Options for all-in-one under $600? - Page 2

re the dt880/600 - just guessing, but I'm sure the sparrow would do fine with them.  

that said, I think if you're mainly going to be running a headphone that difficult, you'd get better sound running a $100 udac to a $200 Matrix-Stage, because the m-stage is going to have a lot more power, that or going with the Fun.  I know that a lot of this is about proper power level, and while the sparrow does a fantastic job for its size, it's just not going to be able to physically do justice to something with, say, 3 separate power torroids for the DAC and then another giant one or two for the amp ;)

I do admit for the size, the sparrow is pretty good.  I think the sparrow has enough voltage to power them (10V off the website).  I wonder what the voltage output the Audinst is, if the audinst can drive HD800, I am sure the sparrow can.

I've heard my Ray Samuels Audio XP-7 with HD650s and the paring was really, really good, and I don't even like the Senns house sound.  Other than my current amp, the only other one in that price range I've heard with Senns is the HeadRoom Micro amp, which I used with it for some time.  In the long, the Sennheiser cans just weren't my cup of tea, but those two amps did give me pause... for a little while anyways!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahface 

Hi everyone,

 

I'm Sarah, and I'm trying to take my first plunge in to high(er) end audio.

 

All-in-ones I have looked at include the Audio-GD FUN, Yulong D100, Matrix Mini-i, with the Yulong D100 seeming to be closest to what I'm interested in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahface 

The NuForce website here (http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconhdp/index.php), under the Guides: section near the bottom of the page, provides links that makes reference to both the hiss and the channel imbalance. I don't recall the posts off hand that described the Mini-i tube sound

Lol, you claim to be looking at a variety of solutions including the Mini-i, then when someone who actually owns one chimes in to endorse it you procede to denigrate its sound and build quality, then can't cite any specific references. Then you proceed to attack another popular and well-received product, the HDP, with allegations of non-problems that Nuforce has gone to great pains to discuss on their own website, while again insinuating that is has inferior build quality, and again without citing any specific references from anybody that owns one.

The Nuforce disclosures are in reaction to the fact that these are really overblown issues and are actually necessary trade-offs that come with offering such a high-powered amplifier with such a well-implemented DAC for such a low price. It offers enough current/gain to drive an HE-5 or K701, of course it is going to hiss a little with lower impedance IEMs, which you have not claimed to be concerned with anyways. If they added a $300 potentiometer, it would do better for the 1% of the attenuation range that nobody cares about, as it's obviously not designed for IEMs. The volume knob of the HDP is accurate within 0.5dB for the 99% of the range that people actually use. If only other manufacturers of the more affordable gear were as honest as Nuforce, there would be a lot less confusion on this forum.

For someone with no post history who seems to want to draw attention to the fact that you are a female, this is pretty manipulative behavior that makes me question what your true agenda may or may not be. You obviously already have an answer for every piece of endorsed equipment that you only claimed to be considering in the first place, yet you say that you are here to seek advice from the forum. When that advice doesn't agree with your "research", you slam the gear without provocation, and without any specific citations, hmm...
 

I wouldn't be quite so rough on Sarah, Grokit.  I had some of the same questions about the Nuforce HDP myself, and I read the same thing about the Matrix i.  Frankly, part of the larger problem with Head-fi is that there is a relative dirth of good comparison threads, where you can read them and get some solid information that, yes Virginia, A is actually better than B.  Or A is a much better value than B.  Skylabs amazing 50+ portable amp roundup is worth about a million random posts about people's individual experiences.  

Part of the problem is that there are people on Head-fi who pay to be on head-fi.  Then there are people who have a vested interest in some companies, because of personal connections, and aren't always unbiased.  But then you've got the usual, which is that you research A, B, and C, and then they buy A, and of course, you don't want to have A and actually think you made the wrong decision, so you going to go around chiming in about how great A is.  

I read lots of posts where newbies are asking, which is better A or B (with both similar cost.)  And no one knows, because no one has bought both of those products, done extensive A/B testing, and then returned one.  So all you say is, well, they're both good, but something much more expensive is better.  Wow.  Thanks for nothing.  So it all becomes a bit random and overly subjective and confusing for new buyers.  You end up having to take a single comment - like the matrix sounds "warm" - and blow it way out of context.  I mean, compared to what?  Using what?  How was this tested? 

The original member who gave this long detailed review about how great the HDP was.  Ok, but there's like NO NEGATIVES WHATSOEVER.  And then when people ask, how does it compare to the Audio-GD FUN, he's like, I've never heard any audio-gd products.  (how convenient)  I'm not saying it's always some big conspiracy, but there are a lot of aspects to Head-Fi "reviews" - like overly expensive cables, for instance - that make you wonder how much of this is really on the level.  Whenever anybody writes about how incredible $300 cables are, they go on for pages.  And then more people buy them, and then they write about them too.  And when someone comes in and is like, they didn't do anything.  No one responds, their datum is drowned in a sea of happytalk, or they're accused of being a downer, or trying to "force their beliefs" on other people. 

I came to head-fi because I wanted to get some more objective reviews than the completely biased reviews you get from hi-fi audio magazines, which almost NEVER discredit items that they have any financial links to.  

But I would really like to read a serious review that discusses the quality and value of the various amps, and RANKS THEM, rather than just saying some variation on "they're all good in their own way." 

Audinst HUD-mx1 = $180

Audio-Gd Sparrow (or Fun) = $240

Matrix Mini-I (balanced) = $300

Little Dot Dac II = $320

Fubar IV+ = $350

Musiland MD-10 = $370

NuForce Icon HDP = $450

Yulong D100 = $500

Valeb Chameleon = $500

Yulong 1704 = $540

 I think some of this takes actual engineering knowledge, which most of us don't have.  But just looking at it, I tend to be suspicious of the HDP as an amp.  It's tiny, and you can't physically fit a serious torroid power unit, let alone two, in something so small.  So I really have to wonder how it could be better than say, a Matrix M plus a V-dac.  But I really don't know, so I can't say for certain.  I just found out from someone that the Yulong D100, at $500, has a much better amp than the Yulong 1704 - basically the manufacturer told them this - which is a really big kind of thing to know.  

I am all for expressing the negative aspects of a component when it is something that the reviewer has actually heard, but when you are just citing someone else's negative opinion of that component, you need to be able to at least refer to that opinion IMO. Otherwise it's just trollish and based on second-hand inferences, rather that citing your own or anybody else's actual experience with the product in question.

All I did was to cite the positive aspects of a couple of pieces of gear, one of which I own myself and one that gets rave reviews by anyone that has actually used it. Then they were both torn down by someone who claimed to be objectively looking for advice and has never heard either one, and can't refer to anyone that has. So maybe my reaction was a little harsh, but I still question if there is an underlying agenda at work here and think that I have every reason to do so.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahface 

I'm sorry that you take issue with my research and analysis. I don't see what my gender has to do with headphone amplification, and the same goes for my post history; perhaps your disagreement with both of these is a personal problem? I would hardly consider what I have posted to be 'slamming' or attacking the equipment, especially considering I have never heard them in person. I am simply regurgitating tidbits I have read to see if others had any input to add, or to see if the problems were non-issues. I also don't believe I ever attacked the Mini-i's build quality, so I have no idea where you pulled that from...

It's probably when you said

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahface 

 

the 'unknown' nature of the company gives me some doubt about longterm longevity.

Your gender has nothing at all to do with headphone amplification, that is exactly my point. Why would you want to draw attention to your gender in a mostly male forum unless you have an ulterior motive? There are female members here, but they do not draw attention to their gender like you do.

And the fact that you have no post history yet appear to have thoroughly "researched and analyzed" the gear you are "regurgitating [100% negative] tidbits" on, that you have never heard, also brings your agenda into question.

I do not claim any negatives about Audio-GD's gear for example, because I have never heard any of their offerings. I have read some good and some not so good opinions on their lower-end gear. But I would never share the more negative opinions (especially the ones I couldn't cite) on a public forum, because I couldn't possibly do do so with any logical or factual honesty.

You are the one who first expressed negativity, "Sarah". I am just letting it run its course.

Lol, wow you handled him quite nicely! I think he was taking it all too personally.... anyways.

In the Fun thread there are some initial impressions on the new dac module. Mine is in customs so hopefully I'll have it today or soon.

Ok people, let's not make this into a North Korea-type situation.   NO MORE PERSONAL ATTACKS!!!  

Yulong's product has received some good reviews, but you're right, no where near as many as Audio-Gd's.  NuForce HDP has received lots of great reviews as well.  Matrix has as well.  Very, very few people have directly compared any of these since they tend to buy one and be satisfied with the high quality/value.  

One possibility I mentioned to someone else earlier is to buy the HDP through amazon, which allows for a 30 day free return.  That way you could actually A/B it against something else.  Also, the Buy/Sell forum here is very active, and I've gone through a T3, Shadow, D4 and a Sparrow B in just a few months without losing much money in the process.  So that way you'd actually know yourself.  

Haha, so AVU have you finally decided on which product to try next?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mythless 

Haha, so AVU have you finally decided on which product to try next?

no. 

but current contenders are 

1) New Sparrow A  (about $250)

2) Matrix Mini-I and recable to balanced (about $425)

3) Toucan / Boomslang and recable to balanced (about $600)

4) Twisted Pear Buffalo 32s with a volume control and recable to balanced (at least $700 if I could find someone to build it for me - it's DIY only)

I can't spend more than $1000 on a dac/amp total, even in the long run, because I believe upgrading to the JH-3A system would blow away every other headphone/dac/amp combination in existence, and it's only $1700 for everything.  

As it stands, it looks like #1.