Sadly, they removed support for all Noble IEMs overnight. They say that the bore is too smooth, and the resultant product is too low quality and causes them problems- so they don't support Noble IEMs any more. (They called and explained why, at least, which is something).

That assertion is almost completely meaningless, you seem to be somewhat bewildered about how it all works. I don't intend to pick a fight with you, lest it cause you further distress. I hope that you agree, even if you clearly don't understand.

Wrong. "Multibit" doesn't make it immune to jitter, that is the output architecture of the actual converters, using a series of precise resistors onboard a discrete DAC chip, rather than a 1 bit pulsed output characteristic of the Delta/Sigma units. The inputs are completely unrelated to...

It's a surprisingly good combo- the Jot is a bit forward, the Mimby isn't. Just make sure you feed the Mimby from good S/PDIF. The onboard USB isn't great. The S/PDIF PLLs against the signal, so it's at the mercy of its source. Given the low price of the DAC, it's folly to spend a fortune on...

Except that the HD800 is shrill. It has an obvious 6KHz spike caused by resonance in the body, in the middle of the drivers. In the HD800S, Sennheiser themselves fixed this with a tuned Helmholtz resonator-style arrangement. You can do this yourself on the HD800, with the "SDR mod"- giving you...

Hell, I haven't even seen reputable reviews, much less any for sale.

I'm assuming that this ended badly, then?

No, the best thing is the classified ads, for getting rid of stuff that you bought when you were daft enough to believe the "impressions and comparisons" here.

The Surströmming is finally here? I'm so excited, I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it! It's worth it for a heritage grade product with rock-solid long-term support. This will be the flagship to which others aspire for YEARS to come, you mark my words.

I can't be arsed to read through the whole thread, now we lack proper search functions, but here's a vote for Unique Melody. I know Chinese brands have an awful rep for customer service (HFM being the poster boy for this), but not only are UM's products nicely-made, but if you need help, they...

Thinking that you shouldn't take audio gear "advice" from someone who hasn't heard the gear in question is racist? That's absolutely fascinating.

..aaaaand this is why this "advice" is worthless.

If you're using the phone's onboard sound rather than driving an external DAC, Neutron is probably the best-sounding choice, despite the horrible 1990s UI. If you're looking to drive an external DAC, USB Audio Player Pro is generally more reliable. I have Neutron on my phone for rare times when...

Given that Torq is a filthy plutocrat, able to take his pick of DACs, and has enough of an engineering background to understand why things are good or bad, he's probably congenitally incapable of being a proper fanboy. When he hates stuff, it tends to be because it's bad. While I don't wish to...

Pretty much any combo will throw tons of security errors, when using the mobile skin.

Agreed. I own and enjoy a pair of Nobles, but if I didn't, that ad would make me want to avoid them like a dose of bum disease.

It is if you're only buying it because it's balanced, then that's silly. If it's also a better DAC than your current unit, then it's still a better DAC, even if it comes with balanced outs. Balanced is not really that important in the grand scheme of things in most peoples' setups. For example...

  Yes, a bog standard Belkin Gold cable. Many "audiophile" cables don't even meet the relevant USB spec properly. Don't waste your money on nonsense. The more you understand about how USB works, the more ludicrous such cables will seem, even the ones which actually do meet the minimum spec.

  It really is- that's the biggest advantage of having something truly built to order. You can ask for exactly what you need- just drop an email in and most things are possible. Very happy with it, I must say.

  Many, google is your friend.   "Phase noise" is not noise in the data payload, but when it arrives- in the timing. When a bit of waveform occurs in the time domain affects how it's rendered as a frequency. This is not like storing  samples in a file, where you might know that 16 bits is an...

It plugs into your computer's USB out, and gives you S/PDIF, TOSlink, i2s and AES/EBU digital outs.   The idea is to avoid plugging directly into the computer, providing much lower-jitter clocks than either the S/PDIF and TOSlink outs of your computer (which use clock dividers or other...

  OTL (output transformerless) tube amps aren't always so good with planars, which like plenty of current. However, transformer-coupled amps are often fine. The gotcha there is that almost all cheap transformer-coupled amps sound like hot crap, other than the Laconic NBM. Winding decent output...

  Pass, I haven't seen detailed measurements of that one. However, another seller has some U8 left:   https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Breeze-audio-Best-pure-USB-decoder-XMOS-U8-DU-U8-DAC-Asynchronous-USB-coax-fiber-XMOS/331129_32499738639.html

I wanted a really awkward cable- a Sony 4.4mm TRRS balanced to UE18 connector, to go from a WM1A to some UM Martians. Despite having to source non-standard connectors for both ends and having nasty flu, Matt delivered.   The resulting IEM cable, a Copper Series IEM cable, is solid and...