utopia's very much open.

WM1[AZ] DAPs can only play "native DSD" over the balanced output. It's a random weird limitation.

Totally forgot: I got to try Meze Empyrean out of the Holo stack and was underwhelmed. However, I can totally blame this on the Holo stack---the things I did not like sounded like what I remembered of the Holo Cyan that I had and sold. I also got to try the MYSPHERE 3 (caps obligatory)...

Main impression from this Canjam: So many WM1Zs! WM1Zs everywhere! Every IEM vendor had a stable of WM1Zs lying around. And when there were not enough WM1Zs for some reason, it seemed that every other person brought their own anyway. I think it was the Empire Ears table (and they had a small...

Are you looking for a closed headphone or for a different headphone? I was looking for a closed headphone myself, and I sold my Eikon after spending a few months with it because in the end I just could not deal with its relatively prominent midbass coloration (it's all that wood). Also, as a...

He's on etsy (and here: https://www.head-fi.org/members/peterek.348881/). However, my understanding is that he doesn't usually do repair jobs though since he's a modder, so I can't promise he'll be interested in this project. But, if you know it's just a cable and all that's missing is one...

Brandon did a great job repairing my HP-2 and modding them to accept mini-XLR-terminated cables. However, the fault in my case was in the cable---the drivers were still going strong. If the drivers develop issues, then I'm afraid that these days there is nobody who can fix that.

They sell the LCD-2C headbands for $125 if you reach out to them directly. (I ordered mine.)

I did not take any pictures at the show, but it looks exactly like the Egoista 2A3 that's on their website, except with a Stax jack instead of the 1/4":

Rooms off the main floor.

I wasn’t planning to go to the CanJam, but I happened to be in Hell’s Kitchen this afternoon and felt that I would regret not swinging by. Going in, I was mostly interested in hearing the Abyss and the CA Andromeda, and perhaps the Chord DAVE. Here are some random impressions: Abyss was kind of...

that's great! I'm happy that you found the perfect setup for yourself, a sample point of one excited fan who uses speakers exclusively at the moment. (pardon me, I'm in an internet-cranky kind of mood today.) nonetheless, there is a reason stax remained the kind of a niche system that it is, and...

eq can do a lot, but it cannot fix bass rolloff (amp/dac will distort first) or the rattle that lower end lambdas develop. one cannot eq away position sensitivity of the omegas. tonal imbalance almost definitionally means all sorts of icky things about timing too, which messes with soundstaging...

eh, I suggest not even looking at stax. lambdas are exactly as plasticky as they look and have a tuning that does mids well but craps all over everything else. yes, stax does detail well. they also do lots of things poorly. I've owned 404 and 007mk1 + various kg amps for years, and I find both...

This guy doesn't touch anything that's been modded already. And...well...I personally have never been in love with his aesthetics. Anyway, in Peterek I trust.