The Z was the lowest-tier card of that series, with the worst DAC, so it doesn't surprise me that you didn't find it to be that great. The ZxR was the card from that series that had the good DAC.

More neutral than most tubes. I'd say similar to GE sound signature overall, but with a bit more grain.

I have a pair of Beyerdynamic DT990-Pro 250ohm headphones that I got back in 2008 or so. I enjoyed them for those 15+ years, but they are showing their age and have developed some glitchy cable issues in addition to a deteriorating headband, earpads, etc; so I decided to just get a new pair. I...

I realize that this thread is starting to collect dust, but I'm curious which direction you went? I have a Little-Dot I+ that I've had for about a decade or so. It seems like the left tube socket is starting to fail. I get intermittent static/hiss from the left side that is fixed by fiddling...

I've noticed in the last month or so that some songs are now using FLAC above CD quality. Before, I'm pretty sure it was MQA for anything above CD quality. MQA hasn't gone away though. I'm definitely seeing plenty of songs still using MQA. It just seems that there is more variety now.

I noticed on Amazon that they had the Fosi P2 marked all the way down to about $40 or so. Since it is compatible with EF95/6J1/6AK5 tubes, of which I have plenty, I thought that it would make an interesting experiment to see what this super cheap tube amp could do. I didn't see any dedicated...

The Western Electric 408A tubes are pretty much the opposite of the sound that you want. I bought a 5-pack of 408A tubes labeled "PhilipsECG", and I believe were actually made by Sylvania. I personally like them a lot more, and they are probably more along the lines of what you are looking for...

Spending a bit more time with the 6DT6A tubes on the EF92 setting, I did begin to warm up to the sound after a while, but I still felt like the EF95 setting was a bit better. I tried EF95 unstrapped again, and sure enough, the 60hz hum was back. Looking through some older posts, it seems like...

I was able to confirm that the EF92 setting with the 6DT6A tubes gets rid of the 60hz hum. I still wish I knew what was causing it in the first place.

I appreciate the confirmation. Was your hum also isolated to the left channel? Prior to getting the hum, I did try them on the EF92 setting for a while. The main difference I noticed between the EF95 and EF92 settings is that gain was increased (lower volume needed for same output). After...

I'm having an odd issue with some Sylvania 6DT6A tubes that I got recently, using them on my Little-Dot I+ (v2.0), EF95 setting. I was REALLY enjoying them. In most cases when I get a new set of tubes, I listen for an hour or two, find them mostly unimpressive, and switch back to one of my...

Yeah that makes sense. Going over the thread again, it does seem that most of the comments are in reference to the Yugo tubes. I've never tried those yet, tall or short. I just have a bunch of Sylvania 6HM5/6HA5 tubes right now. I have two sets of "tall" tubes (a set with yellow labels and a...

Why do most say to avoid the shorter 6HA5/6HM5 tubes? I got a pair of short Sylvania 6HA5/6HM5 tubes in a combo and so far they don't really sound any worse than the taller Sylvania 6HA5/6HM5 tubes. The only difference that stands out is that the bass with the shorter tubes has a slightly...

Currently using a LM4562 OpAmp. These Sylvania 6HM5/6HA5 tubes are definitely not lacking on bass. Quite the contrary. I listen to a lot of bass-heavy music and push some of my headphones, like my DT770-Pro/80ohm headphones pretty hard, up to the limit of what the headphone drivers can...

I just got a pair of Sylvania 6HM5/6HA5 (tall version) tubes for my Little-Dot I+ and I'm very impressed so far... These are the first non- EF95/6J1/6AK5(W)/5654/403B tubes that I've ever used with that jumper setting. I had been switching back and forth between a pair of Sylvania Gold Brand...