What audio system do you have, or plan on getting?

[Fëanor]

Well I am getting into age, and since this is build to last, I think its my last investment. And my wife is convinced too.

Well if the good lady is convinced, who are we to doubt?

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Both

Cool!  Then no quarrels about it or the price hopefully?

PD

[Holden]

It's arrived and hooked up. Preliminary assessment, it sounds great with my "HeadRoom Little" headphone amp (and old headphone with crossfeed).

I have the Modi 3+ and can confirm that it is a great DAC - especially for the price. I recently had a loan of the latest Bifrost DAC from Schiit and I could not hear much difference - certainly not from a price point of view. To put it into perspective, my Modi is paired with an Asgard 3 and I run HD650, HD580 and up until a month ago the Audeze LCD1. The LCD1s developed headband cracking issues and I sent it back under warranty. I decided to upgrade rather than replace it with another so the HiFiman Ananda Stealth is already in transit and I should have it within the next few days.

[Daverz]

Got these recently based on Amir's review at ASR



TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero in-ear monitors.  $50 at Amazon.

A great tool if you want to hear what's on a recording without input from the room.  They are a bit uncomfortable, though, and they suggest only using them 1 hour at a time.

[staxomega]

Got these recently based on Amir's review at ASR



TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero in-ear monitors.  $50 at Amazon.

A great tool if you want to hear what's on a recording without input from the room.  They are a bit uncomfortable, though, and they suggest only using them 1 hour at a time.

Just looked up the review on ASR, a near match to Harman's target curve. I have been meaning to do more reading on Olive's research. I have lost nearly all enthusiasm for headphones when we bought our first house, I just found classical music highly unsatisfying on them.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Just looked up the review on ASR, a near match to Harman's target curve. I have been meaning to do more reading on Olive's research. I have lost nearly all enthusiasm for headphones when we bought our first house, I just found classical music highly unsatisfying on them.

Just trying to understand what you are dealing with.  Why do you need to use headphones?  Is it because you don't want to awaken your partner?  Or, when you do want to listen, are the rooms too close together and/or not good re sound-proofing?  Or are you wearing them in order to be able to go between rooms whilst listening?  Just curious.

Best,

PD

[staxomega]

Just trying to understand what you are dealing with.  Why do you need to use headphones?  Is it because you don't want to awaken your partner?  Or, when you do want to listen, are the rooms too close together and/or not good re sound-proofing?  Or are you wearing them in order to be able to go between rooms whilst listening?  Just curious.

Best,

PD

I was able to get speakers in several rooms in different locations, that is what killed my enthusiasm for them. After living in apartments for ~10 years with only headphones I was thrilled to be able to listen to speakers. For me headphones do not sound convincing in any aspect of reproduction. I see people write about being able to hear or "see" the sound in front of them, and my imagination is not that vivid. I continue to use Etymotic ER4p from 2003 that refuse to die no matter how much I've beat them up that I use when working out (even with music at very low volumes it can drown out the water of the rowing machine), traveling, on the boat, etc.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I was able to get speakers in several rooms in different locations, that is what killed my enthusiasm for them. After living in apartments for ~10 years with only headphones I was thrilled to be able to listen to speakers. For me headphones do not sound convincing in any aspect of reproduction. I see people write about being able to hear or "see" the sound in front of them, and my imagination is not that vivid. I continue to use Etymotic ER4p from 2003 that refuse to die no matter how much I've beat them up that I use when working out (even with music at very low volumes it can drown out the water of the rowing machine), traveling, on the boat, etc.

Good to hear that they have held up so well!  Wish that all manufactured things were as reliable.

PD

[71 dB]

For me headphones do not sound convincing in any aspect of reproduction. I see people write about being able to hear or "see" the sound in front of them, and my imagination is not that vivid.

The main problem is that most music produced mainly for speakers and not for headphones. Speakers need stereo sound (stereo speakers) or multichannel sound (surround speaker system) while headphones "need" binaural sound witch is similar to stereo sound, but in certain ways also quite different. This discrepancy alone makes headphones sound flat and even annoying compared to speaker sound. There are solutions to make headphone sound better by transforming stereo sound into more binaural type of sound. The simplest method is crossfeed which is what I use, but there are much more sophisticated/complex/expensive ways to have a more pleasant headphone sound.

[staxomega]

The main problem is that most music produced mainly for speakers and not for headphones. Speakers need stereo sound (stereo speakers) or multichannel sound (surround speaker system) while headphones "need" binaural sound witch is similar to stereo sound, but in certain ways also quite different. This discrepancy alone makes headphones sound flat and even annoying compared to speaker sound. There are solutions to make headphone sound better by transforming stereo sound into more binaural type of sound. The simplest method is crossfeed which is what I use, but there are much more sophisticated/complex/expensive ways to have a more pleasant headphone sound.

I have some binaural recordings and these can sound pretty scary good and more like real stereo. An online friend is a recording engineer and made his own dummy head and has recordings where he takes it out to a SoCal beach and puts it in various places, it sounds like you're there. There is however one issue with them, in order to get exact fidelity from these recordings your ear canal must be a similar shape as the dummy head that was being used.

The ones with music is pretty much just audiophile music, nothing you'd actually want to listen to. And aside from maybe one or two recordings they don't really capture the effect of true binaural for me at least. This is my favorite headphone album in terms of music (also one of my favorite albums of the 2000s) and having some great effects. I don't know if they used QSound that was most famously used on a Roger Waters album.



It has been a long time since I have messed around with crossfeed. On the Headroom amps I seem to recall it basically made the sound more mono-like. I'm sure there is more nuance to it than that but my experiments with hardware and DSP crossfeed was short lived. There is a lot of info that has come out from the Olive camp since I left headphones that I need to catch up on.

[foxandpeng]

I do enjoy reading these posts, having in the past been a real fan of 'the right sound' for me. With the advent of digital, and the approach of poorer hearing, I have revised the ways in which I consume music, moving from physical media and carefully placed speakers all over the house, to listening on a decent pair of headphones costing around £400 and various HDs played through Sonos at a bit rate of 320, or using the highest Spotify bit-rate via my smartphone. I have no doubt that the young or the less aurally challenged would notice a difference, but I don't really miss the lossless sound or absence of hardware.

Oh, how time marches with all of its consequences. As I say, I do still enjoy reading this thread.

[Harry]

I do enjoy reading these posts, having in the past been a real fan of 'the right sound' for me. With the advent of digital, and the approach of poorer hearing, I have revised the ways in which I consume music, moving from physical media and carefully placed speakers all over the house, to listening on a decent pair of headphones costing around £400 and various HDs played through Sonos at a bit rate of 320, or using the highest Spotify bit-rate via my smartphone. I have no doubt that the young or the less aurally challenged would notice a difference, but I don't really miss the lossless sound or absence of hardware.

Oh, how time marches with all of its consequences. As I say, I do still enjoy reading this thread.

This time will come for me also no doubt And I will go the same road as you my friend, even though I bought a new CD player last week, costing me a round 50.000 euro's

[foxandpeng]

This time will come for me also no doubt And I will go the same road as you my friend, even though I bought a new CD player last week, costing me a round 50.000 euro's

I am crying on your behalf. I feel the throb in my pockets, and not in a good way.

[DavidW]

I do enjoy reading these posts, having in the past been a real fan of 'the right sound' for me. With the advent of digital, and the approach of poorer hearing, I have revised the ways in which I consume music, moving from physical media and carefully placed speakers all over the house, to listening on a decent pair of headphones costing around £400 and various HDs played through Sonos at a bit rate of 320, or using the highest Spotify bit-rate via my smartphone. I have no doubt that the young or the less aurally challenged would notice a difference, but I don't really miss the lossless sound or absence of hardware.

Oh, how time marches with all of its consequences. As I say, I do still enjoy reading this thread.

Just having big speakers is enough for me these days!

[Harry]

I am crying on your behalf. I feel the throb in my pockets, and not in a good way.

Well I managed a project well for a client, and thus gave me the opportunity to grab this beauty.

[Spotted Horses]

I'm still nursing my old Headroom amp which includes analog cross-feed. It is not a huge effect, but it gives most recordings more natural imaging.

Try this, put on a mono recording on headphones (or play a stereo recording on mono) and take off one earpiece. The sound is oddly disembodied (at least it is to me). The brain wants to compare the sound between the two ears and if one is missing it doesn't know what to do. I get a similar effect with recordings that have very strong stereo separation, like the old Mercury's. An instrument or section can be almost entirely in one channel, and while that works on speakers, it doesn't work for me on headphones. Cross-feed helps to fix that. Of course, a lot of stereo recordings don't have such strong localization and sound ok on headphones with or without headphones.

[foxandpeng]

Just having big speakers is enough for me these days!

Size is everything, or so I am told.

Well I managed a project well for a client, and thus gave me the opportunity to grab this beauty.

I also live in Projects World, but as a public servant, hence my ability to be able to manage projects poorly without personal financial consequences.

*turns up the music*

[Harry]

Size is everything, or so I am told.

I also live in Projects World, but as a public servant, hence my ability to be able to manage projects poorly without personal financial consequences.

*turns up the music*

LOL
That made me spill my wine all over the place......

And that also

[Klavierman]

This is my system:

Speakers:
Magico S5 MkII

Amplification:
Pass Labs XP-22 preamp
Pass Labs X250.8 power amp
Pass Labs XP-17 phono stage

Sources:
Oracle Delphi MkVI turntable/SME 309 tonearm
Koetsu Rosewood Signature phono cartridge
Esoteric K01XD CD/SACD/DAC

Misc:
Focal Utopia headphones
Woo Audio WA2 headphone amp

[Valentino]

An arm with one 0 less than before.