Iron_Dreamer

OMFG! 2006? A year+ down the drain?!?!?! That's just fucking insane! Justin, hopefully you've kept a log of orders and info off of head-fi. Hopefully those that have ordered will be smart enough to contact you through your website if it comes to the point that all info on that site is lost.

Good to know that this is still going down, server or no server

I'll take a (well-driven) Omega II any day, and then there's the cost difference! I can understand why some people really like the HE90, as to me it has a special there-ness with certain types of music I've not heard anywhere else. However, it just sounds too diffuse and imprecise (spatially), with a coloration I find less ignorable than the OII's slight darkness. Certainly, different amps have shifted these aspects, but I've never heard the HE90 without them. Sure, they sound a bit more precise with a KGSS, or a bit less colored with the right ES1 system, but regardless, the sound signature was still quite bright. In essence, when listening to the HE90, I always felt that I was listening more to the headphones than music, as they strive less to reproduce the sound fed to them, than to invariably emanate the "HE90 sound."

Most graphics cards have DVI output. However, it is directly compatible with HDMI, so all you need is an adapter or an HDMI/DVI cable, both of which are easily avaliable. The new 8800GT is the best bang for the buck graphics card out there for gaming right now. Some people have reported that it runs hotter/louder than its' more expensive brethren the GTS and GTX due to a single-slot style cooler. Of course an aftermarket cooler would remedy both problems. If gaming isn't as important, I'd get a passively cooled 8600GT, which still gives you the benefit of great HD decoding capability, but with less heat/noise. This one from Gigabyte is very nice (based on my own experience): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125070&Tpk=gigabyte%2b8600gt

Perhaps there's a lack of impressions because HF is down right now? Or is that just me?

That's an interesting way of looking at it. While that logic may hold, it still doesn't convince ME to pay that much for them.

Shooot, $1100 for JPN's??? That's nuts! I thought they were nice, and of course great to look at, but I would never pay that much for them.

Hmmm, here's all the headphone/earphones I've been through since the beginning of the path to enlightenment. Ranks within tiers are based on how much I'd want to listen to each one, including experience with them AFTER I'd owned them (hence the lower rating of the CD3000 than it would have merited based on my feelings when I owned it). This is basically a sound quality-only based list. It would just be too hard to figure out how much to penalize poorly built, stupid looking, uncomfortable, or otherwise annoying cans. Those listed in red are headphones I feel might have the potential to move up the list if used with just the right equipment, but I've yet to hear the fulfillment of such potential. It's also been quite a long time since I've heard an HD600, and never did a direct comparison with the HD650, so that ranking isn't quite concrete. Tier 1: L3000 Tier 2: W5000, W11JPN, SA5000 Tier 3: HD650, RS1, DT990 (2005, 250ohm), E500, HD600, DT831 (modded), DT880 (2003), CD3000 Tier 4: DT531, K271S, E5, DT770 (80ohm), SR325, HD590 Tier 5: HFI-700, DT770 (250ohm), K26P, KSC75, HD201, Metro.Fi 2 Tier 6: MX400

Well the new model certainly LOOKS nicer. As long as it doesn't sound worse, I'm in....someday.

This is definitely how I feel as well. There are headphones that excel at giving an expansive, airy sound (i.e good for symphonic) and headphones which excel at giving ass-kicking bass (good for metal and electronica among other things). The best solution for one who likes music falling into both camps is to have one headphone for each. To me, the L3000 is only satisfactory (not exemplary) for classical music, and I'd certainly like to have an Omega II to complement it. Even the highest levels of headphonedom are not immune to specificgenritis, IMO. The HD650 (or 600) is an adequate solution to cover both genres, yet excel at neither. The bass is too slow for metal, and I've never heard the soundstage reach the utmost levels of refinement for classical (even with uuuber-toooob amps) that I've heard from the OII, R10, 010, etc. The upside of the Senns is that they lack the capacity to sound grating/tiring which the OP seems concerned with. Back when I was limited to that budget range, I found the harder (perhaps more tiring) edge of the SA5000 tolerable enough to enjoy the superior bass definition and imaging it yielded for the two genres in question. Crazy as some might think me to say it, I'd still rather own that headphone than an HD6x0, K701, DT880, or CD3000.

Or one order on a $50k amp ?

Thanks guys! I found out yesterday (well, Monday for those of you not cool enough to west of the Rockies that I should be receiving a very exciting, small, if unexpected package on my birthday tomorrow from one of our headcase brethren. I don't believe he knew that it would end up getting here for that day, but if he did, then kudos. Hopefully all goes to plan and I can throw off the veil for y'all in the next 12 hours.

Unread posts since last visit is broken for me...

LOL I certainly don't recall saying that I liked the B52/PS1. I don't really like the PS1 as it is. Let alone Ray's pair with gawd-awful heavy wiring which makes the headphone even more uncomfortable, and ratshack pads which make it bassier/boomier. I've only listened to the B52 once that I can recall, over a year ago. Nothing great, nothing awful, just a garden-variety balanced amp, and quite an expensive one for what it is. As I owned a Headamp Reference at the time, which certainly sounded better to me, the B52 at 3x+ the price drew little interest from me, other than to oogle at it's hugeness and exposed parts when Ray cracked 'er open.

I'd definitely take the short-term "bad news" in exchange for your new venture! Good luck!

I don't even bother playing metal or electronica on K1000's. I learned that neither works quite a while ago (the former has always sounded too harsh, the latter just doesn't sound right without the bass extension). Considering that the main virtue of the K1000 is soundstage size, it's a coin best spent on orchestral and jazz. I could frankly care less how good metal sounds on a K1000 rig, because if I had a K1000 rig, I'd never use it for metal anyway, as I'd have something with better bass/PRaT (L3000 currently).

As is mine. That is pretty odd that they would be so far apart.

Well I inserted them several times to the point of pain (rather excruciating upon extraction on one instance). I just don't get it. Oh well, who cares. There are a lot more important things to worry about anyway. Just the praise Etys get from otherwise knowledgeable people just drives me batty!

Hmmm...perhaps, but I doubt it. I've heard them on several occasions, with several different tips, and they generally sounded like crap (for the price, I mean they did still sound better than Shure E2's )

Woohoo for headphones as an investment! Not that I'd ever want to sell them, at least based on how I feel when listening to them (like now).

What is it? An adaptor to use the battleship tubes?

No, he brought fliers about the DAC/Amp which called it the Pico.

Dammit, stop making me want those speakers!

But is Singlepower ANYTHING cheap?

I don't think you'll really need to worry about the Apogee unless you have a use for non-USB digital inputs, or balanced outputs. I'm pretty sure that the Pico sounds at least as good (if not better) when both are used as DAC and amp. And as a trans/portable unit, the Pico has the advantage of an analog input for the headphone amp. I think Justin said it was going to be $300/500 (sans-DAC/with-DAC). The Apogee is ~$700 w/o USB/FW or $850+ w USB or FW. (to more or less address your PM): I've not heard the 0404 USB before, as compared to the 0404 PCI, nor have I taken one apart, so I couldn't exactly say the modding possibilities. Even modded, if it sounds the same as the PCI version, it wouldn't be in the league of the other two as a source. I have no clue about the quality of the headphone amp. I'd just roll with the thing, and if it just really isn't cutting it for you, then you can ponder what to do next. Who knows, perhaps just getting away from that crappy onboard sound will be all you need for the situations in question.