In the spirit of recent posts, I am seeking to cheat on my mainstay IEMs - Shure 530s.  I don't think Shure would mind - while she is reasonably sensitive, I do not sense a great deal of emotion.  I am thinking hard about either the Monster Gold vs the Copper.  I have heard the Copper at a local...

I am currently auditioning a Sony X1061 and I like it fine. The motivating force behind upgrading from my D2 is, however, not the sound. The sound of the D2 is very good - different from the Sony - but I am not always sure which I prefer. Prob the Sony, but not by much. The UI of the D2 does...

Controversy aside, I am thinking about buying a DAC to feed my Cayin HA-1 and AKG K1000 and I was wondering if any of you think that the 7520 was up to the job. Or perhaps you all have suggestions about a better choice that costs about the same or less. I don't agree with the purveyor's...

I am in the market for a DAC and have been following the various threads about the newish Chinese DACs, Yulong, Zero, Valab Zaolu, etc. with interest. Now, I have not heard any of these DACs and thus have no opinions about them. Neither do I have an opinion about Chinese equipment per se. I...

Maybe somebody can help. Thinking of buying a DAC and both seem to be well regarded. Anybody compare the two and describe the differences? Or suggest which is the better of the two? Thank you Barry

I know that there was an early buzz about the Firestone Big Joe as a good amp for the AKG K1000. I don't recall if it was a widely held view at the time or if the impressions have held up over time (as opposed to a FOTM). Well, I recently purchased a pair of the K1000 and have started using...

Want to stream audio to to my headphone set up (Cayin-K1000) and speaker stereo (Plinius-Shahinian) and would like to avoid an additional DAC if I could. Can add one if I have to. Anybody have any comparative commentary of which of the streaming devices in the title has the best line out and...

Coming off of an ipod classic, which is OK but a bit sterile for my tastes, I am thinking of either the A829 or the D2. I have heard the Sony at my local Sony store and love the impact and dynamics. I have not heard the D2 and have been reading great things about it. I think that it is fillpelli...

My aging but loved Timbre DAC is attached to my speaker based stereo so I need to find an alternative source for my headphone amp - a Cayin -and phones. I would prefer not to clutter my listening area with piles of CDs so I am hoping to use either my classic ipod line out or buy a Duet. Not...

I am hoping that if I buy the Sony, I will be able to drag and drop music files, albums, etc. from my Mac Leopard operating system computer. Does anybody know if this is possible. Many thanks. Barry

Looking back over past posts, the Sony XXXXX595 five disc cd player has gotten some respect. It is pretty cheap. Anybody use it as a transport and can provide some info? I will be using it with an aging, but good-in-its-day DAC, the Timbre TT-1. Any other suggestions for a multi-disc...

I remember seeing a picture of a case mounted drawer that holds one or two 9 volt batteries. The idea is to be able to change the battery without unscrewing the entire case. I can't find my notes and I wonder if anybody knows what would work for that purpose. Thank you.

Has anybody tried the pads on the GS 1000s on other Grados? Tried GS 1000s, thought they sounded wonderful, but a bit more than I would like to spend on cans. The GS 1000 were also head and shoulders (or should I say head and ears) more comfortable than the other Grados. Hence the question. I...

Has anybody tried the newish Statement pads while wearing glasses? More comfortable than bowls or flats? I want to wear my Grados at work, but need reading glasses and would love to find a way to make them more comfortable. Thank you all. Barry

I know that that RS-1 is better than the 325is. But it is also $400 more. Sigh. I can stretch the budget and go for the RS-1s, but still $400. I know that this is a dangerous question - after all this is a headphone afficionato forum and it is my money not yours -- still, I have to ask - worth...

Right now, I listen to Grado 60, and UM2, and Bose IEM. I listened to a lot at the show and began to get a better sense of what I like and don't. For example, I ended up liking the Sure 500 more than the UM2 - I liked the bigger, more romantic sound. I continued to appreciate the soundstage...

I am considering buying a new DAP. I generally like the dynamics of the H10, but the features, etc., of the X5 are appealing. I have listened at length to the ipod photo, karma and H10. Can anybody offer a description of the sound differences of the X5 to any of these units? Thank you Barry

Maybe it is my imagination, but the sound of the 4G ipod seems different than the sound of the ipod photo. The photo seems a bit brighter, more dynamic. And to my surprise, the shuffle seems to sound better than both? Is Apple using different chipsets or amps in each of those units? Anybody know...

I have been listening to the H320 with Shure 5Cs and ety4p and I am finding noticable hiss. Less with the etys. Is this a common event with this combo,or perhaps I have a faulty DAP. thanks

I was thinking this evening that nobody ever seems to mention the Creative Zen DAPs. I listened to my brother's Zen the other day and thought that it sounded darned good. Maybe even better than Ipod 3G that was also around. Am I missing something? Anybody else thinks well or ill of the Zen...

I am wondering if anybody in the Philadelphia area owns either of these phones. I am considering both based on the discussions on head-fi but would love an opportunity to audion them. I know that the e5s are canal phones, but I have some shure tips so that hygene issues are handled. Thanks. Barry

I know that WMA is not the most popular format on this board, but to me it sounds better than MP3 and uses less battery than Ogg. I have been trying to encode WMA using EAC. I understand the compression options, but EAC stops when it has ripped the tracks and saves them as WAV. And not...

My experiences with these two earphones is a bit frustrating. I am looking for an earphone that isolates, especially in an airplane and that draws me into the music. Each of the units have significant strenghs, but neither does everything that I want. I can use your help. I do like the sound...

Is there a program that will tag a batch of wma files to make them easy to use on my Karma?

I am having trouble encoding ogg vorbis using eac. I have put oggenc or oggenc2 (at different times) in the eac folder, set thel external encoder to point at either of these encoders and eac does not encode. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling, tried two versions of eac, tried rebooting, but...