[jcx]

I would like to see the Marantz circuit, real specs for their headphone out - but on a $1.5k receiver which bothers to tout Dolby Headphone processing, and on a front panel output - I kind of expect fairly decent performance
 
 
 
as far as Audio GD - when ads tout 32 bit Audio then you should hold on to your wallet - the obvious puffery doesn't speak well for the rest of their claims
 
 
and asking for great with 300 Ohm HD-6/8xx amps and then claiming good for iem too is like the "its a floor wax and a dessert topping" ad
 
most iems don't need much power delivered - in fact the main problem is reducing V from most DAC's nominal 2 Vrms to the less than 200 mV you really want with most sensitive iem without adding noise that also makes mockery of their S/N, dynamic range numbers
 
while a great amp for the 650 should be able to push nearly 8 Vrms - you'd have to burn 30 dB of your S/N, dynamic range to match sensitive iem with the same circuit

 

[Chris_Himself]

Quote:

 
as far as Audio GD - when ads tout 32 bit Audio then you should hold on to your wallet - the obvious puffery doesn't speak well for the rest of their claims
 
 

 
I completely agree with that point as I barely believe in the 24-bit stuff being any better as it is even with dedicated 24-bit FLAC vinyl rips compared to 16, but you cannot really ignore the magnificent price/performance ratio once you have one in front of you.
 
The reason they' went with 32-bit is the lead engineer is always chasing the latest and greatest DAC chips, while it may not offer an objective benefit, I think he's just playing the numbers game with everybody else. Schiit's model of taking a shelf-grade DAC and implementing it wonderfully is the textbook way to building a good DAC imo, but the AGD stuff doesn't slack. I have the $200 unit and the $600 one, and I've been happy and it displaces the more expensive stuff in my collection.

 

[kopyland03]

Try Burson Audio Soloist
 
Very Clear and detail sound from HD 650.
 
When I use Beyerdynamic T1
 
then I listen with Lehmannaudio Black Cube Linear