[wushuliu]

Quote:

You have the most backwards line of thinking IMO

Transparent gear, colored headphones ftw. Not Colored headphones and colored gear!
 
Just my .02

Meh. Says who? Is there a handbook? Shouldn't it be like speakers, where the transducer should be the most accurate component first and foremost - otherwise HOW WILL YOU KNOW whether your upstream gear is 'transparent'.

 

[brunk]

Quote:

Meh. Says who? Is there a handbook? Shouldn't it be like speakers, where the transducer should be the most accurate component first and foremost - otherwise HOW WILL YOU KNOW whether your upstream gear is 'transparent'.

+1 I'm in this boat. I don't think the other boat is wrong either, just our opinions. Both are right and wrong at the same time. I personally subscribe to both sides, just with a slight preference to one. The whole right/wrong is stubborn, and we stand a great chance to learn things by listening to others.

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

Meh. Says who? Is there a handbook? Shouldn't it be like speakers, where the transducer should be the most accurate component first and foremost - otherwise HOW WILL YOU KNOW whether your upstream gear is 'transparent'.

I did say, in MY opinion. That logic just doesn't make sense to me.

The transducer should be accurate, if you want an accurate sound, however music reproduction via transducer is a dirty, non-exact science where we sometimes just have to listen to our ears.

You know that the upstream gear is "transparent" by measuring it with tools and holding it to rules of transparency. No, it's not a guarantee, but it's the best we can do at the moment.
 
I think there are plenty of people with speakers who think the same way as me, get gear with the goal of transparency and not adding coloration, Speakers according to your taste and what you think sounds right. In fact, I am a person with speakers who applies this logic
 
To me, it makes no sense try to match amps to headphones and even lesser sense to try to pick a dac to make your headphones sound balanced, but it does make sense trying to get an amp and dac with little to no coloration and then match your headphones to your preferences. IMO

Do what you will though Happy listening either way.

 

[tzjin]

Typically I'd agree that a transparent source going to a transparent amp would be preferable. There are many more headphones than amps, so you have more options in terms of sound signatures. Furthermore, headphones are easier to tune via tips or mods etc.

I suppose each person is entitled to what works for him or her though.

 

[fenderf4i]

but it does make sense trying to get an amp and dac with little to no coloration and then match your headphones to your preferences. IMO


Do what you will though Happy listening either way.

This makes the most sense to me. I don't want 3 colored components, just one, the final one.

 

[brunk]

Quote:

This makes the most sense to me. I don't want 3 colored components, just one, the final one.

This makes sense with headphones that can be run off one single amp --properly driven. It's complete insane to suggest this method with speakers however. Speaker rolling...? yeah right lol. Therefore, if you're using these components outside of that small scope (multiple headphones on one proper amp), getting transparent speakers and choosing your favorite upstream gear is preferable. All of these arguments are still kinda crazy when you introduce this cool technology called "EQ" I know, many are bewildered by the thought of this. Try it, you might like it.

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

This makes sense with headphones that can be run off one single amp --properly driven. It's complete insane to suggest this method with speakers however. Speaker rolling...? yeah right lol. Therefore, if you're using these components outside of that small scope (multiple headphones on one proper amp), getting transparent speakers and choosing your favorite upstream gear is preferable. All of these arguments are still kinda crazy when you introduce this cool technology called "EQ" I know, many are bewildered by the thought of this. Try it, you might like it.

 
 

Spoiler: waaay%20way%20way%20OT

 
Name some speakers that are "transparent". Also, tell me the room conditions that are necessary to achieve said transparency (size, acoustic dampening, bass traps, etc).

Speaker rolling is what you have to do, if you want to hear several good speakers and how they compare, there is no way around it. Otherwise, do research, buy what you think is best and hope it sounds good when you get it home. If not, do it all over again. Many people go through many, many speakers, trying to find the right pair for their given room and their given ears and their given preferences.

 

 
EQ is cool. If you are going to EQ, why do you need colored gear?

 

[chrislangley4253]

so, uh... Remember how I thought my usb cable was bad? Turns out the recording was the culprit.. I just picked up the distortion in the left channel again. Sorry guys.

 

[brunk]

Quote:

 
EQ is cool. If you are going to EQ, why do you need colored gear?

Either you're confused or you need to understand this definition. Which one?

 

[chrislangley4253]

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Either you're confused or you need to understand this definition. Which one?

I guess that'd be confused. Enlighten me.

 

[brunk]

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I guess that'd be confused. Enlighten me.

Show me a pair of headphones/speakers with a perfectly flat frequency response, before you state "non colored gear". Once you find the answer, you will have your enlightenment. Transparency is not to be confused with colored. Transparency is lack of distortion, compression, and are able to hear things clearly. Colored is any dip or rise in frequency response from 0db. Neutral (which is a sound signature or "flavor") can take the shape of a straight line, V, or U shape. As long as the sum of all parts equal 0, it's neutral. Your personal hearing may have a bias against one of those shapes, but by definition, it's neutral.

 

[wushuliu]

Just to stir the pot; got hold of a Dragonfly DAC designed entirely by Gordon Rankin. Same chip as odac. Sounds better usb-powered than my odac stock, and about on par
with my odac using 5v external supply, maybe a little cleaner even. So my PC usb power is not to blame for the odac digititis. Dragonfly $100 more, but then half as small.
Just sharin'.

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

Show me a pair of headphones/speakers with a perfectly flat frequency response, before you state "non colored gear". Once you find the answer, you will have your enlightenment. Transparency is not to be confused with colored. Transparency is lack of distortion, compression, and are able to hear things clearly. Colored is any dip or rise in frequency response from 0db.

*sigh*
 
I think you are the one misunderstanding me. I use my "transparent" ODAC and O2 to listen to my "colored" magnums, and I really enjoy the sound and the pieces of gear. That is all I care to know anymore.

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

Just to stir the pot; got hold of a Dragonfly DAC designed entirely by Gordon Rankin. Same chip as odac. Sounds better usb-powered than my odac stock, and about on par
with my odac using 5v external supply, maybe a little cleaner even. So my PC usb power is not to blame for the odac digititis. Dragonfly $100 more, but then half as small.
Just sharin'.

That just means the dragonfly is better at handling the lower power from your PC, or whatever the problem is. Sounds like a fair thing to gain for 100 dollars.

 

[muad]

I think that nwavguy designed the uncoloured odac/o2 amp so that it would work with all headphones without accentuating the colouration of the headphones. Having synergy with one headphone usually means it wouldn't sound good with another. It's much smarter to have an uncoloured source and amp and then to equalize from a baseline for each headphone. Since I already found my end all headphone (HD650), I just want an affordable system to get the signal unmolested to them... and that's where the o2/odac comes in.
 
I currently own an audio-gd fun and while it sounds amazing, I do have to question the quality of the signal that reaches the HD650's. From forums that are frequented by less electronically ignorant members the audio-gd stuff seems to have questionable design elements. Maybe in colouring the sound I'm losing something else. I will never know, as I have yet to see any actual measurements beyond the manufacturers.  What I expect from the oda/odac is transparency... and if I can eschew my expectation bias I will get it.
 
Human perception is flawed...