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leomitch

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  1. The sooner you get you Nighthawk headphones, the sooner you will be amazed by how wonderfully musical they are, yet detailed in every way. All the best Leo
  2. Well done Dale! I agree with you that these are very special headphones. I look forward to your extension to this with comparisons in fair detail with other excellent headphones. Leo
  3. Here is a connection to the article LH Labs Geek Pulse Xfi & Linear Power Supply 4 (LPS4) | AudioStream Very good for Light Harmonic Labs. Leo
  4. It is indeed a solid state amp and it was designed and tuned by Larry Ho who is a tube amp designer, so you can pretty well expect some tube-type sound from it. Leo
  5. Whoa there! Somebody says...the 9018AQ2M is meant to be used in mobile and easily transported DAC's etc. Yes that is correct, but it can also be used in a desk top DAC like the Infinity. This DAC has a particularly high THD performance due to the 9018AQ2M being used over the older version 9018 converter, which already in concert with excellent components had an excellent THD reading. Larry Ho decided after suggestions from the crowd fund raisers to experiment with the AQ2M and sure enough it surpassed the earlier model by enough to ask for another $22 dollars to use this newer converter. That is the great thing about crowd-funding, the contributors get to have a say what features they would like to see and if enough want the feature, then the developers go for it. Anyway, it was $22 well spent IMHO. Using the naked resistors and upgrading most of the components in the original vanilla Geek Pulse was very satisfying especially since the Infinity turned out so spectacularly well. So working in concert with a superior headphone was really necessary and to my ears I got just that. Leo
  6. I just want to add here for those who are interested, the Lab Harmonic Infinity uses 2 ESS Sabre chips, the very latest one... ESS Sabre 9018AQ2M. No doubt that this plus Larry Ho's engineering genius plus the Nighthawks developed by Skylar Gray explain why my ears and mind are so happy lately. Wonderful music! Leo
  7. Ha! Yes! I have two hearing impairments, old outer ear and old inner ear! I have to listen with two expensive hearing aids or my trebles are severely truncated. Bad enough that I have old ears, but they were also subjected to a whole lot of rather careless bench-rest shooting with my beloved sharp voiced .243 Winchester loaded to accurately punch quarter inch groups at a hundred yards. Somehow in-ear protection was a no-no for me and I often didn't have my over the ear protection in place because I found the ear-cups were awkward when I would lay my head along side the rifle butt. Dumb eh!? No answer is required! I am surprised I still hear as well as I do. It's those highs with the tops flattened that is the big problem...the hearing aids do really help. Leo
  8. Hi Dale Words of high praise coming from you mate! I wish I could winnow out the technical stuff like you can, but I am one of those intuitive guys when it comes to music. Great sound is a gestalt that I can't separate out...when I try here is what comes out...made the hair on the back of my neck tingle; I teared up uncontrollably, pass the Kleenex please; the warm thump of Bream's hand on the guitar gave me goose bumps; the kick from the multiple bass drum pedals shook my core...et al, stuff like that. I was a failure at physics...I majored in Philosophy and History of the Ancient Middle East, so the possibility of me knowing there was a bump or emphasis at 700 cycles or a de-emphasis at 12K cycles is nil, but I can tell you that the Nighthawks in concert with this wonderful DAC from Light Harmonic makes Norah Jones' voice bring me to tears. See what I mean?! So to hear your commentary matches up with my goose bumps and hair standing up on the back of my neck etc. Weird eh! So poetry and metaphor is more up my alley. We basically agree that the Nighthawks given a chance and a longish listen lasting longer than a curt ten minutes deserve to be near the top of the List! I am listening to some great trumpeter rending my soul with his rendition of Yesterdays...I could dance the night away with the love of my life to this kind of music. Well done as expected Dale! You have an Ear my friend! Lucky you! Lucky us! And another Happy Birthday to me for being clever enough to risk these two new and unproved converters of zeros and ones into the stuff that brings romantics like me to the edge of joyful tears. I wish I could still smoke my pipe...some fine Cavendish and Virginia tobacco with a smidge of Perique from Turkey, a glass of Scotch and a great recording by Boulez of the Firebird...let me die like that I say. Oh my Buddha, they are playing Georgia. I am blessed! Tip my hat to you Dale Leo
  9. I posted this at another forum at Skylar Grays request...he is the designer of the Nighthawks for AudioQuest. This is my first fling of any consequence at a post here, so hopefully it does not break any forum rules about not posting something from another venue. Those of you who know me, understand that I am about as loquacious as any 80 year old geezer gets...sorry to disappoint you but words elude me for once. My new Audioquest Nighthawks have been burning in for perhaps four hours and I will tell you that my lower jaw is aching from dropping open in awe and wonder. Perhaps as senility encroaches on my noodle, I have become childishly easy to please, but I don't really think so. I have spent the last hour listening to Flamenco guitar music and this set up Nighthawks have brought those Spaniards and Gypsies right into my den. Suffice it to say, these head cans don't miss a thing, every finer movement over the strings and frets, the deep thumps when the players beat the body of the guitar in rhythm with their beautiful music and the full decaying of the various end notes when the fingers stop moving. I can clearly hear the warmth of the fine woods reverberating harmonically. The music fairly sizzles. And the Nighthawks dip deeply into the bass register provided by the Infinity DAC. The depth of the sound-stage plumbs fathoms with these babies...profound and black! The mids are balanced with the high and low ends to provide a well focused, natural sound and a real presence at the venue/sound studio/whatever.To be frank, I can't see how what I am hearing can be improved...I mean how real is real! How pure is the master tape? I suspect that is how real and pure these wondrous head cans are. To top it off, and this may be heresy, but if the Sennheiser 800's or the HiFi Man 1000's are better than these, I am a doubting Thomas unwilling to fork over another half or full grand more for whatever very slight improvement they might provide. There, I said it! Seriously, I cannot see how much better these Nighthawks will get by further burning in. IMHO Skylar Gray has knocked one right out of the park. Cliched eh, but it is accurate! My only complaint is that the grain pattern in my liquid wood is not as pretty as others I have seen in photographs...never mind, I'll live with that. BTW they are super comfortable. The suspension system makes them fit my noggin with aplomb and they are light too without feeling like a toy...solidly built, beautiful,comfortable and they are priced right at $699 Canadian, $599 in US dollars. Watch out! Unless I miss the mark, people are going to love these beauties. I am already in love! Jeez! First the great Pulse Infinity and now these...Happy Birthday to me!Cheers to allLeo Addendum: The headphones have been burning in for nearly 100 hours now and I can say that I haven't changed my opinion from my words above. My DAC is a Light Harmonic Pulse Infinity, which is similar to their XFI Pulse but on steroids, as someone has coined ahead of me. The steroids are 2 of the newest ESS Sabre 32 bit chips, 2 Femto clocks, 2 pair of naked resistors from Texas Components and as well upgraded PC board and much more. I am not an engineer so the electronic components and the readings that they accomplish when tested is so much arcane physics speak to this 8 decade old noodle, but I must say that I haven't heard any more musical sound than that which emanates from this unit. Whatever that means eh?! There are many here who are audiophiles non plus ultra relative to me, but nonetheless the impact of this DAC in concert with the Nighthawk Headphones is beyond stunning to my ears...and I mean that in a good way! LOL! I bought both of these as presents to myself for my 80th birthday and I was taking two risks: one on a crowdfunding company that at first seemed to be stumbling and second on a first time development in the headphone area with no reviews or positive comments to back things up! Old age made me brave, some would say thoughtless with a fair bunch of American dollars and I am a Canadian with a weak dollar during the development time of these new items to the Audiophile munitions stockpile. I will finish off by saying I have not been disappointed...quite the opposite. These may well be my final purchases since my health quite frankly is less than optimum. There I go again with the words flying away. Enough already! Leo
  10. No need to feel dirty or disgusted Sam! As you said, LHL just made some poor choices at the beginning, plus it is hard to do your R and D right in front of your investors gaze. When you buy from some retailer like Burston for example, you do not see the errors they made early on...all you see is what they want you to see, the finished product with 99% of the bugs worked out. LHL didn't have that luxury nor does anyone who crowd funds. Everything is laid to bare, both the good and the not so good. They are making some good products now as they mature in their unique task and my Infinity and those of others is proof of their improvement. Not everything is hunky dory yet, but it is improving day by day. Relax Sam! You seem torn as to how to feel. Ferocious anger with them and yourself. will only hurt you and do very little to improve the situation. As you so wisely opined above...nobody has success in this business without a lot of bruises. Warm regards mate Leo
  11. Good to hear from you Mike! I am certain the xfi will be very close to the Infinity in doing what DAC's do. I paid more for the Infinity so that I could have what appeared to be the very best. These old ears could never even hear the difference. Just collecting the best toys! ;-) I will keep you posted when I get my full system up and running. Cheers mate Leo
  12. Sorry, I forgot to mention I use my Infinity with headphones only so far. I have to reassemble my stereo system and hook up my beloved Dynaudio speakers, but at the edge of being 80, I don't move so anymore! But I will get to that soon about the time my new Nighthawk headphones arrive in mid-July just before my birthday on the 30th. I can't believe 62 year have gone by since I bought my first stereo unit from Sears for $99. It was like a little suitcase with a turntable and speaker in one half while the second speaker resided in the lid with its 3 meter cable for separation! A big difference from my Infinity DAC and Shure 1840 headphones. I do go on and on! Cheers Leo
  13. On the contrary, I had an excellent experience with them. I ended up ordering their Pulse X Infinity DAC in October, 2014 and received it on June the 9th of this year. To say I am pleased with this marvel of audio engineering would be an understatement. It surpasses my Benchmark 1 USB in most areas and that is saying something. The Benchmark is no slouch, but the Infinity presents music indescribably pure and well focused. The bass is extended with no artificially tuned bump; the mids are glorious...Norah Jones and Mark Murphy never sounded so good to these ears. The highs are without grain or glassy edges, even on CD's from the first batches which were sometimes intolerably sharp and hard. Light Harmonic Lab had its tribulations what with supply shortages and a shipping strike at a crucial time. They did over-extend themselves for awhile by trying to develop too many creations at one time...a big mistake which now seems to have been handled. They also had some design problems which led to models being sent back, but once they got their QC in order those errors have dwindled as far as I can see. However LHL and Larry Ho don't need me as an apologist for them. I would let my Infinity speak that for them. It is a wonderful DAC and at the risk of sounding trite, I feel like I have a whole new music library. BTW, I am almost brand new here as far as posting is concerned. I look forward to making your acquaintance in the near future, Best to all here Leo
  14. that I bought these headphones which were demos from a dealer. He offered them at a price I couldn't ignore. They had less then 20 hours on them, but by the time I had added another 12 hours the first day, I could literally hear them improving. My first impression was somewhat south of the way I feel about them now. In fact at first I thought my vaunted intuition had done me dirt, but when the dealer wrote me and said that they had less then 20 hours on them and that there was a surprise in store for me, I persevered. I now have clocked (or the headphones have clocked much time on their own) another 120 hours and the difference between the sound then and now is so huge. So be prepared if you are thinking of buying them. Leo
  15. Whoops! That was quite a slip up! Yes Christian's bass is what was tight or taut! I am not sure about the other! ROTFLOL! Thanks for catching that mate!! Cheers Leo
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