Iron_Dreamer

Well, they certainly are better, and it's difficult to describe to someone who hasn't heard it for themselves. I was certainly skeptical that higher end sources could do a CD that much more justice, but they can. Is it worth the cost, strictly from a price/performance ratio? Probably not, outside of getting a used Emm Labs DAC, or the like for <$4k. But as long as one can afford it, there's no reason not to.

Yeah, how much do tickets to Iceland run these days?

DEEWIT! They are certainly worth a listen.

Impressions! I only listened to the SR007mkII from the SRM007mkII, and it was clear that not much has changed from the original version of both, the Omegas still sound stuffy with this amp, certainly not up to the potential I've heard in the past via Dr. Gilmore's amps. The 4070 on the other hand, was a real joy to behold, feeding it with the SRM007mkII from my Apogee's balanced outputs. I spend a good solid 2.5 hours listening to this rig, while all else snoozed (and rained). Thank god for closed 'stats, eh? I haven't been this struck by a headphone in years, going back to my first Qualia experience. The 4070 certainly lives up to the "monitor" label clearly stamped on each earcup, as I've never heard a headphone with such remarkable ability to see into the mix of any given track. Dissecting even the most densely produced music with aplomb, the 4070 was a surgeon at work, giving me the experience of some heretofore virgin detail on some of my favorite albums (which I'd also not experienced in years). The bass is about as quick as I could imagine, showing the extreme contrast between bassy and thinly recorded material. The earcups must be extremely well dampened, as no matter how hard I pushed them, I did not feel any vibrations. Nevertheless, the bass had impact common only to the Omegas, and well amped HE90's among stats. This is certainly a very unique sounding headphone, which I'm sure would not suit all comers, as I heard several comments to the effect of "I listen to music to experience it, not analyze it..." What's odd is that I found this very analytical and hetrogenous presentation to be extremely musical or groovy, which is probably more a figment of my twisted mind, than the headphones themselves. The Lambda Pro, coming some time after this 4070 epiphany, was somewhat disappointing, with a more emphasized, but slower bass lacking depth. The midrange seemed a bit recessed in comparison to the rest, a bit of V EQ if you will. The Lambda Signature had a more pleasing and even tone, but still lacked bass impact and depth. The HE1.2 outperformed both, with an improved timbre, and somewhat deeper bass. This headphone is also extremely comfortable. However, it still couldn't touch the top tier for bass performance, nor did it have a truly distinguishing quality. Whereas the HE90 is supremely inviting and enveloping, the Omega II is realistic and spacious, and the 4070 is insanely introspective; the HE1.2 is just nice sound. In this regard, it is somewhat similar to (and interchangeable with, in the absence of a direct comparison) the HE60, i.e. a very high performing 'stat, but not a killer app. In other listening notes, Audio Technica has a really nice piece in the ESW9. The overall presentation, from the midrange up, is relatively L3000esque, certainly a good thing in my book. The bass is both more prominent and less controlled (not exactly a surprise) but not to the point it detracts from the music. Rather, it is an amount of bass which tends to mitigate the differences in lower-end equipment and recordings, making it an ideal partner for travel, or just kicking back without a care. In that regard, the ESW9 might do well to pair with the Sansa Clip. A more portable audio player, I could hardly imagine, and one with the power to make an HD650 sound relatively good in a fairly loud room, now that's something to write home about. I might just have to combine this player with some Yuin's for the ultimate stealth rig....hmmmm....D And oh yes, how could I forget nightwoundstime and I discovering the secret to making DT990's sound like complete poo....saddling them with leather pads, cool as they might appear. Talk about holy midbass hump Batman! Few things this side of a Triport have ever had a presentation so loaded with bass in such a narrow frequency range. The pads had a very odd effect, in that they turned the supposedly open DT990s into what seemed like a closed can, at least in terms of sound leakage. Upon mounting the standard velour pads, the sound went back much closer to what I recall the 990's sounding like, and Santa's report of very little burn in could account for the rest. Oh, and the R2R/ES2/HE90 system? It took only seconds for me to feel like a piece of audio roadkill along the side of the Autobahn. This is as realistic a reproduced sound as I think I've ever heard, to the point that I didn't feel like I was in a room or venue with the music, but inside the music itself. Drums sounded like a (much quieter) version of holding your head right next to one. Truly spine tingling realism, no matter how over used an expression, as nothing fits better to describe this experience. I can't add much to the discussion of the Frank Cooter tube amp. When I heard it with the K1000, it was playing an unfamiliar sounding electronica track, which could not have been much worse of a pick to show off what a K1000 can do, short of Cannibal Corpse . When I heard it with the HP1, it was playing something much more suitable, and you could hear just what was so great about this amp (a sense of purity and smoothness), not to mention them Joe Grado drivers.

A few pictures from super Sunday:

Johnny Blossoms! Satan by day: ...and Satan by night!

SR-007mkII, and they're all black right on my head at the moment, so I KNOW they're the best!

Wow that really blows, but at least you're making the best of it there. Nothing like friends and headphones to make flight delays a bit more bearable. See you all Saturday if not tomorrow!

Nikon SB800 flash from B&H When I had it, I thought so. Now that I'm back down to normal, I don't really mind at all. It helps that I don't get a bajillion "how do I fix my soundcard" PM's anymore, thanks to the ubiquity of USB-DACs.

'that the best you got?

Yeah, but some of us just don't like Macs (or Apple for that matter). Unless the Duet is the best sounding D/A on earth, I can't see tolerating a Mac (or paying for an Apple product) for it.

Has the supposed similarity between the Predator and Hornet amp sections that was mentioned some time ago been confirmed? I have a borrowed Hornet here to compare with the Pico, and I'm interested if that translates much to the Predator's amp section. The Pico is pretty clearly better sounding than the Hornet (though I think some complaints about the latter are a bit overblown).

I think my system has 5 buses (10 total ports possible), but at any rate I've not noticed any decreased performance in my other devices. Considering that a stream of 16/44k audio is only about .17MB/s, there is plenty of bandwidth left, even from a USB1 standpoint.

Hmmm, I've got one pair that resides in a case whenever not in use. The others fit into a pouch, or a drawer in the case of the HD201. So no stands for me. My best stand was very fitz-ian, a couple of long nails into the drywall, topped with about 2" thick foam, wrapped in electrical tape, worked very well back in the CD3K era

Finally it got there today. I mailed it on the 28th. Twenty-one days for EMS is certainly a new record for me! On a side note, it's amazing they get that long off for New Year's.

Hmmm, I recently sent a package to Russia via Express Mail (EMS). It took a week to get there, which was forgivable since it was over the time of new year's. However, then it sat in customs for 12 days! And it still hasn't been delivered. I've never seen EMS take that long.

Typical Apple in my view, fewer features being sold as "modern," a more frail, proprietary, and damage-prone device being sold as "cool." I'm sure Apple will continue to clean up by inevitably charging people out the nose to install new batteries, among their many other typical post-purchase windfalls which have sent their stock price soaring lately. Just because a computer can be built that so thin, doesn't mean it's a good idea to do so (practically speaking), though it likely makes more than enough sense to the bottom line.

A little Pico vs. Apogee Mini-DAC action: So far I can only compare them as DAC/amp combos, as I have yet to do any real listening with the Pico hooked up to the analog output of the Apogee. In this configuration, the first difference I noticed when listening to the Pico is the improved bass control as compared to the Apogee (using the L3000). I'd almost be willing to bet that the Pico has a lower output impedance than the Apogee's amp. Quick, dynamic bursts of bass pack a more powerful, yet abrupt punch, whereas the Apogee portrays such transients in a more muffled manner. Also, fast basslines are easier to decipher with the Pico, while they have a tendency to run together and sound less like distinct notes with the Apogee. This could lead some to percieve the Apogee to have more bass, as that indistinctness gives an impression of near-constant bass levels whereas the Pico's level fluctuates more with the music. Note for note, the Pico has an equal volume of bass, it is simply delivered in a different fashion. On a related note, the Pico seems to produce sharper transients, more rapid sudden changes in volume. The effect is to make sounds more viceral, but also closer sounding than from the Apogee, which has a larger, if more diffuse presentation. Likewise, the Pico produces a slightly more layered sound which lens itself to identifying and following individual instruments more easily. There is also a touch more high-end sparkle when listening to the Pico. When using my linear power supply with the Apogee it produces an equally smooth/grain-free sound to the Pico. However, the stock linear supply makes the sound a bit edgier/grainer, so the majority of Apogee users would likely find the Pico slightly better in this regard as well. There you have it; for my preferences, thus far, I've found the Pico to be a better-sounding one-box USB audio/headphone setup. I can see how some might prefer the somewhat more relaxed, diffuse presentation of the Apogee (w/linear PSU). Though the frequency response of the two is empirically nearly identical, I think many would find the Apogee to be the "warmer" sounding of the two units, like due to the aforementioned bass transient and sparkle issues. And one also must consider gear pairing, and as I've used the L3000 for this comparison, someone using a radically different sounding headphone might have a different preference between the two.

LOL, I guess you can get a Star Wars license for just about anything these days. What's next, Chewbacca in Mario Kart?

My Pico also doesn't provide any sound until about 9 o'clock, though that level is still low enough for use with the E500's (using the internal DAC). Actually it seems like a large range of usability for the E500 to me, as I can use them up to about 10:30-11:00 for quieter material, whereas the Apogee's output could move nary more than an hour from off before becoming ear-bleeding. Fortunately, the relatively stiff nature of the Pico's pot makes fine volume adjustments easier, IMO. They are from RAW images. I also tried something I've read several people (whose work I like) use, which is several less aggressive passes (say 50/.3/0), but to me the end result of that was identical to what I did before.

HAHAHA, I don't intend to, as I stated, I can't find a way to improve them.

Definitely, we're talking about photo-nut stuff here, nitpicking. It's no bother to me, but at the same rate, I am open to learning from whatever people might have to say.

Hmm well I went back and fiddled around with the files a bit more, but I didn't come up with anything I found preferable, the current results just look better to me than something more conservative. Of course, I wouldn't sharpen people pics to the same extent, but for conveying the sleekness and precision of the Pico, I think it works.

I'm guessing your T42 isn't dual core (at least they weren't back when I was considering one). Dual core is definitely the single most effective way to increase the perceived speed of a computer these days, as it is nearly impossible to overload on doing normal tasks. Unfortunately, I don't think it would be very easy to change this without changing your laptop. Laptop HDD's are pretty slow, but a 7200 RPM drive is definitely a noticeable upgrade over a 4200. SSD's will definitely have to wait a few years until I get one, but damn if some of the benchmarks aren't tempting, eh?

They're all from a Nikon D200 with a Nikkor 35mm f/2 I received at the same time as the Pico. The lighting is from a Sunpak 522 (big old off-camera flash), bounced from a standard height white ceiling.