[Darksoul]

All right, I've managed to solve my two gripes with the Aiva, the headband slider and the searing treble.

For the sliders, I turned them inside out. The leather headband passes through the metal headband, now the weight instead of being held on by the friction on the plastic sliders, the force is now directed a more towards the center and not as tangential as before, they are now held in place and don't slide down.

For the highs, I played around with the foam inserts of my DT-770 and a pair of Brainwavz of sheepskin earpads I have. The earpads dampen the highs a bit, bring the mids a bit more forward and give the bass a slight, but not massive boost. When I added the foam inserts of my DT-770 they dampened the treble, but not enough. When using the two foam inserts sandwiched on one side, the treble is significantly better. I went ahead and got a sheet of 5.5mm thick foam on a local shop, cut 4 foam inserts and placed two per each side along with the Brainwavz earpads.

So much better, the treble is still detailed but now it's properly dampened; to my ears at least.

 

[BubbaJay]

The Aiva is very source dependent imo and the highs can sound a bit too hot depending on your source. When listening using my JDS Labs EL stack or just the EL Dac and SMSL SP200 the Aiva sounds wonderful with very clean crisp highs that are never harsh. If I use them straight out of my Fiio M11 the highs can sound too bright at times and I do tend to EQ them down a few dB. I've actually become much more of a fan of good crisp highs because of the Aiva.

 

[Darksoul]

Thanks to Bonddam in post 467 I now have a marriage made in heaven!

My 2nd pair of Aivas just finished their 100 hour burn in yesterday. They sounded very good, but lighter on the bottom end than I remembered pair 1 being. I read the posts about the Sendy $25 up grade pair and was about to pull the trigger, but then I read Bonddam's post about putting a pair of ZMF perf Suede Universe pads on his Aiva. I had a pair of perf leather Universe pads sitting a round so I put them on and WOW! They brought the mids forward and really brought up the bass punch. So much that I eq'ed a bit of bass out.

Aivas plus Universe pads and through a Violectric V100 amp = a marriage made in heaven to my ears. Here is a picture of the new couple.

Hmm, interesting. I have that exact same amp. I'm wondering if the Universe pads non-perforated, would bring an even bigger increase to the bass. Or would you say that the bass with the perforated version is accentuated enough? More than anything I would like to keep the treble as it is, but get some more "umph" from the lower registers.

 

[Geezer Rock 001]

Hmm, interesting. I have that exact same amp. I'm wondering if the Universe pads non-perforated, would bring an even bigger increase to the bass. Or would you say that the bass with the perforated version is accentuated enough? More than anything I would like to keep the treble as it is, but get some more "umph" from the lower registers.

A short answer on the pads and a PM about the V100.

imo the ZMF pads improved the sound stage size, they muted the sometimes peaky highs and that allowed the bass to become more prevalent. The bass became more like Audeze planar bass. Again imo.

 

[BubbaJay]

I have the updated Aiva pads and while the highs sound the same to me I feel like the bass has a bit more impact and presence. I used to eq the bass up a few dB on my Loki but now I hardly ever do so. I don't think they changed the soundstage width much either if any but I fine with that because they still have good depth which is more important to me than width.

 

[Quickanddirty]

I was wondering what are your fav amps to drive the Aiva by far. Not absolutely satisfied with the Arcam rhead. Together with new headphone cables bass has good impact now and the mids got full-bodied, but the overall presentation is not as effortless and smooth as I wish it would be.

 

[G8torbyte]

I was wondering what are your fav amps to drive the Aiva by far. Not absolutely satisfied with the Arcam rhead. Together with new headphone cables bass has good impact now and the mids got full-bodied, but the overall presentation is not as effortless and smooth as I wish it would be.

For a DAC-Amp combo I use the RME ADI-2 DAC. It's pricey but the German engineering into it is excellent. For straight up amps the THX-AAA 789 works very well. THX is known for extremely low noise and good amp performance. Other distributors like SMSL and Monoprice are selling newer THX versions now.

 

[Quickanddirty]

For a DAC-Amp combo I use the RME ADI-2 DAC. It's pricey but the German engineering into it is excellent. For straight up amps the THX-AAA 789 works very well. THX is known for extremely low noise and good amp performance. Other distributors like SMSL and Monoprice are selling newer THX versions now.

Thanks G8tor! Already had an eye on the ADI 2 as it's really popular here but then I heard quite a few people saying it's main character was a bit unemotional / flat with a smaller soundstage. Nevertheless I never heard the ADI by myself. Same thing with THX, but those are on my to to list.

For the moment I'm quite impressed by the Steinberg headamp from Macroaudio, got a demo unit since yesterday. It's the first real powerful beast I'm using on the Aiva which sounds well balanced and completely under control now. Overall signature has maximum grip and authority, bass is tight, full and extremely fast, while treble got some nice and relaxed sparkling and doesn't stress any more. Soundstage opened up real deep, instruments appear and disappear into a deep black universe. Clarity is wonderful. Attack of the mids are my only concern at the moment as dynamics come up powerful like Zoro`s whip and could be more effortless. Will try to fix that by reducing the internal gain settings, but overall a great pairing.

 

[BubbaJay]

I'm absolutely loving the SMSL SP200/Topping D50s dac amp combo with my Aiva, hell with all my headphones. I feel like the D50s is more musical than the EL Dac and just better sounding than my Mimby which I don't think is very good to begin with.

I think it has a lot to do with the fact the D50s uses ESS dacs while the EL uses AKM and I think the ESS is more musical while the AKM are a bit colder sounding. Also, Topping eliminated the so-called ESS IMD hump they tend to have and with Bluetooth now they just made a better sounding dac overall compared to the original D50. The Aiva still has the detail and crisp highs they've always had but they sound smoother than before, maybe I'm just used to their treble now.

 

[Quickanddirty]

I'm absolutely loving the SMSL SP200/Topping D50s dac amp combo with my Aiva, hell with all my headphones. I feel like the D50s is more musical than the EL Dac and just better sounding than my Mimby which I don't think is very good to begin with.

I think it has a lot to do with the fact the D50s uses ESS dacs while the EL uses AKM and I think the ESS is more musical while the AKM are a bit colder sounding. Also, Topping eliminated the so-called ESS IMD hump they tend to have and with Bluetooth now they just made a better sounding dac overall compared to the original D50. The Aiva still has the detail and crisp highs they've always had but they sound smoother than before, maybe I'm just used to their treble now.

Thanks for your post! Although my experience is the absolute opposite as I found ESS bright so far and AKM more musical and mellowing. Anyway, will have an eye on the SMSL, really seems a bargain for its performance.

 

[Whitigir]

The Aiva is source dependent and it makes senses as I have stated this a long time ago. The Aiva is priced too cheap for it performances, and this caused people to plug and pair it with too many cheap sources, which resulted in the diversity of people hearing differences and claim that Aiva is bad for the prices.

I still enjoy my combo of Ibasso Dx220 and Amp8 with my Aiva and stock cables. Brainwavz Genuine Leather angled pads. However, my DX228 combination is EX-Modified

AKM and ESS do sound different, but with the newer generation, they can be both tuned to be musical or horrible. My Dx220 is based on Dual ESS9028Pro, and I love it trebles with Aiva

 

[PaganDL]

The Aiva is source dependent and it makes senses as I have stated this a long time ago. The Aiva is priced too cheap for it performances, and this caused people to plug and pair it with too many cheap sources, which resulted in the diversity of people hearing differences and claim that Aiva is bad for the prices.

I still enjoy my combo of Ibasso Dx220 and Amp8 with my Aiva and stock cables. Brainwavz Genuine Leather angled pads. However, my DX228 combination is EX-Modified

AKM and ESS do sound different, but with the newer generation, they can be both tuned to be musical or horrible. My Dx220 is based on Dual ESS9028Pro, and I love it trebles with Aiva

Definitely agree, @Whitigir,

Aiva remains an interesting headphone...
As a side note, the Aiya is also interesting...

By the way, how are your earpads faring?
Hope you no longer wash them, just gentle wet wipe is enough.
Are you using any leather conditioner on the leather parts too ?

Hope you have a good day !

 

[Whitigir]

Definitely agree, @Whitigir,

Aiva remains an interesting headphone...
As a side note, the Aiya is also interesting...

By the way, how are your earpads faring?
Hope you no longer wash them, just gentle wet wipe is enough.
Are you using any leather conditioner on the leather parts too ?

Hope you have a good day !

I don’t use stock pads due to the odd shapes that dependent so much on the Tilting angle and positioning. It also effect the performances by a huge margin. I now am a fan of Brainwavz Leather angled pads. I do not use any leather conditioning on any real leather pads, including my Stax SR009/S. Just use dampened clothes and wipes it occasionally when needed. But even so, I try to avoid doing it

 

[Quickanddirty]

The Aiva is source dependent and it makes senses as I have stated this a long time ago. The Aiva is priced too cheap for it performances, and this caused people to plug and pair it with too many cheap sources, which resulted in the diversity of people hearing differences and claim that Aiva is bad for the prices.

I still enjoy my combo of Ibasso Dx220 and Amp8 with my Aiva and stock cables. Brainwavz Genuine Leather angled pads. However, my DX228 combination is EX-Modified

AKM and ESS do sound different, but with the newer generation, they can be both tuned to be musical or horrible. My Dx220 is based on Dual ESS9028Pro, and I love it trebles with Aiva

Interesting! How do the brainwavs pads differ from the ibasso pads you mentioned earlier?

 

[Whitigir]

Interesting! How do the brainwavs pads differ from the ibasso pads you mentioned earlier?

Better fit with more comfortability and improves the soundstage especially the vertical planes which is awesome. Those are the most noticeable differences