[musickid]

The best headphone for any one individual is the one which gives the most most musical enjoyment irrespective of how much power is needed to drive it correctly IMHO.

 

[ZappaMan]

Thanks mk, I’m hoping someone who has had both types could give some input as I know nothing about hard to drive headphones

 

[andrewd01]

A question for Rob about power supplies:

I know that third party power supplies are not recommended and void the warranty. Has there been any thought given to developing a Chord proprietary power supply that pushes the performance envelope further than what can be achieved with the supplied SMPS? A dedicated PS in the standard table top casing could be interesting, perhaps with two DC outputs to drive both TT2 and M scaler. From an engineering standpoint what would be the perfect power supply if cost was not a constraint?

 

[GreenBow]

Hi Greenbow,

Is there a reason you go for TOTL iem's rather than full size cans?

There wasn't an audiofile reason why I chose some good IEMs, over normal headphones. I bought the AKG N5005 because they were reduced by about 40% on Amazon.com. In the UK they were charging about 10% over RRP. Mine got shipped over from the USA. Glad they are OK and don't need returning. .. By the way, I would not necessarily call the AKG N5005 TOTL. They are probably about TOTL of non-custom IEMs, although some would argue that too.

I will eventually buy some headphones though, when I am sure. I keep thinking about Focals, but I read about quite a high repair rate needed with Focal. (Might not be true though.) Just came to a dead stop on full size cans.

 

[x RELIC x]

sorry if i get involved in this discussion. never head pm-1 but i had pm-3 that was a really really good headphone. despite the specification about impedance and sensibility, generally planar headphones need more current. i read your past posts. i think pm-1 will definitely benefit more current and power of tt2 compared with hugo 2. i had mojo and hugo 1(slightly less powerful compared to hugo 2)and i needed something more in terms of power.you don´t have to ask if pm-1 is top hp but you must ask yourself if you like this hp. if yes, so build a good system for this headphone. my goal is tt2 fo my headphone when i have more money in my wallet

Well, the Current would definitely be an issue for planar headphones (and I hate to generalize all planar headphones here) from a source such as a smartphone, etc.. However, even the Mojo has way more than enough for headphones like the PM-1. Even for deafening 120dB volume the 32Ohm/102dB SPL/mW PM-1 will only use 1.42V and a measly 44.38mA. This will never change even if the source has the capability to deliver more, despite what internet myths say. I seriously doubt the TT2’s extra potential max Current delivery would ever be used with headphones even at very loud listening levels. For speakers at 8 Ohms or less for sure. Remember, as impedance increases Current needs decrease. Just keeping it realistic.

 

[Amberlamps]

A question for Rob about power supplies:

I know that third party power supplies are not recommended and void the warranty. Has there been any thought given to developing a Chord proprietary power supply that pushes the performance envelope further than what can be achieved with the supplied SMPS? A dedicated PS in the standard table top casing could be interesting, perhaps with two DC outputs to drive both TT2 and M scaler. From an engineering standpoint what would be the perfect power supply if cost was not a constraint?

The supplied psu's are meant to be *very good* as is. Not sure what Chord's stance on making seperate psu's for their products is, but if they built them, somebody would buy them.

Not sure if I would spend £1000 just for a power supply for my TT2 or MScaler, especially when I can get one of them portable batteries like Rob uses for the guts of £100.

 

[JM1979]

When upgrading to TT2 for headphone use did most here carry on using their current collection of headphones or did you feel compelled to buy new headphones to go with a new TT2? If your headphones were not upgraded or changed did you find the upgrade to TT2 harder to appreciate? With new headphones you get a new sound with a new TT2 but by using your current headphones the TT2 just positively boosts the sound of a headphone you already know hence possibly reducing the anticipation and excitement before receiving the TT2. What are everyone's experiences and opinions on this?

I went through a pretty significant (and ridiculous) gear upgrade all while keeping my Ether 2s. Having consistency in the headphones let me appreciate every step up in gear.

My steps were:
-Hugo 2 stand alone
-Hugo 2 + LP (with Tube rolling)
-Qutest + LP (with Tube rolling)
-MScaler + Qutest + LP (with Tube rolling)
-MScaler + TT2

Knowing the Ether 2s let me understand what each change was doing to my system and my enjoyment.

Now that I’ve had the MScaler + TT2 + Ether 2s for a while now, I have the itch for new headphones.

Once you have the gear setup you want, get used to it and then go on a new headphone journey by trying to listen to as many as you can (easier said the done for some).

I had the PM3s for a long time and loved those headphones. I’d probably rock the PM1s and look for opportunities to try new headphones with my stack but not be in a hurry to make a change.

Also, sometimes too many changes in a system will drive you crazy trying to figure out what is causing the change in your enjoyment. That is an annoying place to be.

 

[Rob Watts]

A question for Rob about power supplies:

I know that third party power supplies are not recommended and void the warranty. Has there been any thought given to developing a Chord proprietary power supply that pushes the performance envelope further than what can be achieved with the supplied SMPS? A dedicated PS in the standard table top casing could be interesting, perhaps with two DC outputs to drive both TT2 and M scaler. From an engineering standpoint what would be the perfect power supply if cost was not a constraint?

What about the cabling from the PSU to your wall socket? What about the wall socket? The cabling to your house fuse box and the fuse box? The cabling outside the house? The local street transformer? The street transformer to local distribution transformer? And then the grid HV lines? And what about the generators in the power plants? These need upgrading to audiophile standards...

You get my point. Why are you making the assumption that the supplied SMPS is not good enough? The PSU is NOT the SMPS brick - it's the input inductor and super-cap, the RF filtering within TT2, and the distributed extensive regulation internally; and these are all designed to make the power chain make no difference at all to the sound quality.

Pull out the brick for 10 seconds and I can hear no difference via headphones; you already have the perfect PSU, but it's built into TT2.

 

[musickid]

Plugging TT2 into a wall socket directly results in excellent sound quality. Without blemish.

 

[kelly200269]

A question for Rob about power supplies:

I know that third party power supplies are not recommended and void the warranty. Has there been any thought given to developing a Chord proprietary power supply that pushes the performance envelope further than what can be achieved with the supplied SMPS? A dedicated PS in the standard table top casing could be interesting, perhaps with two DC outputs to drive both TT2 and M scaler. From an engineering standpoint what would be the perfect power supply if cost was not a constraint?

Rob’s reply above basically reinforces the fact that the Super-caps isolate the TT2 from domestic power supply, in the same at that the batteries in TT1 do.
I cannot see any reason why an LPS would improve the sound of either TT1 or TT2.

 

[rkt31]

I was initially sceptical about ui and menu things of tt2 (what hi fi ) but to my surprise it is so easy and straight forward once you go through the menu one round. In fact it is one of the most elegant menu system i came across. With two buttons it covers all settings without maiking things complex. Also supplied remote covers everything.

 

[kelly200269]

I was initially sceptical about ui and menu things of tt2 (what hi fi ) but to my surprise it is so easy and straight forward once you go through the menu one round. In fact it is one of the most elegant menu system i came across. With two buttons it covers all settings without maiking things complex. Also supplied remote covers everything.

The UI of TT2 is a world apart from TT1. I too have no problem with the menus.
Never mind any improvements in SQ - the ‘DAC mode’ of TT2 is worth the premium over TT1 alone. I could never get used to setting my TT1 to the right volume for listening.

 

[ZappaMan]

The UI of TT2 is a world apart from TT1. I too have no problem with the menus.
Never mind any improvements in SQ - the ‘DAC mode’ of TT2 is worth the premium over TT1 alone. I could never get used to setting my TT1 to the right volume for listening.

What is dac mode on tt2?

 

[kelly200269]

What is dac mode on tt2?

It sets the TT2 to a fixed line-out voltage/output via its RCA/XLR outputs.

 

[musickid]

Into 3rd party amps. It's all in the manual.