[jamington2004]

@HeavenlyD : I think the H2 sounds great it’s own right - but I wouldn’t say it gives great bass slam. But coming from the RAAL bass quantity hasn’t been on my agenda for a while, I fell in love with what light tight fast bass can do to the overall sound

A couple more hours with the WOO WA8 and the bass is definitely fuller and richer and I prefer it overall. The Hugo 2 sounds just a bit too sharp in comparison.

That said I was bopping away before thinking “yeah this Woo bass is great” - and realised I still had it on the Hugo

I am sure I will find even better sound from other amps - but my point is it still sounds great if no other amps existed.

No doubt I will order something to find out for myself soon! Damn stupid hobby

(EDIT : my phone battery died so I had to plug it in and switch back to the Hugo via Bluetooth.... still sounds great! Now I don't know which I prefer! And also the XPHD button seems to bring the bass out nicely when on red - I think reduces some treble to do this by filters?)

 

[jamington2004]

Still loving the Hugo 2 Think I prefer the “clean” sound vs the Woo, and bass is really great when it’s meant to be there even if not especially plentiful in general.

Still.... curiosity already has the better of me as to how much more power can improve things - so after much research and some suggestions I’m considering the Burson Conductor 3X / NJC Reference / FLUX Fa-10 / Oppo HA-1

Probably would keep Hugo 2 for on the go so makes sense to go with a pure amp probably - so NJC or Flux

And probably the NJC as it’s small, cheap, and UK built by a small company and no hifi marketing nonsense

 

[jamington2004]

There’s seems a few comments about positioning of the headphones and pads for best effect.

Do people have the latest pads on with the seam / thickest part at the back bottom? And the headband just in front of the crown (not straight on top of the head which I found very uncomfortable on my skull)

It seems the response can really be affected by slight gaps around the pads - but mine seem pretty much sealed all the way round which feels like the way they were designed. Rotating them just feels wrong and not as designed?

 

[bikutoru]

What do you think of Topping D90? I am thinking of getting one

Now that you've tried it, do you mind sharing your experience? The "brotherhood of topping", as I call them , swear by it. It is better then 98% of other dacs(according to them). I know you do not like Chord, so curious how do you like D90 with Diana?

 

[Pictograms]

There’s seems a few comments about positioning of the headphones and pads for best effect.

Do people have the latest pads on with the seam / thickest part at the back bottom? And the headband just in front of the crown (not straight on top of the head which I found very uncomfortable on my skull)

It seems the response can really be affected by slight gaps around the pads - but mine seem pretty much sealed all the way round which feels like the way they were designed. Rotating them just feels wrong and not as designed?

If it’s better when you rotate them then do it, they only fit my partner when she puts the thickest part on the front. Otherwise there is a huge gap at the bottom of the pads.
Seems like it relates to the shape of the head.

 

[seamon]

Now that you've tried it, do you mind sharing your experience? The "brotherhood of topping", as I call them , swear by it. It is better then 98% of other dacs(according to them). I know you do not like Chord, so curious how do you like D90 with Diana?

I actually never tried the D90 with Diana. I mostly bought the D90 to use as a desktop DAC for my speakers. The Diana system is not my most used system. I prefer to use Speakers much more than Headphones.

At first, I got a D50s+A50s to try out Topping Gear. I liked this more than a RME ADI-2 FS(AK4490 version) for the Diana so got rid of that. I got the D90 to replace the RME for speakers. With speakers, the D50s and D90 are incredibly close. Same detail retrieval. The D90 has a wider and more open soundstage but it might be the filter. With different filters, I will definitely fail a blind test with both. D50s also sounds to be a tad on the warmer side but again, filters.

Both D50s and D90 use OPA1612 for I/V and LME49720 for LPF. My Portable DAC(Oriolus BD20) has replaceable I/V and LPF Opamps(with a ESS9038Pro) so that's what I did - OPA1612 in I/V and LME49720 in LPF. Now I have a portable system that sounds almost like the D50s and D90. Lmao xD

I am currently running both my Speakers and Diana off my portable setup. Both the D50s/A50s system and D90 DAC are currently lying unused. I am also getting into Genelec Speakers.

Edit: I was planning to get a D90/A90 combo for the Diana but then decided against it as D50s/A50s is more than enough and so is Oriolus BD20 + Oriolus BA20.

 

[nairbil]

Looks like Amir from ASR got his hands on a pair to measure (finally some measurements!). But after reading about his difficulty getting consistent results, I don't know if these results can actually even be trusted.

Regardless, here they are if anyone wants to take a look: Amir (ASR) Diana V2 measurements

 

[seamon]

Looks like Amir from ASR got his hands on a pair to measure (finally some measurements!). But after reading about his difficulty getting consistent results, I don't know if these results can actually even be trusted.

Regardless, here they are if anyone wants to take a look: Amir (ASR) Diana V2 measurements

I am glad to see the headband I started recommending is getting traction. It is indeed the superior of the 2 options.

*Looks like ASR Review*

Alright where's the trash can.

 

[bluestorm1992]

Looks like Amir from ASR got his hands on a pair to measure (finally some measurements!). But after reading about his difficulty getting consistent results, I don't know if these results can actually even be trusted.

Regardless, here they are if anyone wants to take a look: Amir (ASR) Diana V2 measurements

Would be interesting to know what amps and DACs he is using.

As I have stated in some earlier posts, I am not a big fan of ASR. From time to time my personal experience with certain gears is almost the opposite as what they conclude using measurements. Measurement is useful, but still cannot replace subject listening experience IMO. Otherwise, the purchasing decision is easy to make: pick the best measured gear.

From reading the response in that review also reminds me of another strange experience I have had with the audience there: There does not seem to be many actual users there for the gear being reviewed, especially for portable gears. Mostly a group of people making random comments about the gear being measured. Last time in the review of LPGT, a guy there make a sharp critic of how stupid the OS is, simply by looking at the ONLY pic in the review that shows how the albums are organized.

 

[XUPX]

Would be interesting to know what amps and DACs he is using.

Usually, the RME ADI-2 PRO or Matrix Audio X Sabre Pro as DACs. Probably A90 as amp? Not sure.

 

[seamon]

Would be interesting to know what amps and DACs he is using.

As I have stated in some earlier posts, I am not a big fan of ASR. From time to time my personal experience with certain gears is almost the opposite as what they conclude using measurements. Measurement is useful, but still cannot replace subject listening experience IMO. Otherwise, the purchasing decision is easy to make: pick the best measured gear.

From reading the response in that review also reminds me of another strange experience I have had with the audience there: There does not seem to be many actual users there for the gear being reviewed, especially for portable gears. Mostly a group of people making random comments about the gear being measured. Last time in the review of LPGT, a guy there make a long critics of how stupid the OS is, simply by looking at the ONLY pic in the review that shows how the albums are organized.

The beauty of ASR is that it's all objective data at the end of the day. There is no element of Human Dilution if I may. Amir measures how the gear perform from an engineering point of view. As someone who has been burned many times following subjective analysis on Headfi and other places, with ASR, you are getting exactly what you see.

I'd rather take ASR than any one of these Headphone Review Websites(Headfonia, Headfonics etc) whose reviews read like ad pieces rather than provide any actual information.

 

[bluestorm1992]

The beauty of ASR is that it's all objective data at the end of the day. There is no element of Human Dilution if I may. Amir measures how the gear perform from an engineering point of view. As someone who has been burned many times following subjective analysis on Headfi and other places, with ASR, you are getting exactly what you see.

I'd rather take ASR than any one of these Headphone Review Websites(Headfonia, Headfonics etc) whose reviews read like ad pieces rather than provide any actual information.

Good point. I am thinking that my experience might be due to my personal preferences. I am not a big fan of cold/clear sound signature and would rather prefer warm and intimate sound which, as I understand it, could mean distortion in certain measurements.

For DACs, I ended up returning one of the best measured DAC SMSL M400 and keep loving Burson’s DAC, which does not have the same level of measurement. Same for headphones. I like the V2 for its warm sound and intimate soundstage; maybe this shows up as distortion in certain graphs?

 

[seamon]

Good point. I am thinking that my experience might be due to my personal preferences. I am not a big fan of cold/clear sound signature and would rather prefer warm and intimate sound which, as I understand it, could mean distortion in certain measurements.

For DACs, I ended up returning one of the best measured DAC SMSL M400 and keep loving Burson’s DAC, which does not have the same level of measurement. Same for headphones. I like the V2 for its warm sound and intimate soundstage; maybe this shows up as distortion in certain graphs?

Warmth is sometimes actually distortion I believe. The Woo Audio WA11 is a great example. Even thought I crap on it frequently, it is warm because of the distortion in the bass which can be clearly seen in the measurements. ASR hates distortion like the plague and rightly so, distortion is not a good testament of engineering prowess.

For people who have been hearing nothing but warm sound end up getting accustomed to the warmish sound and anything that sounds not warm is the incorrect sound. I was talking to Joe over the phone when I was considering the Diana V2 vs Phi and he said he fondly remembered the sound of Vinyl from his youth. For such a person, tubes and vinyl will always sound better than SS and digital partly because of the nostalgia feeling. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. At the end of the day, it's still a hobby about what you enjoy.

 

[A Jedi]

I guess based on ASR I should throw my Diana in the trash lol. Anybody want my address so they can dig around come garbage day?

 

[bluestorm1992]

Warmth is sometimes actually distortion I believe. The Woo Audio WA11 is a great example. Even thought I crap on it frequently, it is warm because of the distortion in the bass which can be clearly seen in the measurements. ASR hates distortion like the plague and rightly so, distortion is not a good testament of engineering prowess.

For people who have been hearing nothing but warm sound end up getting accustomed to the warmish sound and anything that sounds not warm is the incorrect sound. I was talking to Joe over the phone when I was considering the Diana V2 vs Phi and he said he fondly remembered the sound of Vinyl from his youth. For such a person, tubes and vinyl will always sound better than SS and digital partly because of the nostalgia feeling. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. At the end of the day, it's still a hobby about what you enjoy.

Thanks for the excellent input! Your comments remind me of some recent interviews I have seen about different strategies of making gears for different companies. Some create gears with the specific purpose of having excellent measurements. I think this is most prominent in some Chi-fi DACs: SMSL M400, Topping D90, among many others. On the other hand, there are companies who tune/make their gear in a specific way so that it sounds differently - and name it their sound signature. Sometimes the execution of this is done wonderfully and would attract a group of very dedicated users.