Mightygrey
Headphoneus Supremus
I love that other people are digging it and doing it now : )
Grado Fan Club!
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bpcans
Headphoneus Supremus
Nitreb
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2014
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I have both and except for the different length (15 ft for the 4-wire, 12 ft for the 8-wire), I find no differences.
Joaquin Dinero
500+ Head-Fier
Nice! I've never seen those. I am a sucker for the special limited models.
Gippy
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
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I have a hard time justifying an upscaling device that costs more than my headphones/DAC/amp combined. Everything I've read about the M-Scaler points towards it making the audio more "analog" which to me is doublespeak for "less detailed", and it doesn't hit its "full potential" unless you use it with a DAVE, so that's $20k and discussion is better served on the Summit-Fi subforum. The adjustments on my iFi Pro iCAN probably have a greater effect than what the M-Scaler does.
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I have been using a qutest for the last months and it's an amazing DAC, the M-Scaler is said to be make it slightly better but the price is crazy. I don't see my self investing that much money in a digital filter.
About upscaling: I have not used this M-Scaler but i have used the software Bitperfect on MacOS and the Onkyo HF Player on iOS which both do just that, upscale my audio material on the fly. The HF player can even convert my files to a DSD stream. I am not going to say that the upscaling does not have any effect but it is a very small one. The resulting sound is indeed a little more "analogue", "warm", "softer", "more flowing". But it's really a small change and usually i do not miss it if i don't use it.
carboncopy
500+ Head-Fier
HQPlayer is an other option. It has the “closed form” algorithm, which is used by chord.
Actually I like everything in native form with a NOS DAC. Upsampling makes it smoother but it takes some life away from the music. Which is important for me.
Fun fact: I use an audiophil PC with linear PSU, oven controlled Clock, Paul Pang USB card, a special headless Linux which runs just Roon and HQPlayer. And HQPlayer does nothing. (No oversampling) But! It is better as Roon alone for some reason.
Actually I like everything in native form with a NOS DAC. Upsampling makes it smoother but it takes some life away from the music. Which is important for me.
Fun fact: I use an audiophil PC with linear PSU, oven controlled Clock, Paul Pang USB card, a special headless Linux which runs just Roon and HQPlayer. And HQPlayer does nothing. (No oversampling) But! It is better as Roon alone for some reason.
TheMiddleSky
Headphoneus Supremus
I think better to invest your money to get TT2 and sell the qutest. There's chance you may like Grado direct from TT2 rather than use additional Woo amp too.
bpcans
Headphoneus Supremus
TheMiddleSky, I think the TT2 is a great DAC/amp. I’m not a fan of it’s form being that the TT2 is meant for a larger home system. Both the Qutest and the TT2 share the same Xilinx Artix 7 FPGA chip, but I’m guessing that they might be coded differently, I’m not sure. I went for the Qutest because it does just one thing and takes up very little space and I can move it around easily and take it to our condo for the weekends. I’ll give the TT2 another look though. Of course my dream piece of gear is the Chord DAVE.
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Nickelodeon
New Head-Fier
Hi clundbe1,
And nice to hear from you again after so long! I believe that you are one of the three known Head-Fi members that participated in the purchase of these Los Angeles and Orange County (LA&OC) Audio Society 25th Anniversary Headphones, with the other two members being both myself, and 'Astral Abyss'.
In my opinion, the LA&OC 'phones are something of a cross between the GS2000e and the GS3000e, even though the GS3ke 'phones hadn't yet appeared when the LA&OC 'phones were released. Relative to the GS2ke, they offer (as you have already noted) an improved bass response, while maintaining a bright and clear treble which, unlike some people's impression of the treble response of the GS2ke, is never harsh, shrill, or fatiguing. This could be due to the lack of use of 'maple wood' inserts surrounding the GS2ke drivers in the LA&OC 'phones, or instead be due to the fact that the GS2ke drivers used in the LA&OC 'phones feature some of the wiring improvements of the PS2000e drivers (this last bit of info comes courtesy of Bob Levi).
Whatever you do, *do not* sell (or trade) these headphones! The production number on these 'phones is so low, that it's extremely unlikely that you'll ever run across another pair again! Back in April of 2018, I asked Bob Levi (the then president and CEO of the LA&OC Audio Society) how many of these 'phones were ultimately produced, and he said only 12! (Or 13, if you include the prototype, which featured a different cosmetic aesthetic.)
So you, along with myself and 'Astral Abyss', are the three known Head-Fi members that are among the 12 disiples of John Grado's LA&OC Audio Society's 25th Anniversary Headphones! Taken together, we three comprise 25% ownership of the total production run!
If you look inside the 'striped oak' cups via the outside grill, you'll be able to make out the number corresponding to which of the 12 headphones manufactured that you received. Mine is number 8. (See attached photo below.)
Perhaps 'Astral Abyss' can chime in here and tell us which of the numbered LA&OC Audio Society 25th Anniversary 'phone he received! 'Astral Abyss' actually left some initial listening impressions here:
I apologize for not posting photos sooner. It was bad timing between having relatives visiting and finishing up my Crack+Speedball amp for my birthday (last Monday). My wife got me an expensive Chatham 6080WB (graphite plates, ceramic insulators) and I wanted to have it ready. And then of course I got hooked on listening to it and that was with my HD650 and HD800, so I got behind... Anyway... Looks like @Nickelodeon has you covered. Mine look pretty much identical.
I've got a few hours on the LA&OC 25th AE and I'm very, very pleased with them. Bargain for the price, for sure. They surpass the GS1000e easily, probably mostly due to the GS2000e drivers that they use. I do think that the mahogany wood in the GS1000e has an ever so slightly better tone to it, but this 25th AE is tuned beautifully and I have zero issues with it. There was no initial tinny sound to it like the GS1000e had upon first listen (that subsided after break in and some Earzonk G-cush). Even without any break in, this new Grado is already my favorite. Haven't tried it balanced yet. My only true balanced amp is the Ragnarok. Don't worry, I'll get to it eventually.
It would be nice if 'Astral Abyss' could update us with some of his current thoughts on the sonics of these 'phones.
clundbe1
100+ Head-Fier
Hi. Thanks for more info. Will never sell these phones. My "bad" habit is to collect limited grados. And collecting casio' s from the 80s.But my GS 2000e will go in near future i guess. Never noticed the number. Mine are #2.Hi clundbe1,
And nice to hear from you again after so long! I believe that you are one of the three known Head-Fi members that participated in the purchase of these Los Angeles and Orange County (LA&OC) Audio Society 25th Anniversary Headphones, with the other two members being both myself, and 'Astral Abyss'.
In my opinion, the LA&OC 'phones are something of a cross between the GS2000e and the GS3000e, even though the GS3ke 'phones hadn't yet appeared when the LA&OC 'phones were released. Relative to the GS2ke, they offer (as you have already noted) an improved bass response, while maintaining a bright and clear treble which, unlike some people's impression of the treble response of the GS2ke, is never harsh, shrill, or fatiguing. This could be due to the lack of use of 'maple wood' inserts surrounding the GS2ke drivers in the LA&OC 'phones, or instead be due to the fact that the GS2ke drivers used in the LA&OC 'phones feature some of the wiring improvements of the PS2000e drivers (this last bit of info comes courtesy of Bob Levi).
Whatever you do, *do not* sell (or trade) these headphones! The production number on these 'phones is so low, that it's extremely unlikely that you'll ever run across another pair again! Back in April of 2018, I asked Bob Levi (the then president and CEO of the LA&OC Audio Society) how many of these 'phones were ultimately produced, and he said only 12! (Or 13, if you include the prototype, which featured a different cosmetic aesthetic.)
So you, along with myself and 'Astral Abyss', are the three known Head-Fi members that are among the 12 disiples of John Grado's LA&OC Audio Society's 25th Anniversary Headphones! Taken together, we three comprise 25% ownership of the total production run!
If you look inside the 'striped oak' cups via the outside grill, you'll be able to make out the number corresponding to which of the 12 headphones manufactured that you received. Mine is number 8. (See attached photo below.)
Perhaps 'Astral Abyss' can chime in here and tell us which of the numbered LA&OC Audio Society 25th Anniversary 'phone he received! 'Astral Abyss' actually left some initial listening impressions here:
It would be nice if 'Astral Abyss' could update us with some of his current thoughts on the sonics of these 'phones.
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Nickelodeon
New Head-Fier
WOW! Number 2, how cool is that!! Now it leaves me wondering who received the other numbers 1 through 12. Perhaps we should create a registry of some kind!
#1: ?
#2: clundbe1
#3: ?
...
#8: Nickelodeon
...
#12: ?
clundbe1
100+ Head-Fier
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