JimP

thanks - will check it out

another one...hoppin' around with my headphones on...'North Americans'!

stuff is good on headphones...new territory for me, I guess they call this genre IDM???

thanks - I'll stop the drama, and just email STAX tomorrow.

I can't believe this - in one clumsy 'rock-out-with-my-c*ck-out' move (note to self - need to put carpeting in den) I accidentally dropped my 404LE onto hardwood floor and the plastic "fork" on one side broke like this: I've super-glued it together - seems to be holding together for now. Do I have any chance of STAX replacing this piece, especially on a so-called 'limited' edition? (so far, the super-glue seems to be holding, and I have a back-up pair...but it still pisses me off - my clumsiness, that is)

Thanks to HC, I've pieced together a bedroom system consisting of: - McCormack Micro Headphone Drive (MHD) - Rotel RCD971 - Etymotic ER-4s I've tired of IEMs (ie sticking things in my ear) and these old ER-4s have been sitting in my desk drawer for years - sometimes I tried to sell it, but out of laziness it just sat there tucked away. Then I acquired the RCD971 (because I was in a weird GD phase and HDCD seemed pertinent). Then I acquired the MHD, which is the key here. I remember not too long ago when I was a piss-poor student and I lusted after McCormack gear, and the MHD popped up here on HC, and I couldn't resist. It was not planned this way, but this old gear - MHD + RCD971 +ER4s - sounds righteously amazing! I lay catatonic listening to this system, as wifey rolls her eyes. I'm not saying this is THE system, as I'm sure there are many other combinations, but I could honestly sell everything and live with this. Again, the key I believe is the MHD - it is my 'Rosebud'. Here is a generic picture of the MHD off the web (too lazy to snap my own pictures). Latest is not necessarily the greatest - I wish I stumbled on this combo early on. So what is your (ancient) gear that still punches above its weight? ps: I alternate between ER4S and HD580 with the MHD, but its the ER4S that synergizes with the MHD the best. pps: I also acquired a MLD on HC recently; another 'Rosebud' to build a speaker system around!

Massenet's Manon with french soprano Nathalie Manfrino singing the title role - wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Deep Purple in Hong Kong this past Monday - missed 'Highway Star' because I went out to concession to buy beers. Man, these guys are old...but they rocked it! Steve Morse, the guitarist was amazing.

So I've been able to recently acquire a used KGSS. Using it with my 404LE, but I got it in anticipation of trying a 4070 and/or O2 at some point. It supposedly has a stepped DACT attenuator added (as original attenuator failed). It has some very noticeable static when I turn the volume knob, especially between each notch, but goes away completely when I set it at any specific volume level. The seller specifically disclosed this before the purchase, so all is good. I can live with it, as it sounds so good with the 404LE. My question is - in the future, if I wanted to eliminate this minor flaw, is it as simple as replacing with a new quality attenuator? (I'd have to find someone locally qualified to do it). Mind you, this is not annoying enough that I need to address immediately, but assuming this KGSS works out with a 4070 and/or O2 in the future, maybe I endeavor to fix this last bit. Just curious.

congrats on on the 4070 and O2mkI! I know you've just gotten these, I but I would be keen to hear more of your comparative soundbites on the two. Unfortunately I'm at a location where I cannot trial run these in advance. What could be helpful if you could associate them crudely to commonly known dynamics, eg, 4070s sound roughly like [k1000], etc. ... if that's possible at all.

as others have said...thank you "Catch y'all on the flip side" - I love this, will co-opt this into my lexicon!

from conus list price...

sorry for having taken this thread way off track! fyi, the side comment about Barry Diament's view on ULN-8 and ULN-2, he is careful to state that he is opining on the sound of the DAC, he is not opining on it as studio tool (which he himself states is beyond what audiophiles need/use at home).

hey that's me right now, so let's see, if I divide by 3...wow the ULN-8 is actually a bargain (pretty easy to convince/trick myself to buy something new around here!)

this is digressing from original thread, but speaking of Barry Diament, he also states that the best DAC today is ULN-8, and if he can't have the ULN-8 then the ULN-2. I find that quite an endorsement of ULN-8, but even more so for ULN-2 (need to hunt down a used ULN-2 one for a second firewire based system...)

some more observations on continued listen: - it is very resolving of detail, spatial information, distinct instrument layers etc, tapered at top (no shimmering highs here) and tight bass all the way down! but it is a 'fun' phone like a HF-2 is a 'fun' phone - I dub it my boogie 'phones, just awesome with live Phish/GD etc (but really all-purpose, enjoying jazz, classical, opera, etc) - I disagree HD580/600 is better than 404LE - I can see the vague sonic resemblance, but the 404LE womps the Senns (I have a hardwired HD580 that I'm directly comparing to) - 'rubbery' sound - not sure what you mean. If you mean dark, yes, 404LE is a tad dark - one correction to earlier comment, 404LE does scale nicely (with PWD, playing with different settings, filters, etc) - perhaps not as initially evident as K1000 system, but quite nice This sounds crazy, but if you put gun to my head to pick one - at this moment, I would probably pick the 404LE/SRM600 or KGSS over K1000 system (K1000 is much, much better from audiophile perspective, but the 404LE presentation is musically just right - for me)

404LE - mingo at hkd 4.9k PWD - several places tried to charge me more than list, piss me off, found a place that gave me a small discount

gratuitous sucky photo of 'test equipment'. 404LE on top, loving it with SRM600 or KGSS. (interesting history on KGSS according to seller, originally a rockhopper kgss, along the way converted to 220V, replaced broken attenuator to DACT, gained new shiny knobs, etc).

I should put huge caveat to my observations - these are the only stats I've ever heard! and I'm directly comparing them to K1000/A205AII/PWD. hope to do more long-term listening...regards

Generally agree with your observations on 404LE. Not sure what source/amp you're using, but I'll add a few observations: - source: macmini to picoDAC or miniDAC (gone) or PWD - amp: KGSS or SRM600 or SRD7Pro/A205AmkII - 404LE are 'fun' phones, really enjoy their presentation, especially the bass! they kind of remind me of the L3000 I had awhile ago, maybe even more 'fun' and more energy (whatever that means) - 404LE don't seem to scale well with sources - sounds great from picoDAC/miniDAC to PWD (compared to K1000 on A205AmkII scales off the charts going to PWD!) - they're not the giant killers I thought they were on initial listen - the K1000/A205AmkII/PWD leaves the 404LE in the dust - except low bass - if the 404LE were my only phones, I would be happy - again fun and musical phones. - 404LE sound great out of SRD7Pro + A205AmkII (I assume many other decent amps + energizer would work well) - 404LE sound virtually same (to me) from KGSS or SRM600, ie they sound great! (my hunch is 404LE may be tolerant of amps as it is with source...but just wild guess) So there you go, my very limited observations on 404LE, YMMV (I think I'll try the 4070 next...eventually an O2)

FYI, Gordon Rankin of Wavelength Audio seems to be a proponent of PM - you can google Computer Audiophile and there are exchanges between Barry and Gordon on one of the forums. I've downloaded demo myself to try - not sure what to make of it for now...

Hi - another question: - does PWD output both analog XLR and single-ended RCA simultaneously, and - does volume control both XLR and SE outputs

How is the PWD as a preamp? (eg, the Berkeley Alpha is cited for its direct preamp capabilities, besides of course it's outstanding DAC sound). Trying to steel my will for a major source upgrade this year...saving nickels and dimes (eg, selling every piddly thing in my storage bins). Maybe I can better justify it psychologically as a great DAC AND preamp. Probably unlikely but anyone try PWD vs Berkelely Alpha?

Apologies, I've decided to just hold onto the 2nd pair for now. my SRD7Pro energizer just came in, and my SRM-600 should arrive from Japan tomorrow, so I'll just disappear for a bit to listen to these.

OK Padam, you're up! Please PM me if you want these..