Due to my severe a.nervosa, I have a number of very good headphones in hand. So of course, I'm always comparing stuff, swapping pads & cables, trying different DACs and amps, and generally obsessing. However, as my username suggests, I'm really in this for the music :) So I had this idea for...

My new DAC (OPPO Sonica) and my new amp (Matrix M-Stage HPA3B) both have volume knobs. In addition, the amp has 3 gain settings (5, 10, 20). So is there a 'better/best' way to manage the volume and gain between the two devices? Connections are balanced out from DAC into amp (dual 3-pin XLR)...

I'm finding Head-Fi nearly unusable with Chrome this week on my Windows 7 desktop machine.   Specifically, when viewing pretty much any thread on any forum, the page scrolls independently of my mouse/keyboard actions.  It seems that it's scrolling to force an ad from AdChoices to be visible...

I've been listening to these two DAPs for a couple of weeks now. I'm ready to post some impressions and comparisons.  Ths post will provide 'highlights' and methodology, along with my musical  'bias'.   I'll follow up detailed SQ comparisons once I get my balanced cable.   Each of the DAPs...

Here's the thing.  I'm cruzin' along with Lucinda Williams in Ventura and I almost want to throw up my confession with her off the Filmore disc, and Ray LaMontagne is in trouble and I feel him move the instruments around as the song evolves and warms -- it's great!   But then, 'Born Under a Bad...