It's not. At best, a cable would be transparent with no signal degradation. Another way of looking at it: cheap/poorly constructed cables can degrade the signal, while a well constructed cable (not necessarily expensive) will not.

I'm afraid that's how the world works. The US market drives a lot more sales volume than probably the entire EU combined allowing for much more competitive prices vs. the rest of the world. In regards to Ifi, they are UK based but I believe their production facilities are based in China (at...

Sure, customs would add up to the cost a bit, but that may depend on luck a bit as well. The customs fees I've paid so far on my Massdrop orders have been quite varied (from full VAT and a small customs fee down to a few euros). But even if paid in full, HD58x + 4xx would set you back less than...

Hi, Welcome to head-fi! :) I would look at Massdrop and a combo actually - Sennheiser HD6xx or 58x plus a Hifiman HE4xx. The price for both is very reasonable (around 300 euro more or less, depending which Senn you'd pick), but you'd have 2 very competent headphones with 2 very distinct sound...

My vote goes to the HE-500, especially if vocal and classical music is your thing. I'd invest the rest of the budget in better upstream gear (dac or amp) and better pads. Pads will make a huge difference in the sound signature of these headphones, which I think works to its advantage as it will...

Hi guys, Budget in the $100 -150 range. Looking for a fast/punchy sound, with very good separation and imaging. Sound signature - balanced, on the fun side of neutral. Would like to avoid extremes - so no lean sounding or bass heavy IEMs. From what I've read so far, the vsonic GR07 line seems...

Hey, Welcome to head-fi! It would be easier to put the Switcher between the THX amp (using the SE Pass rca plugs) and your JBL speakers. So you'd have DAC -> THX amp -> Switcher -> JBL's

Salut! Given your requirements, my choice would be the 4xx. Explanations below: AKG K7xx. Straight out the soundcard these headphones will be rather shrill and piercing. They do require a good amp to deliver (preferably one on the warmer side of neutral). Also, even though they have good speed...

That's not accurate. Massdrop does international shipping on a lot of their stuff, also at a very reasonable price - $15 (for headphones and other small items, at least). I'm EU based and bought quite a few things from them. @Tbas99 Not so sure K712 will provide you with a much better...

What DAC are you using exactly?

Well, the point of using Foobar (and similar software) is to avoid signal alteration and achieve a bit-perfect-output (regardless of the DAC in use). Most media players are actually doing the opposite. This should have become common sense by now.  

Have a look at Sennheiser HD595 or 598. They're amongst the livelier Sennheisers but much smoother and more refined than most Grado's.   Whatever you do try to audition first.

Quote: Depends on how you define value for money. Fiio E9 is a well regarded amplifier that sells for quite a low price. In absolute terms it's very good value for money.   Lehmann BCL, on the other hand, is quite an expensive amplifier and cannot be compared in terms of value with...

Quote: You should read this: http://www.headfonia.com/sennheiser-hd-updated-drivers/ http://www.headfonia.com/the-sennheiser-trio-hd580-hd600-hd650/ http://www.headfonia.com/sennheiser-hd580-affordable-reference/   As for prices and threads like these influencing them ... I don't...

Quote: Having owned 2 distinct pairs of HD580 and one HD600 I agree, but only partially. HD580 sound the same as HD600 provided they have the same drivers (with silver screening).   The original (older) HD580 versions sound different from HD600. Less definition and somewhat granier...

Quote: Yes, I've used it with Stax Omega2 & Headamp KGSS. What would you like to know?   I also have the HD650 and a Matrix M-Stage amplifier.

  You seem very positive about what you're saying even though you've listened to only one headphone made by AKG in your particular setup. That's a big "MAYBE"    

Quote: Very well put.     Headphones driven by integrated amplifiers are a mixed bag. In fact, when I've started getting serious about headphones my first "head-amp" was my speaker amp, a NAD integrated. It wasn't particularly bad or good, but I had nothing better to drive my...

Looks like a decent enough cable.   Another cheap cable I would recommend is Belkin Pure AV, Gold series. They're quite good and sell for peanuts these days (I've paid about 4GBP for them).

VIABLUE-T6S-JACK3,5

I don't have much experience with them, but from what it's been written on both I'm inclined to say the Yulong D100 is a better DAC by quite a margin. Also the Matrix Mini-i has been often described as a warm sounding unit, a sound signature you may or may not care for.   Another strong...

Quote:   Sounds like HD600 indeed.     Choosing a headphone for the rock aficionado is in my opinion a very subjective task. I don't think it's about finding the right audiophile qualities anymore. I used to think so and looked for it in many headphones, Grado's (RS1 included)...

  Quote:   That clarifies it perfectly. Thanks!   From a quick visual check under the hood I can see that at least one of the power supply inputs are indeed of different voltages (1.2V in my ES as opposed to 5V of the WM).

Before I shoot Kingwa an email, does anybody know if the DAC modules are interchangeable? I have the NFB-10 ES version but I'd also like to try the WM if it's feasible.   From the look of it both daughter cards share the same connectors, which might indicate Kingwa's logic of making them...

NFB-10 is an excellent DAC/amp combo ........ for headphones. I think the major feature is actually the balanced headphone amp and preamplifier. The DAC section alone doesn't really touch the older, single ended, DAC-19 DSP. But not far behind either. [ * I have the ES version of NFB-10...