[KimLaroux]

Thanks for the clarification.
 
Where can I find this head-fi buying guide you speak of? I think I've got more reading to do... 

 

[bowei006]

http://www.head-fi.org/a/headphone-buying-guide
 
you're welcome 

 
when i first heard about this buying guide a while ago. i scoffed at it. i thought personal suggestions and recommendations were better. i took a look at it and wow. it covered many things...this is..a really good guide

 

[The8thst]

http://www.head-fi.org/a/headphone-buying-guide

you're welcome 

when i first heard about this buying guide a while ago. i scoffed at it. i thought personal suggestions and recommendations were better. i took a look at it and wow. it covered many things...this is..a really good guide

How did I miss this when I was looking for headphones? Great structure and a wealth of information condensed into a quick read.
This will help me out a lot when I look to buy a smoother, bassier, pair of closed cans as a sibling to my Grados.

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

How did I miss this when I was looking for headphones? Great structure and a wealth of information condensed into a quick read.
This will help me out a lot when I look to buy a smoother, bassier, pair of closed cans as a sibling to my Grados.

dont't worry i didn't know until recently either..well i did but i never gave it a look
 
how do you get the title? does anybody that works anywhere get one if you provide proof? hmm
 

 

[The8thst]

how do you get the title? does anybody that works anywhere get one if you provide proof? hmm

I am assuming you mean the "Member of The Trade" title. Well I didn't ask for it, it was given to me. I posted a couple pictures of some rack wiring I had done in the DIY Cable thread. A member asked where I worked and I responded with a couple more pictures and a link to the website.
A few days later I got a PM saying my post was deleted and I was being reported for advertising (on a site where 25% of the total width is taken up with ads..... ) and that I had to follow some extra rules. The title was added to my profile through that whole rigamarole.

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

I am assuming you mean the "Member of The Trade" title. Well I didn't ask for it, it was given to me. I posted a couple pictures of some rack wiring I had done in the DIY Cable thread. A member asked where I worked and I responded with a couple more pictures and a link to the website.
A few days later I got a PM saying my post was deleted and I was being reported for advertising (on a site where 25% of the total width is taken up with ads..... ) and that I had to follow some extra rules. The title was added to my profile through that whole rigamarole.

Head-Fi has strict ad regulations. you can't just come in and advertise your audiophile products. sponsors and big time audiophile companies ahve a specific and only specific part of the forums they can post website and super ad stuff. otehr than that, company reps use it as a personal account, answer questions, stuff like that (like feiao from FiiO)
 
wish i had a member of the trade title. but then again as we see from contributer rank and member of trade titles now...they are more or less worthless. 
 
 

 

[214324]

First thing that comes to mind for exactly $200 (I think) is the Maverick Audio Tubemagic D1 but I'm pretty sure you can get better. It's just not that portable though. You need an outlet so that translates to desktop module. It can handle 240v though. It has a switch on the back.

 

[The8thst]

The D2 showed up on Saturday after the original package got lost in transit. The seller was really easy to work with and shipped a second unit when the tracking info on the first hadn't appeared in the system after a week.

So far my impressions are that this a great deal for $130. All inputs worked perfectly straight out of the box (coax, optical, analog, and USB). The blue backlight around the volume control looks really nice and the machining on the faceplate is very smooth with easy to read engraving.

The unit was a tiny bit noisy with the factory supplied cheap power supply. I swapped it out for This 16v one I had lying around and the D2 is now dead quiet.

I need to let it burn in a little bit, but it seems like this would be perfectly paired with some laid back phones. It is pretty forward and sound very immediate and "in-your-face", but very clear at the same time. I am really hoping it will smooth out as it burns in because so far it is not a great match for Grados.

I will take some pictures of the guts (and ask about possible op-amp swaps to mellow it out) in the next couple days after I have a better chance to listen to it and let it burn in. Maybe a LD I+ will be all it needs to tube it up enough for my tastes.