RudeWolf

It's running Hypex uCD modules. They're not crappy receiver grade, but I'd use them for bass only, because up top I always find them too Class-D'ey. If you're still looking for a KEF LS50, I'd say skip the NAD and get the LS50 wireless version. I found the LS50 to be rather picky amp wise. It needed a hearty 100W amp which could do low impedances with finesse.

Why not get stands with little more... function?

The thing is that most stereo DACs are good bandwidth wise with USB 2.0, so I wouldn't expect much in terms of adopting new standards on the DAC side. Just get the right cable and you should be good.

It should be trivial to measure the acoustic impact of an obstructive material. Your dust cover should be invisible acoustically, from what I can see. The worst it can do would be rattling, which is trivial to detect and rectify.

HD800 is anything but flat sounding. That treble is outpeaked only by Beyer T1.

Four of these - http://www.sbacoustics.com/index.php/products/subwoofers/12-sb34swnrx-s75-6/ I did plenty of research and my main goal was to find a light subwoofer driver which can do twenty. Initially I was looking at Dayton, but they're poorly represented in EU and they're anything but light. A high Mms/Bl factor was a must. Scanspeak had a 13" which was twice as expensive. Other than that I had to look for exotics like Audio-Technology and Accuton which are even more expensive but TS specs aren't any much better. SB Acoustics is actually a very decent manufacturer, but I'll mention that one of them came with a minor defect that's audible on higher excursion. Let's see how they'll handle it.

My new monitor stands. 114dB free field at 22Hz with only 500W. And there will obviously be two of them.

Here's how the Staxen I had measured. Lambda Pro Lambda Nova Classic For reference - HD800 Overall the Pro sounded more anemic and I preferred the LNC. The earlier roll-off is clearly audible.

Ain't mine! One of the luxuries of my work is that I get to try out many headphones that pass through us (no, I don't work at the post!). The amp has been modified, judging by the fact that RCA's are not stock and there's only one pair of them. Maybe even one of yours, eh? Luckily I'm knee deep in another audio project, so there are no free funds. Otherwise I'd be looking for a PCB set and maybe a pair electrostats.

Finally got my stat cherry properly popped. Previously listened to a SR-202 from that small Stax amp and it didn't do much for me. Lambda Nova from SRM-1/MK2 sounds really good and bass is actually there.

OPA1688, OPA1612 and OPA1622 if I'm not mistaken. I think it's the first commercial device to use the OPA1688. Usually one uses opamp and a high current buffer to isolate the opamp from the load and get it to dominate small signal performance. The usual suspects back in the day were OPA134+BUF634 sharing the same feedback loop. In this case RME opted for three OPA1688 per channel to distribute the load, or six for balanced. I personally don't subscribe to the Burson-esque notion that all IC's are bad. In my experience opamps excel in small signal environments with fixed or at least predictable operating conditions. Here RME proved me wrong with their headamp. Interestingly enough the headphone output shares the same distortion characteristics as the line outputs and can be used as such in a pinch (if one needs 4 analog channel output).

Our head of RnD uses a Fireface UC and we've relied on a Babyface to not leave us with our pants down when we tour high profile LA studios. Rock solid drivers and well thought out controls. Sadly. they'll never outsell stuff like Behringer or Focusrite because it's hard to sell reliability to people who have never been burnt. Sure is. But it's hard for me to just call it a DAC. The thing comes with a 80 page manual to cover all of the features and functions. You have ADC with actual 124dbA SNR, you can use it just as an analog input, but it wouldn't be out of place in a world class mastering studio. It has two headamps which can be configured to play different tracks, if your playback software allows it. Or you can just tell the unit to take each of the DAC outputs and utilize each headamp for differential drive. Oh, and it'll detect automatically if you're using SE or BAL...

Output spectrum is actually something I would expect to see from such ladders. With that said - most of the harmonics are -100dB below the signal, so it's okay in my book. I mean - I've heard better measuring DACs which have sounded far worse. Stock Buffalo 3 for example. Btw, this might interest the mafia members in possession of DIY Soekris modules.

Looks like it's the age of no-chip. I was very impressed by the sound of first edition Soekris boards. It took two extra revisions of the board and around a year of firmware updates to get there, but now it's pretty stellar. I'd love to hear what DAC1541 has to offer. I'd also say that some of the higher end implementations of Asahi Kasei chips sound really nice. I went from DAM1021 to RME ADI-2 Pro and don't feel like I'm missing anything sound wise.

Picked one up mostly due to an interesting feature set. I've had good experience with RME gear being technically impeccable, but falling a bit short in listening tests. The ADI-2 Pro was intended to be an office rig, but I lug it to and fro work, it's that good. Ended up buying one of the limited Anniversary Editions, cuz it's black and has moar pretty. It runs my HD800 balanced with 6x OPA1688 chips pre channel. Sounds as good or better as I've heard any HD800 perform. It also does 5 band PEQ which makes HD800's actually listenable. For my Equator Q12 I use the back XLR's and intend to hook up a MiniDSP via optical to integrate two custom 15" subs. Anyho - check this thing out, if you're looking for an interesting source unit. Cheerio. P.S. Nudie (almost Gilmore sized)

Top this.

Well, there's always RME Babyface Pro. I'd pay top dollar for that, if I'd need one. My company uses the old Babyface and it's pretty darn good.

I wouldn't like to pay more than 200 for a USB powered DAC. The downfall of these devices usually is dependability on USB power, therefore performance will vary depending on USB quality.

Well, I work at an audio company and often I too get approached by people wanting to review our stuff. Usually I do some background checks so I can estimate the impact of a review, but seeing "Not to brag too much but I think I have a gifted writing style and able to transmit what I hear into a well written review" would tick me off instantly. Dude has like 5 reviews at HF and only one is what I'd consider popular.

Since when has this been an obstacle to producing good audio literature?

Dillan

Thanks for the info! I have considered glueing small carpentry nails to each of the transistors. Epoxy or super glue might hold them well enough.

Hey guys! What's the currently approved best solution to cool mini Dynalo transistors? @johnwmclean , did you have much luck with thermal tape?

That's phase, man. Impedance is the other graph which hovers around 47 Ohms, tho that doesn't change anything. After much pondering I find that my main beef with Utopias is that they don't have anything they're the best at. Orthodynamics will best them at bass, HD800 has better soundstage... and so on. The only exception might be build quality, but that's a moot-ish point.