[fiascogarcia]

Hi mate! Have you tried to pair the vorgz pure II with full size cans like the audeze line? Just want to know how many juice can the vorgz give..

I can easily drive my HD600's on low gain with the Pure II, though I usually use medium.  IMO, HD600's are fairly easy to drive.  But I would venture a guess that Hi Gain would drive just about anything.  It's a great little amp!

 

[sutjahjo]

Thanks mate! No your absolutely right! I suggested the 120 with the Hugo. As Currawong has suggested in his review of the 240 - I think! - to use it merely as a transport would be an absolute waste of money. So either 240 by itself or something else plus Hugo! Probably 120. Steering toward 240 though I think. Cheers

If budget is not the issue, try AK240 + Hugo. I know there shouldn't sound different from AK120 + Hugo or AK100 + Hugo, but it does.

 

[sutjahjo]

What a thread, thanks Currawong!

 

[Currawong]

 

Hi mate! Have you tried to pair the vorgz pure II with full size cans like the audeze line? Just want to know how many juice can the vorgz give..

I can easily drive my HD600's on low gain with the Pure II, though I usually use medium.  IMO, HD600's are fairly easy to drive.  But I would venture a guess that Hi Gain would drive just about anything.  It's a great little amp!

 
Do you get a wide soundstage with your HD600s? I would judge an amp's ability with high-impedance headphones by the width of soundstage I felt I was hearing. For example, with the HD800s direct from the X5, everything seems to be coming from the middle, which isn't so great.
 
--
 
The cables arrived yesterday by the way, so I can plug the HD-800s and LCD-X and XC into anything now.

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

I dont think HD600 has a very big soundstage to begin with.....

As for X5/HD800 pairing, it sounds really horrible but I dont think X5 was designed to drive those.

 

[zeppu08]

The cables arrived yesterday by the way, so I can plug the HD-800s and LCD-X and XC into anything now.

Good to know that! And now..

Let the battles begin!

 

[kkcc]

I dont think HD600 has a very big soundstage to begin with.....

As for X5/HD800 pairing, it sounds really horrible but I dont think X5 was designed to drive those.

This has been a puzzle for me as I find my hd800 sounded a lot better with the dx90 than X5.... didn't saw that coming as x5 has higher output power. Nonetheless you are right there simply isn't much scenarios where one want to use a portable DAP with the HD800, or any open back headphones in general.

 

[fiascogarcia]

   
Do you get a wide soundstage with your HD600s? I would judge an amp's ability with high-impedance headphones by the width of soundstage I felt I was hearing. For example, with the HD800s direct from the X5, everything seems to be coming from the middle, which isn't so great.
 
--
 
The cables arrived yesterday by the way, so I can plug the HD-800s and LCD-X and XC into anything now.

Soundstage is decent not great, good spatial quality and instrument placement.  I just read CosmicHolyGhost's comment, and I concur that the HD6xx's are not the kings of soundstage, but there is something in their sq that is so enjoyable.  If your question is regarding the Pure II, then yes, I get better soundstage characteristics with the Pure II than with my favorite portable match with the HD's, which for me is the SR-71A (sorry, I'm still an SE guy).  RSA is a more lush sound, Pure II more detailed.  Pure II really excels with iem's though, which is what I use it for. Zero floor noise, I've never heard hiss of any degree.

 

[lookingforIEMs]

I am in SG and yes there are all sorts of TOTL IEMs for demo at various local stores (except for 1plus2 or the new upcoming Ref 1 from Tralucent Audio). The different stores kind of complement one another in the range of brands available, i.e. if one store does not carry the brand you are looking for another store will most likely have it. Seems to me the stores here have some distribution agreement/partnership with the various brands.

Jaben - has almost every IEM/CIEM/CANs (probably the 1st place you want to check out) - JH, FitEars, Etymotics, Ear Sonics, Vision Ears, Sennheiser, Fostex, Abyss, Byerdynamic...

Treoo - Noble Audio (only place with 3/4/5/6/8C/K10 for auditioning), Fischer Audio, LEAR...

Stereo - Carry the more mainstream universal IEM/CANs, e.g. Sennheiser, Fostex, Sony, AKG, Audeze, Bose, Grado, Fischer Audio, JVC, Shure, Skullcandy, UE, Westone, etc. Sole distributor of Unique Melody and iFi DAC/Amps.

Connect IT - Similar to Stereo. Tends to selectively carry the newer latest IEMs/CANs as well as many ALO products. Only deals with universals, no customs.

AV One - Sole distributor of Audeze latest LCD-X/XC. You cannot find X/XC in the other above-mentioned stores.

I am not sure if there are other prominent audiophile stores for IEMs, so if anyone from SG knows can also chip in to this.

Add customisears. Although not a physical store, it's the only rhapsodio distro in SG. ... maybe even the world. It also has rooth and acoustic audio werkes ciem.

There's a couple other small audio stores on random places like bedok point.

Also, my friend is planning to set up an audio store with a few ciem brands like Inearz and a few others.

 

[Currawong]

I've been wanting to compare the Cypher Labs rig with the AK240 in balanced mode, but what is bugging me now is how much different the Algorithm Solo is using USB from my MacBook Air compared to from an iPhone. I'm starting to feel inclined towards the the idea that the rig is best as a transportable (eg: hotel room) rig with something like a MacBook Air and full-sized headphones.

 

[zeppu08]

I've been wanting to compare the Cypher Labs rig with the AK240 in balanced mode, but what is bugging me now is how much different the Algorithm Solo is using USB from my MacBook Air compared to from an iPhone. I'm starting to feel inclined towards the the idea that the rig is best as a transportable (eg: hotel room) rig with something like a MacBook Air and full-sized headphones.

Waiting for this match! Can you also do the HM-901 vs Cypher labs rig too in balance mode?

 

[Currawong]

 

I've been wanting to compare the Cypher Labs rig with the AK240 in balanced mode, but what is bugging me now is how much different the Algorithm Solo is using USB from my MacBook Air compared to from an iPhone. I'm starting to feel inclined towards the the idea that the rig is best as a transportable (eg: hotel room) rig with something like a MacBook Air and full-sized headphones.

Waiting for this match! Can you also do the HM-901 vs Cypher labs rig too in balance mode?

 
The HM-901 in balanced mode is equally behind the AK240 I feel as it was SE with the LCD-X and XC.
 
I did manage to sit down and do some comparisons between the AK240 and the CL rig, using Friday Night in San Francisco, which is both detailed and very fast music, and the HD-800s and LCD-XCs.
 
First:
MacBook Air → Oyaide USB → CLAS → Duet
vs.
AK240 balanced
 
The Cypher Labs (CL) rig seemed to have a bit wider soundstage -- at least the presentation seems different, but the differences seemed to be more in the Algorithm Solo, because comparing
 
AK240 balanced
vs. 
AK240 balanced → Duet
 
I had a hard time feeling that the Duet brought any benefit at all. Not to mention, I feel that using my iPhone as the transport instead of my MacBook Air the sound quality from the CLAS drops.
 
So I'm thinking now: The CL rig is half the price of an AK240, but then after adding a phone (especially an iPhone purchased outright) you're suddenly only a couple of hundred behind the cost of the AK240.
 
I need to see if I can try more music before I pack for Tokyo, however.

 

[zeppu08]

The HM-901 in balanced mode is equally behind the AK240 I feel as it was SE with the LCD-X and XC.

I did manage to sit down and do some comparisons between the AK240 and the CL rig, using Friday Night in San Francisco, which is both detailed and very fast music, and the HD-800s and LCD-XCs.

First:
MacBook Air → Oyaide USB → CLAS → Duet
vs.
AK240 balanced

The Cypher Labs (CL) rig seemed to have a bit wider soundstage -- at least the presentation seems different, but the differences seemed to be more in the Algorithm Solo, because comparing

AK240 balanced
vs. 
AK240 balanced → Duet

I had a hard time feeling that the Duet brought any benefit at all. Not to mention, I feel that using my iPhone as the transport instead of my MacBook Air the sound quality from the CLAS drops.

So I'm thinking now: The CL rig is half the price of an AK240, but then after adding a phone (especially an iPhone purchased outright) you're suddenly only a couple of hundred behind the cost of the AK240.

I need to see if I can try more music before I pack for Tokyo, however.

Thanks for that feedback! Will be waiting and looking forwars for more of your comparison on this thread before I make up my mind what really to get..

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

Currawong, I highly recommend you try disabling the sound enhancements on the ZX1. It not only increases its volume output, but more importantly it takes the sound quality to another level, the soundstage becomes much larger and the whole frequency spectrum becomes more natural sounding and balanced.
 
What this trick does is disable Sony's firmware decided sound, and lets the S-Master chip directly output sound without any software altering its natural response. It sounds amazing, I wouldn't be surprised if you found the sound stage and airiness of the ZX1 larger than your other daps after this. The steps to do it are:
 
1. Enable xLoud & Clear Phase in the sound settings.
2. Lower volume to zero
3. Go to Setting / Apps / ALL / Sound enhancements / then press "Disable"
 
And enjoy the sound.

 

[joshuachew]

  Currawong, I highly recommend you try disabling the sound enhancements on the ZX1. It not only increases its volume output, but more importantly it takes the sound quality to another level, the soundstage becomes much larger and the whole frequency spectrum becomes more natural sounding and balanced.
 
What this trick does is disable Sony's firmware decided sound, and lets the S-Master chip directly output sound without any software altering its natural response. It sounds amazing, I wouldn't be surprised if you found the sound stage and airiness of the ZX1 larger than your other daps after this. The steps to do it are:
 
1. Enable xLoud & Clear Phase in the sound settings.
2. Lower volume to zero
3. Go to Setting / Apps / ALL / Sound enhancements / then press "Disable"
 
And enjoy the sound.

I concur with this although I have never tried a ZX1. 
 
BTW, how do you know that doing that does this: What this trick does is disable Sony's firmware decided sound, and lets the S-Master chip directly output sound without any software altering its natural response.