[Poimandres]

Sweet, I ordered the packaged combo with the balanced cable and bag.

How does the stack compare against desktop rigs in the same price range?

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

Sweet, I ordered the packaged combo with the balanced cable and bag.

How does the stack compare against desktop rigs in the same price range?

Very comparable. 
 
In fact at last weeks Cambridge UK meet both myself and other HeadFier's stated that it sounded a lot better than very expensive desk top amps when powering the HD800's ! 
 
For the money and that it is also portable I think it is hard to beat.  Would rather have this rig than a AK240 costing a lot more as I have also heard the AK240 in balanced mode ! 

 

[Poimandres]

Thanks. That gets me stoked, I can't wait to receive it. I may cancel my order for the LC.

 

[PCWar]

I confirm that it is an excellent combo and matches perfectly the HD800 imho. You'll gone love it.

 

[Poimandres]

Thanks, I will be pairing them with my jh13fp's and my senn hd650's.

Bonesy where did you get your balanced cable for your 650's or did you build your own?

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

Thanks, I will be pairing them with my jh13fp's and my senn hd650's.

Bonesy where did you get your balanced cable for your 650's or did you build your own?

Hi Poimandres,
I bought my Moon Audio Silver cable from a fellow headfi.org member.   It is the type with a mini XLR connector (like the connectors fitted to Audeze headphones) at the bottom which allows you to fit any type of connector adaptor to it i.e. kobicon balanced connector, double XLR, single XLR, 1/4" jack etc.  
 
As the HD650's are a tad dark and the Cypher Labs Duet is a touch warm I would recommend you go for a silver based cable. 
 
The difference between the stock HD650 cable with a standard jack connected to an adapter to fit the Duet and my Moon Audio Silver cable with balanced connector is like night and day with everything i.e. music clarity more bass, bigger soundstage, more power etc. 

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

 
Hi Poimandres,
I bought my Moon Audio Silver cable from a fellow headfi.org member.   It is the type with a mini XLR connector (like the connectors fitted to Audeze headphones) at the bottom which allows you to fit any type of connector adaptor to it i.e. kobicon balanced connector, double XLR, single XLR, 1/4" jack etc.  
 
As the HD650's are a tad dark and the Cypher Labs Duet is a touch warm I would recommend you go for a silver based cable. 
 
The difference between the stock HD650 cable with a standard jack connected to an adapter to fit the Duet and my Moon Audio Silver cable with balanced connector is like night and day with everything i.e. music clarity more bass, bigger soundstage, more power etc. 

My cable is a Moon Audio Silver Dragon.
 
The cable has 3 parts:
1. xlr3 / mini xlr (1 feet)
2. mini / mini xlr (10 feet)
3. mini xlr / HD650 connectors (1 feet).
 
So when you change headphones it is easy to change the cable. 
 
Here are some pics.
 

 

 

 
Its a great cable which as well as desk top rigs is also ok for portable use as the cable is very flexible (although mine is very long). 

 

[Poimandres]

Thanks,
 I am tinkering with the idea of making a balanced cable for the 650's out of the stock cable.  I purchased the kobiconn connectors from digikey.
 
I must say I am blown away by the duet/db combo straight out of the box (after fully charged first of course).  It is completely dead silent with my JH13 FP's, single ended to the phones.  JRiver, wasapi, bit depth to auto.....not too sure on JRiver settings very new to it.  Utilizing the balanced kobiconn cable from Cypher Labs from the dB to the Duet.  We know how our sonic memory serves us, with that I will say that I am unable to recall enjoying my music this much.  Absolutely incredible.

 

[PCWar]

Yes, that's one hell of a combo. I personally use it with a pair of Tralucent Ref 1 with Uber cable and it feels like high end full size cans.

 

[Poimandres]

Had to send the Duet back to Cypherlabs to get the case fixed. Just got the amp back yesterday. Will spend the weekend listening to it and the other amps I have. Mini review will probably be up sometime late next week.

Thx

What happened to the case?

 

[onlychild]

There were gaps between the front and back plates and the maint part. Light from the front LEDs would also shine through the top.

Cypher Labs replaced the case with a perfect unit free of charge, even after mentioning I purchased it used from Head-fi.

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

There were gaps between the front and back plates and the maint part. Light from the front LEDs would also shine through the top.

Cypher Labs replaced the case with a perfect unit free of charge, even after mentioning I purchased it used from Head-fi.

 
Yes,  David from Cypher Labs did the same for me with a faulty DAC.   A great company.   Hope they are coming to London CanJam in August with their big tube amp.  Looks amazing. 

 

[Poimandres]

They replaced with a brand new factory sealed unit?

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

They replaced with a brand new factory sealed unit?

Not sure but it was a later more recent serial number.   Believe Cypher Labs had some issues with the earlier db DAC's ! 

 

[Poimandres]

You can't beat their customer service, David is a great guy.  Currently enjoying the 650's single ended with the CLAS Stack (CLASS).  The kobiconn connectors that I ordered through digi key came in and I think I will try my hand at re-terminating the stock 650 cable to balanced.