[rhinech]

Stax SR-L500 Mk.2<--Mjolnir KGSSHV<--Cardas Clear Light XLR<--Gustard X18 (balanced, NOS)<--UpTone USPCB<--USB Disruptor<--W4S Recovery:

​

The Cardas Clear Light XLR are in, and all I can (initially) say is WOW!

Last piece of the album is so good, goosebumps! Great discovery for my day, thanks again!

 

[rhinech]

My VCs are the only pair of headphones I have ever owned that I genuinely think I'll own forever. I have never come across anything that does what they do for me and on top of that they are supremely comfortable, absolutely gorgeous, and really feel like some kind of heirloom.

I'm still listening to the VCs this morning, but they are back with their first love, the Burson Timekeeper 3i with the V6 Classic op amps. Honestly, this pairing is a match made in heaven. It maintains the detail and crunch that I love with VCs on a competent solid state amp, but adds a touch of subtle, euphonic warmth without rounding off the note edges or details.

This morning I have a Spoon's "new" album Lucifer On The Moon on deck. This is actually a reworking of their release from this summer, Lucifer On The Sofa which I have posted about here before (highly recommended). This new drop is full of remixes and alternate versions of the tracks from Lucifer On The Sofa. My understanding is that Britt Daniel, guitarist and frontman for Spoon, was working with Adrian Sherwood, a noted dub producer/artist, on a side project while the production and mixing work was wrapping up on LOTS. Daniel asked Sherwood to take the tracks home, have a listen, and shoot him any criticisms or ideas he had in mind when they got together next.

Apparently, that meeting was delayed and ended up taking place months after it was supposed to. By the time they got together Sherwood had been toying with remixes of Spoon's new tracks for a while. Daniel, and subsequently the rest of the band, liked what they heard and decided to have Sherwood put together a lineup of remixes for an alternate release. Thus, Lucifer On The Moon was born.

Normally I write these posts while I'm already listening, but I had to hold off on the listening for a sec so I only just plugged in and will be hitting play right after I hit send. Point being, I have no idea what to expect with this album, but anything Spoon gets an automatic listen from me because they're one of my favorites.

Thanks for sharing your love for the VC. It’s a relatively new purchase for me and I feel there is still a lot to discover about them. The music recommendations in this thread really help, and are often eye opening

 

[Cheesebuggah]

Last piece of the album is so good, goosebumps! Great discovery for my day, thanks again!

Had a listen to the Kids Return OST playlist and it was pretty good; although, you can obviously tell that it is quite dated. That last track was fast and quite emotional, but my favorite has to be 05 - As A Rival!

 

[msing539]

Madness by Ruelle
Ultrasone Edition Eleven​

 

[JAnonymous5150]

My mom called and apparently a buried sprinkler line has broken underground at her house so I, being the good son that I am, have driven over to her house and am gonna spend the rest of my day off digging out and repairing this pipe. So much fun...

With that in mind, I'm now rockin' my DIY 300ohm LCP earbuds that I call the Lush, Crisp, and Punchy 300s plugged into my A&K Kann Alpha so I can keep my listening session going while I repair some sprinklers. First up on the music queue is Animals As Leaders' self-titled album. Specifically, I'll be listening to the Encore Edition.

 

[SHAMuuu]

 

[WorksUnit]

Having demo`ed Clear MG earlier today somehow am drawn back to HD650...

 

[rids57]

JRiver Media Center (PC) > SMSL SU9 > SMSL SH9 > HiFiMAN HE400i w/Dekoni sheepskin pads

CHON by CHON - When JAnonymous5150 recommended the band recently, a little bell started tinkling in my brain, so I delved into my collection of files and sure enough, all three of their full-length albums were present plus an EP. So, I picked their most recent album, CHON (2019), donned my slowly disintegrating HiFiMANs and pressed play. I think I would describe them as a more laid back Polyphia, the musicianship is there, they just play with less intensity. This type of music does well through the HE400i's, plenty of detail and a decent soundstage, in fact the only problem I have is the disintegrating headband which leaves the top of my head looking as though it's had a good sprinkling of black pepper.

 

[Davidzak64]

Sounds completely up my alley, it's been a while since I've listened to any new ECM jazz but I've rarely if ever been disappointed by the label. Thanks for the heads up!

Currently listening to some old school IDM by Phonem, the wonderful Ilisu album, on a D-EJ250 Discman with the MDR-CD1700



Very digital music with very human outlines.

I see you are the proud owner of some K340's there.

 

[bagwell359]

Been on a HE-500 run for weeks, but for this cut its the HE-6 SE. I prefer this version - the original that ran out of tape on the 1975 release. For that version they also edited out David Cross's mellotron excesses which (unusually for him ruins the cut IMO). In the restored version with Cross added back in with the studio add-on from 1992 is cool historically, but ruins the best live cut released during KC's 2nd assemblage (Fripp, Wetton, Bruford, Cross, and on Larks Tongues - Jaime Muir on percussion).

My son's both think most of my music is boring or trash but they both love the anarchic intensity of this cut - "Ashbury Park".

 

[jonathan c]

[Blue Note: August, 1961] The debut of ‘Long Tall Dex’ on the Blue Note label after almost a decade of ‘personal demons’ / professional obscurity. In command ! And propelled by Freddie Hubbard !

 

[JAnonymous5150]

JRiver Media Center (PC) > SMSL SU9 > SMSL SH9 > HiFiMAN HE400i w/Dekoni sheepskin pads



CHON by CHON - When JAnonymous5150 recommended the band recently, a little bell started tinkling in my brain, so I delved into my collection of files and sure enough, all three of their full-length albums were present plus an EP. So, I picked their most recent album, CHON (2019), donned my slowly disintegrating HiFiMANs and pressed play. I think I would describe them as a more laid back Polyphia, the musicianship is there, they just play with less intensity. This type of music does well through the HE400i's, plenty of detail and a decent soundstage, in fact the only problem I have is the disintegrating headband which leaves the top of my head looking as though it's had a good sprinkling of black pepper.

Awesome! And I'm glad someone else with the HE400i gave these guys a listen because I too found them to be a good match for the style. Do you have the 2016 version(s) with the suspension headband or the 2020 version? I'm just wondering for longevity purposes.

Mine are the 2016 version and when they showed up at my door you could tell that they had almost never been worn. The pads weren't broken in and they still had that "new headphone smell" to them for sure. That said, I'm wondering if I should start keeping an eye out now for a parts only set to cannibalize the headband from.

Although, I did run across a post on Hifiguides (I think) where several people had replaced the headbands on various round cup Hifiman models (400i included) with headbands from NSC Audio DIY Store on AliExpress. They sell both a suspension version and a non-suspension version that is supposed to work for all the round cup Hifiman models. The store apparently even sends you the allen wrench and screws/covers and has a video showing how to replace the headband. The dudes on the thread said it was easy and apparently the headbands are only like $35.

I can't vouch for the build quality or ease of use on the headbands, but I can say that I have bought tons of earbud, headphone, and cable DIY materials from NSC and they generally sell good stuff. On the rare occasion where I had an issue, their customer service was great and I either got quick replacements or quick refunds. They also answer inquiries pretty quickly. Point being, if you're looking to replace the headband it's cheaper than the $75 ir whatever from Hifiman and might be a good way to go.

To make this topical, I am currently testing the DIY Amp/DAC combo I have been workin' on with my HE400is being fed bit-perfect, hi-res audio witchcraft from UAPP and my phone. This thing uses a ES9038Q2M and four OPA1622 op amps on DIP8 adapters and it actually sounds pretty damn good. I have a bluetooth receiver module I am gonna be adding to it now that I'm happy with the amp and DAC stages.

For testing, I have queued up The Flower Kings' album Back in the World of Adventures.

 

[jonathan c]

Awesome! And I'm glad someone else with the HE400i gave these guys a listen because I too found them to be a good match for the style. Do you have the 2016 version(s) with the suspension headband or the 2020 version? I'm just wondering for longevity purposes.

Mine are the 2016 version and when they showed up at my door you could tell that they had almost never been worn. The pads weren't broken in and they still had that "new headphone smell" to them for sure. That said, I'm wondering if I should start keeping an eye out now for a parts only set to cannibalize the headband from.

Although, I did run across a post on Hifiguides (I think) where several people had replaced the headbands on various round cup Hifiman models (400i included) with headbands from NSC Audio DIY Store on AliExpress. They sell both a suspension version and a non-suspension version that is supposed to work for all the round cup Hifiman models. The store apparently even sends you the allen wrench and screws/covers and has a video showing how to replace the headband. The dudes on the thread said it was easy and apparently the headbands are only like $35.

I can't vouch for the build quality or ease of use on the headbands, but I can say that I have bought tons of earbud, headphone, and cable DIY materials from NSC and they generally sell good stuff. On the rare occasion where I had an issue, their customer service was great and I either got quick replacements or quick refunds. They also answer inquiries pretty quickly. Point being, if you're looking to replace the headband it's cheaper than the $75 ir whatever from Hifiman and might be a good way to go.

To make this topical, I am currently testing the DIY Amp/DAC combo I have been workin' on with my HE400is being fed bit-perfect, hi-res audio witchcraft from UAPP and my phone. This thing uses a ES9038Q2M *** and four OPA1622 op amps on DIP8 adapters and it actually sounds pretty damn good.

*** any thought of substituting, if possible, AKM equivalent?

 

[JAnonymous5150]

*** any thought of substituting, if possible, AKM equivalent?

I actually made one for my girlfriend with an AK4497 in it so I was left with the ES9038 for mine. These started out as a project for me to try designing my own PCBs and to get rid of some sets of op amps and the two DAC chips I had sitting around unused.

I am gonna bring her's out to AB in a bit, but I have to say that I think I prefer the sound of this one. That said, hers uses OPA1612s instead of the OPA1622s that are on mine so it'd really be interesting to swap my op amps into hers or vice versa and see which one I prefer then. Why did you ask? Just an AKM fan or did you have a specific benefit and model in mind that I should use?

Edit: You wouldn't happen to have any pointers for installing Bluetooth chips and/or modules would you? I have never done a bluetooth DIY before.

 

[jonathan c]

I actually made one for my girlfriend with an AK4497 in it so I was left with the ES9038 for mine. These started out as a project for me to try designing my own PCBs and to get rid of some sets of op amps and the two DAC chips I had sitting around unused.

I am gonna bring her's out to AB in a bit, but I have to say that I think I prefer the sound of this one. That said, hers uses OPA1612s instead of the OPA1622s that are on mine so it'd really be interesting to swap my op amps into hers or vice versa and see which one I prefer then. Why did you ask? Just an AKM fan or did you have a specific benefit and model in mind that I should use?

I will PM…