I tried the Shanling M1 at Jaben in Melbourne. Wow, for the price, the M1 sounds very good. I've had the Sony Z1, IBasso DX50 and DX80 and to me the M1 was right up there sound wise to the DX50 and DX80. It was very tempting. Paired well with the 1More Triple Driver I tried it with and my Shure...

These are a no brainer for the price. I think it beats IEMs like my Shure 215. More detail, better soundstage and better balanced sound all round. I tried a pair at Jaben Melbourne, and was super tempted to get them. If only I didn't already have 3 IEMs and a CIEM. Might see if the missus wants...

I heard a pair of these at the store at Jaben in Melbourne, and was very surprised by how good they are especially for the price. It has a nice balance to the sound to my ears with a nice punchy bass and great detail for the price. I think its better then the Shure 215 in detail and soundstage. 

My passport battery is now only lasting 45 minutes :(. Any ideas on how to replace the battery pack within the passport case?

Thanks @hardbop. Sounds like the wall wart. Its quite with my HD650 but not with the Shure 846. Which is a bummer. Might need to look for a aftermarket battery or linear PSU.

I get a constant buzz on a 2nd hand Pan Am I bought. I use the tube covers, moves it about a foot from the PC. I don't have a gateway or passport :(. Anyone tried the iFi iPower? Or is it better to get a linear PSU like a Teradek 12v one?

Thanks chontler.   Worked it out. The ZX1 can play DSD64 but not DSD128 it seems.

I just received a ZX1. Nice player. Trying to compare with my DX80 to see which to keep.   Does anyone know what the latest version of the software for ZX1 is? The build number on my ZX1 is "1.14.0000", and the Sony Music Player version is 2.2.2.   I loaded some dsf (DSD) files, but the ZX1...

Has anyone tried the Vali 2 with the Shure 846 IEM? Is it a good match? I'm thinking of it in my work setup.

The analogue input is great to hook up a TT. I use my NFB28 in my main setup as my head amp and preamp. Does a really good job.

I'm interested in your impressions of the ulink with the Rega DAC. Been wanting to add a USB converter to the Rega DAC for a while now and the uLink is on the radar.

For a technical newbie, what does a high output Z mean in terms if listening experience?

+1. The REGA DAC is not bright at all. It is warm and smooth, with the ability to still bring out nice detail.

The Rega DAC uses the Wolfson 8805 SPDIF receiver chip which apparently has jitter rejection of 50ps, whatever that means, although I know that the lower the number the better.   I ran the Mac Mini via optical to the Rega DAC in my main system for a while. Then introduced and Audio-GD DI v.1...

Thanks Acapella11 and Audiofanboy for your suggestions. I might make that investment in a good power tube then. I initially got a 2nd pair of 6N6P gold grids as a backup power tubes to the MkIII stock ones. But when they arrived and I plugged them in, I noticed a real increase in power and...