Thanks for the reply. Just for clarification, I do not totally dislike the way they sound (and they do seem to have a thing for classical pieces). I do find their laid back nature (much more so than the 280s) beneficial to some applications, but they are simply not what I expected, not...

Hi guys! Well, I thought I was done with purchases for the time being after acquiring a pair of Senn HD280s, a Zhaolu D2 (CS4398/discreet amp) and now a pair of Senn HD580s, but it doesn't seem like it ... I was just about ready to sell the 280s but thankfully I asked a high enough price...

Considering Montreal Head-Fi crowd is KIA/MIA this may be the closest meet I can attend. Anyone else from Quebec (esp. Montreal area) or east of Ottawa planning to go? Perhaps we can carpool or make some sort of collective arrangements. Unfortunately I do not have any real equipment or...

Yes, I do believe that. Layton Audio (Downtown, Stanley w/ St-Catherine) wants $400 or $500 if I recall correctly for a pair of HD580s. I paid 88$+tax for a pair of crummy HD-477s. In general computer, and electronics prices (as well as selection) are horrible in Montreal (Canada?)...

Not to be flame-bait, but mp3 is popular because it is the de facto format for pirating music. End of story. The other problem is that crappy portable music players don't support better formats (at least not without 3rd party firmware). And lastly, while it may not apply to Head-Fiers, the...

You raise a good point. I was actually not entirely accurate in my original description. The tapping on volume control noises ocurred after I first removed the headphone amp PCB from the chassis and then put it back... I must have not attached it properly. There is defintely some sort of...

Thank you very much, here are mine after making the adjustment I detailed in the first post: I will monitor what happens but so far the results are excellent, no more static! I'm not sure if this is merely covering up some other fault though. EDIT: Yours seem to be at pretty...

I bought it with the factory installed discreete headphone amp unit from iFi as stated previously HELP!: New theory I started "blindly" tweaking the settings on the four blue trimming potentiometers on the headphone amp PCB. See this picture...

Does anyone know what the four blue Trimming potentiometers on the headphone amp are supposed to be set to? Comparing with this picture: http://www.erji.net/attachment/Mon_0606/2_147534.jpg The 3rd one (from bottom to top) on mine seems to be set at a different angle.. (same as the 2nd and...

I see the Zhaolu is so irresistible even when broken it still attracts new buyers ... I got it from Wei at www.ifiaudio.com, most people here seem to get it from Eddie Wu at diykits.co.hk Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. I tried: A) Chassis to ground on power socket. B) Heatsink to...

Quote: Originally Posted by Labtek Can you show me a picture of the Headphone amp stage? i.e. is it acting as a pre amp for the RCA as I really don't have clear picture of this amp in my head. Sure, here are some high-res pics: http://69.93.96.202/~stefan/ It has two...

Quote: Originally Posted by DieInAFire how can such an amazing DAC have such problems!! I am confused The DAC part works fine it would seem, the headphone amp part doesn't.

Ok. I used imprecise language, so I'll try to make it clear. The issue at hand is a static like noise that occurs in LEFT channel only. It is the exact same noise that occured at first when changing volume with the pot, if any of you own a PA2V2 it is the same noise the pot on that made as...

Quote: Originally Posted by Labtek I have a feeling that one or more of your transistors is blown in the amplifier stage. Would that also manifest the noise/humming/static on the REAR RCA (volume controlled) as well, or just the front headphone output? Because I get the issues on...

Ok thank you very much for the clarification. I tried grounding it just for kicks and (as expected) without any positive results. The noise is still there. At this point I'm gonna leave it be and see what the dealer (Wei / iFi) has to say. It appears to me that there is a serious...

After writing the first message I tried to troubleshoot the unit best as I could. 1) The issue is not related at all to input, it will occur with coax, toslink, analog (RCA) or NO input. 2) It will occur after "idling" the unit for a few minutes (less than 5) or after playing music through...

How would I check? I am using optical cable for the Zhaolu, I was using coax before but I thought maybe isolating the PC from the Zhaolu electrically would fix the issue. I also noticed this: Notice how the leftmost blue whatever it is (sorry guys, not an electronics person myself)...

Hi guys, It appears I spoke positively way too soon on the Zhaolu D2 unit. I have the CS4398 unit with the "upgraded" headphone amp. Everything was going good until I noticed a slight buzzing/static noise on the left channel with my headphones. Well, I ignored it for a few hours but it got...

I can only comment on the 280s because I own them. I think the source is very important for them. They sound poor/mediocre straight out of a portable mp3 player, clearer but still not "there" from an X-Fi sound card, and pretty decent from my Zhaolu D2 DAC. That being said, the differences...

Quote: Originally Posted by Sinwerm .... Cost/Risk/benefit , analysis I would buy it again. I've only had mine (Cirrus Logic DAC, dedicated headphone amp) for about 48 hrs, and I must say I share your opinion. That being said, even on my unit which has no issues related to core...

Hello! In my short time here you guys have brought me from this: To this: With a few detours along the way (*cough* X-Fi, PA2V2...). At this point I have to say I think I'm done with source upgrades. The Zhaolu D2 with discrete headphone output and the CS4398 DAC is good...

Not much Canadian presence from what I see I'll be going to McGill University (Montreal, QC) Probably a mixture of Computer Science & Economics. But due to the way the Quebec system works, I'll be part of the '09 graduating class. (Here we do 13 years before university.)

Reporting in for West Island I'm just getting into this hobby and would love to see some new faces and equipment. Not to mention learn more! Surely there are more than a handful of us here?

Hello everyone! For my first Head-Fi thread I want to talk briefly about my first equipment purchase since joining the forum (I hope it will help other potential buyers) and kindly ask for some advice on mid-term upgrade plans. Sennheiser HD280 Review: In the past I’ve used a series of...