[gatorengineer64]

Recently upgraded via Ebay from HE-500s to HEXV1's and very glad I did.  My rig is now a Chromecast audio feeding a pre2016 Audio-GD NFB-28, over a Single Ended Short Silver Phone cable.  My source material is pretty good BTW, and I am upgrading that already.
 
My question to the forum is what would be the next upgrade, that would be as dramatic an improvement as from the 500's to the HEXV1s?  Are the Ether Flows, or the HE1Ks, that much better than the HEXs?  Is there another phone like the Stax-9 that is again that much better?
 
Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[doraymon]

  Recently upgraded via Ebay from HE-500s to HEXV1's and very glad I did.  My rig is now a Chromecast audio feeding a pre2016 Audio-GD NFB-28, over a Single Ended Short Silver Phone cable.  My source material is pretty good BTW, and I am upgrading that already.
 
My question to the forum is what would be the next upgrade, that would be as dramatic an improvement as from the 500's to the HEXV1s?  Are the Ether Flows, or the HE1Ks, that much better than the HEXs?  Is there another phone like the Stax-9 that is again that much better?
 
Thanks in advance for any input.

My fellow headfier, you've definitely got "the sickness".
As you just upgraded your headphones I would suggest to work on your electronics if you really feel the need to upgrade.
Perhaps I didn't answer your question but that's my 0.02$!

 

[donlin]

  My fellow headfier, you've definitely got "the sickness".
As you just upgraded your headphones I would suggest to work on your electronics if you really feel the need to upgrade.
Perhaps I didn't answer your question but that's my 0.02$!

I was about to say the same thing.  A better source would be the first priority in my opinion and then a better amp.

 

[doraymon]

 
I was about to say the same thing.  A better source would be the first priority in my opinion and then a better amp.

Yeah, or save the money of the amp (the HEX are really easy to drive) and put all the efforts in a Hugo DAC.
Results are spectacular, I had the same setup and Hugo can drive the HEX effortlessly! Fantastic match, even fed only by a your smartphone.
If you can try to audition the Hugo with your new cans. 

 

[gatorengineer64]

Definitely have the bug, but also have the constraints of Budget, and I look for "Bang for the Buck", and patience to wait and shop in the used market......  But having your sights fixed on what the upgrade is what I am looking to do.
 
I had thought that the NFB-28 was a pretty well regarded unit, and that to improve that would be costly with very limited improvement (low bang for the buck), but now I will have to do a little more research and digging.  I would have assumed that the phones were the weak point.

 

[doraymon]

I don't think the cans are the bottleneck, not at all. The HEX are very revealing and so engaging! You could try the HEK if you like the sound of the HEX, it's an upgrade I always had in mind but then diverted to the Ether C Flow as I absolutely needed closed cans.
 
I don't know your DAC/amp but in my experience a good DAC can bring improvements as big as a pair of headphones.
 
Chord recently announced the Hugo2 so it's the perfect moment to buy a second hand or even new Hugo at a fraction of the original price.
Try.

 

[gatorengineer64]

I will definitely try to audition a Hugo...the first review of it I googled was this one
 
http://www.whathifi.com/chord/hugo/review
 
Which says they would prefer the Oppo HA-1, which is a Sabre 9018, same DAC as in the Audio-GD I have......Which also got me looking at the upcoming OPPO Sonica DAC with the 9038.  that looks really interesting.
 
I am not saying that my set up is in anyway bad, by the way..... Just looking to see what a really great (midrange) setup an do.

 

[tuna47]

I'm very happy with the mojo in the bang for buck category
They have the power of the Hugo with similar dacs sound great with tidal as the source
I always am looking at the hek but a lot of money and I'm happy with the he

 

[pfurey89]

Can confirm Mojo and HEX are a great match. Very warm, but incredibly resolving pair that hits like a truck when called for. Elegant sound otherwise. 

 

[crion]

Changing the cans which is the most competent link in your setup sounds kind of backwards.

Weakest link is your source!

Check out the Sonore microRendu $640 it's right in your pricerange.

 

[gatorengineer64]

Maybe it wasn't clear, I am coming out of the Chromecast Optical TOS Link to the DAC....  The only weakpoint here is that it cant pass anything beyond 24/96, but as I understand it Chromecast Toslink is "bit perfect" and does nothing to color the sound... 

 

[crion]

I'm well aware of how you connect via a toslink S/PDIF.
 
Bit-perfect is one thing, Ultra-low jitter and timing of signal is another thing. No DAC is impervious to jitter from source at this time. And you have Cans that will reveal this to you if you want to explore.

 

[casper3127]

Just a small question to come up to you with...
 
Has anyone tried exchanging the pads from the Edition X with the HE-1000s? Any improvements? Soundwise I mean. 

 
 
 
Cheers.

 

[donlin]

Just a small question to come up to you with...

Has anyone tried exchanging the pads from the Edition X with the HE-1000s? Any improvements? Soundwise I mean. :happy_face1:



Cheers.

The pads are the same for both models.

 

[gatorengineer64]

Per these tests the Jitter on the Chromecast Audio is below audible.
 
http://archimago.blogspot.com/2016/02/measurements-google-chromecast-audio_27.html
 
I will play with the DAC and phones some this weekend, with a USB source, but I don't believe that I will hear a difference.
 
There are also recent reports that the latest firmware addressed the jitter issue.  But those are not substantiated by testing.