What year is this? 2015? Sold?

Haven't posted on here in years, wow. My brother came to me, "the audio guy" in his life for recommendations for a hi-fi setup. He has speakers for now, nothing too fancy, but is looking for a receiver for his new living room setup (DAC/amp). Stereo setup. What forums, sites, YouTube channels...

Long time no see, Head-Fi, seems it's been a few years! Even when I was active I mostly kept up with desktop so here I am: Picked up a new (to me) laptop with a pretty garbage audio codec, figured a DAC/amp could make sense; something that can take USB in, and ideally OTG from my Note 9...

You need a DAC/amp combo and not just a DAC.

How hard are the M1060s to drive? Easier than a K7XX or LCD-2?

What amp are you using?

NFB-11.28 (current version) "5, Digital filter settings can selectable the different sound flavors for better suite different sound headphones and user's personal taste. 6, Addition a pair jumper pins to change the parameter of analog filter for select the sound neutral or warmer."

Find the best used one you can, IMO, the 250ohm isn't actually terribly hard to drive but more power will help.

BA vs dynamic just depends on how well it's implemented, one is not "better" per se than others. They both have their strengths and drawbacks. I'd ask in the e40 threads for advice :).

It's hard to know if the muffled sound is accurate or not - I found the X2s to be a bit veiled (though not as bad as the X1s). Imbalance suggests a greater issue, so I'd return them ASAP.

The HD600s will have a bit more natural sound than neutral - warmer mids, less low bass (like many speaker setups), and smoothed over treble. The K712 are more analytical and neutral/monitor like. The K712 would probably be my pick, but I already own and enjoy Q701s :P. HD650 vs K712 - that'd be...

Yes, that final R will just go to ground and you'll be fine :).

What kind of sound signature would you like (or what do you want improved), and what is your budget?

Aux will get you much farther than bluetooth... maybe look for a used pair of speakers that has a 3.5mm connector. It's better to get a pair of 5"-6.5"-8" drivers and no sub than some of the "2.1" systems out there that are poorly designed IMO.

What sounds wrong about them? Did you try different sources too? Is there anything that makes you think they could be fakes, and does the seller have good ratings?

The Massdrop version of the HHD650 is super affordable, and so is the K7XX they sell (versions of those cans and similar K/Q701/702/712 go on sale a good amount too). The HD650 is gorgeous though a bit warm.

Wellllllll if you wanna get real technical, most Class A and AB amps like to run a little hot, and capacitors are often on their best behavior at operating temperatures - same with the crystal oscillators that control the timing in digital circuits. Leaving everything on is probably slightly...

The HM700 is probably worth like $120 alone (they only sell it in a bundle for like $180 including a pair of $50 headphones) so I'd probably roll with that one. They make good stuff, as does Fiio.

I can say that the Massdrop Noble X fits the bill, as might some of their other offerings. The 3-driver model of theirs is a very nice v-shaped headphones with the characteristics you describe, though the treble is a bit above average which might be bothersome.

It's possible you just wired it wrong, double check your connections maybe? A picture would help.

With the amount of distortion on the R2R board, it wouldn't make much sense to go so far overkill on other stages of the DAC. Perhaps there will be an upper offering with more R2R boards in parallel, but we'll see.

Unfortunately, due to the strange requirements of tubes, it's often quite costly to design a tube amp with good performance... if you want tubes on a budget, a hybrid like those from Bravo, Garage1217, or Schiit would be a good bet. I'm not familiar with the one linked.

Are you looking for a portable amp or desktop? Some amps are a bit more warm than others, but usually not by much. Some tube amps can really warm up the sound but they're usually for the desktop. IMO your best bet is to keep using DSP / plugins (EQ), or try new headphones or pads.

What do consider relatively low volumes? That probably would only be a problem with much more sensitive headphones than the HD600. Maybe see if you can audition anything first?

Bose has some of the best IP on impulse responses and cancelling them, Sennheiser has been doing well lately as well though. What's your budget?