Thank you for the replies. I'm no EE, but the rule seems to be that higher-impedance headphones like amps that can swing big voltage and lower-impedance headphones like amps that sling the current. In terms of voltage, I've seen some amps with numbers like +/-12V, but I don't know what the...

What do you consider minimum specifications, numerically-speaking (wattage@impedence, voltage swings, etc.)? I have an un-built Bottlehead Crack out in the garage... (And, given the current world situation, I hope NOS tubes doesn't mean "ex-Soviet Union.")

Thanks for the suggestions, Monsterzero. I'm kicking myself for not buying the HE500 when they were available new. I wanted to, but decided to investigate some of the other brand flavors as I recall. I've always felt leery of buying used, but I suppose I ought to consider it. With...

Hello; I first got into headphones in 2013, when I moved and left my regular audio gear in storage for a while. I was intrigued by the differences in house sounds and so forth, and ended up with a small mid-fi collection: Sennheiser HD650, AKG Q701, Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro (250), Audio Technica...

That's a question that my limited knowledge can't answer.  What's your opinion?     Having thought about why I was going to look at DAC SNR specs, I can say that I was using at it more from the standpoint of "engineering quality" (i.e., whether the manufacturer did a good job or not) rather...

I'm not sure I understand your question, but I can try to explain my reasoning (which I think has been shaped by earlier discussions in this thread):   If the full 96dB dynamic range of the 16/44.1 format is sufficient to blow out my eardrums, why should I worry about whether a DAC itself has...

I recall mention of manufacturer's using A-weighting to get better numbers; is that along the lines of what you're talking about?  Out of curiosity, I looked up the specs of a fair number of DACs last night -- from cheap to expensive -- and have to admit that the results were surprising: the...

Well, it seems like a lot of what you mentioned is outside the scope of this thread, so I'll keep looking around with regards to the topics you mentioned.  One of my big takeaways so far, other than that 16/44.1 is "good enough," has been to look at the SNR of any prospective DAC purchase.    ...

Any reason why this review says the PM-1s are 64-ohm while Oppo's specs claim 32-ohm (final paragraph of page 1)?  Not being familiar with headphone measurement techniques/gear, would this difference change the frequency response plots at all?   Edit: Page 3 mentions using a Musical Fidelity...

Personally, I'd have to disagree: other than the base, it looks quite bit like many others I've seen on Amazon.  I'm more of a fan of the double-headphone Woo height-adjustable models.  I don't need the height adjustment, but they have a small footprint and accommodate draping the headphone...

Thank you.  I'd seen those pics before but didn't notice the Oppo logo on the base of the stand.  When I performed an image search on google, I found pictures of the PM-1 on a different stand (which were sourced to head-fi as well)...

I'm sorry, was your post in response to my comment?

When I look at the PM-1 order page, there's an option to buy a headphone stand as well.  Unfortunately, there's no picture of this stand to be found on the Oppo website.  Does anyone have any information about the stand?

  Hello.  I'm still reading through this thread, and was hoping to get completely up to date before posting, but the statement above compels me to chime in.  I realize it was written in 2009, but as someone just getting into the world of high-end headphones, DAPs, and computer audio, this...

Wow, not just poor but excruciatingly poor... :) Thank you for the comparison and the link. As I see it, the one big advantage of the audiophile DAPs is their capability to play nearly every format without the workarounds (CCK, Onkyo HF, etc.) that Apple gear requires. Honestly, if Apple came...