[alekc]

How is the match between MScaler-Hugo tt2 combo and Felix Envy? I wandering if it worth to make this (no little) investment in the future. For the moment I use Fezz Omega Lupi when I want tubes sound.

@Codrinu I haven't heard any of Fezz amps so I can't do a comparison with Envy, for me my Envy Performance is an endgame tube amp, however the thing to remember is that eventually you will like to do tube rolling and if you consider Elrogs this will not be a cheap option either. The one drawback Envy has in my case is that it can not be used with easy to drive IEMs (for IEMs Pro iCan has been good choice for me until it broke).

As for synergy between TT2 or MTT2 and Envy I would say it is very good at least: you don't miss any of TT2 musicality and details, the instrument placement (this could be very headphone dependant just like a sound stage size) and scene width of solo TT2 is retained. Listening straight from TT2 in comparison the music can miss a bit of life and after switching back from Envy straight to TT2 you can have a feeling the TT2 sounds a bit brighter (or a bit sterile, but keep in mind that TT2 does not sound sterile on its own, its just a feeling after you compare both side by side).

Another key factor is that I prefer Rockna Wavelight over Mscaled TT2, and if you consider WaveLight with WaveLight Server as upsampler the winner is Rockna again. The difference between Rockna and MTT2 is that I could listen to WaveLight (without any upsampling) for whole day (and in fact I do it) without feeling any fatigue while listening to MTT2 always makes me tired at some point.

If you plan or have Susvara, T+A or Focal Stellia or Utopia cans this is great amp. Audeze cans has been a bit disappointing for me out of Envy, but this is probably due to a fact that overall I prefer T+A, Susvara or Focals over Audeze products at the moment.

Hope this helps

 

[Singaravelan]

On the P8

Sly, satirical king!

https://songwhip.com/randy-newman/little-criminals


Edit: @stuck limo , incidentally your Richard Clapton 's favourite album. This..

 

[alekc]

Havent had experience of the past iterations but chan imbalance is still there but in the lowest volume level. Annoying pop still there during power up. One weird thing is with Amazon Music on windows PC via USB, it stutters when skipping within a track and does the same when hitting previous/next track. Not sure if this stutter is a known issue or more source based. I still have to try using the optical from my PC to see if it behaves differently. Other than that, for what it is, it has more than enough power on tap.

As far as your shopping situation, I use proxy services when buying stuff that’s Japan domestic only. Maybe you can use the same method.

@ThEvil0nE thank you for your reply. So it seems that none of core issues of iDSD micro has been truly address. My Signature has channel imbalance below 11 o'clock and as long switches for IEmatch and power are working this can be address somehow.

Unfortunately I can not help you with Amazon Music since I do not use it. If you are very patient and lucky you may want to try opening ticket with ifi support. Be advised that their stuff could have no idea about their product and you can wait for ages to learn that your chain expect ifi device is broken.

The price is unfair since I paid a lot more for my Signature (after discount) from authorised ifi dealer at the time (in fact the company is not ifi dealer anymore which also tells me something). I will not hunt for Finale since for Signature or BL owners it has very little to offer to say at least.

Overall I really like Signature sound signature and Signature brings me joy still. Perfect match with Audeze MM-500 and Meze Advars. Focal Stellias and Clears MG are fine match too.

 

[ThEvil0nE]

@ThEvil0nE thank you for your reply. So it seems that none of core issues of iDSD micro has been truly address. My Signature has channel imbalance below 11 o'clock and as long switches for IEmatch and power are working this can be address somehow.

Unfortunately I can not help you with Amazon Music since I do not use it. If you are very patient and lucky you may want to try opening ticket with ifi support. Be advised that their stuff could have no idea about their product and you can wait for ages to learn that your chain expect ifi device is broken.

The price is unfair since I paid a lot more for my Signature (after discount) from authorised ifi dealer at the time (in fact the company is not ifi dealer anymore which also tells me something). I will not hunt for Finale since for Signature or BL owners it has very little to offer to say at least.

Overall I really like Signature sound signature and Signature brings me joy still. Perfect match with Audeze MM-500 and Meze Advars. Focal Stellias and Clears MG are fine match too.

At 9 o'clock is when I hear sound and just under/close to 10 channel balance is achieved. Conclusion on the stutter issue is isolated with Amazon Music on my Windows pc with Asus B550M-Plus Wifi II mobo via USB. Switched to optical and it more of a static click. Everything else audio/video related apps is fine. Also tried other sources and Amazon behaves just fine. As far as RMA/return/replace/refund we do have a standardized 30 day policy starting at time of purchase. This is my first iFi hardware and I am very impressed on it's sound and amount of power it can put out.

Back to topic.. no listening today. Only hearing, hearing across the room my newly acquired 2nd NDH30 black edition on Signature Finale on burn-in process and my 2nd Tago Studio T3-03 on V6 dap also on burn-in.

 

[alekc]

Meze Advars out of Mac since I forgot to take with me USB cable for idsd Signature...

 

[Singaravelan]

On the Fan2

 

[Lindholdt]

Sick, again
Robin Trower is helping me through it though
V200 and Kiwi Ears Cadenza
Robin Trower - roots and branches

 

[Codrinu]

@Codrinu I haven't heard any of Fezz amps so I can't do a comparison with Envy, for me my Envy Performance is an endgame tube amp, however the thing to remember is that eventually you will like to do tube rolling and if you consider Elrogs this will not be a cheap option either. The one drawback Envy has in my case is that it can not be used with easy to drive IEMs (for IEMs Pro iCan has been good choice for me until it broke).

As for synergy between TT2 or MTT2 and Envy I would say it is very good at least: you don't miss any of TT2 musicality and details, the instrument placement (this could be very headphone dependant just like a sound stage size) and scene width of solo TT2 is retained. Listening straight from TT2 in comparison the music can miss a bit of life and after switching back from Envy straight to TT2 you can have a feeling the TT2 sounds a bit brighter (or a bit sterile, but keep in mind that TT2 does not sound sterile on its own, its just a feeling after you compare both side by side).

Another key factor is that I prefer Rockna Wavelight over Mscaled TT2, and if you consider WaveLight with WaveLight Server as upsampler the winner is Rockna again. The difference between Rockna and MTT2 is that I could listen to WaveLight (without any upsampling) for whole day (and in fact I do it) without feeling any fatigue while listening to MTT2 always makes me tired at some point.

If you plan or have Susvara, T+A or Focal Stellia or Utopia cans this is great amp. Audeze cans has been a bit disappointing for me out of Envy, but this is probably due to a fact that overall I prefer T+A, Susvara or Focals over Audeze products at the moment.

Hope this helps

@alekc Thanks a lot for detailed answer! You guessed it: I'm planning to get my Susvara and I'm trying to figure out which amp to go for.
I've read about the synergy between Envy and Susvara but I don't have the opportunity to listen to what a Feliks Envy sounds like because there simply aren't any in my area. As for a class A but solid state amplifier for the Susvara, I read that the Pass Labs HPA-1 would be a good choice, but, likewise, I don't have the opportunity to listen to it.
As for the Hugo TT2, I don't like how the headphone amp part sounds at all, even though as a DAC it's excellent.

 

[rids57]

Sick, again
Robin Trower is helping me through it though
V200 and Kiwi Ears Cadenza
Robin Trower - roots and branches

Get well soon - music, not laughter is the best medicine and Robin Trower M.D. is one of the very best

 

[Bret Halford]

Feeling some growly mid bass hunger like a big ol' pile of them bones...

ADI-2 DAC -> Beyer T1.3

https://tidal.com/browse/track/23688034?u

 

[alekc]

@alekc Thanks a lot for detailed answer! You guessed it: I'm planning to get my Susvara and I'm trying to figure out which amp to go for.
I've read about the synergy between Envy and Susvara but I don't have the opportunity to listen to what a Feliks Envy sounds like because there simply aren't any in my area. As for a class A but solid state amplifier for the Susvara, I read that the Pass Labs HPA-1 would be a good choice, but, likewise, I don't have the opportunity to listen to it.
As for the Hugo TT2, I don't like how the headphone amp part sounds at all, even though as a DAC it's excellent.

@Codrinu if you consider Susvara and want to treat it as endgame headphones , the one you will be using most, Envy is a perfect match/choice. You will love it with TT2 as dac. Just keep in mind that tubes have great impact on final sound signature.

Hearing Envy with Susvara I stopped looking for class A amp for those cans. Later I switched to T+A but I still wouldn't be looking for solid state amp just for Susvara or T+A headphones. Meze Empys (and I guess Elites, Empys II) are all sounding great out of Envy while in case of Meze I still like to listen to them using AuroraSound HEADA.

To keep this post more on topic: tomorrow should be finally coming my CD set of this brilliant album... while waiting for CDs I did quick listening session from streaming services.

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge > Audeze MM-500

This is one of albums that does not require separate amp to accompany Mytek, my observation is that while Mytek is powerful enough for most if not all Audeze headphones you have too listen with volume around 50% and even if you increase volume (I am exclusively using Mytek analog volume control setting) you will have a feeling of something missing that only external amp can address. With this album on volume set on 48 there isn't such case.

 

[u2u2]

Making the best of indoor time due to late winter storms...
Sennheiser HD820 on stock balanced cables,
Naim Unity Core Server on coax to C8/DA2,
XLR to SPL Phonitor xe.
Cranking the McIntosh up to extract all its musical charm while downplaying the Phonitor. Sounds fantastic and gets the vu meters hopping.

 

[Codrinu]

@Codrinu if you consider Susvara and want to treat it as endgame headphones , the one you will be using most, Envy is a perfect match/choice. You will love it with TT2 as dac. Just keep in mind that tubes have great impact on final sound signature.

Hearing Envy with Susvara I stopped looking for class A amp for those cans. Later I switched to T+A but I still wouldn't be looking for solid state amp just for Susvara or T+A headphones. Meze Empys (and I guess Elites, Empys II) are all sounding great out of Envy while in case of Meze I still like to listen to them using AuroraSound HEADA.

To keep this post more on topic: tomorrow should be finally coming my CD set of this brilliant album... while waiting for CDs I did quick listening session from streaming services.



Mytek Brooklyn Bridge > Audeze MM-500

This is one of albums that does not require separate amp to accompany Mytek, my observation is that while Mytek is powerful enough for most if not all Audeze headphones you have too listen with volume around 50% and even if you increase volume (I am exclusively using Mytek analog volume control setting) you will have a feeling of something missing that only external amp can address. With this album on volume set on 48 there isn't such case.

@alekc very useful infos! Thanx!

 

[Codrinu]

An extraordinary album that I want to share. I discovered it a few days ago thanks to Roon radio.

Roon Nucleus+ -> MScaler -> Hugo tt2 -> Burson Soloist 3x GT -> Hifiman HE 1000SE

 

[HWB3]

Amazon HD> MMB2> Loki Mini> Vali 2++ (WE 396A)> K702's. He's in his 80's and putting out new music!