Your suggestions: Headphone + DAC/Amp combo?
I was recently banned from Audio Science Review.
The reason you ask? - Because I simply shared my experiences after visiting an audio shop. In my post, I compared what I heard at the audio shop vs brands I had previously owned or auditioned: Sabaj, Topping, and various branded dongles
I was drawn to ASR because of the supposedly “objective” reviews of audio gear with measurements.
But after the experience at the audio shop with high-end brands, my outlook completely changed. The main thing that I noticed was each of these headphone amplifiers/DACs have an unpleasant sound signature of their own. Either midrange forward, treble forward, recessed in the bass, or all the above. There was also a sterility to the sound where most music sounded dry and uninvolving. Sure, we could blame bad recordings/songs, but the same CD-Rs/.wav files were played at the audio shop…
At the shop I auditioned systems from dCS, Esoteric, Luxman, and Accuphase. Live recordings had a certain kind of "presence.” And it made me believe I was there in person. The music was all around me. Everything just sounded "real" it’s hard to explain. Even regular CD-Rs had a kind of liquidity to them…like flowing water. There was detail, clarity, and midrange tonality that my previous systems just couldn’t resolve.
I brought my AKG K872 (reference) headphones with me and tried a bunch of others at the shop from Grado, Audeze, and Focal. I have a working memory and notes of what each track was like with the K872s.
In every case I would imagine the headphones would be served better by high-end audio systems. I don’t currently own any other systems (sold the Chi-Fi)…reason I got the K872 (saved up for it) was because it helps me discern between different headphone amps and DACs. (ultra-transparent and morphs the sound with each new rig)
My question for you experts is…what does your headphone system look like/comprised of? I’m looking to achieve audio nirvana with headphones – perhaps a little less costly than the high-end brands, but with some of the same sonic characteristics.
Please help point me in the right direction. I’m a junior audio enthusiast.
Kind regards,
Frank
Also some good points in other places of your last post. The claim is that a tone captures everything one needs to know. But it is not clear to me that transcient response is also at -120dB. |
I have two systems...a portable and home system.
I started listening to the headphone jack on my preamp...with Sennheiser HD800s I initially bough a portable system to enjoy music on extended trips. Then I started to enjoy different listening experiences. I even picked up Focal Elegia closed back headphones. My advice is define your desires, budget and then enjoy the journey. |
I have the Naim HE. Very nice sounding and best solid state combo that I have tried that gets some good organic tubey sound. Matrix Audio element units are nice but a little more analytical sounding. I have the Element I2. Pretty good for the size and price. My #1 headphone setup right now is Lumin U1 Mini into Pontus II into Cayin HA-6A tube amp. Astell&Kern DAPs are also a nice option if your headphones are not super difficult to drive. The sound quality from them is really amazing for the size. For headphones there is a pretty good deal on some nice sounding IEMs at Hifiman for the RE2000 "open box" at $299. The ones I just received "open box" were brand new. The gold version sells for $2k. My current sets of full size headphones are Meze Elite, Liric, Audeze LCD-XC, Hifiman HE1000SE, Sennheiser 800S and then a few cheaper sets. Of the bunch it would be a toss up between Meze Elite and HE1000SE for my overall best pick. By the way welcome to a forum where most people have an open mind unlike the other place you visited.
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@calieng hi, looking for some 🎧, I like bass, from your list I would have expected you liked the LCD-xc the best or the 800S, do you eq the LCD?
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Realized I never made a recommendation. Duh. I’d highly suggest going with a separate amp and DAC as it gives you better quality and more flexibility going forward and they don’t take up much space — at least not the ones I’m recommending. If you’re open to tubes I’d highly recommend the Quicksilver Headphone Amp, which I view as quite a bargain at around $1200… http://quicksilveraudio.com/products/headphone-amplifier/ If you’re looking to spend less, the Singxer discrete, fully-balanced Class A amp produces that smooth Class A sound at only $599 — I own it BTW… For a DAC, the Musician Pegasus is great (I also own it) and is also a bargain at $1044 IMHO, but if you can spend around $600 more the Gustard R26 will likely give a good performance boost — both are R2R DACs BTW… Also, if you get a DAC with an i2S connection (as the ones I recommended both do) I also highly recommend getting a DDC to be able to take advantage of this connection as it made a huge difference over using an SPDIF connection and it also re-clocks the data. The Musician Pisces or Denafrips Iris (which I own) would be great choices. Sorry for being so late, but hope this helps and best of luck. |
