Can you hear a sound quality difference between the K5 and laptop? Aside from that I'm sure the laptop has a better audio implementation then the dongle. I've tested mine with an M1 Pro and they sound great. Not as great as the Mojo 2 but still great!

The Organic's soundstage like an interesting upgrade/ sidegrade from the Stealth - however it's too bad that it has such low impedance likely excluding it from sounding tight on tube amplifiers like my Stealth does (which sounds huge on tubes). I wonder how much of the perceived benefit in...

Tuning is warmer. On the edge of my seat for a comparison FR graph to come out.

I have the original strap, but paired with the big copilot strap cover. Think I'd benefit from the crescent strap in addition?

That's fair, I suppose I can stencil on a "- 1" to the end of the "Ares 12th". Though might as well go for "- 2" to get ahead of things.

It's bad business practice. Part of the fun of buying something new is in having the latest version of the product, and can help justify the added expense. I just got mine a few weeks ago and would have gladly waited for the new version. I still love my 12th, but out of principal I believe...

Wow they already released a new NEW version of the Ares 12th... the Ares 12th-1. https://www.vinshineaudio.com/post/world-premiere-denafrips-ares-12th-1-r-2r-ladder-dac Looks like an upgraded power supply. I just JUST bought my Ares 12th and now it's already been replaced.

I had a similar issue, though tubes seem to have affected it the most in my troubleshooting. Went through 5 pairs of Gold Lion's to find a combo that hardly does it. It's always on the right regardless of if you switch the tubes?

I run my Arya Stealth from a Quicksilver Tube Headphone amp with Gold Lion tubes all around. The timbre is much more natural out of tubes, while opening up the soundstage even further. Really amazing combo. The Quicksilver has an output transformer which results in a low output impedance of 2...

Interesting, however the Arya is as open as it gets and makes a terrible on the go option. Also the build makes it the last headphone I want to travel with.

I'm with you, people in their target market who are willing to pay that price for a headphone will likely have a preference towards higher impedance to use on equipment that prefers that (like tubes). I don't get their angle. Who's running these off a smartphone out?

I love the new wood look. I think it adds some character to an otherwise industrial/ boring presentation. That said, I love the Arya on tubes and even now I'm feeling like 32 ohms is just cutting it. Assuming 16 would be out of the question.

Does the Arya Stealth come with the Ultra Pad or the Serenity Pad? The HiFiMan website says: "SerenityPads Next Advancement to the UltraPad" https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/serenitypads.html

How do the Dekoni pads change the character of the bass/ overall sound from your perspective?

Is that even available anymore? Looks like it was a limited run?

The highs on the MG are still very much there, and they won't give you the same expansiveness of the planars you like. While they are very dynamic, yes, I wouldn't call their stock tambre smooth like the others you mentioned. They're my go to when I'm looking for impact and energy. I reach for...

Gold Lions's all around took this amp to a whole new level for me. Seriously good with my ZMF Verite and Arya Stealth.

So an upgraded MQA decoder as MQA is on its way out.

I see there are now solid options available for the Verite pad, when I first got it it was default perforated. If I get a solid, how would the sound compare to perf?

What's the difference between putting the unit into standby mode vs not? The unit is on either way, does that just determine whether power is going to the processing units?

I have one of each on the way, basically mimicking what this guide shows in case I decide to use an XLR splitter for two devices in the future: https://www.denafrips.com/single-post/can-i-connect-the-dac-output-to-two-devices

Upon more research, instead of shorting one of the ladders, it seems like this cable from Benchmark would leave one floating. Would this be a better method if I didn't want to go through a transformer?

Getting back to this, I asked ZMF and they have not discontinued them. They are simply re-listed in the BE2 section as more people are looking for the BE2 than the Verite pads, so it's a bit confusing but they're still here.

The JDS Labs EL Amp II+ Boosted is the best amp I've tried with the MG so far. I'm blown away. Super dynamic, clean, and smooth at the same time! It just feels right. Using iFi iDSD Signature as DAC. Compared to: iFi iDSD Signature Amp out - iFi is actually a little too squeaky sharp without...

Interesting! How does this compare with the native single ended out on the Ares? As far as I know since it doesn't have an output stage wouldn't it only be using one ladder as well? Or is that different? Also, I got the Little Bear unit, is it effectively doing the same thing as the converter...