[x RELIC x]

Just plugged the Utopias into the Dave for the first time. I wonder at which volume people are listening to with this combo. My initial thought is that the Dave has to be turned up to -20dB before the Utopias come to life - depending on the recording of course.

I listen at -30dB to -40dB on the DAVE depending on the track with the Utopia (in a quiet environment).

 

[ufospls2]

I’m quite aware of these digital Amps that Rob has been working on for many years. I can confirm that we are at least several years away, in producing any Amplifier comparable to the power performance of our new Etude Amplifier. These are just hitting the dealers in the coming weeks if your looking for a truly amazing amp I’d get a demo lined if you can.

Thanks John. Looking forward to hearing it when I can : )

 

[ecwl]

I listen at -30dB to -40dB on the DAVE depending on the track with the Utopia (in a quiet environment).

Me too. But since I’ve brought my Utopia and DAVE to my local Head-Fi meet a couple of times, I’ve found some people would prefer to listen at up to -10dB, depending on musical material of course. In general, I find most Head-Fi people locally listen to music at 5-15dB louder than me and rarely at 20dB louder. So my gut feeling is that @danish71 is closer to the norm than I am.

 

[ufospls2]

Well, the iFi iDSD BL is a great bit of gear (and what I usually use during the daytime) but....

It was time to bring the DAVE downstairs for a listening session today. While the HE6se does need more power than the DAVE offers, at lower volume listening, it is pretty impressive in terms of detail and clarity. I might not have an MScaler or BluMK2 but...oof. I sure do love the DAVE.

 

[x RELIC x]

Me too. But since I’ve brought my Utopia and DAVE to my local Head-Fi meet a couple of times, I’ve found some people would prefer to listen at up to -10dB, depending on musical material of course. In general, I find most Head-Fi people locally listen to music at 5-15dB louder than me and rarely at 20dB louder. So my gut feeling is that @danish71 is closer to the norm than I am.

Agreed. I’ve put some effort toward listening lower than I did in my youth and I feel it’s been very much worth it. I’m quite surprised sometimes at the average volume level I read from some users, but live and let live.

 

[danish71]

Agreed. I’ve put some effort toward listening lower than I did in my youth and I feel it’s been very much worth it.

Sounds like a wise choice. Often thought about it, but I think I will try to pay more attention. It's just so easy to fall into the pit of going louder and louder with this level of gear that exhibit virtually no distortion.

 

[Imusicman]

Just plugged the Utopias into the Dave for the first time. I wonder at which volume people are listening to with this combo. My initial thought is that the Dave has to be turned up to -20dB before the Utopias come to life - depending on the recording of course.

Most of my listening was done between -40db to -30db. On around 3500 tracks

 

[rgs9200m]

Just wanted to say I'm getting spectacular sound with my DAVE and the Pioneer SEM1 headphones.
See my comments in the Pioneer thread. It's quite different, but just as musical and satisfying as my Utopia/Lazuli Reference headphone. Really.

See my impressions in post #1721 on page 115 of the Pioneer thread from Sept 27, 2018 at 6:03 pm.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/pio...nes-se-master-1.764513/page-115#post-14509000

 

[musickid]

rgs have you compared sony mdr z1r to pioneer both are within my price range for my next headphone i'm leaning to sony as pioneer could be too heavy?

 

[rgs9200m]

I have not written yet to compare them directly, but I have both.
But here's my take on things.

The Pioneer is more balanced, with a more natural bass to me, and is more tolerant with recording that are tipped up in the highs.
The Sony is prone to some searing highs, that's why I use the Sony-Kimber cable with it to deal with it.

I just find the Pioneer more refined, which to me means that it is easier on the ears.
I also love the detail on the Pioneer, where little background things are more developed than on the Sony, and in fact more developed than most headphones.

The bass is prominent in both of these headphones, but (especially after a lot of listening and I think break in with the Pioneer), Pioneer bass is not as pushy as the Sony.
The Pioneer is just plain fun, and not assaultive.

If I am sounding like I prefer the Pioneer, well, the answer is yes.

I don't find the Pioneer heavy at all. I have even thought about or noticed the weight at all. It's a really comfortable headphone in every way. I am kind of obsessed with comfort in my headphones, and the Pioneer is great for me.

I'm keeping the Sony to complement the Pioneer because it's still nice and interesting and unique and I like variety.

But if I had to choose, the SEM1 is my choice. To me, it's a very special headphone.

 

[musickid]

The new Ether 2 at less than 300g sounds very promising. An excellent potential match for my H2/HMS.

 

[Jozurr]

The new Ether 2 at less than 300g sounds very promising. An excellent potential match for my H2/HMS.

An excellent match with that setup are the Utopias

 

[GLM101]

Hi,

Sorry that I am very late to the DAVE party......but I have finally managed to get one! I still have not worked out why my wife said YES!

Could be a silly question coming up: When I use the DAVE through the USB lead the Bit rate does not change. For example playing VNV Nation Resonance it still says 44.1.
However when I use an optical cable from my Cowon P1 it shows 88Khz!
Could it be my laptop or me using Windows Media Player?

 

[burbster]

Hi,

Sorry that I am very late to the DAVE party......but I have finally managed to get one! I still have not worked out why my wife said YES!

Could be a silly question coming up: When I use the DAVE through the USB lead the Bit rate does not change. For example playing VNV Nation Resonance it still says 44.1.
However when I use an optical cable from my Cowon P1 it shows 88Khz!
Could it be my laptop or me using Windows Media Player?

Hi, Firstly congrats on getting a DAVE! I use to use a PC for my music before switching to a dedicated server, I suspect that somewhere in your windows set up you have a fixed output set. I never used media player, but I do remember that without setting things up correctly windows likes to default to a set bitrate regardless of source bitrate. Can't remember exactly where, but you have to set up something that says allow source bit rate. Maybe some one more knowledgeable on here can give you a more specific answer.

 

[AndrewOld]

Hi,

Sorry that I am very late to the DAVE party......but I have finally managed to get one! I still have not worked out why my wife said YES!

Could be a silly question coming up: When I use the DAVE through the USB lead the Bit rate does not change. For example playing VNV Nation Resonance it still says 44.1.
However when I use an optical cable from my Cowon P1 it shows 88Khz!
Could it be my laptop or me using Windows Media Player?

The bit rate should change to match the recording. But unless you bypass the windows mixer windows itself will up or downsample. So the safest thing to do is to use a media player like J River Media Center with the Chord drivers and set it up to take exclusive control of the output. Then Windows does not get a chance to mess with the bitrate or anything - what goes to the DAC is what is on the file. J River have a 30 day free trial.