I love the Softerwear sleeves.. They're even more comfortable than a proper custom IEM (I have Softerwear sleeves and custom Future Sonics MG5HX IEMs). Highly recommended, although they are not cheap. My Softerwears are stuck at my desk at work (working from home) and I killed my poor Spectrum...

That is super useful. I don't own these right now (still miss them), but I saw that link more than once and disregarded it.

I just bought this. It works great, but I realized quickly that I won't use it much because so much of my listening is either via a guitar sim (this adds latency so I won't use it) or clean via ASIO. I got a great deal on it so I'm seeing if someone wants it. $179

You don't need one. The power goes to an internal SMPS and is then filtered. If you're concerned with noise entering the unit, get a battery pack.

Send all of the audio to one channel (either in settings somewhere or unplug one of the input cables or whatever). Turn off the matrix. Listen from the channel that should have nothing coming through. Turn on the matrix. You'll likely have some sound in that channel now.

I used to spray paint my screws when I built computers with spray painted black cases (before they were available). Works rather well.

Wondering as well. The DX1000 goes for around $500-$600 max. What driver adds $500 to the value? I'd think a driver substitution would significantly devalue the headphone given that it's special and rare to begin with.

Yep. I recommend checking out the manual online, as it is comprehensive and enjoyable to read.

Originally, it required dedicated drivers. As of maybe a year ago it uses class compliant drivers and works without installing them (including Windows and Linux).

I did the lazy thing despite usually building my own cables and had Blue Jeans make me one. I think it was the same price as the one linked above. Just in case someone is reading this later, this is for the ADI-2 Pro. If you want to connect a balanced headphone to the ADI-2 DAC, you need an XLR...

You can ask on the RME forum, but I'm pretty certain you can't use the headphone and line out simultaneously on the ADI-2 DAC because it only has one DAC chip. The ADI-2 Pro can do it because it has two chips.

I use mine in TIDAL with exclusive mode and forced volume every single day. You did something wrong.

I sat the amp on some blocks I had laying around.

I imagine the E is very close to the Phonitor 2. The X and XE have slightly bigger power caps and should allow for a little more dynamic swing, but it's likely unnoticeable. Also, those Vu meters "crapping out" were someone not realizing they were feeding it a quiet signal. Additionally, all...

I was able to check out the Uber-DAC portion of the SPL Phonitor XE. In short, it's very good, but it's not versatile enough for me to warrant a recommendation for the DAC itself. That said, The Phonitor XE is still my current favorite amp and I use it every day...

That's strange. I've contacted them a couple of times in the past via the SPL Support ticket and received a reply overnight (time difference) on both occasions. https://support.spl.audio/submit-ticket/

@mixman Have you looked into the SPL Phonitor series? If you appreciate solid states it's a notable improvement to go to something like the Phonitor XE. The Phonitor 2 or E should be close to the XE or X for less money (the 2 can go used for under $1000, and the E can be had new for little over...

Are you feeding it a super low signal? Otherwise contact SPL.

After hearing this amazingly clean combination for months now, I can't get enough of it. So effortless yet detailed and engaging. Coming from tube amps and hybrids, it took me some time to appreciate just how good the amp is. Now, if I switch to a tube amp, it sounds musical but colorful and a...

I've had two different ADI-2 DACs and an ADI-2 Pro FS and channel balance has always been essentially perfect. Sounds like a faulty DAC, amp, tubes, or transducers. Presumably you're checking with the ADI-2 DAC by itself with multiple different headphones?

Not sure what he's talking about. You can do this without issue.

Hi-Power is better than normal mode. The ADI-2 Pro in balanced is slightly better still. In both cases, things are slightly rounded. Leading edge transients are a touch dulled. Bass has a tiny flubby characteristic and isn't super tight. That's true in normal mode, Hi-Power, and balanced. It's...

The NOS filter won't get you the sound of tubes. The ADI-2 DAC is incapable of producing distortion like a tube amp does. If you really want to experiment without buying a tube amp, there are some VST plugins out there that do an okay job of it, but they're not great. If you like the sound of...

It's easier to take off the top plate to change the tube.

If anyone ever needs to replace their MHDT Labs top plate screws, these are an exact match: https://www.mcmaster.com/91294A125 They're even from Taiwan, so could very well be the ones that MHDT uses. If they're not identical, they indistinguishable from the regular screws.