Gregor Samsa

Issue solved (at least temporarily)

"High end audio can be a polarizing hobby." Funny. Just came back here after spending some time on DPR. The "dialogue" between, say, Canon and Nikon devotees, makes us look like pikers.

I'm glad you learned a lot. By not revealing which headphone was which, Mr. Olive, this is useless to the rest of us. I certainly haven't heard everything, but I've heard a few. So far, Audez'e blows everything else into the weeds.

I bought this from ALO in a package with a Continental amp and a short cord. A wonderful combination with either the dazzling Audez'e LCD 3 or venerable Etymotic ER-4p. I was hoping that the Astell & Kern could drive the Etys without external amplification, but even they sounded much better with the Continental in between. I wonder if the mod helps. It would make a much more compact package without the Continental. Chris, you have these IEMs. What's your verdict? I can confirm that 64 GB microSDXC cards work just fine if reformatted to FAT32. Windows can't do this on its own. But this guy's Ridgecrop Consultants Ltd little ap does it without problem. Do use it and donate a couple of quid for his trouble.

That's just about the cutest picture I ever saw.

This is an issue I have vacillated on for many years, but I had sort of come down on the side of cables not making a difference. Then the flimsy POS cable on my HE-500's broke. I have little skill and less patience when it comes to soldering, and figured that the patched wire wouldn't be any sturdier than before. These phones have a proprietary connector, ruling out a Home Depot replacement. The cheapest replacement I could find was the ugly green (but quite sturdy) one from ALO. Damn if it didn't sound smoother, if slightly less detailed. For all you confirmation-bias-you-were-hearing-what-you-wanted-to-hear folks, I can't fully express how annoying I found this. One more variable to deal with. Great. I have accumulated several systems, both portable and fixed, including two 5.2 systems. I can't even estimate the number of goddam wires I have to string to make sound come out where it's supposed to. For the record, I'm an unrepentant, knee-jerk liberal heathen. I guess the hypothesis that a signal can be altered by what it passes through is a little more plausible than the earth being only a couple thousand years old. I'm still not sure, which is a state of mind that I don't think most tea-baggers are capable of.

Actually Pete, it's spelled Schiit. Other than that, you're right. Very revealing kit.

Looks good so far. Are you going to update the Foobar plugins?

You might have an easier time finding a small monitor that uses the composite output.

I am now building a HDplex box. The SOtM card fits in fine with a riser card. I got mine from HDplex, but I'm sure they're available elsewhere - probably cheaper.

I have both JRiver for my PCs and A+ for my Mac Air. Those noting that JRiver now costs less need to remember that JRiver charges you every time they improve it. It's clear from following the threads that the path to 1.4 was long and difficult, overcoming a number of technical barriers to give clearly improved sound. I was able to upgrade with no new charge. Service and support like this at these prices is hard to come by in the overpriced world of high-end audio. Thanks to Damien for his hard work, persistence and technical expertise. If you want a terrific free player, there's Foobar. I use it all the time. A+ gives me more for the price of a decent bottle of wine in a restaurant. Step off? What, are we in junior high here?

If this was a trick to prevent returns, the retailer in question is banking on the assumption that the mark in question is incapable of making the logical leap of scurrying from the store, making a beeline for Audiogon, and purchasing the superior-sounding component for less. He would enjoy it, of course, while firing up his Dr. Grabow's pre-smoked pipe.

Jud's post jogged my memory: Second his opinion of Audirvana Plus and the Etymotics. With a MacBook Air and a Proton there's no better way to travel by air. Also made me think of 2 others things: Foobar 2000: It looks like ass unless skinned, which is a pain, but incredibly versatile, sounds just fine and the price is right. A solid state drive: I think it helps the sound. I know it's the biggest boon to computer usability since the GUI

Things I have/had that I would recommend to almost anyone: Grado Sr60 headphones, Audioengine A2 speakers - can make almost any source sound just fine. I said almost. Nothing could make what came out of the headphone jack of my Droid X sound good. At a price most in the first world can afford. Oppo Blu-ray players: Have both an 83 & a 95. No better sound for the money. No better video at any price. Magnepan speakers: Every one I have heard was as good as it gets for the money. I have owned 4 pairs and a CC. Sennheiser HD650 headphones: Avoid only if you object to a component that can make crummy recordings sound pretty good Wavelength Proton: Best DAC I've heard in it's class and highly versatile Stuff I would recommend to people who have money: Ayre QB-9, Pass Labs X600.5, Proceed Amp5, Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista Amp; 47 Labs Miyabi cartridge; SME V Tonearm Stuff I'm OK with, but not sure I would buy again if I had it to do all over again: Musical Fidelity X-Can v3; Marantz AV7005; Clearaudio Master Reference turntable; REL T2 subwoofers (would probably buy higher-end REL or JL Audio). Again nothing really wrong with any of them. Many hours of listening pleasure. Not sure there isn't better for the scratch. Stuff I would definitely not buy again: Final Sound Electrostatics: Company now out of business. I finally have them sounding good, but what a pain to get them this way. They have no bass. Completely useless without high quality subwoofers (multiple), room correction software and/or high quality active crossovers and hours of tweaking. Stuff I would recommend only to my ex-wife and her lawyers: Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista SACD: When this came out, it was unusual for a disc spinner to also have digital inputs so it could be used as a DAC. Without them, it would be a pretty paperweight. The transport is dead and this will never play another SACD. See Michael Fremer's review of the Krell SACD Standard, which used the same transport, for the whole sad story. Too new to be sure: HiFiMan HE-500 phones

Computers/Sources: Homemade full tower Windows box with SOtM filters & usb card; 2011 MacBook Air; Rockboxed iRiver HP-20; Auraliti PK-90 Software: Foobar; JRiver; VLC; Audirvana + Amps/DACs: Headroom Total Bithead; Headroom portable mini amp/dac; Wavelength Proton; Ayre QB-9; Musical Fidelity X-Can v3/X-PSUv3 Cans: Grado SR-60; Etymotic ER4-P; Sennheiser HD 650; HiFiMAN HE-500 Wires: usb: Cardas/Kimber Analog: Audioquest Jade; 15 foot Cardas on the Senns, stock elsewhere