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Mad Lust Envy's Headphone Gaming Guide: (8/18/2022: iFi GO Blu Review Added)
Jan 12, 2013 at 9:21 AM Post #10,741 of 48,565
What are you going to pair with it? It's is a slightly dry amp, and it favors warm/smooth headphones. I didn't get a chance to use the Annie with it. I sent out the Magni/Modi two days before getting the Annie.

Man, there are some songs where I SWEAR the bass is stronger on the Annie than the HE-400. I think it might be a bigger mid bass emphasis, but since the HE-400 is relatively flatter all the way down to the sub bass, it tends to sound fuller in the bass than the Annie on most tracks.
 
Jan 12, 2013 at 9:36 AM Post #10,743 of 48,565
Hmm, the Magni/Modi may make the Annie sound more neutral than what I'm used to hearing, and also has a very miniscule tip towards treble. Still, I'm sure the Annie will sound great off it. Even though the HE-400 is treble heavy, the Magni/Modi did them some good justice, so I wouldn't be worried about the Annie which has smoother treble.

I hope with all my heart you enjoy them. Take your time with them. I'm 99% sure they will impress. I'm swapping from the HE-400 to the Annie, and they're so different and both SO damn good. The mids on the Annies... are so much more forward and present. I mean, it's so obvious.

I HATE having two headphones that demand attention. ARGH.
 
Jan 12, 2013 at 1:19 PM Post #10,744 of 48,565
Quote:
calpis said:
Played some Blops2 with some etymotic er4p's w/ mixamp. Going to give it a shot for a week and use them exclusively. It's been a few months since I actually used them and kinda forgot how much I liked them for certain types of music. 
 
Oh and on the topic of the K1000, someone here should grab the Sony "version" of them.
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-PFRV1-Personal-Speaker-Headphones/dp/B0017IJALY
The only place that I saw that had demos of these was at Fry's but they were always either broken or some ****** would have already pushed in the dust cover.
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Which is basically like that of the gaming IEM Nameless mentioned. Nice. Well, I'd be curious what your findings are.
Quote:
impulse said:
Huh, I tried the MA900 recently... Didn't really know much about them before trying them, I did like them but wasn't floored. Didn't have anything useful to compare them to either tho. They were certainly comfortable, the very obviously angled drivers and that weird slot they cut into the cups seem odd at first but they're very lightweight. I didn't even realize they had 70mm drivers at the time.
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Hmm, thanks for the input :) I was interested in earspeakers.
Quote:
tmaxx123 said:
Watched some of 300 on blu-ray on the mmx 300's off just the mixamp and they sounded great. I have yet to try my sennheiser ie8's on the mixamp. Gotta get around to doing that ASAP.
tongue.gif
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I'd be interested in what your IE8's sound like.
Quote:
namelesspfg said:
 
Like I said before, SRD-series transformer boxes come with most of the cheaper Stax setups, and speaker amps (usually in the form of integrated receivers) are everywhere.
 
Kind of bulky and kludgy for just a headphone amplification system, but it works.
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At least it's not as expensive.
Quote:
rexxen said:
I tried swapping the pads on the q701/annies. And the annies still sounded noticeably fuller and warmer than the q701 with the q701 pads. I'm not sure who said these were just repackaged q701's but it would be hard mistake one another side by side in any state. Even days apart I could blindly label the q701 and annies regardless of which pads are used imo. They're similar sounding ofc but, at least my pairs, are distinctly different. And for my tastes the annies are a true upgrade to the q701. It's worth noting that I preferred the q701's with the annies memory pads to the stock q701 pads, but I wouldn't pay more than 40 usd for them.
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Thank you! Glad someone finally did this.
Quote:
mad lust envy said:
You shouldn't be plugging in the E9K to the Macbook directly. You should be using a DAC, just FYI.

As long as you're happy with how you use it, don't worry about anything else.

Damn, so after all that neglect I've been giving the HE-400, I decided to use them today. You can definitely tell the bass is fuller than the K702 Annies. It makes it hard to give up for music, as I mostly listen to bass heavy genres... ARGH! I thought I'd be willing to part with it, but they keep surprising me. I'm gonna wait until I get the X1 and then decide if I'll give the HE-400 up or not.
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Yeah, I'll be curious on how you feel about the X1 as well. What's all they hype about with that headphone?
Quote:
mad lust envy said:
It's warm. Absolutely. It sounds like a much more open HD650, with more energy and sparkle, but noticeably warmer than the Q701 which was already a slightly warm headphone. Not HE-400 warm, but close. If I could say anything, I'd say it's the most neutral/balanced headphone I've owned that favors warmth.

If a song is bassy, the Annie will fill out that bass just fine. The HE-400 will romanticize the bass a little, while the Annie will be more true to it.

The mids are not comparable... at all. The Annie's mids walk all over the HE-400's.
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Thanks for the info on the mids Mad. I was curious about the HE-400 myself.
 
Jan 12, 2013 at 3:32 PM Post #10,745 of 48,565
For anyone purchasing the Annies, be careful where you buy your stuff from. Read below.
 
Blacklisted Non-Authorized Resellers
PROLENSES
emusic Enterprise - Boom
LCD Stores
eSaveNY
#1 Source
Buy Buy Online
IEstore
PJPNY
J-Electronics
ebestpurchase
 
source: http://deals.woot.com/questions/details/5301f963-e65e-44de-a627-f236bc67fcf8/could-i-get-some-advice-on-counterfeit-earbuds
 
These threads on Head-Fi also have info pointing towards Emusic Enterprise (the one that's selling the AKG Annies for the lowest price $401 [$405.99 w/shipping] on Amazon) being a counterfeiter: http://www.head-fi.org/t/600940/counter-fit-or-legit-dealer-please-help and http://www.head-fi.org/t/616077/dont-buy-any-fiio-product-from-sainstore-on-amazon-and-how-to-distinguish-a-genuine-fiio-e6-from-a-fake-one/150
 
Might just wanna buy the Annies from BestSeller21 for $409 total, where I got mine.
 
Jan 12, 2013 at 4:47 PM Post #10,746 of 48,565
I bought mine from eStudioStar on eBay. The main reason I went with it is because they also have an Amazon.com listing, so they must be legit. I bought them on eBay because I can pay with PayPal and use bill me later.
 
 
As a side note, I haven't even received my cans and I'm already thinking of the my next possible purchase. I really want to try out the Stax Combo, if nothing else, just to be able to say I own one since they have this distinct look. But really, after having just bought the Annies, I would probably be better off buying something that compliments it, maybe the Fidelio X1. The Stax would be something along the same line (even if it is better) as the Annies.
 
Jan 12, 2013 at 4:52 PM Post #10,747 of 48,565
That's how I bought my SA-31 and Compass 2. Bill me later. :D

I plan on paying most of my balance off once I sell the SA-31 and ODAC.


Hmm....

Seeing as I cant sleep, may as well start packing up the Astro/Skullcandy care package for return.
 
Jan 12, 2013 at 5:10 PM Post #10,748 of 48,565
You know, I'm deciding on what to do with my Wii. I was going to send it to my nephews and I still might, but it's just that Nintendo decided not to enable Dolby Pro Logic II on Wii U to save five cents and games won't work with it unless they have the in game option. The thing is most Nintendo games don't. I'm specially bitter than Metroid Prime Trilogy does not have it. Granted, I never even knew/cared about Dolby Pro Logic II until recently but still, I would have liked to use it now that I know about it. With that said, I really don't think it is worth keeping one console just to play one game when I could give it to others who will probably get more enjoyment out of it. Besides, the Wii U can always play Wii U games, even if most of them are in stereo...
 
Nintendo really screwed the pooch this time. For all the talk of making Wii U this media hub they went about it the wrong way. They use LCPM only and want to stream Hulu plus and similar services when they only use Dolby Digital, which results in stereo only. I know this was likely done to offload work from the CPU in order to minimize latency (as well as saving a few pennies) but this just creates this weird scenario where Wii U is basically in purgatory. It's as if Nintendo wants everybody to bend over backwards and play by their rules when they themselves just arrived to the game. I'll probably end up buying one but I won't be for its presumed media hub capabilities.
 
Jan 12, 2013 at 6:55 PM Post #10,749 of 48,565
Made my rounds on Amazon and added the reviews there for the A40, A50, and SLYR. Help me out by saying it's helpful or something, lol.

Ah yes, also added the reviews (edited) to the A40 and A50 listings on Astro's website, though they're not up yet. I tried to add the SLYR on the SC website, but it kept giving BS about inappropriate language. :rolleyes:
 
Jan 12, 2013 at 7:24 PM Post #10,750 of 48,565
Quote:
roger de ceiba said:
You know, I'm deciding on what to do with my Wii. I was going to send it to my nephews and I still might, but it's just that Nintendo decided not to enable Dolby Pro Logic II on Wii U to save five cents and games won't work with it unless they have the in game option. The thing is most Nintendo games don't. I'm specially bitter than Metroid Prime Trilogy does not have it. Granted, I never even knew/cared about Dolby Pro Logic II until recently but still, I would have liked to use it now that I know about it. With that said, I really don't think it is worth keeping one console just to play one game when I could give it to others who will probably get more enjoyment out of it. Besides, the Wii U can always play Wii U games, even if most of them are in stereo...
 
Nintendo really screwed the pooch this time. For all the talk of making Wii U this media hub they went about it the wrong way. They use LCPM only and want to stream Hulu plus and similar services when they only use Dolby Digital, which results in stereo only. I know this was likely done to offload work from the CPU in order to minimize latency (as well as saving a few pennies) but this just creates this weird scenario where Wii U is basically in purgatory. It's as if Nintendo wants everybody to bend over backwards and play by their rules when they themselves just arrived to the game. I'll probably end up buying one but I won't be for its presumed media hub capabilities.
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If I do get a Wii U, I'm keeping the Wii to serve as a GameCube. My actual GCN got sent overseas a long time ago, along with the infamously rare component cables.
 
Wait, you can't set Pro Logic II for Wii games through the Wii settings menu on the Wii U (assuming it's just like the Wii interface in that regard)? Well, that's a load of crap. I'll have to look into this whenever I get the chance, because I know Metroid Prime Trilogy supports Dolby Pro Logic II and does have noticeable surround effects with my SU-DH1.
 
I don't mind the use of LPCM over HDMI, but no S/PDIF output with Dolby Digital or DTS support limits its versatility, and now you're telling me that it can't even bitstream Dolby Digital over HDMI either? I wonder why Nintendo wouldn't pay up for the licensing when a fair number of Wii games already use Pro Logic II anyway.
 
That said, media hub capabilities out of a console are a very distant second for me. (Closest I ever got to that was XBMC on my original Xboxes.) They're meant to play games, and anything else is a bonus.
 
Jan 12, 2013 at 11:58 PM Post #10,751 of 48,565
Wanna know something funny? I'm pretty sure the Annie leaks out less than the Slyr and A40. O_O
 
Jan 13, 2013 at 12:31 AM Post #10,752 of 48,565
Sooo I went ahead and upgraded my H&K avr247 to the avr254. There were a couple minor dents on the top so I managed to get it for $80. But the thing I didn't realize was that it doesn't have an optical out port like the avr247. Oh well, can't win em all.
 
Jan 13, 2013 at 1:04 AM Post #10,753 of 48,565
You mainly need it for the HDMI though right? 80 dollars, what a steal.
 
Jan 13, 2013 at 1:40 AM Post #10,754 of 48,565
The mass market really doesn't care all that much about audio, cheap HTiB systems are what most people consider "high end" and they usually have stuff pretty poorly wired/configured/placed anyway. It's sad but true, I'd take a gamble that this would apply even more so to Nintendo's average target audience (no offense to anyone, I love me some Smash Bro and Kart). In light of that, it's not very shocking they would cheap out on that end.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to any X1 comparisons, tho a Philips rep made my heart sink a little when he posted the MSRP was $399. Still tho, they might be worth that much (opinions on the X1 thread are still kinda scatter shot IMO) and they'll probably fall below that fairly quickly like their other recent releases.
 
Jan 13, 2013 at 1:51 AM Post #10,755 of 48,565
Quote:
calpis said:
Sooo I went ahead and upgraded my H&K avr247 to the avr254. There were a couple minor dents on the top so I managed to get it for $80. But the thing I didn't realize was that it doesn't have an optical out port like the avr247. Oh well, can't win em all.
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Dang man. That is one heck of a steal. How is Dolby Headphone on that through HDMI?
Quote:
mad lust envy said:
You mainly need it for the HDMI though right? 80 dollars, what a steal.
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I was thinking the same exact things.
 
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