I just received this bit of fiction in an email so did some Googling and came across this interesting research https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3406203/ So we can relax although careful hygiene is undoubtedly helpful.

I've been playing around (a nice way of saying "wasting money") on audio systems for over 70 years (I'm now 85) starting when shown how to use a soldering iron! The first audio venture was AM steam radio on headphones via a crystal set!! The worm has taken a full turn now I'm back on...

I impulsively bought some MIT gear last year and have been using a Vero Ref headhone cable with my Focal Utopias. I must confess to some skepticism re cabling but went along with general opinion and have used "better" cabling for some time. However I only recently appreciated just how good the...

Yesterday I made up a cable but the microphony is very distracting. Can anyone suggest a good source for a 1m cable length where I can attach appropriate plugs both ends? Flexibility and lack of transference of "rubbing" or other similar sounds is more important than AQ as it is for portable...

The DAC was purchased, used and already modded, from a guy in the USA but, on opening the hood, I was surprised to find no 240V switch. Not a major worry as I have a step down transformer to use, but I would have preferred a 240V switching option. And yes, it is better than the Schiit...

The first reaction to the header is that this combination should give a good dose of the old fashioned bullxxxx. Well, in the audio world, not quite. This 81yo audio nutter keeps announcing he has finished with upgrades, something which reflects how deranged he has become and not learned very...

I like and use both regularly. They are both fine products but there are similarities as well as differences. The first, and very important similarity is that each will ruthlessly reveal poor recordings or poor electronic feed. The GIGO applies with a vengeance with each of these so my advice...

Before I comment on them, some caveats: 1. I'll be 82 later in the year and my hearing has deteriorated BUT I can still tell the difference between good and bad audio in the vital midrange and in the bass - high end treble is no longer appreciated. The hearing problem means music is no longer...

There seems some confusion about this but I found the article at http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries  useful.   From that I would gather the following two Do's & Don'ts:   * Avoid leaving the DAP in the sun as heat accelerates deterioration   *...

Years ago my primary use for a DAP was for music while doing relatively tedious outside jobs like mowing.  We have a very large lawn which takes 2 hours to mow using a small 4WD Kubota tractor with mowing deck underneath.  Initially I used a relatively primitive SONY with MP3 pop and classical...

I can only see two situations where head amps are essential -   1. When the DAP has insufficient output to drive the headphones to the required sound level (could be due to a weak DAP internal amp or to inefficient cans)   2. When there are severe synergy differences (maybe because of...

I have both so I'm not asking this question for myself but this post is inspired by a similar question asked by someone elsewhere which I thought might be of value in a new thread.  Apologies if it causes irritating duplication but I could not find any similar thread.  And please note that, in...

I'm retired and spend most time indoors (winter here) but do find I am using a portable setup far more than the hi-end rig these days.  Working at the PC or doing other things it is much more convenient having the music in the pocket so one can get up and move around without having to mess...

I'm setting up a friend with a SONY A25 and he would like to play files from it into his high end audio system without an unsightly cable using bluetooth or whatever, something I know little about. Obviously the simplest answer is a wire connection but he wishes to avoid that.   Research so...

I've inserted and used a 128GB card in the A17 without problems and have just installed a 64 GB one in an A25 for a friend.   And I'm impressed with that A25 - what you buy for your buck with this player is impressive.   Now I have over 15,000 albums on a Meridian Sooloos server so...

I made the mistake of lending my S9 to someone who let the battery go flat for a couple of months - he had trouble using it but was slow returning it.  Anyway the result is the battery has now had its life shortened and needs replacing.  My wife is using it so I'm keen to find the right battery...

I've been the happy owner of a Sony A17 for some time now and finally managed to persuade my (somewhat scrooge) friend to invest in an new A25 to play music (the only mode he is interested in).  I've set it up for him with a 64GB card but have spent ages nutting out the simplest possible set of...

Maybe a dumb question because I've not read the manual carefully enough, but I'm unclear if music files downloaded into the internal memory (call them group A) and music files downloaded into the memory card (call them group B) are all accessed or are files only available from A OR B but not A &...

The ergonomics of the S9 can be a bit frustrating, made more so by an apparent introduction of this new icon into the later firmware 2.53. It toggles from a lock to two other icons but I fail to see what they do and the manual has not been updated to explain. Anyone know? The S9 is only...

Note in what follows I’m not saying judgement is impossible, just that there are so many variables involved it is too easy to come to the wrong conclusion.   These variables are:   ·       The person judging.  No two people (even identical twins) have exactly the same brain and the same...

These arrived the other day and I listened to a variety of music ex the Sooloos system (FLAC FILES) fed into a modded Benchmark DAC1.  The verdict was yes, better than the Jays and Etymotic E4s.  Very comfortable and quite sensitive. All types of classical music sounded fine & jazz/pop was...

Up to now I've had a coaxial digital port out of a receiver to use.  So I've set up a digital line from the gear to where I sit -> DAC -> headphones.  Works well as I have an independent volume control on the DAC.   However I'm "upgrading" (silly word) to an Onkyo PR-SC5508 which has two HDMI...

First up, no headphone setup will sound any good with poor source input.  GIGO applies with a vengeance.  The setup here is balanced digital feed out of an Meridian MS600 as part of a Meridian MDMS (used to be more sensibly called "Sooloos") system.  It is apodised and upsampled to 88.2 kHz...

I followed the previous thread  http://www.head-fi.org/t/427946/best-hd800-amp/645  but it is not only relatively old but sort of degenerated into a slanging match so it was virtually impossible to find any answer to the question.  Maybe there is another thread on the topic (besides the...

Looking to see if I can improve the NuForce DAC 9 - Sennheiser HD800 setup which uses a digital input from a Meridian Sooloos system (so USB not needed). The headphone cable is balanced.   The Metrum Octave DAC looks very inviting BUT it will require a headphone amp and one with balanced...