2. headphones
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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

frank1988

Showing 2 responses by holmz

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

What was your handle on ASR?
(I did attract a 2 week ban a while ago, and their use of banning and suspension, can be a bit intolerant.)

 

I got an RME, but most DACS are also about features… and I am not really a DAC guy.
I suppose if you use the PEQs than an RME or other DAC with an EQ feature would be handy.

If you are trying to power low impedance headphones, then a DAC which can do that is best… one with a lower output impedance and can power the worst of headphones.

 

A lot of people like the SMSL and iFi DACS, which may not have the highest SINAD, but ASR also is mostly a list of SINAD values… when it comes to DACS.

I am sure you;ll get a list of noice sounding DACs, but I wanted a single unit I could plug into. And one that also allowed AtoD, so I did not think about it too hard.
If it was for listening then it likely gets harder.

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

My point is that measurements only matter regarding what we can hear. If we can’t hear already low THD levels, what’s the point of making them even lower?

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. 

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