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complin

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Everything posted by complin

  1. Well if you are serious about sound don't compare the specification as it wont tell how two HP's with same spec will sound. Most likely they will sound different. You were god given some of the best instruments for evaluating sound so suggest so use em! My suggestion for someone wanting to move up the audio pecking order would be sennheiser, sennheiser or sennheiser. Probably the broadest range available from any manufacturer
  2. Sounds like you're a Dr Dre beats man to me
  3. This has been going on for decades so nothing new about this in audio
  4. I would guess they will be made by edifier in China not Japan from one of Stax's normal suppliers. The prototype desktop amp looks rather odd with its meter on the front! Apparently has apple ipod and usb inputs.
  5. The headphones look a bit like circumaural Grado's on a german frame (beyer/senn) Apparently the amplifier has 50 watt output for speakers which begs the question is it just an integrated amp with a headphone socket (i.e. Leben) ?
  6. CES McIntosh revealed that it is developing its own headphone range to go with the MHA100 headphone amplifier ($5000). Shown in prototype form at the CES show were the flagship MHP1000 over-ear headphones that will go on sale in the first half of 2014 for around $2000. More affordable models will be added to the range in due course.
  7. Stax at CES http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/ces-2014-stax-move two new prototype portable headphone amp models designed to partner with the SR-002 portable electrostatic headphones. One amp is analog input only, the other provide digital inputs for USB and iOS devices. New customisable ear tips for the SR-002 prototype transistor electrostatic amp for home use slated to fill a slot above the current $450 SRM-252. The new unit (as yet unnamed) will have unbalanced analog, and USB and iOS digital inputs.
  8. Well the Apls are in Switzerland (mountains that is), but not the ones they are referring to! Perhaps mount Fuji would be more appropriate They say elsewhere in the listing that they are made in Sweden?
  9. It should not just be new for the sake of being new. This is a typical kicker used by manufacturers to repackage old stuff with a facelift and try to con us it really is something new. At least the HD800 was an innovation and was something truly new
  10. What a load of bollocks Obviously Sennheiser do it all with their ears too no measurement eh! Quote from Web Site "Every headphone mod we’ve come across on the market has been created by DIY individuals who operate on misguided notions. Their approach to adding materials to a headphone comes from their lack of knowledge of headphone design and the result yields degradation in the performance of the headphone which can be easily heard in a headphone system setup with properly designed cables and vibration control. Key original internal and external parts of the HD800 headphones inhibit, distort and close-in the sound. The HD800 Ultra-mod is a proprietary process which entails removing specific parts from the stock HD800′s internal and external assembly, treating and remounting the drivers for optimal vibration control and replacing the driver mounting configuration with a Stefan AudioArt proprietary system." So sennheiser haven't looked at and measured vibrations in the headphone? Today this stuff is designed and measured using sophisticated computer analysis so does SAA know if they really have eliminated or set up vibrations at other frequencies?
  11. You must have a very short attention span
  12. Yes the Gilmore LIte was the first amp I tried that make them listenable I havn't heard the DHHSA 1 or 2, but you should also try the Apex Peak/Volcano and roll a few tubes. The frequency extension at both ends is amazing and really plays to the HD800 IMHO.
  13. Well the other site you mention is pretty much a commercial venture now, so I rest my case Prabably part of someones pension fund
  14. Would that be Orthodynamic Plankton
  15. Yes thats the problem We all know that some manufacturers threaten to withdraw advertising if a bad review is printed. I know in some cases where manufacturers have sued publications to either stop or delay publication of reviews. When you are doing this sort of stuff for a commercial publication there are all these sorts of issues to navigate. The comments we make on here are largely from personal experience so are much less contentious for manufacturers, for them they hold little weight in their eyes as far as the normal joe public punter!
  16. In short no, not without manipulating the material first Have a listen to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_aOTmyaKSV0
  17. Problem is we dont know how the recording was laid down. Often recordings can be a compilation of material recorded in different venues at different times. There was an excellent seminar about this given at RMAF in 2012. I think the video of it is still up on the site,
  18. Well Tyll as Innerfidelity is part of the Stereophile stable, I would have thought there would be several of you colleagues who test "mainstream" audio components should be able to help?
  19. Problem also are the modern close miked recording techniques which spotlight certain instruments in the orchestra. At a live concert you would never hear the music reproduced in this way. Some of the most natural orchestral recordings come from the 60's and 70's where the engineer tried to capture the cohesive whole of the orcestral sound and the hall acoustic, rather than the ultra analytical spotlighting.
  20. I know recently we have had discussions here regarding censorship on Head-FI particularly around criticism of sponsors products. Well it seems any mention of this forum now results in instant removal of any reference! I was involved in a conversation regarding the Metrum MK1 DAC and happened to mention the work Craig Sawyers had outlined on this forum to upgrade the output transformer. He also noted the need for correct cable matching etc.......... All very useful stuff. Well within a hour or so of posting I received the following PM below telling me that the link had been removed. They must be very touchy over there because people might find there are more informed and different opinions from the herd of sheep found elsewhere Post edited (with explanation) Conversation between jude, joe, and me joe Today at 3:19 pm complin, For myriad reasons (some of which you may or may not be familiar), we do not allow links or reference to Head-Case from Head-Fi. As a result, your post (the original unedited text of which can be found in the dialog below) was edited. I hope you understand, even if you don't agree. Best Regards, Joe (cc: Jude) Quote: Originally Posted by complin You can read about some investigations that have been carried out on the Metrum MK1 by an audio design engineer (Craig) over at the other place if you are interested In spite of these design compromises i've found it preferable to other DAC's costing 4 or 5 times the price. I can perceive no roll off of high frequencies, its all there just not in your face presentation like much of todays digital reproduction. Great dynamics and timbral accuracy, very very musical if you are into music rather that HI-FI . Yes it has its limitations in terms of input capability and lack of native USB, handling very high rez files and DSD, but if you can live with this then its a real gem IMHO. Quote: Originally Posted by Sapientiam Hard to answer this question without getting into fairly arcane technical details but I'll have a go. The MDAC is using ESS9018 which is a sigma-delta based chip using noise-shaping to get the figures looking good. Noise shaping has various technical issues associated with it, many of which ESS have solved (compared to the other players in the field like ADI, TI/BB) but clearly not all. In particular the chip still exhibits shifts in the noise floor at particular output levels. Its also very hard to get enough subjective dynamics out due to the extremely high switching frequencies used in the on-chip DAC. Metrum uses a ladder-type DAC and runs it at the lowest frequency (assuming you don't use your computer to oversample). Thus dynamics will tend to be better, also timbral accuracy. However the measurements relative to any ESS-based converter will suck - THD+N in particular and the FR will droop due to the NOS intrinsic roll-off. Incidentally you're right there's something adrift with the Metrum's digital input - the digital ground beyond the isolation trafo goes into the ground fill.This induces HF noise currents into the sensitive analog ground and is a very common issue with commercial DACs, akin to the 'pin1 problem' with professional XLR connected kit. For anyone with the guts to mod, this can be quite simply fixed up. Just re-route the 0V side of the S/PDIF input with a dedicated ground wire back to the PSU input. Reply
  21. Go for a battery based DAC liked the J Kenny - Quite impressive IMO given their price
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