It's not. At best, a cable would be transparent with no signal degradation. Another way of looking at it: cheap/poorly constructed cables can degrade the signal, while a well constructed cable (not necessarily expensive) will not.

I'm afraid that's how the world works. The US market drives a lot more sales volume than probably the entire EU combined allowing for much more competitive prices vs. the rest of the world. In regards to Ifi, they are UK based but I believe their production facilities are based in China (at...

Sure, customs would add up to the cost a bit, but that may depend on luck a bit as well. The customs fees I've paid so far on my Massdrop orders have been quite varied (from full VAT and a small customs fee down to a few euros). But even if paid in full, HD58x + 4xx would set you back less than...

Hi, Welcome to head-fi! :) I would look at Massdrop and a combo actually - Sennheiser HD6xx or 58x plus a Hifiman HE4xx. The price for both is very reasonable (around 300 euro more or less, depending which Senn you'd pick), but you'd have 2 very competent headphones with 2 very distinct sound...

My vote goes to the HE-500, especially if vocal and classical music is your thing. I'd invest the rest of the budget in better upstream gear (dac or amp) and better pads. Pads will make a huge difference in the sound signature of these headphones, which I think works to its advantage as it will...

DT770 pro is a very solid option, they sell for 117 euro at Thomann.de. On a lower budget, you could look at Takstar Pro 80. Well received here, very good sounding for not a lot of money, solid build.

Hi guys, Budget in the $100 -150 range. Looking for a fast/punchy sound, with very good separation and imaging. Sound signature - balanced, on the fun side of neutral. Would like to avoid extremes - so no lean sounding or bass heavy IEMs. From what I've read so far, the vsonic GR07 line seems...

The bass line after 3:20 and 5:00 sounds to me intentionally distorted (on the 3 headphones I tried it with). If that's the only song you experienced this, you have nothing to worry about. your headphones are fine, you just aren't used to the level of detail they're extracting from music.

Normal mode is enough to drive them. I listen to my HE-500 only in normal mode, usually between 11 and 2 o'clock on the pot. Anything past 3 o'clock is too much for me. Turbo will give you more power, but less usable range in the (not so well balanced) volume pot. Personally, I'd avoid turbo...

Hey, Welcome to head-fi! It would be easier to put the Switcher between the THX amp (using the SE Pass rca plugs) and your JBL speakers. So you'd have DAC -> THX amp -> Switcher -> JBL's

As a general rule of thumb, amplifier upgrades provide more discernible sound improvements vs. DACs. With 6xx in particular, I think that rule of thumb applies even more. They respond very well to better amplification, even out of budget sources. An option that would satisfy both your needs...

If only that were true, I'm afraid. As far as I know, free shipping applies only to the US, not EU. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Massdrop will charge for shipping to Romania, but it's very reasonable - $15 for most of the products. Also, customs fees will be involved. Under 150 euro they...

Salut! Given your requirements, my choice would be the 4xx. Explanations below: AKG K7xx. Straight out the soundcard these headphones will be rather shrill and piercing. They do require a good amp to deliver (preferably one on the warmer side of neutral). Also, even though they have good speed...

Hi guys, need your help with something. Looking to replace the stock pads on my 4xx with hybrid HM5 pads. I've found a UK shop on ebay selling the cheap Hifiman velours - https://www.ebay.com/itm/392108702163. Can you please tell me if the mounting rings on those are compatible with the 4xx...

Yes, line out results were similar to the headphone outs, but the differences were not as stark. My favorite was still Ifi, with Audio-gd a close 2nd. I found differences to be very dependent on the resolving power of the speakers. With JBL LSR305's it was difficult to tell the DAC's apart, they...

I've had a brief experience with the Topping Dx7s dac/amp, but none of their stand alone DACs, I'm afraid. Was looking to replace my aging Burson 160D and the DX7s was in the mix against Shiit Jotunheim, Ifi micro BL and NFB11 from Audio GD. I really liked the features on the Topping -...

That's not accurate. Massdrop does international shipping on a lot of their stuff, also at a very reasonable price - $15 (for headphones and other small items, at least). I'm EU based and bought quite a few things from them. @Tbas99 Not so sure K712 will provide you with a much better...

What DAC are you using exactly?

Re: Samson SR850 and Superlux HD668B   Having owned both, here are my thoughts about them: Although they are very similar in sound they're not identical.   The main difference between them is in the bass region, where the Samson's are more extended and have significantly more impact ...

Well, the point of using Foobar (and similar software) is to avoid signal alteration and achieve a bit-perfect-output (regardless of the DAC in use). Most media players are actually doing the opposite. This should have become common sense by now.  

Have a look at Sennheiser HD595 or 598. They're amongst the livelier Sennheisers but much smoother and more refined than most Grado's.   Whatever you do try to audition first.

2.1 mm

As far as I can tell it's a standard 5.5mm connector.

Have a look at Audiotrak Prodigy Cube. It's well featured and quite musical sounding. Most likely close to your former Audiotrak soundcard.     You can find it on Ebay for 99$ (shipped).

Yes they are! I've been experimenting with my K501s and AKG pads for quite some time. This is one of the most effective and yet simple mod one can do. Here is what I think of them :   K601 pads: these are the fattest and fluffiest of all. The velour fabric is the thickest of all 3, which...