I am planning to purchase a balanced cable for my UM3X. I found these cables at a web site. 16 Core Black OCC Awesome All In 1 Plug Earphone Cable For 0.78mm 0.77mm BA Custom Westone W4r UM3X UM3RC JH13 High Step $50 Hi-Res Brown XLR 3.5mm 2.5mm 4.4mm Earphone Cable For 0.78mm BA Custom...

Hooked to the balanced output from my Onkyo DP-CMX1 I am now interested in a setup that put USB audio through my Onkyo and output to a balanced input portable speakers. Anyone has any recommendations? My budget is $500-$1000. I would like the weight to be <1000g. Thanks a lot in advance.

I have a ER4P with broken cable and a fully functional ER4S I am planning to buy a Onkyo Granbeat. I heard that Granbeat has a balanced output, so I would like to give it a try. I found there are places selling ER4 balanced cable for around US$200. My questions are: 1) Do these balanced...

I have some poor quality tape recording mp3s. They have background noise that makes them hard to hear clearly about the recorded conversation.    I notice many music player software has equalizer feature that can modify sound. Is it possible to use it to filter out noise? If it is possible...

My understanding is that USB audio allows you to pass your music data to an external portable DAC.   But why do I want to do that if my DAC can already store songs? Shouldn't I just store my songs in my portable DAC and play from there and ignore my smartphone?   Disclaimer: I am...

I heard that because sometimes some rock music can instantaneously go to 160dB, so an amp is necessary to prevent clipping at such instants.   But what if I mostly only listen to light Jazz music that tops out at 100dB?? Does that mean I don't need an amp even if I use HD650?

I have an iPhone4S, an HD650 and a Miles Davis Trumpet.   I want to play music from 4S such that both headphones can hear the same music. How do I do this?   Can this setup work?                             _______amp #1____HD650 IP4S ---LOD out ----|_______amp#2____MD Trumpet  ...

I want to output 7.1 surround sound thru my Yamaha RX-V663 receiver. My motherboard can output sound for either SPDIF or HDMI.   I heard that SPDIF can't transmit 7.1 sound, is that true??   My monitor is U2410. Its resolution is 1920x1200. I have a PS3, too. I connected both of them...

I bought it because of its Slient Cinema feature. How do I get the best sound quality from its headphone out?   Set it to 7ch Stereo and plug in the headphone? Is that enough? Thanks!

I am pleased with the audio quality of my Galaxy S phone. Is it possible to turn it into a USB DAC such that I can play the flac files stored in my desktop??? Is there an app for this??? Thanks

I want to buy a cheap (<US$300) android phone for pocket wifi and whatsapp.   But I want it to have at least similar sound quality as my Nokia N82.   Do you have any recommendations?? Thanks a lot!

Seems fun  

My friend needs an earplug to block out the noise during her sleep. I have some spare ER4P foam tips that might help her if I know how to mod them into earplugs. If you know how to mod them easily, please let me know.   Or are there any cheap foam earplugs as good as these ER4P tips that I...

I bought a used ER4P. It only has one pair of tri-flanges left.   I heard that you can get the best isolation using one of the tri-flanges. I put them on but it isolates no better than my Hifiman RE-ZERO. I can still hear train noises and train announcements.   I unwrapped one of my pair...

Is this normal?   I am using Nokia N82 to power it. I know it probably can't drive this now 102ohm (previously 27ohm) IEM. But shouldn't the difference  only be 6dB (ie 10*log(102/27))???   Does 6dB really make such a big difference?

I am about to buy tickets for an upcoming Jazz concert. What are the best seats for audiophiles? Below is the seating chart. Thanks for your input.    

I heard that some HM-801 has the better PCM1704U-K chip while some has 1704U. I am about to buy a used one. How do I know which chip the 801 has??? Is it going to show up at the screen? Or do I need to open the 801 to check inside???

According to this paper, they sound the same:   https://secure.aes.org/forum/pubs/journal/?ID=2   Does anyone know any replication studies that support or refute their conclusion???

I have RE-ZERO. I am thinking about adding ER4P because of its isolation.   Is ER4P going to sound better than RE-ZERO without amp?   Thanks

I think Hifiman HM-801 is one that satisfies the criteria. What are the other alternatives?   Thanks

I think Hifiman HM-801 is one that satisfy the criteria. What are the other alternatives?   Thanks

http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/pcm1704.pdf   I find the spec in the page 2 of the above link   Can someone explain why the U-K version is better in layman's terms?   Thanks

Does it need 24/96 flacs to shine???

I want to buy an IEM that can be shared between friends. I tried two BT IEMs setup and a one BT IEM, one 3.5mm jack IEM setup but both didn't work. Does a four earbuds IEM even exist???

I have some Denon and Naxos classical music CDs. I learned how to make flacs recently using winamp. So I tried make flacs from them. I noticed that the bitrate of Naxos ones is about 4xx kbps whereas Denon is about 6xx kbps. The Denon one also seem to sound better. So I believe Denon has better...