[DaaDaa]

Give both of them least 100 hours of penal told before judging

 

[PopZeus]

Yeah, some enjoy the pairing of the R2R-11 with the HD6XX and some don't. But any owner won't have a really good sense until the R2R-11's sound stabilizes after burn-in. That said, my 11 is stable enough for me to safely say I think it's great pairing with the Elex. My guess is it will give the Beyers a nice body as well.

 

[gLer]

Yeah, some enjoy the pairing of the R2R-11 with the HD6XX and some don't. But any owner won't have a really good sense until the R2R-11's sound stabilizes after burn-in. That said, my 11 is stable enough for me to safely say I think it's great pairing with the Elex. My guess is it will give the Beyers a nice body as well.

Hey Pop, how do you find the bass on the Elex with the R2R-11? I see you have the Emu Teak as well. I imagine the Elex doesn’t come anywhere the sub bass weight of the Teak?

 

[PopZeus]

Hey Pop, how do you find the bass on the Elex with the R2R-11? I see you have the Emu Teak as well. I imagine the Elex doesn’t come anywhere the sub bass weight of the Teak?

Between the Teak and Elex, their bass tunings are pretty different. The Teaks win on bass volume, esp in relation to the mids. There's a section of the bass where the drivers really slam. But its bass boost region is not as wide or flat as the Elex, which has a much more linear rise and subsequent fall-off. I wanna say that sub-bass extension is slightly better on the Elex for that reason. More of that 20-30 hz region.

As far as pairing the Elex with the R2R-11, yeah it's a warm combo but I think it's pretty darn listenable. My endgame set-up is a bit like the R2R-11's bigger, balanced brother, so I know how well the Elex scales to that, and my brain wants to compare the 11 to that, which is unfair. There are other headphone pairings that have a more overall neutral presentation with the 11, but the Elex is fully capable of rendering all the detail the 11 is capable of throwing out there and more, if that makes sense.

 

[gLer]

Between the Teak and Elex, their bass tunings are pretty different. The Teaks win on bass volume, esp in relation to the mids. There's a section of the bass where the drivers really slam. But its bass boost region is not as wide or flat as the Elex, which has a much more linear rise and subsequent fall-off. I wanna say that sub-bass extension is slightly better on the Elex for that reason. More of that 20-30 hz region.

As far as pairing the Elex with the R2R-11, yeah it's a warm combo but I think it's pretty darn listenable. My endgame set-up is a bit like the R2R-11's bigger, balanced brother, so I know how well the Elex scales to that, and my brain wants to compare the 11 to that, which is unfair. There are other headphone pairings that have a more overall neutral presentation with the 11, but the Elex is fully capable of rendering all the detail the 11 is capable of throwing out there and more, if that makes sense.

Thanks, makes perfect sense. By endgame set-up do you mean the R-28? I have that and find it’s great with the Elex, although I do find the bass a touch slim at times and the mids a touch dry/thin. Slapping on Dekoni fenestrated pads on the Elex (which is actually an Elear - dame difference) makes them immediately more punchy and sparkly, at the cost of some shoutiness with certain tracks and less comfort than the pillow-like Elex pads. Everything just seems to be a compromise, with no ‘Goldilocks’ combination. I wonder if there is such a thing as Goldilocks in head-fi. Maybe an Auteur...

 

[MelonHead]

Hey there guys
I've had my HD6XX for a while and received my R2R11 about a month ago.
I might have to face some flak from the audiophiles for this but here is my experience.
I dont know too many of the audiophile terms so ill share my experience in layman terms.
Before i got my R2R11, i was using my HD6XXs with my Ipad Air2, listening to 320kbps music.
And when i received the R2R11, very honestly i wasnt overwhelmed.
I was expecting to be blown away considering the amount of money I'd spent on it.
Rather, I might sound stupid saying this, but other than the loudness of the R2R, I dont see it as much of an upgrade from my Ipad.
Instead the R2R seems to be chopping off the punch from the music, it makes the music sound a little muddy if that is a term.
It is just taking the excitement away from the music, the HD6XX being a warm pair already.

However what the R2R has done is made my 4 year old HD518s sound much better.
So much so that the HD6XX seem like only a marginal upgrade from the HD518s.
So I dont know if I should be regretting my purchase or what....
Would like to know your views on this.
A I missing any settings here?
I had a look at the settings on my computer:
Digital Output Properties>Advanced>Default Format> it seems to be running at 2 Channel, 16bit, 44100 Hz (CD Quality)

Am i supposed to change anything under this setting?

Hi!
What software do you use for music playback? Do you use EQ on your Ipad?
It's a common consideration, that DirectSound drivers are not the best possible way to use your DAC/AMP. Instead of that, try Wasapi and/or Asio drivers.
The DAC part of the R2R-11 is pretty solid. Even if the amplification part is not as spotless, it should be better than Ipad.

 

[benirohit458]

Hi!
What software do you use for music playback? Do you use EQ on your Ipad?
It's a common consideration, that DirectSound drivers are not the best possible way to use your DAC/AMP. Instead of that, try Wasapi and/or Asio drivers.
The DAC part of the R2R-11 is pretty solid. Even if the amplification part is not as spotless, it should be better than Ipad.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try the softwares. However do you think i will be better off with the NFB-11? Considering that I don't prefer the dark sound of the R2R? How does the sound signtusig of the NFB differ from the R2R?

 

[MelonHead]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try the softwares. However do you think i will be better off with the NFB-11? Considering that I don't prefer the dark sound of the R2R? How does the sound signtusig of the NFB differ from the R2R?

It's up to your preference. I like darker, analogue-like and warmish sound signature. therefore I put a Darkvoice 336 SE into my listening chain and this is responsible for the amplification.
To be honest, I wouldn't buy an Audio-gd product for mp3 playback. It shines with well-recorded red-book audio (CD-quality), or hi-res PCM audio files.
I suggest you to try out different drivers and softwares (Foobar 2000, Musicbee, Album Player to name a few) and let your R2R-11 at least 100-150 hours "burn-in" before making your final decision.

 

[benirohit458]

It's up to your preference. I like darker, analogue-like and warmish sound signature. therefore I put a Darkvoice 336 SE into my listening chain and this is responsible for the amplification.
To be honest, I wouldn't buy an Audio-gd product for mp3 playback. It shines with well-recorded red-book audio (CD-quality), or hi-res PCM audio files.
I suggest you to try out different drivers and softwares (Foobar 2000, Musicbee, Album Player to name a few) and let your R2R-11 at least 100-150 hours "burn-in" before making your final decision.

Well I too like a slightly warm but refined signature. However the HD6XX being a warm pair already, the R2R is making it sound too dull.
I'm not using MP3, I use tidal.

 

[DaaDaa]

I found out that i loved most of my headphones with r2r11. Specially dll some cheaper headphones that have potential but can also sound brittle and thin , sounded excellent with r2r11 . the only poor pairing was lcd2c which resulted in shouty vocals. Just too mid forward.On the other hand superlux 686b is a 3l40 dollar pair plus 50 bucks worth of sheepskin pads and 30 dollar pilot pad sounds excellent soy r2r11

 

[PopZeus]

Thanks, makes perfect sense. By endgame set-up do you mean the R-28? I have that and find it’s great with the Elex, although I do find the bass a touch slim at times and the mids a touch dry/thin. Slapping on Dekoni fenestrated pads on the Elex (which is actually an Elear - dame difference) makes them immediately more punchy and sparkly, at the cost of some shoutiness with certain tracks and less comfort than the pillow-like Elex pads. Everything just seems to be a compromise, with no ‘Goldilocks’ combination. I wonder if there is such a thing as Goldilocks in head-fi. Maybe an Auteur...

I wonder how to achieve refined tweaks like that. Maybe a DSP? Or an analog EQ like the Loki? That new Ether CX might have a more compatible tuning... At least that's a headphone that looks intriguing to me personally. Haha.

I just got the R2R-1 a few months before they made the R1. Dangit. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Still, I am super happy with the purchase and think it pairs well with the Elex. Granted, the Cavalli LCX amp, despite being warm, does a good job of punching everything up so I don't miss the recessed vocals. I do notice it more when I switch directly between the Mobius (which is more mid-forward) and the Elex.

 

[PopZeus]

On a side note about the R2R-11: Running the DAC as a line out to an amp and a pair of Elac speakers gets a much more Harman target sound, with richer vocals/mids. It's likely deliberate on AJ's part that the speakers are tuned to that curve. But it makes me think if any thinness in the vocals I hear when the 11 is paired with the Elex is because the headphone was designed to have that notch at 2k? It's always going to sound slightly recessed there...

 

[JMT391]

Hey peeps, quick question about the R2R 11 that I did not see scrolling through the thread: When using "variable out," does the unit function as an analogue pre-amp with its own discrete circuitry? Like an analogue pre-amp? Or is it a modification of the digital signal?

 

[Licht]

Hey peeps, quick question about the R2R 11 that I did not see scrolling through the thread: When using "variable out," does the unit function as an analogue pre-amp with its own discrete circuitry? Like an analogue pre-amp? Or is it a modification of the digital signal?

Analogue through Alps RK27 pot.

 

[JMT391]

Analogue through Alps RK27 pot.

Thanks! Followup--why is it that the pre-amp (i.e. variable) output matches the volume level of the line (i.e. fixed) out when the knob is turned to halfway? I thought most pre-amps at full volume are equivalent to line-out and anything less than that attenuates the signal. I am asking because at the moment I have the unit connected to a stereo receiver so my speaker setup is double pre-amped. Also, the gain settings effect the variable & fixed out which I find odd, although I always use low gain setting which is +0db anyway. Thank you for clarifying