fierce_freak

I'd love to build one and compare it with my Opus, but based on the price list I was sent, the D-I 16 costs around $1000, minus a case O.o I haven't checked to see if it could be done cheaper sourcing my own parts, though.

I've been looking at this lately, too. I'm trying to decide if it'll be worth the cash expenditure or not (already have an Opus which is pretty nice).

This looks to be a very nice DAC. He offers a blank boards with smd chips already soldered on if you want to put your own together. I'm considering putting one together, but I think I'd have to sell the Opus to do it, and I don't want to do that You can see the DAC at http://www.ecdesigns.nl/dacs/di16/di16.html

lol, I'm going to scratch moonglo into the sides of my pro-fi connectors, ahha. i'll have to give the tiffany style rca jacks a try, I suppose.

Sure, I'll describe them in broad terms, and I can describe any in more detail if anyone is interested. BtBaM, Despised Icon, Psyopus, My Bitter End, and Ion Dissonance are all part of a sub-genre mostly called death-core (one of my favorite genres of music, though it's often attacked by other metal purists), which I would describe as a mix between death metal, hardcore/metalcore, and often some grind or math thrown in. Total Fucking Destruction and Heavy Heavy Low Low are both variations of grind, mostly. Total Fucking Destruction has 3 or 4 acoustic tracks on their CD, and I've been trying to find other stuff like it because I love it. The Chariot is metalcore, I guess, but I like it.

Thanks for the suggestions on the binding posts, guys. As far as RCA, I like the Profi's, too, and was hoping someone could compare them to the pricier stuff like Eichmann, WBT, Vampire/XHADOW, or LOK. I've used Neutrik RCA jacks as well up to this point, and I've used some of the jacks at partsconnexion in some stuff I've done for other people, but I haven't actually compared the two.

-edit- looks like I go for a bit different variety of metal than most here...couple bands I haven't heard of, either I don't think I purchased much new metal this year (I have a lot of great stuff from '06, though), but I do have some decent stuff: Between the Buried and Me - Colors (one of my favorite bands, has to be mentioned ) Total Fucking Destruction - Zen and the Art of Total Fucking Destruction (i want more from these guys, now!) Despised Icon - The Ills of Modern Man Psyopus - Our Puzzling Encounters Considered The Chariot - The Fiancee (i couldn't get this cd out of my player for months) Heavy Heavy Low Low - Everything's Watched, Everyone's Watching Ion Dissonance - Minus the Herd My Bitter End - The Renovation

In the past I've liked Neutrik's connectors best for RCA, but I haven't tried anything more boutique, yet. When it comes to binding posts, I'm pretty clueless on what is quality and what isn't. What is everyones' favorites?

At the DC area meet last July, there were a couple of pairs of Qualia there. One of the pairs felt like it fit perfectly...wish I'd checked to see which size it was. Not that I'll ever be able to afford or find a pair

oh goddamnit, I knew something was wrong I've heard the RS-1 out of three good headphone amps (Beta22, Renato's Aikido, and Jay's Massive Attack, I (and I think all of us) preferred bowls.

Disagree

What are the Qualia going for these days? 2500+?

Yeah, I saw the pair over on A'gon and thought about it. I hate plunking down that much just to try it, though, mostly because they don't seem to sell as quickly as a lot of other cans.

lol, I vaguely get the point. Don't worry mr. nice, I was just busting your balls. I've heard the Ed. 9 and I liked it from my very brief impression of it, but I don't think it'll top the RS-1, for me. After reading Part II of Zanth's review, though, I'd be pretty interested in borrowing a GS1k for a week if someone was so inclined

I still haven't heard the GS1k, but I'm not in any rush to do so. I heard the HP-2 at a meet and wasn't impressed, but that doesn't mean much. At the same meet I heard the RS-1 and wasn't impressed, and now it's my main can.

I heard the Qualia at a meet this past July and really enjoyed the sound. It's one of the few headphones I'd feel merit cash expenditure as an upgrade from where I'm at now...of course, I could possibly end up disliking the Qualia with an extended listening session. I know someone's already asked about the SA5000 in this thread, but is it near enough the general presentation of the Qualia in tonality and other measures that I could own one for a while decide whether or not to pursue the Qualia?

There are some pretty cool pics there. I remember seeing an amp using transmitting tubes on Pete Millet's page, I think.

Thanks for the info, Nate. I usually see shields only connected at source end. Have you found connected at both to be better for you? Cool, thanks Renato.

Bet that sounds nice...congrats.

Despite the RS-1's status as my favorite headphone I've owned, I wouldn't pay that much for them O.o

How do you deal with the shield? This is something I've been thinking about the past couple days. Do you just put a piece of wire up into the shield and solder that onto the connector, or do you leave enough shield out that you can twist it seperate from the signal wires and use that?

^

x2...Have you heard Les Claypool's "Of Whales and Woe?" Fucking fantastic. -edit- I'm sure there are quite a few bands I love that most don't get (including most of my metal stuff), but I'm pretty sure I couldn't think of most of them. Some of the other stuff: ohGr, Polyphonic Spree, Dog Fashion Disco. Then there are those few mainstream bands I love that I never seem to find others loving, like Third Eye Blind or Presidents of the United States of America. I'll have to go through my library when I get home to see what I'm forgetting.

I hate snoop's music, and I generally dislike pretty much all rap. I'm the corny guy that likes a lot of 80's and early 90's rap and hip hop, though.