Hi,   I have been using my HRT Music Streamer II to listen to music for a few years now. I recently changed companies and brought my setup with me to the new job. I am now using a Macbook instead of a Dell PC but everything else about the setup is the same.   Macbook Pro --> USB Cable -->...

I have a couple of small DAC's including a new Leckerton UHA-4. When I plug it into my computer via USB, I am able to make the music louder or softer by using the volume control in Spotify (or Windows). If it's just a signal, how is this possible? I thought a DAC just converts the digital signal...

Hi,   I am taking a 10 day trip across the country. I definimtely will need headphones on the plane and also for use on a 2 hour bus ride between NYC and Philly. Other than that, I may use headphones in NYC but probably not that often since I will usually be with a friend (and don't want to...

Hi,   I want to setup a better system to burn in my headphones, so I bought a splitter from Belkin. It is a simple 5 way splitter, intended to let families listen to the same source (think movie in the back of the van, for the kids). Anyway, I realize that as I plug in each pair of...

Hi,   I am a fan of aftermarket cables but not enough of a fan to pay $300 for a 2 inch mini to mini. What are some vendors that make some nice cables for reasonable prices? I am looking for short runs so I can connect my portable amp to my mp3 player/phone (mini to mini 3 inches?). Or my...

Hi,   What are the current players in the solid state desktop amp market? It seemed like before there were more SS choices. Besides the Schiit Asgard ($250), what other choices are there?   How does the Asgard rank compared the M^3, PPA, PPA2, Beta 22, etc?   Thanks.

  Hi,   I have a Headsave META42 and when I plug in any number of headphones (TF10, HA-S500, Brainwavz M4), I can hear a hissing/buzzzing sound, when I have no signal running through it. I am sure the sound is there when I play music but obviously I can't hear it anymore. What causes this...

Oops wrong forum. Will move to portable section.

My Sennheiser HD600's are my favorite headphones. I really like the way they sound. I have tried many other headphones and am surprised that nothing (so far) compares, especially considering my pair is pretty old. I did some searches and saw that people said the Hifiman HE-500's sound like the...

Hi,   I have many headphones, earbuds, and IEM's and I can only use one at a time. I notice when I go back to a pair, even when stored properly, that usually the foam, leather, or pads have disintegrated. I know they are easily replaced but I just spent over $30 on two sets of pads for my...

I've been using my HD-668B's for a few months and just yesterday, I noticed that both bands have a crack on the top. Has anyone seen anything like this?    

Hi,   I normally only listen using headphones at work where I am running a USB DAC (Music Streamer II) connected to a PPA. At home, I just use cheap 2.0 speakers with a line out from my motherboard. I noticed my motherboard also has optical out and possibly digital coax out as well. I have a...

Hi,   I primarily use a PPA and I really really like it. It looks nice, always works, has a bass boost, and drives all my headphones. Anyway, lately I've been wondering what could be better. So what could be better? Obviously the PPA2 then following that the M3, right? I don't know much...

Hi, I normally wear IEM (Ultimate Ears) when I am listening to music, whether it's on a plane or at the gym. However, in some situations, I really don't want or need that much sound isolation. For example, if I am sitting on a plane or a bus or even a coffee shop, I really don't want something...

Staring at the front of the PPX3, which is the driver tube and left and right channel tubes?   Thanks in advance.

Hi, I have the Panavise board holder as well as a set of generic helping hands. The Panavise does not work well with small boards since there is an amount of the boarder that is lost/blocked by the notches in the holder arms. If your board is small (say MINT or AlienDAC), you might not be...

Please delete. I meant for this to be in the FS section.

I have a 5th generation iPod (Classic; not Touch, Nano, or Mini), and I noticed something interesting while listening to music with my UE Super.fi 5's (v2, not Pro). I never noticed this before using any other phones because none of them exhibit the hiss of the Super.fi 5's. By habit, I...

Here's and interesting article about what makes a good headphone amplifier.

This has been driving me mad for months. I've done searches and come up empty handed. Surely, there must be a solution. When I first launch foobar, if I run a search (for anything, including items that exist), I'll get an error popup that says: ERROR (foo_input_std): referenced file does...

Ideally, I'd like to hear an accurate reproduction of what is recorded. That is, barring extreme circumstances beyond my control or desire for control (ie dvd audio versus cd audio, etc). Anyway, I currently have my computer soundcard hooked up to my tube amp, at work. I don't mind tube rolling...

I am trying to settle a debate at work. I am claiming that Mac (G5, Mini, Powerbook, take your pick. Is there a difference?) does not come with good quality audio hardware. And if it did, not much better than a basic Sound Blaster sound card or onboard sound for a PC. I know there are alot of...

I am looking for something that will last me a lifetime. I am a hobbyist DIY so I don't need a bench system or anything too fancy. I would like to purchase a Fluke but am not sure which one. Looking to spend $200 max. Could do more if necessary. I am looking for something that will outperform my...

I am trying to run RightMark tests on my notebook, which uses the Realtek HD chip, but all modes save 2 are grayed out / unselectable. Does this imply that those modes are not suported by the chip? From what I gather, the chip is fairly capable so I am not sure why this is the case. Any help...

This is going to sound like an odd question but the general consensus it seems is that the last BEST version of Winamp is 2.9x. The 3.x and 5.x versions are overloaded with uncessary clutter. The problem is I cannot figure out the "x". I just want to be sure I am running the best version of...