I picked up a DacMagic XS earlier today and after a 5 hour listening session my early impression is largely positive.   It definitely improves the sound from whatever computer I attach it to. The soundstage improves, one hear details that wasn't apparent before, slightly more oomph in the...

Thanks a lot for the great reviews guys (Tweezy and dweaver).   This is why I go to this site, to get impressions from real users instead of company sponsored "reviews" from various sites.   I have been shopping for a portable can since July this year without coming to a decision until now...

This thread is very intriguing since I have been looking for good portable sound for many months now.   I've owned HD 25-1 for some 15 years and HD 650 for about a decade so those cans are my references when comparing. I was looking forward to the momentum's when they came out, but I simply...

Well. I don't mind the lack of bass. I'm not a basshead by any means. I just noted that the bass isn't the signature of this headphone, and it's less of it compared to many others that I've listened to. But what there is of it is quite good with plenty of detail, at least when it's quiet.  ...

I picked up  a pair of Bose MIE2 earler today and have been listening to them nonstop for some 5 hours now and just switched back to my trusty HD25s now that I got back home.   I've used headphones, earbuds and in-ears for some 30 years now but this is the first time I've ever had this type...

Quote: Originally Posted by A_Dying_Wren @whuffor Congrats on getting the IE8s. I also came through the CX300 SF5 Pro (briefly) route and what a revelation the IE8s are. How do they compare to your HD650s? Strangely enough, I also have a D2+ or at least its on its way. How do the BBE...

I've mainly been a lurker in this forum appreciating all the opinions and insights that you provide, knowing full well that reading too much here usually means the wallet getting considerably lighter. I recently used up yet another pair of CX300, the right earphone getting a bit quiet over...

Quote: Originally Posted by Golden Monkey I mean that I don't think mine are fully burned in yet. I loaned them to a friend who has a fully burned in pair, and he says they are not quite there yet. Interesting. I thought mine were done since I haven't noticed any change in sound...

I have used the Senn CX300 as my on-the-go plugs for a couple years now when I don't want to use my more expensive UE super.fi.5 pro. For the price they do ok. I haven't heard the later CX400, CX500, but I assume they are supposed to sound a bit better.

I've never enjoyed any eq setting with my HD25-1 or HD650s. I try now and then to tweak the sound in Foobar2000. It's fun to experiment but haven't found a setting I think is better than without eq.

Quote: Originally Posted by Golden Monkey Glad you're enjoying the combo, whuffor! I'm still discovering things that blow me away with the 650 and MKV. I still have a way to go before my 650s are "done", but I know what you mean regarding the transient response and effortlessness of...

Settling down... Now I have about 320+ hours on the HD650s, and about 200 hours on my LD MkV, and the Keces DA-151 DAC is at 130+ hours. As far as I can tell the sound hasn't changed noticably for the last 40-50 hours, so I think things have settled down in that regard. I continue to be...

Of course you can route the DAC's output to line-in of an amplifier and pass the sound to your speakers. Whether you will get good results from using the headphone jack on your receiver depends on how good it is. From what I understand some amplifiers have a headphone jack that is more of an...

I got my DA-151 yesterday, and have logged 20+ hours since I unpacked and connected it. There is a tremendeous increase in detail, and most of all, ambience compared with getting the sound directly from the onboard Realtek soundcard. Now there is a much broader soundstage, the vocalist is...

Yes. I find myself going back to CDs I used to listen to 10-15 years back, and find I enjoy them a lot again now that the resolution of my equipment is better. I am also finding new music genres enjoyable, like electronica which I have never much liked. Of course my classical music collection...

Nice with a new release, although it doesn't look like earth shattering improvements. A bug fix and id3 tag for album art is what I see at a glance.

1. Without being an expert in the field I'd say that most seem to think that the free encoder/decoder LAME is the best one right now for good quality mp3 rips. AFAIK, fraunhofer made the original algorithms for the mp3 codec, but I don't know how involved they are today with developing...

I too use EAC + FLAC for ripping and encoding for archival purposes (about 2TB and growing). That way I know that the rip is good, and I can transcode from lossless to desired lossy format if required for a portable player. To be honest I can't distuingish between a good lossy encoding and...

When I started out with my first iPod, I listened first through the stock earbuds, but soon upgraded to Sennheiser CX300 which was a marked improvement. A lot of bang for the buck. Now I understand there is an improved model out as well called CX500. Havent tried those though. When I...

Quote: Originally Posted by Golden Monkey Glad you're liking your 650's. After they are fully broken in, you'll love them even more. Mine are not even there yet, and are around 175 hours. I noticed considerable improvement after 48 hours, and not a whole lot between 48-150 hours, but...

Hi Golden Monkey, I just had to join the choir and say what a great review that was! Thanks bunches for taking the time to post it. I've been lurking in the forum for some time and just got new HD650's that has 60+ hours on them by now(got them 3 days ago), and have been doing burn in...