Okay so I bought a 6inch Cardas mini-mini cable a few days ago. $14 was worth a shot to see if it made any difference.
I check my credit card bill earier and the total order came to $29. I understand its an international order, but $15 to ship an interconnect!? Eeeek!
I'd like to see more budget products. The airhead is a decent amp, but it's not that great (IMO). On the other hand, I think the micro I heard at the first national meet from you sounded fantastic!! But those are $300. I'm just saying, in the Airhead's price range, you're only offering one option, and in my opinion, it is not a great bang for your buck, and perhaps that's why you don't see it talked about or recommended too much around here.
While I'm going to be glad to hear all your comments of praise in the "Thank You" thread, I'm also interested in where you think we can do a better job.
This thread is your opportunity to make suggestions about how we can improve. It's quite likely that we'll start some new threads off the ideas that you post here, but I'd appreciate it if you'd start by making suggestions here rather than start a new thread for every one.
Why do you only balance certain headphones? & only sell XRL male? I was going to give you my business but found out you don't recable the SA5000 or have XRL females balanced cables for sell.. so I spent my 500 elsewhere.. You should really consider doing more headphones, I'm sure it would be quite profitable.
I order from you twice.. Great experience both times.
& I still take it, that you aren't going to be selling external DACs besides the micro dac?
1. Portable componentry (actually portable, not the Micro stuff (which is great, don't get me wrong; I've got a Micro Stack on my computer -- but it's not REALLY portable)) that looks cool, instead of just vaguely functional. Everything else you have looks great, so I know it's possible. Heck, charge a premium if that's what it takes. I'd gladly pay Micro money for something smaller than a Micro.
2. A portable "solution." You know the iMod? It seems ridiculously overpriced , but in concept take something like that, and integrate it with an amp custom-built for the purpose (maybe with an amp that fits perfectly with the iPod, perhaps with a built-in dock connector), and voila. Probably impractical, due to the part where you'd be taking on a huge development expense while being dependent on Apple not changing things up in two months, but attractive in principle.
2a. I doubt this is feasible, either, but a custom DAP based on the Rockbox firmware and optimized for audio quality would be ultra-sweet. I have no idea how big the market is for an audiophile DAP, but I'd sure as heck buy one, and I bet Stereophile would be interested. (And note that something Micro-sized would actually be highly portable in this context, as it'd be a single unit to carry...)
3. Be even more emphatic about headphones that you think either suck or aren't worth it. For instance, I know you've said that the Shure SE420 is better than the SE530 -- so why rate the 530 as five bars in value? (Caveats: 1) You're a lot better at this than almost any other vendor, which is why I tend to believe the rave reviews on your site as it is; 2) I've got the E500, which I understand to be the same as the SE530, and they're great, so I think you may be insane on this anyway.)
4. Carry computer speakers. Okay, yes, I know you're a headphone company, but with all the USB and digital stuff you've got, it's pretty clear that you're selling a lot of stuff to people who are hooking up to their computer. Also, there is nobody in the entire world who's selling speakers intended for computer users that don't suck (the market pretty much goes from junky "multimedia" speakers to active studio monitors that need special cabling (1/8" to XLR?), but nobody's actually aiming at computer users who care), so there's an open niche.
2a. I doubt this is feasible, either, but a custom DAP based on the Rockbox firmware and optimized for audio quality would be ultra-sweet. I have no idea how big the market is for an audiophile DAP, but I'd sure as heck buy one, and I bet Stereophile would be interested. (And note that something Micro-sized would actually be highly portable in this context, as it'd be a single unit to carry...)
X2
This is my dream:
A transportable DAP using several 2.5 inches hard drives (RAID; 600 giga bytes), digital output (toslink or coax), battery powered, USB host, plays ALAC and FLAC lossless files, runs by an open source software (Rockbox or other), the battery can be recharged by the AC power supply, the battery and hard drives can easily be replaced by the user, 10 inches LCD display, a good DAC inside, etc.
Get to work on the redux of the Wheatfield HA-2. I've been spending a lot of time with this amp recently and ohhhhh mama! I know that you know it's good Tyll, but other people need to experience this. I know Pete has some thoughts on how to improve the original design (some of which I've done to my amp) and it'd be awesome to see it come into production again. With the popularity rise of high-ohm phones like the K340 it seems a somewhat natural fit.
And I second the request to, if possible, at least carry the etymotic accessories. I'm on my last pair of tips!
That would be incredible. I would love to see Headroom have a Wheatfield HA-2 MKII.
Along the same lines IMO Headroom build quality is exceptional, I would really love to see more tube designs from you guys (I'm actually afraid to buy tube amps from the popular makers because of scratchy pots, amps without black backgrounds, overheating issues, no mute circuits, etc) but I can understand if this isn't part of Headroom's "mission statement" or the sound you're shooting for.
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north star m192 → b22/Stax SRD7-pro → Stax Omega II
Tell us, why do you guys put the HD650 and K701 ahead of the K1000 and HE90, I've always been curious. (I think i got an idea of it when i heard that balanced Max/ HD650 system and then went to Neil's orpheus... but i want to hear your take on it.)
This has been done many times before. Headroom rates based on value not absolute performance. They're still only to give a rough idea to the noobs on what headphones to buy. Considering that the Orpheus and K1000 aren't available anymore it's kind of a moot point. Headroom's reviews are left in place simply to introduce people to the insane fringe of this hobby, what makes it fun IMO.
First off, buy out the Headroom.com domain name so I don't have to look at the insane guy with the huge, rolly eyes every time I want to visit your site (Just kidding)
But on a serious note, I highly agree with Episiarch here. Although I give you guys credit for offering some alternative headphone amps not made by Headroom, and writing honest, unbiased reviews about them, it would always be good to see more variety in the products you offer, such as DAC's, preamps, and maybe even SACD/CD players. Many people, myself included, trust you guys to offer some of the finest gear available accompanied by product descriptions that don't sound like sales pitches, and I think you can use this trust to make a profit on "after-market" (so to speak) audio equipment, because the public is more inclined to purchase something if they can feel safe knowing their hard earned money is well spent.
__________________ Main Rig: Kenwood DP-1100II CDP -> Heath AP-2510 Preamplifier -> MAD EAR+ HD -> Grado RS-1's
Linear Mode
