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Originally Posted by nocturnalsheet /img/forum/go_quote.gif
eagerly waiting for larry's review of the D10
will be the moment of truth if i should upgrade from my D3 to the D10...
my wallet is crying for help
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I can already tell you the upgrade is worth it.
I have passed my 300 hour mark set for burn-in Monday Morning; and so far listened with RS-1, D2000 and HD600, but have only compared it to the Predator since reaching the required burn-in hours. Listening to the D10 and Predator Via USB, and going back and forth between them, I was unable to tell any real differences in the sound other than the D10 has more power to drive the HD600. It was the middle of the night and I was tired, so I have several more days of listening and comparing to do between many of the amps and with many of my headphones.
As you know, the amplifier ranking can actually be a bit different depending on the headphones being used at the time, so I have to do detailed comparisons of multiple amps using multiple headphones and it is taking longer and longer with the more amps and headphones I have. With the D10 included, I still have 10 of the 13 amps that have been (or will be review) reviewed here! (minus Lyrix, D2 Viper and D1). I just can't listen to 7 or 8 headphones on 10 amps in quick succession so I can remember the previous combination's sound, so I have to make some compromises.
I can narrow down the D10 comparisons to only vs the top tier amps where the D10 belongs, and I will be comparing it only to the top 4 DAC/amps that don't sound alike but were all the most enjoyable = Predator, Pico, 3MOVE and XM5. I can skip most of the others for a variety of reasons: I know where the D3 stands vs the Pico (almost the same but slightly less) and where the Micro DAC/Amp stands (pretty much the same as Pico). Although I probably will briefly compare the Micro DAC/Amp vs the D10 DAC/Amp with Optical input, but not with every headphone. I wont need to do a side by side with D2 Boa, Vivid V1 or Nuforce which are below the top tier for reasons mentioned in my reviews, although I may need to pull out the V1 with HD600 to see how the D10 rates, because the V1 is just so much fun with the HD600.
I'll use my RS-1, D2000, HD600, Edition 9 and ESW10 as my full size phones (maybe the AKG K240M 600 ohm just to test power). I'll use my Westone 3, Phonak Audeo, Livewires (and maybe C700/NE-7M) as my IEM for the review. Lastly, I'll try the DAC line out vs Pico with driving my Woo GES/Stax O2 Mk1 rig as well, since that is how I use the Pico 90% of the time (I still like Pico just a little better as a DAC/Pre-amp feeding a full size amp more than as a headphone amp, and think it is very close to the Stello DA100 and Apogee mini-DAC in that setting).
I am also going to try to TEASE APART ALL THE TIED AMPS IN 3RD PLACE if possible, and make my reasons known. In the most recent ranking I had restored the D2 Viper and 3MOVE back to their original 2nd and 3rd places, after hearing the Meier MOVE again and deciding that I was right the first time around (I had moved them due to fading audio memory). The only change that I made to the 1st - 3rd order was that I was enjoying the Pico and XM5 as much as the 3MOVE and brought them both up to 3RD place with the 3MOVE. While the Pico had a better DAC, the 3MOVE and XM5 with the PCM2702E(JAPAN) DAC have wonderful amplifier sections that make up for that in enjoyment).
So, this will be taking some time to get it done.