[Billheiser]

...
By the way, I'm at an audio shop in the Tysons area right now (Evolution Audio and Video). I feel like these speaker system dealers are in a different world from head-fi people. Everything must be the most expensive. Everything is complicated and yet dwindled down to "but isn't it the best audio you've heard?" Right now I'm listening to their only headphone amp, the Moon 430 HA.



The fact that they paired this system with a noise cancelling set of headphones kind of scares me. these guys seem to know a lot about what they are selling, but I can't escape feeling like headphones just aren't taken seriously here. I am also uncomfortable with any one amp being referred to as "the best." No thought for the good sound coming out of other high end amps? I can't help but to think of Tyll's headphone and amp shootout where at least four guests came with different preferences of variously priced gear. The most expensive does not have to be the best

I dealt with them by phone about a year ago. They could order the headphone I was interested in - but the guy told me I should just order them online somewhere. I don't know if he was dismissive/rude, or if he did me a favor by not bothering to do business w me.

 

[smitty1110]

Cavalli liquid crimson owner, I can confirm that tube rolling does very little for the amp. Also, I won't be there, I'm going to be crazy busy with the election.

 

[willsw]

  If the meet's pushed to a Thanksgiving timeframe (so I'll be back from college for break), then I'll be able to bring my Sony NW-ZX2, Spiral Ear SE-5-way Ultimate CIEMs, and possibly the Mass Kobo 404 amp if I can get my hands on it by then.

 
By then we'll definitely be able to arrange meets at the Urban HiFi space in Takoma Park, and we could do a  Thanksgiving timeframe meet after this one.

 

[yage]

November would work better for me as well - October is packed with birthdays, anniversaries, etc.

 

[gandhisfist]

Looking forward to this, I'll be there with my amp and a modest selection of headphones.

 

[kendavis]

I plan to be there with whatever I have at that time.

 

[Psalmanazar]

I'll bring my setup (AK4396 Modi 2U -> Asgard 2 -> HD 650) and hopefully some power cleaning gear (HumX and CMX-2) for people to experiment with if they want. Maybe I'll have a better DAC by then. My view on Schiit amps is if you don't want to swap out the tubes for NOS, get the Asgard 2. The stock tubes aren't very resolving and the Valhalla 2 has upper mid grain/harshness despite being good.

 

[tkddans]

I can't bring a Ragnarok anymore. I just returned it after not noticing a big difference between it and the O2 amp/dac.
 
iMac --> Wyrd --> Modi Multibit --> Ragnarok --> HD 800S
 
comparable sound to...
 
iMac --> O2 amp/DAC --> HD 800S
 
*sigh*
 
Now I just want to see what tubes sound like because those at least tube that sound up majorly. I have no faith in high end solid state making a difference anymore. I have to be convinced.

 

[yage]

  Now I just want to see what tubes sound like because those at least tube that sound up majorly. I have no faith in high end solid state making a difference anymore. I have to be convinced.

 
Are you sure there's a difference between the sound output from your iMac and your O2 amp/DAC?

 

[zachchen1996]

  I can't bring a Ragnarok anymore. I just returned it after not noticing a big difference between it and the O2 amp/dac.

 

 
Maybe it's a blessing in disguise, you'll certainly save a hell of a lot more money in the long run LOL.

 

[tkddans]

   
Are you sure there's a difference between the sound output from your iMac and your O2 amp/DAC?

The iMac went from the same audio file sources (either youtube or Apple Music) to either O2 or Rag. As stated, the chains were as follows:
 
1) iMac --> Wyrd --> Modi Multibit --> Ragnarok --> HD 800S
 
2) iMac --> O2 amp/DAC --> HD 800S
 
In both cases, I normalized the dB and switched the 1/4" HD 800S jack between both amps. The only difference I heard between both 1/4" options was that mayyyybe the Rag had clearer high frequency instruments. I couldn't be sure though because I didn't perform this trial blind.
 
The biggest difference in the two amps only came in when I used the balanced headphone output on the RAG. Even so, the sound was not largely improved to my ears. When I compared dB readings between Rag's balanced out versus the Rag's 1/4" output, I noticed something.... Though the max dB for a given portion of a song would read equally, the average dB over that time would be lower on the balanced out than the 1/4".
 
In other words, the balanced output killed my ears when things got loud lol. You could call the range in dB throughout a song a positive trait to the Rag, but the musicality was not positively affected by this subtle difference in loudness. Just the opposite: I would play the track so that I could hear it at 80 dB most of the time, only to have loud bursts exceeding 85 dB (long term hearing damage occurs after 85 dB if exposed long enough). On the other hand, the 1/4" output on either the Rag or O2 yielded a smaller difference between the average dB and max, giving me a more manageable listening experience at a volume I enjoy (80 dB).
 
In my subjective point of view, the 1/4" on both devices sounded too similar to even say I knew which was which, let alone if I was asked in a blind test.

 

[yage]

  Though the max dB for a given portion of a song would read equally, the average dB over that time would be lower on the balanced out than the 1/4".

 
This sorta makes sense since balanced output max voltage output should be double that of single-ended if you're normalizing to average SPL. Did you use pink or white noise and SPL meter on C-weighting + slow to set the volume level between the two setups?

 

[tkddans]

   
This sorta makes sense since balanced output max voltage output should be double that of single-ended if you're normalizing to average SPL. Did you use pink or white noise and SPL meter on C-weighting + slow to set the volume level between the two setups?

I did not use pink noise. I used a random song in my Apple Music playlist made for referencing different audio equipment to for comparisons.
 
I played the same 30 seconds for each trial. I used the app SPLnFFT on the iPhone (holding the mic in one of the earcups, and keeping it there between trials of the two sets of audio chains). I also listened to the given audio clip with my headphones on my head to give the qualitative description of what was happening.
 
As music remained near the average dB, it was nice and maybe sounded a bit more dynamic in the range of loudness being played by different instruments and so forth. However, like I said, the problem for me occurred whenever a particularly loud portion of the track played. I found myself adjusting the amp volume knobs much more with the balanced connection than with the 1/4". Balanced was just a hassle, despite having the musicality of more dynamic volume shifts.

 

[yage]

  I did not use pink noise. I used a random song in my Apple Music playlist made for referencing different audio equipment to for comparisons.

 
That probably was ok but in my opinion using a broadband noise signal would yield more repeatable / accurate results - even with the SPLnFFT app doing most of the work for you on your test track. Try it. Even if you come to the same conclusion, at least you'll know that your setup checks out.
 
 
Audiocheck.net - Test tones
 

 

[omrcz]

Sign me in! I'll see you guys there