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  1. Hi Alex. No I don't have any HD800s (yet - thinking about it when i change from a speaker based system to headphones shortly) - I was just using these as an example of a specific model that I know people have physically modified. Mostly I was trying to work out why more people don't use software EQ or at least talk about it. Mike (above) may have hit the nail on the head in that people like to tinker, play with different kit etc... rather than going the easier/cheaper/more flexible route of software EQ. If I understand the electrical engineering part correctly, in order to make the headphone amp as neutral as possible, a very low output impedance on the amp is best to get a flat frequency response curve with a wide variety of headphones. I currently have a Grado RS-2s (nominally 32 ohms) and looking at HD800s (nominally 300 ohms) for reference so I guess these are easy and medium difficulty to drive. Best Steve
  2. Sandyk - thanks for the input. The HD800 example was just an example to highlight physical vs. software equalisation. Similarly, I read that people want transparent DACs but use amps and cables(??) to change the FR of their headphones/speakers. The same principle applies....what is the reason not to have a transparent DAC, transparent amp and then use software EQ to correct any issues with your headphones/speakers rather than spending massive amounts of cash on tubes/coloured hardware devices that are specific to that one playback device? With regards to the specifics of the HD800 (although this was just an example) - DIY Modification for the Sennheiser HD 800: "The Anaxilus Mod" | InnerFidelity There seems to be a wealth of detail here although I haven't read it end-to-end. I guess I could re-phrase my original post to: 1) Why do people do physical mods when EQ mods in software are (I assume) much easier? 2) What software exists (on the Mac pref.) to do the EQ other than, for example, the equaliser in VLC (and is this one particularly good or bad)? 3) Are there any pre-existing EQ curves to correct know issues (like, but not specifically, the HD800 one I highlighted)? Best to all Steve
  3. After much reading here and on the big headphone forum, a question (quite probably stupid) jumped into my mind. There is, for example, a lot of talk of the Sennheiser HD800 having a peak in treble around 6k-10k (or something similar) to the extent that people are modding it with specially shaped bits of felt to remove the peak as they 'can't listen to it without their ears bleeding' and such comments. Would applying a specific (to the headphone make/model) equalization curve be a valid alternative if you like the general presentation but want to tone down some perceived flaw or idiosyncrasy of the headphones sound? Is there any software available to test this out and pre-calculated curves based on the measured FR of that headphone or is this a bit of a leap too far.... Best Steve
  4. Thanks liddown. It may be a bit too tied into iTunes for what I need but certainly looks good feature wise - I will see if there are any reviews/forums for it. Best, Steve
  5. Hi all, I have an extensive collection of FLAC's ripped and tagged by XLD on a Macbook Pro which may be storing the album art within the FLAC (according to the settings). Musicbrainz Picard is used to retag some albums that XLD seems to have got wrong or to change some details to make more sense (i.e. 'DJ Tiesto' also appears under 'Tiesto' which needs correcting). Playback is via VLC on my MBP or via XBMC on a MacMini or old PC running XBMCLive. iTunes is not used at all. Now...I am trying to download album and artist art to store in each of the directories of Artist->Album->files... Are there any Mac based album art downloaders/alternative taggers that can download the usual album.jpg/cover.jpg type files based on an existing directory structure and files? Best, Steve
  6. Thank you - it's not up on their website yet so missed that one! 24/192 USB and an all in one box of roughly equivalent size to the Naim makes it better from an office ergonomics perspective and with the SDAC being £200 cheaper than the MF DAC+amp combo it may well be spot on for what I am after size/features wise. The SDAC at £800 vs. £1250 for the Naim will make for an interesting shoot-out come February...will post my thoughts once I've tee'd up some demos. Best, Steve
  7. My local Naim dealer tells me it will start shipping in February - I will be looking at this vs. M1DAC+M1HPA or perhaps an MDAC with a pair of Grado RS-2s. Biggest issue is finding anywhere to demo anything outside of this.
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