[cravenz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif PM HiFlight about buying opamps from him - tell him what you've got and see if agrees with my recommendations.

I PM-ed HiFlight and he basically recommended the TLE2141 class-A (which eliminates the hissing) over the 8599 though he did say that he hadn't done extensive testing with other buffers. I reckon now it's just figuring out which to go for cos' I'm really stoked to get my hands on a D10 as well. So I might order one in, but iBasso is taking forever to tell me how long they would take to ship cos' I'm not gonna be where I am in 2 weeks!

 

[Sid-Fi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cravenz /img/forum/go_quote.gif I PM-ed HiFlight and he basically recommended the TLE2141 class-A (which eliminates the hissing) over the 8599 though he did say that he hadn't done extensive testing with other buffers. I reckon now it's just figuring out which to go for cos' I'm really stoked to get my hands on a D10 as well. So I might order one in, but iBasso is taking forever to tell me how long they would take to ship cos' I'm not gonna be where I am in 2 weeks!

Hi Cravenz, glad to hear you are thinking about taking the plunge. It would be nice to get a fresh perspective to compare to my experiences. When I swapped messages with Hiflight, the AD8599 was much cheaper (like $15) so it might be worth getting both (or one a little further down the road) for your piece of mind. The topkit has been reported to go well with almost all IEMs while the AD8599 seems to be less versatile with other phones. Keep us posted on your impressions and welcome to Head-Fi!

 

[cravenz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sid-Fi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi Cravenz, glad to hear you are thinking about taking the plunge. It would be nice to get a fresh perspective to compare to my experiences. When I swapped messages with Hiflight, the AD8599 was much cheaper (like $15) so it might be worth getting both (or one a little further down the road) for your piece of mind. The topkit has been reported to go well with almost all IEMs while the AD8599 seems to be less versatile with other phones. Keep us posted on your impressions and welcome to Head-Fi!

heh. thanks mate. I haven't forgotten ya reply via PM. just had my shower, gonna grab something to munch, then I'll head into uni to reply.

Yup, I'd consider getting both if the cost ain't that much more! haha...then at least I'll have something to try it out with and compare. I was thinking of even trying out the Shure SE530 which seem to be goin' for really cheap now for some reason, but then I'd rather get a D10 and not buy something that much just to try out. =)

Only problem I have with the IE8 is the seal and I think this has been extensively covered in the thread. I find that if I get the right sound, I lose the seal, if I get the seal; the sound gets a tad muffled and I lose the highs which is a real annoying trade off. So I just carry both pairs with me in the box since I'm always carrying a bag.

 

[Sid-Fi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cravenz /img/forum/go_quote.gif heh. thanks mate. I haven't forgotten ya reply via PM. just had my shower, gonna grab something to munch, then I'll head into uni to reply. Yup, I'd consider getting both if the cost ain't that much more! haha...then at least I'll have something to try it out with and compare. I was thinking of even trying out the Shure SE530 which seem to be goin' for really cheap now for some reason, but then I'd rather get a D10 and not buy something that much just to try out. =) Only problem I have with the IE8 is the seal and I think this has been extensively covered in the thread. I find that if I get the right sound, I lose the seal, if I get the seal; the sound gets a tad muffled and I lose the highs which is a real annoying trade off. So I just carry both pairs with me in the box since I'm always carrying a bag.

Then you'll probably love to hear that the topkit mostly solved all of my seal issues. Because it reigns in and tightens up the bass so much and balances the sound spectrum I found that I can usually wear them perfectly normal (deeper) and get great sound. With stock op amps and still with AD8599, I still had to constantly fidget to pull them out for a shallower seal since the bass would dominate. I got really used to doing this nonstop, but found it much more convenient to not have to worry with it as much. Only on the rare occasion do I feel the need to adjust for a shallower fit and that is much more the exception now. I posted about this within the last month in this thread in more detail. I'm sure you could find it quick enough. I'm sorry I forgot to mention when answering your questions. It was a big benefit of the top kit from my perspective.

 

[Sid-Fi]

Hi Cravenz, I'm posting a few pics to answer the questions you PM'd me. The first shows the D10 open with op amp chips installed. The second shows two of the op amp slots empty so that you can see the socket/pin holes to get an idea of what to expect when you go to roll op amps. The third picture shows my IE8 cable plugging into D10. As you can see, the headphone jack is the smaller 1/8 and fits perfectly. Sorry about the fuzzy pictures. I just have a point and shoot.

Congrats on ordering your D10 and topkit. I hope you like it as much as I have. I'm definitely looking forward to your impressions comparing the topkit with the AD8599 and AD8616 combo. If you like it, I'll have to order AD8616 and test it myself since I only tried AD8599 with AD8656. Hope the pics help.

EDIT
----
I tried sending this pictures via PM instead of posting them here but couldn't find an option to attach a picture from my hard drive to a PM. Is there an option I didn't notice?

 

[cravenz]

heh. thanks Dave. i think it would have been the same way you posted the pics? I'm guessin' you hosted the pic somewhere and used the 'link image' option =P

 

[Vladimir_F1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cravenz /img/forum/go_quote.gif the other uk site has the 1.2 but it's out of stock so it should come in at some point. maybe write in and ask when they will be bringing it in. i might get one just in case anything happens with mine =)

I'm a lucky man

We have an official representative of Sennheiser in Ukraine
indigo-music So, i will get my spare cable soon

It will cost me 25 euro.

I am going to buy it too... 'in case anything happens with mine'

 

[cravenz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vladimir_F1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm a lucky man We have an official representative of Sennheiser in Ukraine indigo-music So, i will get my spare cable soon It will cost me 25 euro. I am going to buy it too... 'in case anything happens with mine'

haha...very nice. hmmm...thats pretty cheap. maybe i shud order some. lol. cept i have no clue what is said on the website!

 

[cn11]

Speaking of cables, I sure wish Null Audio would finish off their Lune series IE8 cable. I've been dying to try a cable upgrade with them.

 

[cravenz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cn11 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Speaking of cables, I sure wish Null Audio would finish off their Lune series IE8 cable. I've been dying to try a cable upgrade with them.

heh. did they end up replying your email and giving a date?

 

[cn11]

Nope, nothing... I'm not holding out much hope. I wonder if they ran into some problem which made production impossible.

 

[Sid-Fi]

I wonder if IE8 cable is so good that people are having a hard time being able to improve it in a cost effective manner <shrug>. Seems hard to believe though...

 

[cravenz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sid-Fi /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wonder if IE8 cable is so good that people are having a hard time being able to improve it in a cost effective manner <shrug>. Seems hard to believe though...

the replacement cables for their HD series ain't exactly cheap. lol. but i'd be happy to hear that they are having a tough time replicating the IE8 cable. hopefully it points to the quality (crossing fingers).

on the other hand, my D10 is now transiting through Singapore. guess I'll only get it on Monday earliest. shrugs. haha..

 

[Sid-Fi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cravenz /img/forum/go_quote.gif the replacement cables for their HD series ain't exactly cheap. lol. but i'd be happy to hear that they are having a tough time replicating the IE8 cable. hopefully it points to the quality (crossing fingers). on the other hand, my D10 is now transiting through Singapore. guess I'll only get it on Monday earliest. shrugs. haha..

Just be patient and don't expect to be blown away right away. With both IE8 and D10, I felt a tinge of let down when first getting them. This is probably due to a combo of being so excited to get them that I likely built them up to expecting some earth shattering experience and not being able to discern all the improvements right way. However, within a few weeks I felt even more satisfied with them than I hoped I would. Being your first amp and DAC, I'm guessing it will take you a good couple of weeks to discern a good chunk of the improvements and a couple more to really pick out the subtleties.

I just reread HeadphoneAddicts three-way custom flagship IEM review and now I'm daydreaming of Apogee Mini-Dac with Woo Audio WA6 and JH13 Pro or ES3X. Either combo sounds like it is clearly in another league than my toy D10 and IE8 (although I still love them...). I'll get there eventually.

 

[cravenz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sid-Fi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just be patient and don't expect to be blown away right away. With both IE8 and D10, I felt a tinge of let down when first getting them. This is probably due to a combo of being so excited to get them that I likely built them up to expecting some earth shattering experience and not being able to discern all the improvements right way. However, within a few weeks I felt even more satisfied with them than I hoped I would. Being your first amp and DAC, I'm guessing it will take you a good couple of weeks to discern a good chunk of the improvements and a couple more to really pick out the subtleties. I just reread HeadphoneAddicts three-way custom flagship IEM review and now I'm daydreaming of Apogee Mini-Dac with Woo Audio WA6 and JH13 Pro or ES3X. Either combo sounds like it is clearly in another league than my toy D10 and IE8 (although I still love them...). I'll get there eventually.

heh. yup. i'm most definitely not expecting to be blown away immediately. I know it'll need some burning in time as well, so it's all good, but I just want to get my hands on it so I can start burning it in! and I'm looking forward to the burning in experience as well though to a certain extent I'm curious as to how different it'll sound after a significant amount of hype over the D10.

A lot of people are swaying to the JH13 Pros and the ES3X. I'd love to get 'em, but at the end of the day, that's way off my league for the time being. It's better to know my limits and not jump into the ocean when I can't swim yet. maybe I'll look at 'em when I start working full time. haha...