What is the general sound signature of the PCM1794? I've heard a lot of good things about this chip and the specs look very nice on paper but I've never heard a source using it yet. I've listened a lot with the AD1852, CS4398 and AKM4395 so those are my references and the CS is my favorite. I...

I'm in the need of a balanced volume control and I think I'd prefer a potentiometer to a stepped attenuator. So far the only ones I've found are the Alps RK40 and a Noble, both at Michael Percy Audio. Are there any other good alternatives and/or other places to get one?

A while ago I acquired a Zapfilter mkII discrete output stage to put in my Zhaolu D2.0C dac. The bonus is that it has true balanced outputs which deliver more than enough voltage to drive headphones to extreme listening levels. In fact, the Zapfilter drives my 300ohm HD650s quite respectfully...

Is there any advantage of having separate regulators in the power supply for left and right channel? I'm building a balanced headphone buffer and happen to have some extra regulators(lm 317/337) so I could split the power supply in two after the rectifier bridge. Benny Jorgensen did something...

Scrap this for now...

Well, it seems I dropped my HD650 to the floor one time too many as the left side driver popped loose and moved back about 1cm. Now, in order to try and fix this myself I need to remove grill. It doesn't seem to just pop loose like the pads so is there an easy way to remove the grill without...

Well, I wanted a transport other than my computer for my Zhaolu and found this old used Marantz CD63mkII KIS for sale on the web and thought that should be good enough. I received it today and boy was I surprised when I tried out the analog outputs just for fun. I didn't expect it to have...

After all the hype about driving headphones -and the HD650 in particular- balanced I've gotten interested in building my own balanced amp. I did some research and it seems the a balanced M^3 would be the cheapest and easiest way to go. So, has anyone actually heard/built a balanced M^3? Is it a...

I have a PPAv2 with a STEPS psu that I built about 5 months ago and it was working fine lying on my table without a case, fed from my e-mu 0404. Then I built a wooden case and added a volume knob, and now after playing a while there is 'pop' and the ground noise floor is raised significantly and...

I thought I'd write this here since figuring it out might require some knowledge in electronics. I recabled my k340s a few months ago and ever since I've had to eq them down from 1kHz to 4kHz with the peak at 2.5kHz. Otherwise they are unlistenable. At 2.5kHz I have -10dB and it might need...

I don't see a lot of people with these phones in their sig. I suppose one major reason is that Philips just isn't regarded as very 'hifi', so most people simply ignore them. They are probably also hard to find in the US. I first heard of these headphones over a year back at a finnish forum...

I have my STEPS all put together except for the c1. I went to the store and bought some 0.1uF class x capacitors, but when I got home I realized they're too big to fit beside the choke! So, can I still turn on the STEPS safely and how will the absence of the c1 affect the performance?