I read from time to time - mostly from Jan Meier - that Beyer headphones are generally designed to be driven by a 120 ohm output impedance from a headphone amp, and not the more conventional 0 ohm. I also understand that the Beyerdynamic headphone amp has a 120 ohm output impedance. Does anyone...

A DAP with no hard drive, no amp and no DAC - just a small box big enough to house a 9v battery, a 1gb flash drive, and a CPU capable of running only one application such as Winamp and a USB input and output. The DAP could then be connected to an external portable hard drive such as a 320GB WD...

I have about 1TB of WAV files which I am about to convert to Apple Lossless for a portable set up to be used with both an iMod and an ASUS EEPC with 320 WD portable hard drive and Meier 2Move amp/dac. My WAV files are all organised into folders rather than through itunes, and therefore do not...

I'm looking to replace the BB OPA2604 op amp in my Linsley Hood Chiara headphone amp, and the 2627 is the obvious choice. However, I can't seem to find it anywhere, and even the BB/Ti website doesn't appear to have it, although the single 627 appears to be widely available. Does anyone know...

I currently have an 80gb ipod classic loaded with 256 and 320 MP3s, and am thinking about buying a 160gb (or maybe the rumoured 320gb) to hold only lossless files. It does not seem to be possible to run two ipods on the same computer with the same Itunes, without both syncing to the same...

I've been collecting DAPs over the past few months, trying to find one I like to replace my old iRiver H340, which has served me well for several years but is reaching capacity and is now a bit too bulky compared to the competition. I bought a Kenwood Mediakeg, a Sony A829, a Creative Zen...

I've decided to replace my trusty iRiver H340 (used without an amp with ER4Ps). I need at least 40Gb and preferably 60gb. Video or photos are not necessary. I only need WAV and MP3 and can live without FLAC, AAC or Ogg. Good sound quality however is absolutely essential. I bought a 60gb...

I was listening to my iRiver h340 at the office today through my Etymotic ER4Ps thinking how awful it sounded. I used to think it sounded quite good, especially compared to the iPod and other MP3 players. And this was playing a high bitrate Ogg file. And then an idea occurred to me - a...

I'm looking for a good quality USB soundcard or audio interface for recording to PC, mainly from vinyl and radio broadcasts. The A/D converter is more important to me than the DAC or headphone out, since I can use an external DAC and headphone amp. Ideally I would like RCA inputs, but I can live...

I have read many speculative comments on this forum about whether the new DT990s and DT880s are an improvement over the older versions, but no one seems to have any factual information about whether the changes are purely cosmetic. There is a comment from beyer in another thread that suggests...

A little while ago, I did a little review of all of the Sennheiser cables I've heard. I concluded that the Moon Audio Blue Dragon was my personal favourite, but other cables also performed strongly, notably the Zu Mobius for those with a taste for a brighter sound from their Sennheisers, and the...

I own a bunch of Grados - SR80s, 225s, 325s (black) - and I've spent a lot of time with the RS-1s and owned the HP-2 for a while. I've always felt that the 225s were the best headphones Grado produced - they have a warm, liquid, engaging sound. They lose in the bass department to the 325s, but...

I've been having some problems ripping and playing CDs gaplessly. When playing back on Windows Media, there is always a gap between tracks. Switching to Foobar, the gap disappears, but there is a noticeable click between tracks instead. I have been ripping using CDex. Is there a way to rip and...

I know that a 40GB HD is actually about 37GB, but can all of that capacity be used? Both my 40Gb iPod and iRiver are at about 35GB, and I am wondering if this is the practically limit and I should buy a third DAP. Is it possible - and desirable - to fill a DAP to capacity or should some HD space...

I picked up an iRiver H340 yesterday, after I decided that I wasn't enjoying the somewhat "sterile" sound quality of my 3G iPod. After puzzling over the manual and the interface on the H340, I managed to get it charged, working and loaded with about 25Gb of MP3-aps files. First impressions...

The title for this thread is a little provocative, because I know that many others do not share my views on some of the cables I review below. But hopefully, because just about every commercially available cable is covered in the review, along with other peoples' comments, the thread should...

I've just bought Adobe Audition (formerly Cool Edit Pro) and have been using it to record some LPs, cassettes and radio broadcasts. Everything works fine, except I can't seem to get it to convert the track cues into actual tracks when I burn the recordings to CD. Any thoughts on what I'm doing...

Does anyone have any experience overburning CDs up to 100 minutes using 870MB blanks? Are there any compatibility issues with CD players? Any degradation in sound quality compared to 700MB blanks? Is it necessary to burn at lower speeds - 4x or less? Any other tips?

I recently bought an M-Audio Audiophile USB, partly to use as a soundcard for playback, but mostly to record LPs and radio broadcast to disc. I will provide some more detail in a subsequent post, but briefly, as a soundcard it sounds awful and as an analog to digital converter it sounds...

I have a Sony JA20ES MD deck, which makes superb recordings. I also note that it can be used effectively as an analog to digital converter by connecting an analog input and connecting the digital output to the s/pdif input on my PC soundcard. My question is: does the digital output of the MD...

I've just bought an M-Audio Audiophile USB for my PC with the aim of burning CDs from LPs using my LP12 and Michell Orbe turntables and Naim and Exposure phono stages. There seem to be a number of software options available. Essentially I would like to get the LPs into WAV files, edit the...

After doing the comparison, the line out from the iPod using the Sik Imp is significantly better than the line out from the dock. The dock is brighter with harsher highs, while the Sik Imp has better control of the top end and a more natural balance. This test was done using a 40Gb iPod into...

I recently bought an iPod. I bought the 40Gb version because I wanted to listen to uncompressed WAV files only. I had heard some MP3s on my notebook and they sounded awful. I figured I could get about 60 uncompressed CDs into my iPod, which would be fine. Naturally, when I got the iPod, I...

I posted a little while ago about problems I was having with my iPod. I now think that this was caused by some CDs, which I have been unable to rip using CDex or EAC, either as WAV or MP3 files. In either case, the sound is either unplayable, or causes the PC/iPod to crash. The odd thing is that...

I'm looking for a new computer, and I've been tempted by the iMac, although I've been a PC user for many years. (Like many people, getting an iPod was the initial impetus for thinking about a Mac.) The iMac looks excellent, is no doubt easy to use and well-supported. I understand that not all...