Note that though in a full-scale sine sweep, having the EQ profile have areas greater than 0 dBFS could cause clipping or volume limiting, it is best to use an oscilloscope plugin like in the Reaper DAW or any other way to check the actual amplitude peaks of the EQed signal with a very busy and...

You may or may not have seen these ones: my own https://www.head-fi.org/threads/stax-sr-x9000.959852/post-17962318 (post #2,851) based on my measurements of a demo unit, and Royal Navy's https://www.head-fi.org/threads/stax-sr-x9000.959852/post-17977178 (post #2,859). My profile included...

Through my FiiO K9 Pro ESS and Meze Elite stack in my signature, first with no DSP other than neutral PEQ for my preference: Pink Floyd - Wearing the Inside Out (via Qobuz "The Division Bell"): Frontal kickdrum pulses. Frontal and slightly upper imaging of the high-frequency synth noise. The...

What kinds of tracks do you use for testing for "holographic soundstage"?

As one who listens to and attends lots of symphonic music, I would note that it would be good to make sure that the X9000 seals well on your own head since the circular cups are so large and are not particularly contoured. For my head, no matter the positioning, I was feeling uncomfortable gaps...

I'd say the only way you could EQ them to sound virtually indistinguishable would be if you have in-ear mics to check your work. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/hifiman-susvara-headphone-review.50705/page-57#post-1853760 (post #1,137) shows an example where I had done...

At the minimum, as you may or may not have heard, try using a multimeter to check that the Vrms measured for a 1 kHz signal out of both DAC and amp chains is as close as possible (you would need some adapter for exposing the stereo leads of your amp for contact with the probes of a multimeter...

I had already described in https://www.head-fi.org/threads/rec...nely-curious-objectivist.972411/post-18078699 (post #9, which is admittedly long) that using Qobuz for some high-res recordings of "complex symphonic works" and when using my FiiO K9 Pro ESS's DAC output into a few "higher-level"...

Welp. The human mind is a powerful thing. So long as you are happy with the sound. I would also warn of the fickleness of human hearing. A few days ago, I listened to a recording of Mahler Symphony No. 1 that finally had me feeling quite pleased with my DSP solution insofar as I was hearing...

Usually I would try the free option (EQ) first, mind that the time setting up said software could be comparable to the time spent making a visit to a shop, but it otherwise could indeed be nice to try out other stock headphones if you are available to audition them first. I am someone who made...

I would say that cables would be the least likely or reliable (as far as going the route of using likely psychological suggestion to create the perception of more bass and whatnot) way to get that much increase in bass and midrange. "Thick/meaty" kind of makes me think of the Meze Elite with...

It might be a similar issue to this 6.4 kHz peak that I measure with my own ears for blocked canal in-ear microphones (this example was a demo unit, quite consistent with my own unit; my measurements with my old in-ear mic mounts have less treble and have that peak at 6.25 kHz instead; it is...

That is a nice colour. I presently rock with the Tungsten model. Otherwise, rest assured that you are getting one of the best performing headphones for multi-tone distortion at least when EQed (my own measurements shared in...

Could you share an example track demonstrating how the FiiO K9 Pro ESS "significantly simplifies the low frequencies"? If for "top-end planar headphones", you are talking about the DCA Expanse (which I have heard driven plenty loud on high gain, though indeed close to maxing out my amp) or...

There was word of it in early March. At least by my ears in my two recent encounters with it at a shop, the only advantage was loudness and more features; https://www.head-fi.org/threads/recommend-a-high-end-dac-and-amp-stack-to-a-genuinely-curious-objectivist.972411/post-18078699 (post #9) for...

Is the FiiO K9 Pro ESS sounding dull, flabby, weak, or even more smoothed compared to your Serenade? Or is it sounding harsh? Did your FiiO K9 Pro ESS ever sound "good" early on in your ownership of it? Are you using the balanced connections or adjusting the gain? Maybe there really is some unit...

I concur that the Arya Stealth is not at all supposed to have that light of a clamp force, their from my experience and some others' description supposed to be on the slightly heavier side compared to the relatively light-clamping HE1000se. This would seem like an unfortunate Q/C issue, but I...

How do you find the HiFiMan Serenade compared to the FiiO K9 Pro ESS as an R2R and Class A combo?

"Vivid (depends on the recording and sometimes the time of the day), dynamic, transparent, immersive (also depends), holographic (with well-mixed recordings in the sense of things actually imaging in logical spots ahead of me except for extreme pans), neutral without being sterile (all warmth...

See https://www.head-fi.org/threads/recommend-a-high-end-dac-and-amp-stack-to-a-genuinely-curious-objectivist.972411/post-18078699 (post #9) for my detailed "impressions" of how the FiiO K9 Pro ESS held up against a few other amps and DACs for driving the Meze Elite which I know is at least in...

I would like to share my recent experience A/Bing a few amps and DACs at two different shops. Most listening was done with Qobuz which I had gotten a trial subscription for that morning and found to not at all be advantageous for the same recording compared to Idagio out of MS Edge including...

Yeah. When I had read about the angling of the grilles, I supposed the idea was that the grilles were more so there to protect the driver and were angled to control the reflections and minimize any detriment from having that reflection in place insofar as other grille designs were patented or...

How exactly are you hearing the "noise" in your system? Is it an actual background hiss even when not playing music? I feel that I hear a "black background" just fine with my FiiO K9 Pro ESS, its also depending highly on the the recording. Headphone frequency response as coupled with your own...

Following the procedures for setting up CroPaC in the second section of https://www.head-fi.org/threads/anyone-into-crossfeed.961533/page-6#post-18068536 (#78) gives me coherent imaging along a nigh perfect line a meter ahead of me, even with the default HRIR. With this rather more sophisticated...

Here I was having complained in https://www.head-fi.org/threads/totl-disappointments.925164/page-63#post-17949397 (post #936) about what was technically largely practically inaudible higher than nominal distortion while folks are having units with drivers properly dying. Did your units' QC...