Username: Matthew87 Product: Small speakers for desk + DAC/Amp combo.

Sorry but I don't have balanced cable to check that, maybe TheManko will be able to help you.   Something more about smooth sound: it is very nice to listen this on NIN songs, but feels a little bit weird (at least at the beginning, maybe I will get used to it) on songs which are not so harsh.

Yeah... Service told they are not able to repair my E1 (at least this is what in the shop they said) so I ask them if they could just send me E3 and I will pay difference (all happen in the same shop so it was easy to do).   I am testing it right know listening some Nine Inch Nails and I must...

I got my own Essence III (as an exchange for complaint with Essence One MUSES because of unbalanced output). And I must say it is amazing. All as TheManko said: smaller sound stage (on unbalanced headphones output), smoother, more details and less harsh. Speakers output sounds more natural (I am...

I see only one problem: who really need high end (open) headphones connected to smartphone? "Normal" person probably would like to have something cheaper, smaller (IEMs even) and probably closed to have on-the-go. And if you are able to but high end headphones you probably already have some...

It would be nice to have possibility to test one. But I don't think my local audio shop will have those anytime soon. Lucky Nomax. :D

I think it is because AKG is not longer company. They are just brand and manufacture, so when you are buying something from AKG what you are really doing is buying product from Harman named AKG Something. Which measn you are buying from USA, even if product was never in America.

AKG (or Harman) is American company, which means that main price is in $ without taxes (not everywhere in USA you are paying sale taxes), because in Europe you have sale taxes everywhere you have price already with taxes.   Sennheiser is Europe (German) company, which means that Europe price...

According to this Beats by Dr Dre are quite nice (at least for some people).     For me if someone is telling that K812 are reference headphones, they should sound like reference headphones, not really nice to someone. It should be as close to perfect sound reproduction as possible...

I already have Essence One Muses, so if I would like something better (for my HD800) I should buy HDVD 800 or Essence III (or maybe combine those)?

  Thanks for review!   Which is interesting, because E3 is cheaper (in Poland) than HDVD 800. Ohhh well... I will feel sorry for my wallet again...   Also, from one of Polish review (which I linked earlier) balanced headphone output is smoother than non-balanced and has a little darker and...

I am reading it now and only thing I found is that it is possible to bypass volume control. Also volume controls have quite big steps which may be a issue (but they should be perfectly balanced).

On one of Polish website about pc hardware appeared review of Essence III: http://pclab.pl/art55483.html If someone is interested in I can translate some bits (but personally I don't consider this website as 100% reliable also they likes to use very "smart" words which tells absolutely nothing...

In shop which I mention earlier Essence III is available for order. It cost something around 2300$ (with 23% taxes) and will be shipped in the middle of December.

    It probably will be much closer to 1.6k euro (or $ if we won't count taxes). No matter how you look at it is still expensive. I was hopping for something closer to 1.2k euro (with taxes).   Expensiveness came from lots of stuff which are inside the box. If I am understanding ASUS price...

  But aren't stepped attenuators only on line out and headphone volume control is made in old way?

Is there still problem with volume balance?   EDIT:   I found another price information. This time from some french website (http://www.on-mag.fr/index.php/topaudio/actualites-news/12343-convertisseur-asus-essence-iii-un-stu-sur-vitamine). E3 is listed as 1600 euro. And they got some inside...

Essence III appeared in one shop in Poland, but without price or any date when it will be available. I send e-mail to the stuff and got reply. They don't have final price but it should be around 7000 zł (PLN, with taxes), which is ~1700 euro or ~2200 $. They also wrote that DAC should be...

There is now official webpage for Essence III:  http://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Essence_III/    

I hope this one won't have any volume control problems like Essence One. If so, then I will be more than happy to change E1 to E3.   EDIT: I found manual: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/Audio_Card/Xonar_Essence_3/E8381_Essence_3_manaul.pdf   Strange thing. Even if E3 has remote controller...

They (we?) are not HD 800 fanboys, just high end headphones enthusiasts. Before HD 800 my every single headphones were from AKG. But I wanted something that will throw on my knees. And this is what HD 800 gave me. And before that I hated Sennheiser with the passion, but overall it doesn't really...

AKG K550

"Pro" headphones is marketing term for something better. If AKG would say "We created amazing detailed and balanced headphones", nobody would believe. But if they say "We created amazing detailed and balanced headphones, which can be used in professional studios for mastering.", half of the...

I will see new Sennheiser or how K812 sounds like? If I may be honest, I would not like to. If they will be really good balanced and not bass heavy (like K712) it will be hard to resist for me to not buy them. And I am already worried about my wallet after HD 800.

I don't think Sennheiser will release new flagship. Or actually they did, changing signature of HD 800.   I cannot be sure, but I would say AKG with K812 is going for a little bit different territory than HD 800. Maybe something closer to T1? And if Sennheiser didn't release anything new...