rkt31
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2014
- Posts
- 2,108
- Likes
- 776
the dac which offers more drama and emotional attachment while watching movies imho that dac is more transparent and closer to real life sounds.
the dac which offers more drama and emotional attachment while watching movies imho that dac is more transparent and closer to real life sounds.
dave when fed directly to power amp for a speaker system is the best for transparency. one member is using dave directly with benchmark ahb2 power amp in low gain mode and found the combo very transparent with kef reference speakers.
I may be wrong but imho the correct way to compare the DACs are speakers not headphone because speakers can correctly portray the depth and imaging . and even more watching movies in 2 channel through the DACs is a even better test.
I'm not sure I agree with this, at least not with the DAVE. With the DAVE's headphone output, you are listening directly to the DAC signal and from the input to the output, there is only a single op-amp in the chain. As soon as you add any speaker amp, regardless of how transparent you think it might sound, you will be degrading transparency. This will be degraded further with the legnth of speaker cable you use and the crossovers that are present in any KEF speaker. Headphones, on the other hand often using much shorter cables and are crossover-less. This will be better addressed when Rob's digital speaker amp gets released but until then, listening on headphones will be more transparent than listening through speakers.
actually this was power amp vs integrated amp or preamp not headphone vs speakers. in my earlier post I already posted about my preference for speakers. even though headphones may offer better transparency but for me speakers offer better imaging and depth .
I'm curious about how people with access to both high quality headphones and high quality speaker systems listen to music. I am finding that I am drawn to listening to large scale symphonic music on headphones and more intimate music on speakers. That may sound counterintuitive. For me, the gap between the concert hall experience with a large symphony orchestra and the playback experience, even with a system that is capable of really energizing a room with full sound, is still quite large. So there is a realism deficit when listening to these large pieces in my big rig. With headphones, I can really hear the inner detail on well recorded symphonic music and get lost in the sound. It gives me more insight into the composer's and conductor's intent. With smaller scale music, whether it's a jazz trio or woodwind quintet or alt rock, the realism quotient can be quite high as I can visualize and feel performers in the room. Of course these are generalizations and I can still thrill to large scale music on my speakers and small scale music on headphones.
Do others share this general bias in listening or am I an outlier?
I'm curious about how people with access to both high quality headphones and high quality speaker systems listen to music. I am finding that I am drawn to listening to large scale symphonic music on headphones and more intimate music on speakers. That may sound counterintuitive. For me, the gap between the concert hall experience with a large symphony orchestra and the playback experience, even with a system that is capable of really energizing a room with full sound, is still quite large. So there is a realism deficit when listening to these large pieces in my big rig. With headphones, I can really hear the inner detail on well recorded symphonic music and get lost in the sound. It gives me more insight into the composer's and conductor's intent. With smaller scale music, whether it's a jazz trio or woodwind quintet or alt rock, the realism quotient can be quite high as I can visualize and feel performers in the room. Of course these are generalizations and I can still thrill to large scale music on my speakers and small scale music on headphones.
Do others share this general bias in listening or am I an outlier?
How is Chord Dave paired with HE1000? Any thoughts?
I guess it's time for the next installment of the High Fidelity Cables chronicles (seems strange but there does not appear to be a separate thread on head-fi covering HFC products). Over the last week I've been auditioning 1) the MC-0.5 Wave Guide, which is the small device you plug into an unused outlet, and 2) a pair of RCA magnetic adapters.
I'll be buying both.
I've owned one of the HFC CT-1E interconnects for over two years, so I was already acquainted with HFC products. I've been using this IC between my DAVE and my Crayon CFA 1.2 integrated amp to very good effect. But I was curious about the impact of the Wave Guide and the adapters, particularly on my analog system.
Frankly, it's been difficult to evaluate the impact of the HFC products on my digital system. I've only owned my DAVE for a few weeks. Everything I listen to with DAVE is, by no small margin, much better than I’ve ever heard it in my system. The quantum leap in digital sound quality is overwhelming my brain’s ability to discriminate. In addition, simple A-B comparisons with HFC products are not possible because the magnetization of the system takes time. So I'm going to pass on drawing conclusions for now. What I can say is that the HFC products sure aren't hurting anything or introducing a coloration, as far as I can tell. They do not seem to mess with the frequency spectrum.
With analog, my main system has been pretty stable for 2+ years and I can more readily hear changes. All of my listening on the analog side has been with my speaker system.
I first introduced the adapters at the tail end of my phono cable, where it enters my phono stage, and the RCA outputs of my phono stage where my Wywires Gold interconnects run from phono stage to integrated amp. What I heard, after waiting 24 hours for magnetization to take effect, was greater transparency, openness, and sharper transients. Vocals and percussion were better delineated in space. I wouldn't characterize the improvement as huge, but it was clearly audible and definitely increased my enjoyment.
I then took out the adapters, put in the Wave Guide in an unused plug at my wall outlet, right next to the power cable going to my Audience power conditioner on my dedicated circuit, and waited the obligatory 24 hours. I heard across-the-board improvements in the fullness, richness, weight, and density of the music. Everything, and I mean everything, sounded more alive. Music was more vibrant and vivid. I would say there was a bit more transparency, as I could hear into a recording with more ease, but unlike the adapters, transparency or separation was not the primary impression at all. At the same time, I found the music to sound more relaxed. I turned up Joni M’s Hissing of Summer Lawns a couple notches on the volume dial, and that’s a record where Joni’s voice can push the boundaries of what’s comfortable. Relative to the adapters, I would say that the overall positive effects were greater with the Wave Guide. For $300, this is a no-brainer.
Next up: both adapters and Wave Guide in my analog system. Best of both worlds? I would say yes. Any hint of stridency or harshness has been banished. The transparency of the adapters is married to the tone and richness of the Wave Guide. Mellow records sound even more mellow than usual, as if time was a little bit slower. On the other hand, a frenetic semi-free jazz record like Dave Holland’s Conference of the Birds sounds crazy frenetic and fast, with incredible bass clarity for Holland’s virtuosic playing. I’m kind of a tone freak, and tone is really robust and vivid. This is clearly the best I've ever heard my analog system sound.
My best guess is that the benefits I'm hearing with analog very likely exist with digital.
Two pairs of adapters cost $550. A single Wave Guide is $300. Good value, in my opinion.
I will probably audition the MC-6 Hemisphere down the road to see how it compares to my Audience power conditioner.