[alxw0w]

I am also using the HEKV2 and like it even better after having upgraded from stock cable to a ZMF OFC cable which imho made an already good headphone sound even bettter.
I also experienced some occasional sibilance and overbrightness problems with the thin little stock cable but the OFC much thicker solid copper cable has solved those problems .
It would of course be interesting to compare it to Susvara again using this cable with both.
With stock cables Susvara quite easily beat my HEKV2. But it was not a night and day difference, but a bit warmer, fuller and more refined SQ with Susvara.
And most of my comparisons where made with a Dave/HMS with extra amp involved and my reference hi res masterfiles of symphonic music.

Cheers CC

Yup I was thinking about upgrading stock cable for quite some time, stock one feels very thin and poor.

But after listening couple of headphones i feel that he1000v2 is not final word when it comes to refinement resolution and clarity - things that i strive for. Hence I want to try something higher end like lcd5.

Anyway he1000v2 is really pleasing headphone to listen. Especially with classical orchestral type music (but not only) Tonally it's very pleasing and in my humble opinion it could be called baby Susvara (i had opportunity to listen Susvara at the dealer with nice hifiman amp and indeed it was very very good experience)

 

[rkt31]

Try dca stealth and r70x with dave. R70x is the bargain of century kind of headphone, it is so good in everything.

 

[Darkliner]

Do you people recommend using the better set of rca cables from dave to amp or from mscaler to dave? Im using rca cables and will attach (rca to bnc) connectors for use with mscaler and dave. I usually believe in using the better set of cables closer to the source components and in this case mscaler comes before dave. But, since dave is doing more of the heavy lifting as compared to mscaler, I wonder where, I should use the better set of cables.

 

[adrianm]

Can confirm, these (both) are amazing with Dave

 

[VladYR]

Can confirm, these (both) are amazing with Dave

I used to love the Z1R but for some reason I didn’t enjoy them with Dave. I’m considering getting the new closed back model from Meze. Either that or Focal Utopia. I had a chance to listen to Stellia and the sound was quite pleasant but I wasn’t thrilled with the level of comfort.

 

[Tubewin]

I used to love the Z1R but for some reason I didn’t enjoy them with Dave. I’m considering getting the new closed back model from Meze. Either that or Focal Utopia. I had a chance to listen to Stellia and the sound was quite pleasant but I wasn’t thrilled with the level of comfort.

The Utopia is better, and in my opinion, noticeably so. The Stellia has a metallic echo to the sound (probably from the sound hitting the metal enclosure and coming back to your ears), the Utopia does not. I didn't notice this until I got the Utopia's and compared them. I loved my Stellia's until that point. If you liked the sound of the Stellia, chances are, you will also like the Utopia.

 

[JTbbb]

The Utopia is better, and in my opinion, noticeably so. The Stellia has a metallic echo to the sound (probably from the sound hitting the metal enclosure and coming back to your ears), the Utopia does not. I didn't notice this until I got the Utopia's and compared them. I loved my Stellia's until that point. If you liked the sound of the Stellia, chances are, you will also like the Utopia.

+1 Utopia goes great with Dave.

 

[JTbbb]

I used to love the Z1R but for some reason I didn’t enjoy them with Dave. I’m considering getting the new closed back model from Meze. Either that or Focal Utopia. I had a chance to listen to Stellia and the sound was quite pleasant but I wasn’t thrilled with the level of comfort.

If you decide to go for the Utopia’s, keep your eyes peeled on the classifieds and send a message to every dealer with your requirements and budget. Twice I was offered a brand new pair, with the later packaging, for under £3000. But I really wanted the earlier packaged ones with the single 1/4 jack cable. My request came up trumps as I was offered an open box pair of the latter for some hundreds of pounds less than £3000. They are as good as brand new, and Focal have given me the full 5 year warranty!

Happy Hunting.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

I used to love the Z1R but for some reason I didn’t enjoy them with Dave. I’m considering getting the new closed back model from Meze. Either that or Focal Utopia. I had a chance to listen to Stellia and the sound was quite pleasant but I wasn’t thrilled with the level of comfort.

Meze Liric would be a quite drastic change from Z1R in sound signature. Liric is kind of brighter, thinner, and more upfront midrange area.

 

[adrianm]

I used to love the Z1R but for some reason I didn’t enjoy them with Dave. I’m considering getting the new closed back model from Meze. Either that or Focal Utopia. I had a chance to listen to Stellia and the sound was quite pleasant but I wasn’t thrilled with the level of comfort.

I've auditioned the Liric when it came out for a weekend. Absolutely great for the price point, sound great out of Dave, but I'd recommend them for a portable setup. Imaging is worse than Z1R , as is soundstage, but tuning is muuch better (also compared to Stellia ) , as were highs and speed. I absolutely hate the Stellia (comfort too), auditioned them 3 times. They sound thin to me and more congested than Z1R, but the tuning was more neutral.
Utopias are amazing with Dave. The punch is amazing, the speed is great, the tuning is great, however the soundstage is a bit narrow, and i feel like Meze Elite kind of top them for most stuff, except punch (though it's closer than most planars).
For me it's going to be between the Elites and the LCD-5 next summer. Having heard them both...i like the LCD-5 more but it's closer than i would've thought.

 

[NYanakiev]

Hey chaps- I am thinking of ordering a DCA Stealth for use with my DAVE+Mscaler.

Any thoughts on whether DAVE is able to drive it well enough?
Many thanks!

 

[x RELIC x]

Hey chaps- I am thinking of ordering a DCA Stealth for use with my DAVE+Mscaler.

Any thoughts on whether DAVE is able to drive it well enough?
Many thanks!

Dan Clark (Stealth designer) likes his Stealth with theHugo2, so the DAVE should drive it fine.

 

[adrianm]

Does anyone have any advice on how to use Roon's EQ properly considering the M-scaler is in the chain? I feel like it complicates things.

 

[ecwl]

Does anyone have any advice on how to use Roon's EQ properly considering the M-scaler is in the chain? I feel like it complicates things.

The moment you DSP the signal you’re sending to M-Scaler, you’re degrading the sound.
First, the EQ/convolution filter probably is not sufficiently accurate despite supposed 64-bit accuracy. But the bigger issue is that Roon would presumably then have to dither that EQ’d signal back to 24/32-bit to feed M-Scaler and these processes do sacrifice a little bit of soundstage depth (and rarely even instrumental depth of volume). In a good system and if you’re paying attention, you should be able to hear this. If you decide to use a convolution filter, instead of straight EQ, setting it wrong can potentially significantly affect the timing of transients.

That’s why I don’t use any DSP when listening using headphones. Unfortunately, my room acoustic is extremely messed up so with speakers, I accept the mild sonic degradation as a trade off because letting my messed up room determine the sound would make things even worse. My take is that you can try using EQ in Roon and you can then A/B to see what’s better in Roon. I have a setting called Headphone Listening which basically has no EQ. And then I have other EQ/convolution filter settings that I switch back and forth.

 

[adrianm]

The moment you DSP the signal you’re sending to M-Scaler, you’re degrading the sound.

The LCD-5 thread all got their pitchforks out when I pointed this out a month ago. Nevertheless, I'd like to at least try it out with them before making a decision on pulling the trigger. I'd rather not mess around with EQ either, but I'm curious what exactly is this holy grail I'd supposedly be missing by not going it. It would be straight up parametric EQ. I've done it without enabling Headroom management or sample rate conversion. It introduced some weird artifacts and i was told that might be the case. Not sure how I should configure them manually to account for the M-scaler. Or if there is a "right way " of doing it.