1. Hifiman He-400 2. AKG k701 3. Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 250 3. NHT Superbuds 5. Sony HDR V900   All MSB Link III or Musical Fidelity x24k> xCan 2 or Creek obh-11.

The Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100 is a great DAC that measures well and handles 192 kHz via coax.   You are unlikely to hear significant differences with a new DAC.   Save your money.

worked. Thanks.

I'd pre-order these for $50. How do I get that deal?

I'm running the VX1 out of a Macbook Pro's usb port (Fidelia) into a pair of NHT Super Zero speakers. Sounds great for what it is.   One thing, it seems that the DAC operates *only* at 96 kHz, up sampling everything to 96 kHz.

Can you give some information on the transfers? When were these HiRez files created? From what kind of analogue tape? Is the dynamic range of the material actually enough to warrant 24bits?

With modern DAC designs the cable type makes no difference whatsoever.   It is a digital signal. It either works, in which case you hear music; or it doesn't- in which case you hear static.   Use whatever you have- they'll all sound the same.

Fidelia allows for up to 3 AU plugins, and their built in headphone processor is very good.

  Nope.   They are the same.   Bit for bit identical in fact.

If you are looking for a set of headphones for walking around, why are you asking about full-sized headphones?   Big headphones are for use in a single spot. You might be able to use open backed headphones is you don't have other noise to counteract and don't worry about your music bothering...

Quote: Expectation Bias accounts for most of their profit. Also blatantly false advertising claims.   The whole "silver cables are brighter" and "copper cables are warmer" statements (neither of which can be substantiated by science in any way) are best attributed, in my opinion, to the...

Quote: Yes.   You can spend as much as you want on cables, but any differences you hear are likely the result of factors other than auditory ones.   That's fine, pretty colors and fat cables might make you happy. If so, great. If you are after sound quality, spend your money on the...

Save your money and spend it on a better transducer.   You can buy a really good pair of headphones for the price of 4 WBT RCA cables.

Yes and no. If the file sample rate and the sample rate setting in audio/midi setup match- the output is bit perfect. If not, core audio resamples the date to match the system sample rate. This program does this on the fly automatically, while allowing users to continue to use iTunes.

I'd start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics   The reason that some stereo equipment is so expensive is because some (potential) customers are willing to buy things at high prices.

Quote: My point is that when comparing a free product to a $300 product, the ability to distinguish the $300 product from the free only 66.6% of the time is hardly a ringing endorsement, and likely proof of the fact that any differences you "heard" were not a result of purely auditory...

Quote: Even according to your position, a full on third of the times you spent concentrating on nothing else, you couldn't distinguish between a free product and a ~$300 product.   And you are proud of that?

Quote: What you say makes perfect sense, if you are using a DAC without a buffer.   Can you name a DAC chip or, for that matter, a USB DAC which doesn't buffer the data?

Digital audio signals are computer data. 1010111010101010101010 = 1010111010101010101010.   Digital audio isn't any more "fragile" than any other digital information.    Wireworld sells USB cables making them far from unbiased.   USB and other Digital Cables either meet the spec that...

I need something which doesn't impart a taste.   soft flame butane may be the answer.

That's a low-fi printer rig.   You won't understand anything on a printed page until you run your printer off of battery power.   I also place my printer on maple blocks to spiritually isolate the printer from unwanted resonances  ...

Quote: A skeptic once tried to prove with a light meter that the colors were the precisely the same and that my head was playing tricks on me (lol), but I suspect that because his test contradicted my subjective experience, there must be something wrong with his test.    After all, I...

I'd love a recommendation for a wind-proof refillable lighter...

I have a usb keyboard. I used to connect it to my computer with a stock usb cable. On a whim I decided to use this cable instead:  http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=AQMUSBDIA%20.75   It costs a mere $548 dollars, which, given that I have about $2000 in my computer, seems like...

Fidelia under osx 10.8.3