Yeah, I'm guessing the same. The OG HE6s are coming up on 13-14 years old or so? It'd be pretttttttty surprising to see an "open box" version of them come from HiFiMAN and not like an individual owner or reseller. You can find them out of China sometimes, but it's died down a lot over the past 5...

Almost 6 months on, I'm still holding out for an answer (hopefully the positive one) from @darinf

No, it's not available separately, but it is quite decent function and quality wise. I really lucked into getting 2 of them, then got Vesper to mod them up a bit to get them to fit my DX1000s and my OG HiFiMAN HE-6s. Others that fit are the Denon D2/5/7000, Fostex, and anything else that is...

I have been sort of out of the loop for a while, but this is the first place I've seen anyone say that the HOLO Spring or May and the Denafrips Terminator are NOT NOS DACs, but maybe my focus there is only on when any of them are fed DSD512. I upsample and feed my T+A DAC8DSD DSD512 so that it's...

Thanks for the consistent updates, I'm looking forward to hearing your impressions.

I've listened to the D8000 Pro at a meet before, what are your at home thoughts on how the 2 headphones sound compared to each other so far?

There was some sort of driver revision that an owner showed pictures of a while ago, I wonder how that panned out sound wise? I'd be pumped to get a NOS SEM1, but I'd also let the old audiophile nervosa set in, asking which would be better if I was buying the headphones again... or how to find...

I would love to try a J2 to try another FirstWatt flavour. I have my HE-6 4-screw with a FirstWatt F1J and that's a beautiful combo. Unfortunately, I haven't put ears on it in a long while due to a very extended move.

Actually, as you can see in the attached picture, the dCS Bartók comes with a preamp stage and headphone amplifier, just like the 812 does. It might be an option, but I believe many of them are sold like this vs. just as a DAC. The feedback has already been quite positive about the whole package.

I don't think anyone is talking about it too much. Boulder - 812 DAC + Preamp + Headphone amp https://boulderamp.com/products/812-dac-preamplifier-headphone-amplifier/ And for anyone else who may be confused seeing different pictures, the headphone socket section of the 812 also has a metal...

I know this is from like a month ago, but damn, I did not know that happened. That’s sad news.

Congrats on picking them up. And much appreciated for making your way here and sharing some real details on them. Could you make any more comparisons to the other headphones you have? Even if open back, most of them are more common, so it's be easier to relate your impressions. I have the...

No, probably 6 months delayed due to supply chain issues. Only several samples are around, not even enough for the review circuit.

Whatever your relationship with Cayin, I hope they love you as much as we do. Thanks a lot for the answer and the analogy, I really appreciate it. I probably don't have the whole picture, but I think I understood what you meant. It's very interesting sounding and it piques my imagination...

Yeah, they're based there. But they're not a huge business and a pair of leather ear pads only runs, what, $30-60? That could be sent personal package ground and likely have no issues. Maybe, though? It's definitely not good news.

Can you delete the ugly SOE tags that actually make this ad less useful for head-fi'ers: "Bowers Wilkins, Denon, Dynaudio, Focal, Harman Kardon, Integra, JBL, KLH, Klipsch, McIntosh, NAD Electronics, Onkyo, Polk Audio, Revel, SVS, Totem, Arcam, Pioneer, Cambridge Audio, Marantz, Yamaha, chora...

That's a Bent Audio Tap-X auto/trans-former volume control remote, right? It is a nice and hefty remote, I have one from my Bent Audio AVC preamp boards.

This is one of the downsides to online forums and why having a "a local music club" or "listening buddy" in real life has some very meaningful differences. Online, you can't express yourself freely and casually, and just "be" like you can in real life and with physical/direct relationships...

I have been in the headphone game for a while now and I still can't believe ANY manufacturer considers anything else than a suspension style headband nowadays (for sit-down, flagships; obviously not for portable). In about the past 7 years, suspension style headbands have taken over the...

You guys should be able to check with Vesper Audio in Belarus now. There's no big hassle with coordinating the shipping. Usually about 45days for the leather-related work, and prices are very reasonable. I just sent my SE-Master1s there for other work and they made new, real leather this time...

Nice, welcome to the club. I personally do not recommend the Pioneer balanced cable. The sound signature is generic, but the other issue is the outer cable sheath fraying or opening, and the inner cotton sheath coming out. It's not too bad if you don't pay for the cable, but if you're finding...

How long did you work at Kodak before transferring to IBM...? I joke. No, I was talking from a consumer perspective, in the broader sense or the selfish one. I like new stuff and seeing companies go after that. And as mentioned above, Focal and the Utopia included, but personally I am less...

Thanks for the insights. I've actually got both as well, but I've moved like 3 times since getting them and haven't had either of them in my full system yet. The move into the new, and hopefully final, house next year has been a long time coming and is going to mean a lot to say the least.

I kind of hit the scene just after the B22 love was dying down, but it was certainly called the tippy top back then. I thought the B24 was a speaker power amp without volume control/potentiometer, though? Anyway, yeah, I've wondered about all those DIY amps for a while, they were way more...

Thanks for following up with your actual insights. I was just parroting what Alex said when asked about that exact topic, I haven't compared the Monoprice Liquid Gold Mini to my original LAu. I think you've also got a pair of Questyle CMA-800R Golden Reference monoblock amps there for demoing...