Fing

Maybe the EMU 1212m coax out isn't very good - though reports say it's not bad. But I definitely preferred USB to it on a MHDT Havana dac. Not as thick sounding and much more dynamic, detailed and tonally accurate.

Is It Like Today? - World Party Love the lyrics and tune.

Thank you for your helpful comparison - I agree, except I prefer the O2's strengths against the HE90's strengths - at least on an Aristaeus and again, I'd probably prefer the HE90 on some days on some music. It's the bass that swings it for me though ;-)

Hmm. I think it's best to just assume that everyone is a suspicious nutter until proven otherwise, no matter how they look. The person wearing the robowatch I would find interesting and clearly taken with 'out of the box' sort of thinking.

Sigh...

Hmmmm - interesting. I didn't know they were async... The Musiland 01 looks good value (only $74). What soundcard would you suggest as a transport?

Thanks Beefy and Alex. I like the tests AMB performed on their USB to S/PDIF converter and it seems like quite a bit more work than just buying the TPA one. Are they clearly superior? General rule of thumb - the less soldering I have to do the better. I know I asked a similar question before about USB direct to a Buffalo DAC. Also, I can't see any reason why a S/PDIF COAX RCA socket can't just be wired to a BNC socket instead? Aren't they (electrically) the same thing? From what I gather, the main advantage of BNC is that it's 'true' 75 ohm vs RCA which somehow isn't due to socket design? Is this as a result of a mechanically designed feature - ie the BNC socket is more securely attached, than RCA which just 'slips on'? Or that the 'resistance' of BNC sockets are 75ohm and RCA sockets aren't or have more variation? Alex - please tell me what you think of the Trends and Musiland USB converters ) Cheers!

Having problems with the search function so apologies if this has already been dealt with. I'm quite enarmored with PC as source due to its convenience but wondering about possible ways to get data from a PC to a DAC. For instance I have a Havana DAC that I've compared using direct USB input vs RCA from an EMU1212m soundcard and preferred the USB by quite a bit even though it's regarded as a lesser method. It just didn't sound as detailed or tonally correct via the RCA socket. So, for an older style DAC with BNC input (like an Assemblage 2.0 for instance) I was wondering whether anyone has any thoughts beyond just connecting up the EMU1212m via a BNC cable and RCA converter? Bel Canto do a USB to BNC converter for $495, which, at the cost of the DAC, I find to be a little excessive, though I'm sure it does a good enough job. However, wouldn't using a Twisted Pear USB receiver be both more cost effective and do pretty much the same thing? Granted there's a little extra hassle sourcing and adapting the enclosure and soldering in the bnc socket, but fairly minor considering the cost difference. As an aside, when I was seriously considering buying a Sonic Frontier 3, I heard that some bright spark had managed to adapt a floppy drive cable and connect it directly from the EMU1212m child-card socket (the sound card has an analogue out child card) to the DAC via the proprietary 13-pin or whatever connector. Nice idea if you can get it to work I suppose. Cheers )

Probably distilled water. More impressive if I saw him filling that bowl with water from a London tap.

Thanks a lot Elephas - this sort of comparison is really helpful. Cheers!

Very interesting Elephas and sorry to hear you're not getting much joy from the HE90 on the BHSE. Cheeky question, but if you had a give an order of preference (or a percentage mark) to the O2, SR-Omega, 4070 and HE90 on the BHSE, what would it be?

Funnily enough, I've been tuning my Aristaeus to a more 'neutral' or revealing sound with the HE90 - at least to my ears. Euphony is fun - but I can't really enjoy it for long, especially when I stick some classical on. It all seems to start falling apart at that point. ECC83 Mullards / Siemens were nice with the HE90 (JJ Tesla Frame Grids were better and the NOS Tesla E83CC even better), but I prefered some gold brand Sylvania 5751 as being very revealing but not too dynamic. Raytheon 5751 with windmill getters were way too laid back - good perhaps with 'bright' sources but not a good match with my Wavelength Crimson. I suspect I'll prefer the black plate triple mica Sylvania 5751 with the O2's - they were too much for the HE90 but may be enough to inject some life into the O2s )

My concern is less about the cash and more about their reliability. I have just bought an O2 which I never thought I'd do and I'll be comparing them with the HE90 on the Aristaeus. BHSE might be on the cards in the future - or a DIY Stax T2 ;p I'm glad you like your new setup though. I can only imagine how awesome it must sound ) Comparisons to ES-1 + HE90/Sr-Omega/O2 would be most appreciated!

I'm scared that one day I might want to buy a pair of Sr-Omegas. You're not helping!!

Bill still enjoys telling fibs - or the White House has poor communication.

GIGO

I'd love to get into the psychoanalytics of why and how the maenad's developed as a myth. Quick answer - fear of unrestrained female destructiveness and lust.

*hugs 2 pairs of Bendix 6080*

happy birthday Purk !

Have you considered electrostatics? A SRM-T1 and Lambda Pro could be had for less than a $1k if you're patient. I'd also consider a Pico Amp/Dac and Shure SE530 as pretty hard to beat for minimalism and not having to worry about cables. Or get both and use the Pico Amp/Dac as source ;-) The Buffalo32s sold out in 2mins both times it was available.

I discovered Sony MDR-R10's are notorious for the inner foam turning red and crumbling - this does take a while and accelerates in humid conditions. Unfortunately they stopped selling replacements a while back. I'll trade a pair of outer foam rings for inner ones if anyone has a spare pair ) The HE90 has these really quirky little screws holding the drivers to the headband that seem like a point of failure and may require reinforcement of some kind (more substantial than No More Nails) if they do go.

Ran in the London Marathon )

So this would be Woo Audio's version of the Stax SRX circuit with tube rectified power supply?

Sigh - just made an offer for an Aristaeus ( Well - I'm not unhappy as it's a good price.

Thanks Manaox2 (and Beefy) for the detailed info. I'll be interested to hear which you prefer.