Server fails, the replication server will pick up its IP address and become the active server. Automatic with very little down time and very little if any loss of data. Plus it makes them easy to move since they are hardware agnostic for the most part.
    1 point
  9. I've had the pleasure of negotiating an EA for my of my customers. It's been 5 or 6 years, but I'll try to help. You can use either device or user CALs depending on what you need. The CALs are independent of how many servers or whether you're running in a VM. If you have 25 devices and less than 25 people, you would likely go with user CALs (e.g. 10 people using 25 different computers would only require 10 user licenses). The opposite applies as well (e.g. 40 people using 25 devices, you'd get just the 25 device CALs). The server licensing is an interesting and separate consideration. I'm pretty sure that if a server is used for DR/BCP then you don't need separate licenses for it. Just the primary active servers need licenses. On the other hand, if you're distributing the workload across several servers, you'd need all of them to be licensed. I don't think this is the case for you. Any particular reason you're planning on using VMs? It's not a bad idea, just wanted to understand the drivers.
    1 point
  10. Best place to measure is the scope set to AC and tied to either side of the janzen caps. the side next to the gain tubes is likely to be about +150v dc with music riding on it, probably 15 volts of peak to peak AC when volume is cranked. There should be music on both sides of both janzen caps. If there is still music on the caps when the sound disapears then the problem is the output tubes or output transformer
    1 point
  11. Tomorrow before 6pm Swedish local time, according TNT.
    1 point
  12. Finished both seasons of Locke & Key -- very much enjoyed. But, like my reading (October Daye, &c), it's very YA -- not sure why I'm so drawn to that, I just like the fantasy premise to show the human condition in various ways (loss, alcoholism, teenage rebellion, bullying, emotional manipulation, younger child stuff, just everything). The CG was just little (quantity) enough not to be the centerpiece of the show -- like MCU movies -- but high-production-values enough to enjoy when it was shown.
    1 point
  13. Years ago I had problem with high temperature when stacking two transformer. It was so high so upper transformer started to “boil”. I bought some BERGQUIST GAP PAD VO Soft, 3mm thick, from Mouser. One piece between lower trafo and 3 mm aluminum bottom plate, one between trafos and finally one between top trafo and top aluminum plate bent and bolted to heat sink. This way the temperature was reduced considerable. Determine inner temperature of a transformer is not easily done. One way is the measure resistance of primary winding when cold and when hot. Put those figures in this formula, T(hot) - T(cold) = [[R(hot)/R(cold)]-1] x 235 and voila.. you have calculated the temperature raise of the transformer.
    1 point
  14. Built the lower deck and made the chop. Still need to cut it down and make it presentable but I wanted to make sure the glide fit and worked well. It sure does. IMG_5519.MOV
    1 point
  15. Frankie and his hi-fi: I'm guessing it's a hybrid stereo/mono system vs "Dolby 3 channel." That a Mac pre, clearly. This article goes over some of the other kit. The, ahem, bowl of cigarette packs is a nice touch.
    1 point
  16. Components for two amplifier boards ordered at mouser. Roughly 220 Euros... *outch* But: I got four lsk389A for free as samples from the german distributor!! 😃
    1 point
  17. So today I finally ordered a batch of five amplifier pcbs at jlcbcb. Total cost of slightly under 60 Euros for 2oz copper and gold plating - that's incredible! Files are here: https://51two.com/KSA5/Amplifier/ Here is the schematic:
    1 point
  18. Some impression of X9000 I would like to share Mine is the first batch in Japan. Serial number is #6. I have it delivered to Australia immediately after launch and receive it today. As my system is incomplete at the moment. There are quite a few good cables coming (Odin 2, Stealth Dream etc). This is only a brief introduction of my first impression of X9000. My setting is: Source: Jeff Rowland Aeris Power conditioner: ISOTEK TITAN + NOVA GII Amp: BHSE (Mullard XF3, Philips Metal Base EL34 Disk Getter), SRM-T8000 (Stock Tube) Reference Headphones: Sennheiser HE90, SR-009S The build quality of SR-009S is worse than SR-009 which made me a bit worried about the X9000. But when I open the box, the SR-X9000 just look gorgeous, its build quality is to the state-of-the-art standard. The grey and brown color combination looks very good. Here are some details of the X9000. Please make sure you read manual when attach the cable to X9000. There are design to stop you attach in a wrong way, but you could still attach the wrong side. I attached the left cable to right unit at the first try and subsequently correct it after I read the manual. There might be some potential harm to the headphone if you attach the headphone cable to the opposite side. RELAXED The main impression of X9000 is RELAXED. Yes, no matter what kind of music you play, it give you a very relaxed sound signature. It is not forwarding sound at all. Even you play most intense Orchestra works like Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 by Teodor Currentzis. You will feel the brass and string instruments hoarse like you are getting fxxked by the Orchestra in climax part when you listen to HE90, but you will never feel that with X9000 even you switch to very high volume. Yes, you can switch to a incredible high volume without getting irritable. However, it is strongly recommended you to control the volume as you wouldn't feel any uncomfortable until you feel pain in your ears. It might cause permanent harm to your ear. It depends on your taste if this kind of relaxed feeling is good or not. For me, I have HE90 for Orchestra works so it is not a issue at all. But if you buy X9000 mainly for Orchestra, you might need to adjust your source and accessories to fit its style. To me, when playing Orchestra works, the HE90 is like BPO, or even BSO, the X9000 is like NHK. I am not saying NHK is not good, I just prefer BPO. SENCE OF TABLEAU The second impression of X9000 is sense of tableau. You sometimes feels that 009/009S is pouring music into your ears like water when there are lot of details, but you will never feel that with X9000. Everything is always well arranged in a good manner, in a relaxed way. It is really a pleasure to enjoy music with it. Unlike 009S, the X9000 focus on the whole picture rather than details. Each part of music combines together and you even feel the sound is tangible. To me, it lack of the ethereal and diffused sound signature of HE90. It feels more 'real'. After you listen to X9000, you will find it express music in a more superior and comprehensive way than other STAX headphones. (except SR-Omega, I've never listened to it before) SOUNDSTAGE The X9000 offer incredible soundstage compared with SR-009S and any other STAX earspeakers I have. To me it is even better than HE90 to some extent. It feels like the the sound is emission and diffused in a very neutral way. You will easily forget you are wearing a headphone. (And yes it is very comfortable to wear it) To compare, when you listen to piano live performance recordings, X9000 is like you seating at the audience seat, HE90 is like you seating on the stage and 009S is like you head is in the grand piano. I am not saying SR-009S is bad. Actually, there are some person prefer to listen to Piano in closest distance to feel the metallic touch of the sound. It's upon your taste. SOME OTHER FEATURES Compared with SR-009S and HE90, X9000 is a more neutral sound headphone, it is neither bright nor warmth, but it is still with very significant 'STAX' style. X9000 is not a bass monster like SR-007. But their base has sort of similarity. Compared with SR-009s, the bass of X9000 is not the rock-firm style. It is a more bouncy, soft yet surrounding style bass. It is more like HE90's bass performance. I personally like it very much. But if you really like lot of bass then the headphone probably is not for you. I have tried X9000 with all sorts of music, including Orchestra, piano solo, violin solo, chamber music, Japanese POP, Animation music, Chinese Pop, Acapella, electronic music. It fits almost all sorts of music in my opinion. I prefer to use HE90 to replay Orchestra and Violin works as it is more energetic, but it is after all personal taste. To me, X9000 is too relaxed for some music, it just lack of the spark that ignite my heard. But when I want to listen to music and take a rest, I will definitely prefer X9000. AMPS OPTION I compare my headphones on BHSE and I've also tried SRM-T8000. SRM-T8000 can drive X9000 pretty well just as SR-009S. But overall it is even more softer than BHSE. To me I think BHSE is a better option.
    1 point
  19. Good evening everyone - I did a bit of optimization to the amplifier board. Size is now down to 170x100mm ( or 6.7in x 3.9in) Also added DC blocking. I'm experimenting with web-space... try this link: http://51two.com/KSA5/ Cheers, Alex.
    1 point
  20. Tore one of the dead transformers apart. At least a little bit. There was no wiring error. 3 amp winding is .0485 inch diameter which is 17 gauge and good for 2.9 amps (2 x el34) 1.5 amp winding is .0295 inch diameter which is 21 gauge and good for 1.2 amps (1 x el34) American Wire Gauge Chart and AWG Electrical Current Load Limits table with ampacities, wire sizes, skin depth frequencies and wire breaking strength (powerstream.com) Other charts do less current. Some charts do higher current. So at a minimum, right on the absolute edge. Can’t get deep enough to measure the primary winding which might be more important. and the bergquist stuff is non-stock, lead time 26 weeks Some of the toroid companies sell covers for their transformers. I would think that as a blackbody radiator, they would help the cooling, not hurt it. But next time i will be testing without the covers on. With the transformers the amp is tipping the scales at 75 lbs. Making it really hard to work on.
    0 points
  21. Our practice management software also has to run on the server. So it has to be Windows.
    0 points
  22. This one hurts, I’ve spoken with him, and hoped to speak with him again. What a visionary. https://guitar.com/news/gear-news/emmett-chapman-musician-inventor-chapman-stick-dies-85/
    0 points
  23. I've just known that Pat Martino died yesterday at 77. RIP Pat.
    0 points
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