kefx
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2009
- Posts
- 11
- Likes
- 0
I am very new here.
English is not my first Language, so please excuse my writing.
Last year around December, I was taking sometime off, and suddenly I started to think " I need to improve my portable audio system".
Then started to do research on the internet and found Head-fi site.
My budget was $600 or something like that. I wanted to get some portable headphone amp but end up a lot bigger in size and cost.
I bought Shure E5 5 years ago and I loved it, and suddenly this year, left side stopped to make sound and I bought Sure SE530 and I never liked it.
E5 was much better and I also had my ear impression taken so it was perfect isolation and fit. I could fit SE530 in my silicone ear bud made for E5, but it was not the same.
3 years ago, I bought Sennheiser HD 650, because E5 was too isolating and I could not hear paging or phone call at my work and it was a problem.
And I don't like to keep something in my ear canal for long time. I could get used to but never comfortable.
I always set my budget and after long research, I get tired of researching and end up getting something over budget and one of the best.
I got X-Can V3 Amp and Zu mobius cable with HD 650 that time. And I thought that was great. Problem was too open and it was too tight on my head.
I could wear only for one hour because it gave me headache. I love to listen music and I use them to isolate outside world when I work. So anything with bad sound or
discomfort does not help me at all.
I tried several different company's earphones and headphones, all did not work for me until I tried Denon D5000. And it was almost shocking.
I realized how muddy and boring and veiled HD650 was, I would say unrealistic.
I also started to learn about DAC. I got Apogee Duet. I was amazed by hearing more detail in the music( obviously I was using only ipod to listen to music recent years to play AAC 320 kbps or Apple lossless for my favorites ). I tried all my head phones with it and different compression in iTune through Duet, I decided re-scan all my CD in AIFF uncompressed file, because on some music, there was some difference I could hear even between AIFF and lossless. And it is easy to make big file smaller, not the other way.
I started to read about Mark Lawton's headphones because they are based on Denon Headphones. I liked D5000, so I decided to get LA7000.
If I get the best, I don't have to think about anymore and just enjoy it. That is the way I think. Of course within the budget I can afford.
Mark mentioned Rudistor Amp, I was thinking "oh, another matter to think about". He mentioned Denon was better on Solid state amps than tube amps.
Once I heard a word "better", I had to try it. I bought RPX-33. When I got it, I found there was a lose nut in the case, and Hans at Rudistor said "don't use it, send back to us, we will send new one".
But I had to try a bit since I was waiting for a week to get it. And yes that was amazing and so much better than X-Can V3.
I found Mark's review on RP010. And he mentioned how much better it was compare to RPX-33. Yes I had too much time in my hand. I ordered it and payed the difference.
I was reading Head-fi every night before went to bed and read a lot about DAC and others and links to links.
One thing I realized about Apogee Duet, it sounded great, but it was fatiguing to me.
Especially my ears are sensitive in high frequency, so after 40 minutes or more depend on music, I had to take off my headphone and rest.
Then I read about Red Wine Audio Isabellina. Non-upsampling DAC and I thought that would be great for me.
LA7000 with Western Australian Sheoak
When I placed an order I supposed to get with mahogany cup, but Roshan ( Mark's wood turner ) could not locate mahogany and found Sheoak.
They never tried Sheoak before for cup (according to Mark )and they were not sure when they could get Mahogany, so I agreed to get Sheoak instead. Mark at Lawton Audio was helpful all the time and
he answered all questions I had.
After I waited for 4 weeks, I got my LA7000.
I was really amazed how clear and realistic the sound was, and with big sound stage. I can not listen to HD 650 anymore.
I like to listen to the music as close as possible the original music was presented. When I tried my music collections with live recordings and opera, the most realistic and true to life was LA7000.
I asked Mark to send me the original cable and cups came with D7000 which he modified and I got my friend's D2000 and replaced cup and cable. It did improved some but I did not get nowhere near the LA7000.
I am enjoying to discover something new in all my music collections now.
A few days ago, I was working on photoshop and I had AL7000 on, and I was wearing for 4 hours straight without any problem, except toilet break. I could not wear headphone this long with my other systems before.
I like Jena labs cable a lot. It is very flexible and light. It does not bother me when I move around.
And really helps me to concentrate. LA7000 is closed headphone, but I can hear what is going on around me enough without scared of not hearing anything like Shure E5.
Bad thing is that it is so good, sometimes I just get lost in the music with big smile on my face.
Balance is great, natural. Great detail. Some may consider too in your face.
I put all my system on the cart so I can move around in my house. It is fun to watch movie with it too. Better than my surround system. Actually it is more engaging.
This system make me appreciate music more. I feel what was art, intention and craft all musician tried to put in their music.
And it is very revealing, there were some music with sound that I could not tell what kind of instrument was used, but now I can.
I appreciate what Mark did to improve the way to listen all music.
After I got all elements and burned in a bit. I tried all my equipment in different combination again.
When I compare Isabellina and Duet, Isabellina sounds more realistic, natural, rich and warm. Duet is artificial sounding when I compare. I think some younger generation prefer Duet, pumped and amped up sound.
There were many music in my collection I could not enjoy because digitally reproduced high frequency sound that my ear could not take, almost hurting. I can listen those with Isabellina. This does not mean less detail.
Just sounds natural. And those old recordings done on tapes, even those hissing tape noise sounds good on this system.
RP010 is amazing too, really powerful. X-Can sounds really thin and cheap compare to this. I was thinking what was I listing before?
And powerful means without playing loud, I can hear all I want to hear. Mark had posted great review about it, so if anyone interested, you should do search on Head-fi.
My friend teased me that I should hire live musician instead of spending so much money on these equipments, relevant opinion in a way.
I wish I could and I would if I was making billions of dollars every year.
These things were unknown until really I compared what I had. So in a way I could live without it if I did not know how better it could be without spending thousands of dollars.
But now, I really enjoy listening music more because of this system. I prefer silence if the sound was bad.
I am planing to compare with vinyl system. I am very curious how different it could be compare to the digital music through Isabellina. That could lead me to more spending, so may be I shouldn't.
