Stello is very highly regarded and a very popular dac around here, I haven't heard but did extensive research on it, always gets excellent reviews. I personally bought the MHDT Paradisea, a non-os tube dac for $600, they are sold new on ebay. If you like a warm natural almost analog sound and...

Could be a hair in the pads causing vibration, check and make anything near the drivers is clean. If nothing is wrong with the cable, (and that usually wouldn't cause crackle) and it happens on multiple sources then it must be the HD-650 drivers, and you'll need to send back to sennheiser...

Thanks for replies, I would consider a tube amp, but as the source involves a tube and as a non-os tube dac i worry a tube amp would take it too far, lacking air and being over-warm. I'm in the UK which limits availability, finding a 220-240V used GS-1 would be tough, the Heed CanAmp is...

I posted about this earlier but have decided to up my budget and thought it required a new post. Source is FLAC- ElitePro Spdif- Paradisea+ - Corda HA-1 mk1 - HD650 Have considered the X-CAN v3 as it supposedly has good synergy with HD650, but also want to know what the real other...

The system is not really that harsh, I just find it a little neutral and boring and now and again there is a hint of sibilance or just sharpness, it depends on the recording, its just annoying when it happens. I tried an XP-7 ages ago with HD650 and thought it was too dark, warm and syrupy...

that retails for $900, i'm not that flexible on price.

nobody?

Hi, my system is an elite pro spdif to paradisea+, which is a very nice musical dac btw, out to a Corda HA-1 mk.1 to stock cable HD650 Even with the supposedly warm paradisea I still find the sound a little harsh at times, especially at higher volumes, while the Corda is a nice amp, I...

I always find this approach strange, for me lyrics are an integral part of music, because when lyrics (such as those from bands like Sunset Rubdown, Neutral Milk Hotel, Radiohead etc.) are poetic in themselves they conjure in my mind imagery that interacts with the music itself, like the...

Yeah, the last part was meant to prompt someone to tell me whether or not they had compared a good soundcard against one of these cheaper dacs and could give me a comparison. Hoping the answer would be alot better

Changing the op-amp on Elite Pro might be slightly above my ability, it would surely change the sonic character of it and might remove the need for a dac, or it might break the elite pro. As I don't know how to solder or own a soldering iron I would rather pay for a new dac. Also, it should...

Just out of interest, will you ever write a post that isn't about Beresford, just asking.

The problem with the elite pro is that while it is fine for low volume listening, (tons of detail, good soundstage/imaging) when I turn the volume the clarity becomes sharp and the sound harsh, it just sounds too digital, so I am looking for a warmer dac as I want something i can relax with and...

if there is a better choice (non usb) for the same money then I could use the spdif on the elite pro, i just don't know if that is adding more noise to the signal path.

That would be great, thanks. I'll take a look.

So I have decided i will leave the Elite Pro for gaming and use a USB DAC + my Corda HA-1 MK1 with HD650(Unless there is DAC-AMP combo for same price that sounds better than Corda amp) for music. I am guessing a USB DAC for that price would be better than any internal cards at a similar price...

robscix, so your friends say stock meridian's (without the opamp upgrades) is much better than elite pro?

thanks, that makes sense

I recently purchased the elite pro, using with a corda HA-1 and HD650's, but hearing all the praise for the meridian and hype around prelude, should I try and send it back, at this point I am not really using the breakout box but this is a money no object question, is it worth sending it back, I...

Okay, here we go, back in 01 i bought a pair of HD600's with Headroom Little Amp. I didn't like it. Despite my $3000 cd player, the Senns sounded full on veiled, just too distant, pretty good bass, but I had to turn up the volume to get the closeness of Treble and Midrange I wanted. But they did...

I bought a TBH for my desktop computer about six months ago. Today, I thought it would be interesting to see what it was like through a decent cd player. So I got a stereo to phono adapter and tried it with my Linn Unidisk. The red light (that indicates clipping) started flashing and the sound...

Thanks for the replies. Sadly, for gaming performance its a well known fact that two sound cards running in your system is a BIG NO NO. Many times you get driver conflicts, and if not, having to switch between soundcards to play games, then listen to music. Overall, you may not notice it, but...

I have thought about that, but then I would have to pay for soundcard + another amp, anyway what about A2 vs. Bithead question

I want to know the best way to do sound on a computer for $300 or so. Whatever happens, I need Audigy 2 to be my internal sound card, I play games and the Audigy2 is the only one versatile enough to play them without destroying fps. So I was considering using TBithead for music and Audigy...

My experience with the HD650 was the same. At first I loved them, then after burn in, they got worse and wrose until after 200 hours they were a wooly, recessed rolled off mess. Sorry to be that strong, but by the end I preferred my SR-60's I got them from TTVJ, so this experience has not...