Kaldas RR1 Conquest - STAX SRM-353X - Sony UDA-1
For those of us with multiple headphones, which ones are you listening with now?
- Thread starter timb5881
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DTgill
Headphoneus Supremus
PS500 Schiit Bifrost /Gen2 USB Asgard 1 - Meatloaf - Lost Boys And Golden Girls
Preachy1
1000+ Head-Fier
LCD-3 > Elton John > Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Vinyl)
Preachy1
1000+ Head-Fier
LCD-3 (they just sound so right today!) > Grateful Dead / 5/8/77
jonathan c
Headphoneus Supremus
The
is “today”. How often does a personal audio system go from “so right” one day to so wrong the next day?…
—> 
…
Preachy1
1000+ Head-Fier
Heckuva question. But truth is none of my current gear, in any number of configurations, ever sound “wrong”.The
jonathan c
Headphoneus Supremus
There are times for me when the gear synergy just is not there…usually when I am fatigued. In that instance, I can tell in an instant that the listening will not be good. My best, most involving listening sessions have been those that I have looked forward to…
…
Preachy1
1000+ Head-Fier
Although rare, there are times when nothing is going to work for me. In those cases, I park myself in front of the TeeVee and binge watch something dumb. Fortunately, those periods of "funk" are few, far between, and short-lived.
Mood plays a big role in how good music sounds. By extension, caffeine and THC products make it easier for us to engage with our music, with less effort.
Aside from mood, one thing that gets overlooked as a reason why music and gear sometimes sounds blah from day to day is the state of health of the middle ear. Seasonal changes bring some weird weather and barometric pressure swings that exert negative effects on middle ear health. Excessive middle ear pressure can make the tympanic membrane very taut and potentiate high frequencies leading to brittle-sounding treble and earlier listening fatigue, leading to lower listening volumes and reduced dynamics. On the other hand, if there is a middle ear effusion, this can muffle sound and things can sound quite lifeless and dull. Atmospheric pressure and middle ear pressure should be about equal, and the eustachian tube is responsible for achieving this. Rapid and large pressure changes such as plane take-off or descent are one thing but weather/temperature creates this effect more subtly and it may ultimately manifest as less enjoyable listening.
Tobacco smokers, those with environmental/seasonal allergies and anatomic ENT issues, are more prone to these phenomena than others due to not having optimal eustachian tube function.
My two cents
Aside from mood, one thing that gets overlooked as a reason why music and gear sometimes sounds blah from day to day is the state of health of the middle ear. Seasonal changes bring some weird weather and barometric pressure swings that exert negative effects on middle ear health. Excessive middle ear pressure can make the tympanic membrane very taut and potentiate high frequencies leading to brittle-sounding treble and earlier listening fatigue, leading to lower listening volumes and reduced dynamics. On the other hand, if there is a middle ear effusion, this can muffle sound and things can sound quite lifeless and dull. Atmospheric pressure and middle ear pressure should be about equal, and the eustachian tube is responsible for achieving this. Rapid and large pressure changes such as plane take-off or descent are one thing but weather/temperature creates this effect more subtly and it may ultimately manifest as less enjoyable listening.
Tobacco smokers, those with environmental/seasonal allergies and anatomic ENT issues, are more prone to these phenomena than others due to not having optimal eustachian tube function.
My two cents
xeizo
500+ Head-Fier
Dream Theater - A View from the Top of The World -> Apple Music using Electron Player 2.5 on Fedora 35 -> HDMI -> Yamaha RA-A2050 Pure Direct -> Sony MDR-1AM2
Sounds great!
I have a new source, Google Chromecast TV, so now:
Supertramp - Breakfast in America -> Apple Music Lossless on Android 11 WiFi -> Chromecast TV WiFi -> HDMI -> Yamaha RX-A2050 Pure Direct -> Sony MDR-Z7M2
I have no idea if the Chromecast TV actually picks up the lossless stream being on the same WiFi network as the phone, kinda hard to verify, but this album have never sounded better from what I can recall. Absolutely everything is there down to the smallest detail and the sound is very spacious, I guess if it sounds good it is good whether it's ALAC or AAC
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A990Z - Project Sunrise 3.1 (JJ Gold pin 6922) - UDA-1 (optical)
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jonathan c
Headphoneus Supremus
Grado PS-2000e << Woo Audio WA6 (USAF + CBS/Hytron):
Welcome, Santana (Columbia, 1973).
Welcome, Santana (Columbia, 1973).
BobSmith8901
1000+ Head-Fier
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Lyle Mays Solo, on HD-6XX via M6 Pro 21, Turbo/Dual DAC, balanced 4.4mm, using Onkyo HF Player. Nice clarity and accuracy with some weight from HF Player. Enjoying reading the discussion on having good and not so good listening sessions. I find sometimes you can't fight it and it's better to just do something else=TCM veg-out.
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jonathan c
Headphoneus Supremus
Same as post #582:
Saxophone Colossus, Sonny Rollins (Prestige, 1956).
Saxophone Colossus, Sonny Rollins (Prestige, 1956).
Silver Wolf
100+ Head-Fier
Lightly modded T60RP fed balanced Via xDuoo TA-20 (brimar tubes) & Topping D30 pro.
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