Very hard to find ZMF Aelous bubinga headphone. I've used the perforated pads with them, but also have the lamb pads. Will include a standard 1/4" ZMF cable, a 4-pin balanced ZMF cable as well as an upgraded ZMF 4-pin balanced cable. Everything is EXCELLENT shape with only a discoloration on...

Yes, the volume control works for the XLR. You can also use the remote to control the volume.

Got here yesterday afternoon! Hooked it up and at first it was a bit underwhelming. It took about an hour before it got warmed up and it made a big difference. All of a sudden everything seemed to fall into place. Did a quick comparison with my PS Audio DS Sr and yes there's a noticeable...

Mine is scheduled to arrive Thursday

I've decided to give the Topping D90 MQA a try... it's on order and will ship shortly.

That looks interesting!

The AQ Carbon isn't anywhere near $230... You commonly find it under $170 new and much closer to $100 used. I do want DSD and MQA not only because I have heard it in my own system via the PSA DS, but also because it gives me options if I so chose to. Most of my listening is Tidal so MQA is a...

I bought a Jotunheim with balanced DAC module to drive my ZMF Aelous. Well, it didn't take long before upgradeitis is setting in and I'm realizing that the DAC is the limiting factor... So, what do you recommend? Here's what I'd like/setup; MacBook Pro via AQ Carbon USB, Tidal via Roon; I'd...

PS Audio has a very unique FPGA that is continuously updated and improved by the genius of Ted Smith. Basically, it takes the incoming signal, upsamples it to 20x DSD processing the signal and then outputs it at 2x DSD. The sound is truly glorious!

PS Audio Directstream Sr is a pretty amazing DAC. It’s like Christmas each time Ted releases a new firmware (and they’re free!!!). Used to run in directly to my Pass XA60’s which sounds really good. Adding a a Pass pre took it up another notch

Not really as she doesn't care that much... she knew I was going to replace the my old headphones. But adding the expense of cables on top of that... well, that's a different conversation. :o2smile:

Ok, so what would a better cable be? I don't mind spending money if it sounds quite a bit better. And yes, the wife is quite nice. She deals with my audio habit (and it helps that she's a classical trained pianist so she understands music well)

Just got my Aelous and at first I used them with the standard single ended cable connected to my Jotunheim. Nice sound, relaxed, outstanding dynamics and just really pleasant. Then I changed to a ZMF OFC balanced cable. Oh my goodness! What a dramatic improvement. Did NOT expect it to sound this...

I would say not necessarily, just like a solid state amp can't be warm. My experience with headphones is slightly limited so I'll draw my examples from the hifi area instead... Think about a Pass Labs class A amp (XA25, XA30., XA60., etc) and they can be extremely "tube like", where as some of...

Ok, so I've decided to kind of blow the budget... It'll be a CEC TL1. Heard that transport a few years back with Thiel CS7.2 driven by some very large (and I'm certain ultra expensive) VTL's. It was truly glorious and if the CEC can only bring me a small step closer to that, I'll be all smiles...