In terms of sound stage, probably not. If you are really trying to find gaming headphones, try looking into the very long gaming headphone thread by MadLustEnvy, and if you have the means, I suggest you try out the Smyth Realiser.

I had the ED10, and it was actually my first pair of full-sized phone since I grew up... Liked it with male vocal and classical, bought a great amp and good source gear for it, changed the earpads, and defended it rigorously on Head-fi.   Then I got the LCD2 and sold it.

ES5 bright? Lol.

So is there any conclusion on whether I will be able to use my CLAS or HP-P1 with the iPhone 5?

Quote:   In Hong Kong, the price is more or less fixed at distributors. There are rarely used ones for sale - the last set I saw on the Hong Kong market was around US$50,000 (UV version).

Impressions after 2 night sessions of listening.   It has the slight Mullard bloom which makes the vocal sounds smooth and at time very 3D like. You can hear every tiny movement in Norah Jone's throat. Excellent instruments separation. One thing I notice though - the bass does not go as deep...

So, no more iPhone for audiophiles, until someone makes some audiophile grade Lightning to USB cable?

Which DAC chip is inside the iPhone 5?

Quote:   Dude - if you bought the HE-90 / HEV-90, the Realizer should be a no brainer for you. It is just a small fraction of the price of your setup and you will be able to hear much more realistic sound as far as 2-channel music is concerned.   Congratulations btw!!!

The old generation Esoteric offerings may suit your needs - say, P-01 / D-01. Quote:

- I prefer my SR71A to my SR71B. iPhone 4S -> CLAS -> DB2 -> SR71B is just too much of a hassle. Fully balanced setup does not improve the sound a lot - it may be the cables, but the sound of this setup sounds quite bright to me, even with the LCD2 Rev 1.  Hear for yourself to know what you...

I have both, and the CLAS does sound more analytical in comparison with Filter 2 of the HP-P1, when using the HP-P1 solely as a DAC.

Sorry guys I just realized that the Stax was missing from the above pics. Here you go:       Oops... I mean this  

Is it a software upgrade or must it be brought to the distributor? There was a unit selling for around US$6K here but it was the 24/96 version.

I see. The 220V ones seem to be a bit more expensive in the local market. I had mine (second hand) for around 28K HKD which is around US$3.5K. I haven't tried hooking it up to the BHSE/009 yet (currently using the Esoteric K-01 for them), but I would imagine that my Weiss DAC202 would be a...

Quote:   Any 220V units available at this price?

Time for celebration! I do keep the pour away from the setup. This is just for photo purpose.             

The setup: In case you are wondering, the unit below the BHSE is the Antelope Trinity word clock feeding the Esoteric K-01 (top right).       Power cable for the BHSE - Transparent Powerlink MM, the previous generation offering from Transparent.        Interconnects...

Could you pm me which tube shop did you go to? Thanks.

At that price range, I would go for Antelope, Weiss, AN or PS Audio rather than the other brands mentioned above. These are long known audiophile brands - the other contenders certainly may have better C/P value, but when you try to resell them, you will probably get a big discount, if you are...

DUDES, GUESS WHAT

Quote:   LOL - was she being sarcastic or she got pulled into this hobby as well?

The Antelope Zodiac Gold (with Voltikus power supply) can also be had for around $5K or less (second hand) now.

If the sonic difference is huge, I wouldn't mind paying a bit more for electricity or endure the heat, or even let the tubes suffer from a much reduced tube life by turning the amp on 24X7. But the main problem with tube amps is that in case of a tube failure, the amp may be damaged and in the...