dreamwhisper

The SHR840 turned out to be pretty decent through a GS-1, but they're rather terrible otherwise. Unbridled ATH fanboyism below: Unamped, I really like the ATH 900ti. (~$300) I was stalking a pair on yahoo auctions Japan for the last 3 months.. The W11jpn or something is a no brainer. If you're fine with supra-aural some of the ATH woodies look nice - ESW10 or 9, I forget. But I like Audio-Technica.

Eh, I shoulda waited a day or two before posting. There's a bit of New Toy Syndrome going on here. If music was water, and I listened to the HD800 like it was a sponge, I think the amount it soaks up at once is helpful for cleaning up messes. So if I were to spill water on the floor, better use the HD800 brand paper towel to take care of it. But for more sustained cleaning the Stax is like a mop bucket. It's just a better tool. I don't understand how anyone can argue the HD800 can surpass the detail and refinement of Stax. Detail maybe, but it doesn't seem able to sustain that detail without graininess.

The HD800 with the Eddie Current Super 7 (with modified caps) is blowing my mind. It has as much musicality as my Stax rig easily. Better instrument imaging. Even if wholistic detail is a little easier to pick out on Stax, the HD800 comes across more interesting or palatable for most of the genres I listen to 85% of the time. So I'm going through my whole catalog of recordings to hear new things. Can't say I do that with Stax so much these days, which seem to need the perfect recording to really shine. The tubes I have running atm are 1) Sylvania 6SN7WGT as the driver tube. 1 x x 2 3 4 5 2 & 3 are some Ken-Rad VT231's, 4 & 5 are some random Raytheon 6SN7WGT's x are the stock tubes, Tung-Sol 6SN7GTB (a little bright, but pretty full spectrum) The amp absolutely needs the Ken-Rad's in my opinion. Without them it doesn't have the same magic. I had a bad tube as the driver tube when I first turned it on and thought the amp was broken. lol. Just a lot of swirling tube distortion and no music. So I convinced msyelf that the amp must need extensive repairs and then emailed Craig, who actually got back to me within 2 hours, even though the amp was bought on the used market. And that is the story of how I became an Eddie Current fan. I can't emphasize how much it needs good tubes to pull ahead of the GS-1. Something about the Ken Rad rolled off highs and good bass impact seems to make all the difference. If the Super 7 had a stepped attenuator it would more easily replace the GS-1 for me, but there's no room in the case to add one. So, the GS-1 is going to be missed. I guess I'll have to upgrade to a Balancing Act or 2A3 down the road if I want a stepped attenuator. But this doesn't mean that Stax are obsolete for me, since dynamics still annoy the hell out of me after a little while. lol

You and your daughter are in my thoughts and prayers. Hopefully they have some good tunes at the rehab hospital. When they release see if you can get find some fermented L-Glutamine. When I was recovering from a mountain bike accident and doing PT it made all the difference.

Do you have a link where you can buy something like this?

Oh I ended up buying a GS-1 not a Beta 22. Sorry for the confusion. Is it the power output of the Beta that's the dangerous part? Did I hurt my GS-1? I've done it once or twice. Eagerly awaiting your response. :/

What's the word on powering two headphones at once? One side pops a bit when you put another one in. Is this something to be concerned about? Also, as an update, I liked the W3000Anv better with a less transparent amp ultimately. With the GS-1 the headphones are powered to their full potential, but this meant the colouration also was highlighted too much for my taste, even if the result was holographic bass/mids. (something I haven't seen in another ATH woodie) The sound on a weaker amp was distant/farther away, and this presentation suited the W3000Anv better, even though it sounded mid-fi. The HD800 absolutely loves the power and intensity of the GS-1 though. I use it a lot with movies and drum and bass music, some other electronica. The imaging is amazing. I'm planning on getting a W11jpn in the future. I know it works well with the Dynalo anyways since I've owned a W11jpn with a G-lite before. Not expecting too much of a difference, but this may be something I could roll amp modules for if the + modules are too much for it.

Is it saying they have 97 in stock? What a confusing site.

Nvm, just heard back from the seller, either plug is fine. What a beast though, the 717 doesn't even compare.

My kgss-hv has two holes to stick my headphone plugs in. Both look very inviting... Do you imagine she has a preference? I sent a message to her last boyfriend (luvdunhill) because I'd rather not actually have to ask her. I know she's a classy (class A) lady and I'd rather not offend her, just trying to get her turned on ASAP.

Yes, the unmodded Assemblage is a bit grating in the highs with the W3000Anv, but I don't remember it being grating at all with the O2/717. Funny story, I was listening to the modded Assemblage 3.1 with I guess oversampling (24/96) on, and when I A/B'd it to the Assemblage 2.7 (unmodded) I actually liked the 2.7 WAY better. In fact, my mind was blown listening to the 2.7 coming from the wrong sampling mode. Then I switched the oversampling off and had my mind blown again listening to the 3.1. Anyways, with the 3.1 you basically trade in a bit of emphasis in the highs for a bit of de-emphasis in the highs, and much more bass control. You end up with a bit less sense of detail to the transients and resolving power, and have a thicker more defined lower end/foundation. And no grating highs. The highs in the modded 3.1 seem a tiny bit recessed by 2-3 db compared to what I'd like to hear and would consider neutral. But then again the snares are snappy and the cymbals are still splashy so I'm probably nitpicking. I will say that violin, piano actually benefited from the emphasized highs and looser bass of the unmodded Assemblage. But it does get tiring with some of the other music I've been trying with it. Funk/soul, alt. rock., dnb/psybreaks. (again, with dynamic headphones) In conclusion, I prefer the unmodded 2.7 with piano and violin. It sounds real/visceral. The GS-1/W3000Anv is actually the best setup I've yet heard with the 2.7 With some music I prefer it to the O2/717, which sounded far too distant and undefined in the bass to be engaging. (which I actually think was a large part due to the source) The modded 3.1 loses some of this magic up high, but gains noticeable definition to the bass, and in theory would allow the O2 to be more engaging. We'll see when I get an amp for it to test it further. It's very sketchy ground to generalize and say Assemblage is grating when every transducer, and different genres of music have different needs for optimum sound. Sometimes 'realism' isn't the goal, like with effects-heavy production nowadays that's put through auto-tune and effects racks. There isn't much recording 'space' to be heard. Anyways, the best you can hope for is to get a transparent amp, and play around with the DAC and headphones between genres of music. I guess you alluded to this in this comment. Similarly, I guess it's not entirely improbable to own multiple DAC's. *looks over at TheMonkey grinning. But it makes sense to spend the most time and money on getting the transparent amp sorted. So shout outs to people that make this possible. Note about the Sonic Frontiers SFD-2mk2: I thought it sounded pretty bad with headphones, not sure why but I wouldn't recommend it. However it was a revelation with powered speakers. I didn't roll tubes.

Does this mean that the next (last) batch is ready for pre-order? Are there any spots left?

I ended up getting a Headamp GS-1. Not hating it. Cymbals are so splashy now... what is this lol I can't really imagine listening to anything other than Alternative Rock and Acid Jazz on these headphones though. I guess that works out ok. Part of me misses the obscure cloudy mess that these headphones were with the op amp Project Polaris before this. Not as clear, but the vocals were way sweeter. It feels like the whole headphone is flatter now, not emphasised in mids and bass. Since they're coloured headphones I haven't decided if this is ideal. What a beast of an amp though, Easily one of the best amps I've ever heard. Why did he stop making these??!

I just saw the Peak on the TTVJ website. There's still a few you can buy I believe.

Yeah I had a Beta 22 with HD650's and a Lavry DA10. The Lavry's shortcomings aside, I agree with the description brittle. The other amp I have my eyes on is the Lehmann BCL. Partly because i like the idea of buying a cheap clone to add parts and compare to the original. Decent way to learn more about DIY. postjack, did you sell your W3000Anv for an HD800?

Well, I've owned it before and I liked what it sounded like. But ya, pretty much old glory. I'd be buying it from someone who built one on the other site, but we'll see if he feels like changing the gain though.

Is a gain of 5 too much for Audio-Technica W3000Anv?

I would pay you not to give me a free pair of Beyerdynamic DT880's.

I was able to pick up an Sz1 Omega 2. Serial #1880. Is a 'bad' O2 Mk1 still a good sounding headphone? Reading some of this Sz1 hate worries me.

The thunderpants are basshead cans, or at least my pair was anyways. You can just get away with more bass from an ortho because it leaves the other frequencies alone. A of lot people were interested in the SHR840 a while ago. I've been reading up on it and will likely get one over the SHR940 or w/e. But one of these Shure are on my radar. Since you like AKG 701, and I'm assuming you already have an amp, have you considered a pair if K340's? They're coloured as shit but I really miss my pair, they do things that other headphones can't. I will never hear tenor saxophone that good ever again. That's something I gotta deal with.

HD700

I know this is a terrible question to ask, but how much colouration is there or tube distortion in the BHSE? I've only heard 2 tube amps, one hybrid, and all had some sort of tube colouration, usually affecting details in the bass end etc. The Tube DAC also suffered from this, but that could have been older tubes. Also the amps were a Darkvoice and a Cayin HA-1A, relatively cheap amps. I have 2 Universal Audio mono tube pre-amps, and a stereo tube pre-amp that really don't suck. But they're mostly used on bass and drum tracks, and although you can hear a slight distortion, it doesn't seem to transfer to the final mix. Overall, they help instruments sound much more organic. Can't honestly say it's entirely neutral though. Are there any tradeoffs like this in the BHSE? Are the higher end tubes free from impurities and/or colouration?

Ears rest on a horizontal plane largely, side to side. Objects in a room are vertical. Thanks Dreadhead. Yeah I really can't explain what I hear. Does it have to do with sound getting caught behind objects and aligning in phase, as you say? I know nothing about how these kinds of dynamics work. Well, I'm aware that bass traps work best placed in corners, so maybe that isn't far from what's going on. I'm curious how exactly you measure the directionality of your ears. Is there a way you can measure the direction a wave is traveling or just it's SPL at a given frequency.

Well, at some point I need to hear details in the mix so no I need to be able to cut the sub woofer out of the chain. I thought by using the term standing waves you were referring to the custom built or custom treated studio room. Yeah for recreational listening I'm sure it's fine. It's all good. Whatever sounds good. But if in the future you're going to invest in a sub, try get one that is pointing down, not out to the side. I've noticed a big improvement in reducing standing waves, though I haven't had the chance to audition that many subs.