I'd say Momentum for Jazz/Classical or any slowish music, HD25 or Amperior (improved HD25) for Pop/Rock or fast pace music. It depends on what you listen to most.   If you mean more "fun" by more "energetic", probably the Amperior. The sound is fairly straight-up and mids are loud and clear...

The Momentum having isolation as well as SE535 and soundstage of HD800 are somewhat a far stretch because I have them. The HD25 Amperior isolates better than the Momentum. The Momentum is a comfy pair, but isolation is just above average, assuming SE535 and HD25 are very good since one is an...

I was debating whether to get the D25 Amperior or the Momentum. They are two totally different cans sonically.   The Amperior sounds up front, providing energetic, clear, punchy feel, tight bass, and have great isolation from exterior noise. It is very easy to drive as as they have lower...

Thanks for the good and fair review skylab. I went to the Apple Store few weeks ago to listen to the P5, but was majorly underwhelmed. I hope B&W won't end up following the Bose footstep with their headphones...

I know I know Bose QC! Just kidding...just messing around lol Depending on how good the sound quality is that you are looking for, I think the Audio-Technica ATH-ESW9A looks great to me.

I agree with Uncle Erik as well. I've tried the grados as well and loved it, but I guess I grew tired of it after some time and now preferred something clean and simple. I found I can tolerate the HD800s on my ears for many hours, unlike the grados, I'll have ear fatigue after an hours or so...

Quote: Originally Posted by Quaddy drives them fine for my liking, nice and down the middle, no peak or trough colouring just accurate and plain just how i like it in terms of juice, the HPA2 is powering them heartily, at 10-11 oclock on the dial thats as much as i want to go thank...

Unfortunately, that's how Senn decide to do things differently. I live around Dallas and I can't find a place to demo it. I've called up few Senn dealers, and they made a few calls to Senn, but was told that HD800 is only carried by few limited dealers and are mostly online (ie. Amazon...

i think the cables doesn't make much difference, but if you are going from stock unbalanced cable to balanced setup, then that's a different story. I'm planning to get the hd800 too and wait for the Zu cables to come out...

I was just reading about some DAC1 HDR reviews few minutes ago and it mentioned that it uses National Semiconductor LM4562 op-amp. Then I remembered I've saw that National Semiconductor somewhere... and it turns out that the apartment I live in now was right across the National Semiconductor...

I'd like to suggest a Weiss DAC2 or even the Weiss MINERVA if price is no issue.

So, have anyone tried a DAC1 Pre/HDR driven HD800 yet? I'd like to know if someone have some opinions/reviews on it, thanks.

Quote: Originally Posted by EliasGwinn The remote was selected for its simplicity, long range, and resistance to interference from other remotes. We developed our own hardware IR decoder to eliminate the need to place a noisy microprocessor in the DAC1 chassis. The exceptional timing...

@The Monkey: I think the new Headroom one uses the 9008 chip instead of the 9018 that claims 32 bit. @emmodad: Thanks for the long explanation. Unfortunately, that's what marketing people do most of the time. Anyways, I'm happy to have my DAC1 now and probably will stick with it for years as...

That's interesting, have you emailed them regarding the bad audio quality? and provide them the proof as well!

@Elias: Thank you for the explanations. @HeadLover: The SQ should be the same as the DAC1 PRE. Main difference for me is that the volume controls on the HDR is more precise now (does not have the dials like the original volume knob) thanks to motorized knob. The new 32bit chip looks...

@Quaddy: Thanks, I'm glad you like it. @Elias: Yes, I've just learned about the mute buttons. They are indeed very cool. It will remember the last volume position, which is nice. Also, I found the dim setting pretty useful. I can now press a button and it will go to the preset dim level I've...

Quote: Originally Posted by Quaddy /\ congrats on getting the HDR!!! please post Photos of the unit and the remote, what colour did you choose? Thanks, I got the silver one because it matches the iMac better and less apparent when it gets dusty. Few photos of the HDR as...

Quote: Originally Posted by EliasGwinn The 'garage-door' optical ports were susceptible to breaking. The hinged-door broke on too many units, so we are currently using the original style on all units. All the best, Elias I see, that sound like a good reason to use the...

I've received my DAC1 HRD today and it's working great. The volume adjustment is much more precise now and having a remote is very convenient. Elias, quick question, is there a reason for changing the optical out port from the retractable cover on the DAC1 PRE to the small detachable cover...

Quote: Originally Posted by nsx_23 How big are the A2? I just took a picture for size comparison with a Nintendo DSi. Hope this helps. As people mentioned above, there are many other options. The roads to good speakers are unending. But overall, for the price and...

Forgot to add, you need to change the optical settings in the "Audio MIDI Setup" under utilities folder to get 5.1 surround. Don't know if that'll help.

Bug, what program are you using to play it? I thought dualdisk is just 1 side CD + 1 side DVD. Don't think I understand the DVD-Audio part. Have you tried VLC player or MPlayer OSX Extended? I don't know if this will help: Rip DVD-A on Mac | Computer Audiophile Howard.

Have you tried outputting the audio through the optical out from the Mac to a 5.1 speaker set that have optical input? For example, the logitech surround speakers have optical inputs.

Thanks posting the new picture. I was worried if Benchmark is gonna go with a cheap looking remote. Fortunately the remote in the picture doesn't look too bad.