[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

What usb thingee are you guys referring to?
 

 

http://www.bluecircle.com/index.php?menu_id=5002
 
Incredible device and very highly rated/respected.
 

 

[immtbiker]

Blue Circle makes wonderful products.
 
Gilbert is real good people.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Blue Circle makes wonderful products.
 
Gilbert is real good people.

Agreed...a great guy to talk to on the phone...he takes time to make sure you get the right product for your particular application.
 
The USB Thingee has breathed new life into my PC audio. I did get away from it in favour of CDs, but with the USB Thingee in place between my PC and DAC, the differences are not as wide anymore.

 

[Pacha]

How does it scale compared to m2tech HiFace?

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

How does it scale compared to m2tech HiFace?

I believe upstateguy is the man to ask. He's got both on hand. He was the one who recommended the USB Thingee to me as it was the only one of the two that actually improved USB music.
 
As well, it does have RCA out (it has a DAC built in...and highly recommended) and headphone out (amp included). Not to mention, toslink AND spdif out.

 

[Pacha]

As upstateguy is disliking the HiFace while many like it (I have it, modded; I'm not a fanboy of the HiFace) I'd have liked to read more input from other people also.

 

[upstateguy]

Quote:

As upstateguy is disliking the HiFace while many like it (I have it, modded; I'm not a fanboy of the HiFace) I'd have liked to read more input from other people also.

 
Hi Pacha
 
If I understand correctly, you have one of the battery powered units. 
 
If this is so, we should be clear that the battery powered unit is nothing like the stock Hiface sold by m2tech and should not be confused with one. 
 
Compared to the BCT which is entirely neutral, I have found the stock HiFace to have a pseudo-detailed, treble tilted timbre.   So you are quite correct that I give the stock unit a thumbs down.
 
I have done a shoot out between the BCT and the stock HF with 3 levels of DACs, a North Star MKII, Stello, and Constantine, which I will try to post in the near future.  One of the interesting things that came out of the shootout was that the stock HF does not work well with upsampling DACs unless you can bypass the upsampling feature. I was able to confirm this with the Stello which has a bypass switch.
 
Btw, is your modification the BNC version, and are you using the recommended attenuators?
 
USG
 

 

[baritone]

hi I also own a t1 pair
the question isif  it worth to go  balanced and   really improves the sound ?
i intend to build myself a new diy headamp may be  ballanced outputs  this time
are you happy with the new ballanced sound or there is much phycology than facts

 

[upstateguy]

Quote:

hi I also own a t1 pair
the question isif  it worth to go  balanced and   really improves the sound ?
i intend to build myself a new diy headamp may be  ballanced outputs  this time
are you happy with the new ballanced sound or there is much phycology than facts

There is some interesting information from kwkarth in the Schitt Asgard thread that you might be interested in, regarding balanced Vs single ended.  The essence of what he said was that with equal components, there is no difference between balanced and single ended .....   it goes against the conventional belief system, but read it for yourself.

 
USG

 

[Pacha]

 
Quote:

 
Hi Pacha
 
If I understand correctly, you have one of the battery powered units. 
 
If this is so, we should be clear that the battery powered unit is nothing like the stock Hiface sold by m2tech and should not be confused with one. 
 
Compared to the BCT which is entirely neutral, I have found the stock HiFace to have a pseudo-detailed, treble tilted timbre.   So you are quite correct that I give the stock unit a thumbs down.
 
I have done a shoot out between the BCT and the stock HF with 3 levels of DACs, a North Star MKII, Stello, and Constantine, which I will try to post in the near future.  One of the interesting things that came out of the shootout was that the stock HF does not work well with upsampling DACs unless you can bypass the upsampling feature. I was able to confirm this with the Stello which has a bypass switch.
 
Btw, is your modification the BNC version, and are you using the recommended attenuators?
 
USG
 

 
I have RCA version with no attenuator yet. I was planning to buy one but it would require many adapters because attenuators are only BNC. I'm not in a hurry at the moment to put a cascade of adapters + attenuator behind my DAC while I already have an RCA/RCA male adapter, I'll see.

 

[Pacha]

My T1 have left for recabling by ALO with OCC Chain Mail 18awg + Furutech plug. I'll post my impressions when I receive it.
I already listened to it at slim.a's place and compared it directly to my stock T1 in this thread previously anyway.

 

[Frank I]

Curious why people are recabling the T1. The cable it comes with is pretty good. I am not sure why someone would want to hurt the resale value of the headphone. With the LCD2 at least no surgery is needed. I also wondering if it would more difficult to sell.

 

[Pacha]

Why would it be more difficult to sell?
Anyway I'm not selling these cans before a few years until Beyer create better ones, so I'm quite ok with that.
 
I agree with you that stock cable is good, but did you listen to a recabled T1 and compared it to yours?
I had the occasion to directly compare mine and ALO recabled one on the same setup and I can tell you it is worth recabling, and I was not expecting any improvement with the recabling before trying.

 

[Frank I]

Quote:

Why would it be more difficult to sell?
Anyway I'm not selling these cans before a few years until Beyer create better ones, so I'm quite ok with that.
 
I agree with you that stock cable is good, but did you listen to a recabled T1 and compared it to yours?
I had the occasion to directly compare mine and ALO recabled one on the same setup and I can tell you it is worth recabling, and I was not expecting any improvement with the recabling before trying.

It drive the price up when you need to sell it. Many buyers will not buy modded high end gear. I am sure you probably do have a improvement and I have done no listening to the T1 recabled. I myself do not mod my gear its just something I have never done and am quite happy with the stock cable. Its just a personal thing with me.

 

[Pacha]

Issue with T1 as you pointed out is that the cable is non detachable like on the LCD-2 or HD800, but still. I understand your point of view. I know that less people are interested to buy modded gear but when mod is recognized as an improvement it usually is ok though price raise as you also said. I think I'll keep the modified T1 for quite a long period anyway.