Lol PayPal Friends & Family

Never had any.

Schiit is generally good value for money, apart from occasional QC/technical issues. There's a thread for Mjolnir 3, if you go through it, you should get an impression if it's for you: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-mjolnir-3-impressions-thread.969416/

It should be fine, they know their stuff. I've ordered from hifigo a while ago and more recently from Linsoul. Linsoul has same shipping options and they work :)

I'd god for separates - easier to change the dac only if like the amp, or vice versa. Another consideration is DACs tend to sound best after they've been on for a few days, so separates let you keep the dac always on and only switch on/off the amp. Can't comment on Schiit vs JDS Labs as I have...

No idea, sorry

EF400 can be had for $309 open box which seems like a great deal to me. One thing to note though is that it only has USB input.

Haven't had too much time to listen to it (on Speakers these days), but so far pretty awesome! I mostly own closed-back headphones, but haven't done any comparisons yet.

A topping will probably impress you after your current dac/amp. I have only listened to Anandas with a Schiit Lyr 3, and I liked how it sounded. There's a huge thread here on head-fi dedicated to this amp. I always vote for separates, esp if you want to be future-proof. So a Schiit Lyr 3 (or...

Having heard none of the above, but having owned some SMSL and Topping, I'd go with the Hifiman being the R2R dac and what seems to be a descent headphone amp. There are some reviews on the internet with some comparisons, pros and cons to help you decide if it's for you.

I'm confused. Is it close or the same headphone? RT vs X

Any non-Focal headphones that isolate well or as good as Focal? P.S. I used Elegia with the Dekoni Stellia pads.

I wouldn't say that about the Elegia. "OK" is a more descriptive word. Are there any better-isolationg ones?

Just to confirm, is it isolation from the outside noise? It's on my list of consideration also esp considering the comments above, but the reason for choosing a closed back is to be able to listen to the music in a noisy environment.

Does that mean that the X will have a more forward midrange? Would call them bright, or sparkly or anything like that? How is the outside noise isolation? Is the build quality the same as the "premium" versions if the AEON closed?

Not sure if they ship from China for store.hifiman.com store at all. If an item has limited availability, they usually state it with red print, e.g. "Only available for UK and US". The few orders I have placed never had to pay import duties.

Good for him :D, I have an HD600 for half of the price stated also in the EU For EU customers, HifiMan ship from the Poland warehouse, so shipping is the only added cost. Albeit pretty substantial - I paid $46 shipping to Latvia. Which brings us to $445 :)

I second that. Have only had HD600 and Ananda stealth though. Why used with no warranty for $440 if you can get new with warranty for $399 from hifiman? This is a no-brainer imo. P.S. I am also selling a like-new HD600 here on head-fi if you're in EU.

Bottomline: don't expect to buy cheap and get premium customer service. And always use PayPal :joy: Btw, buyer pays shipping and gets reimbursed is a common practice. Have had the same experience with Viva tubes. No reason to not trust. That DHL label may cost them $60 while you can post it...

Actually, if you look at the same products listed on Linsoul and Shenzhenaudio for instance, most of them have the same price (RRP), but when you order from the latter, you get to pay your import duties on top of the price paid, while Linsoul gets you the item in a "tax paid" manner (if you...

Did you expect something else? :)

I've got mine in that bundle and received yesterday. I was considering buying the GranVia cable for the HifiMans anyway (although a 2m one), also used the "$50 for $25" discount code, so cost of the headphone was close to nil :) Attached to the Schiit Lyr 3 (stock Tung-Sol tube) fed by Audio GD...

I have the HD600 which I was not impressed with. Never heard an AKG though, but never considered it seriously for some reason.

Thanks, might be worth checking out, any ideas how they compare with the above models or Audeze?

Yeah, the cups remind me the he-r9 I bought at the recent sale. The pads are the same also. Isolation is close to none. Although I like the sound. That's good to know. Just looked at a FR graph for Aeon 2 closed and it has that weird 6K hump, I was turning down 5K on LCD-2 closes even when...