Nanoha

You're saying that a stock L3000's cable is Cardas? That should not be true as far as I am aware of.

Lol, wha.

Hah, I'll put it at 20% and 40% even when comparing unamped with use of otl shit-box highend amps. Supremely subjective as always of course.

Yeah, I suppose so. But probably a lot lower than 70% or 95%. POS "mid-fi" commercial amps seriously don't do those two headphone justice in my opinion.

Oh, the Florida Meet. Sweet, lots of good guys there. I will need to check out that thread when I come back tonight.

I'm quite excited about the new updates regarding the Mini? portable amplifier. http://headwize.com/ubb/showpage.php?fnum=3&tid=6936 Specs and technicalities aside (which appear positive), I'm quite surprised by the size of the amplifier. Quite small and cute if you ask me.

Probably the metal pipe part.

Hand drill, eh? Nice.

By the way, thrice, do you have your own drill press for casework? Haha, I'm trying to figure out just how I'm going to do my casework when I currently have no tools. I will probably have to resort to Front Panel Express or try to find a contact who has access to a drill press.

So we got a Lytron temperature cooler control thingy, a cryo system on top of the Lytron, a cryo tank off the side, an unit for determining molecular structure through chemical crystallography... and some other things that seem important but I can't make out.

Rawr, nice.

Haha, true. I remember that amp cost quite a bit when it was new. Not sure how much though; somewhere around $2k? On a somewhat related but not really related note, I've recently discovered just how much cases, faceplates, backplates, silkscreens, feets, connectors, etc. cost. I'm not liking it a bit.

It's ugly. I'm ugly. We might be a match! I mean...

I'm actually quite interested in options 1, 2, 4, and 5. But with little chance to hear these without either being shameless or actually buying, I'll probably have to depend on people's advice and suggestions. Perhaps in the end it will come down to features and functionality.

I've gone through a few random setups and listened to a number of dedicated amps here and there over the past two years. A few days ago, however, I realized that I longed for a new beginning. My rig has been a total mess with cables running here and there, and equipment piled on top of each other at odd angles. I wanted something simpler. I started thinking about Jason's (jjcha) simplistic m902 setup and Peter's (Iron_Dreamer) multiple encounters with various all-in-one pieces. When I first started out in this hobby, my goal was an USB DAC and headphone amp all-in-one unit. Something like the Apogee Mini-DAC. I, as time has progressed, digressed and went the way of separate pieces. Now that I'm treading back towards the all-in-one territory, I know it'll be different from the beginning: I've been spoiled by dedicated amps and sources and know that achieving the same level of performance through an all-in-one would be unlikely. I'm ready to make compromises. And I've decided to make a list of the suitable options out there. I was hoping people here could provide me with insights as to what to do. There is the initial question of: What should I focus on, an unit more focused on the amp section or an unit more focused on the DAC section. Hmmm... oh well, we'll see. So again, the criteria being: USB DAC + Headphone Amp; I will be using low-impedance headphones 1. Benchmark DAC1 USB - I've listened to the Benchmark in the past, a long long time ago. I didn't like it. But I was listening to the SA5000 out of it at the time.. Hahaha. 2. Headroom Desktop Amp (Home Amp and DAC Modules, Stepped Attenuator) - Hey, it's Headroom. It's solid. It's dependable. Maybe a good choice. 3. Meier Corda Opera - I've never liked the sound of Meier's amps. Not very musical in my opinion. 4. Grace m902 - Mmmmmm. Jason likes it. Maybe I would too. 5. Apogee Mini-DAC - I've always wanted to hear one. Never got the chance though. 6. AQVOX USB 2 D/A - Pretty big in size. Iron_Dreamer thinks it's decent. 7. PS Audio GCHA - Owned it. Liked it. Pretty big and heavy due to that huge toroidal. Imaging off perhaps? DAC section kind bleh. 8. Stereolink 1400 - Hmmm, probably not the best thing, but who knows? And then something else to consider: I'll probably still keep a dedicated amp somewhere lying around at home and away from school. (So I'll have access to it during 1/4 of the year.) So anyways, thanks so much everyone for all the help! This community never ceases to amaze me when it comes good advice.

Morph, is that you? If so, I saw your post over on Head-Fi. The journey of knowledge is very long.

Same. Don't know if it's tall enough for my fat cans though. Hmmm, 6 inches tall... maybe....

RSA B-52? As tkam said, it's two Raptors in series. I've heard the Raptor and it's definitely not an amplifier I would consider buying. And from a technical standpoint (as opposed subjective sonic standpoint), most in the know would say it's a downgrade from your current HeadRoom amp. I personally think it's worth it. But that might be just me.

Oh no. The W2002? Eeeeks. Let's hope for the best. (Many don't like the sound of it, haha.)

I'll have to agree with the fact that I disliked the HD595. It's a mid-fi headphone geared for computer users in my opinion. Kind of "mehh...." sounding. I remember lots of people recommended the HD555 as a starter can a few years ago, and the HD595 as the "next step up". Haha, I bought the HD555 and A500 back then as my first headphones. I sold the HD555 within a month or two.

Brand new HD595 could sell for more than the price of a new HD580 the last time I checked. But I'm not sure if that would work if you want to go that way.

Gah, I like how they look. Too bad they would indeed be quite fruity when worn.

Ah, I see. The amplifier included. Makes a little bit more sense. Hmmm...

So, I've been thinking about this line for the past few minutes. What?! Which headphone demands such a price?