[Chris J]

Quote:

I've got a Nordost Blue Heaven USB cable that I managed to get for a price that was beyond reasonable, an ex-demo
that made itself available for less than half price so I nabbed it. The real issue I had with my 'general store' Type A to B
cable was that the square end was slightly under sized can you believe it ~ it was a loose fit into the back of the rDAC
so every now and then I'd get a pop. Sure enough when I replaced it with the Nordost Blue Heaven, the fit was much better
and the popping was gone.
 
It's a contentious area, USB cables ~ I've heard 3 extensively ~ the Nordost Blue Heaven (mine), Wireworld Ultraviolet
and Furutech Formula 2 ~ differences are very hard to pick, and if anything many will tell you it's all just placebo.
 
I tend to put USB cables in the same box as power conditioning, if you get a placebo effect from it then go for it,
if not and you believe it's all just mystical hog wash then that's good too 

 
My suggestion? Get a Nuforce USB cable ~ $25-$30USD ~ can't go wrong. It's $10 if that over a general use one.
 
I'm a definite believer in RCA cables though, especially when comparing silver to copper.

Thanks, that's kinda what I figured:
a USB cable really won't make any difference, unless they do something to screw up the design of the cable........like a loose, poorly designed connector, bad cable design, etc. Apparently Kimber puts ferrite cores on their USB cables which is apparently a bad thing according to the USB designers and experts.

I'll just have to ensure I get something properly designed. Thanks for the tip on the NuForce USB cable.
 
As for power conditioning, when implemented properly I have no doubt that they do make a difference. I have tried a few power conditioners out, but not under scientific, rigorous double blind conditions. I used to work along side some Switch-Mode Power Supply designers, it is surprising how much noise is conducted down the power lines by noisy power supplies and other components in the power grid. It is also surprising how much noise electronic components radiate (i.e. broadcast).
 

 

[bcasey25raptor]

Quote:

 
 $22,000 for a CD player, it's a bit of money, however in the world of speakers for some people, that's the pocket
 change - take a look at these happy audio engineers upon receiving their pair of Focal Grande Utopia's.
 
 Unlike, our disposition for playback for enjoyment - these guys see them as an exquisite tool of excellence
 for work, serious audio work.
 
 Price? Try $260,000USD. Some call them the finest speakers on the planet.
 
 Swings and round-abouts people 

 
 

I can buy a small house for that. That's nuts.
 

 

[veyrongatti]

Quote:

I wasn't kidding when I said enjoy your FLACs. I am enjoying my ripped WAVs at this very moment through the iPhone and Fostex HP-P1 via my UE18 Pro. 
 
I also use my Esoteric K-01 as a DAC by the way - streaming music from the Oppo 95. I bought a fair bit of High Rez 192/24 and 96/24 tracks from HDtracks.
 


 

could u give me a free UE18 pro+ a hpp1?  

 
 

 

[Kukuk]

Just had my friend listen to my Ultrasone PROline 750's, he was pretty amazed by how spacious they sound, saying he could hear all the instruments around him. He's now thinking he might need to buy himself a pair.

 

[bravo4588]

I live in France and here lots of people use Beats by Dr.Dre. when i asked a friend of mine who bought studio beats why he made the purchase he said beats are the new trend 'cause everyone has it. the majority cares more about fashion than sound quality. 

 

[antberg]

 

 
 $22,000 for a CD player, it's a bit of money, however in the world of speakers for some people, that's the pocket
 change - take a look at these happy audio engineers upon receiving their pair of Focal Grande Utopia's.
 
 Unlike, our disposition for playback for enjoyment - these guys see them as an exquisite tool of excellence
 for work, serious audio work.
 
 Price? Try $260,000USD. Some call them the finest speakers on the planet.
 
 Swings and round-abouts people 

 
 

 I can buy a small house for that. That's nuts.
 
 
 
i can buy a castle with that money where i live.
 

 

[kingpage]

Somewhere in the stereophile community, they have a thread titled "non-audiophile reactions to high-end speakers". I can imagine those people laughing at us.
 
In that case, our reactions are "non-audiophile". For some reason, I don't want to be like that (spending thousands of dollors on the last 0.01%).

 

[Gwarmi]

 
 What's interesting is that 'pantheon of the audio god' products like the Focal Grande Utopia gets respect and admiration on both
 sides of the fence.
 
 Audiophiles with deep pockets desire a pair of speakers like that but a cashed audio engineer with serious backing also would
 like a pair nestled in his engineering den too.
 
 A rare feat ~ someone with serious experience might suggest other speakers but I don't know of many others speakers in that
 price range that achieve that duality in the market. Most $200,000 speakers I've seen are fabulous, outrageous pieces of 'art'
 that happen to sound pretty nice ~ but I don't see an audio engineer wanting to spend that money on a pair to monitor his mix.
 
 He'd get something else.

 

[googleli]

How about Kharma Enigma...

 

[Digital-Pride]

Wow, I can only imagine the kind of fidelity one can get with those speakers.  "Sorry about your wallet" has never been more accurate.

 

[Mozu]

Every time I think this headphone hobby is expensive, I just look at high-end speaker prices. Really puts thing in perspective.

Now I just need a more convincingly-worded argument for my wife along the lines of, "but hon, to get the same sort of *hi-fi mumbo-jumbo* in speakers, I'd have to spend at least $75K. This Stax setup is a bargain by way of comparison!"

 

[kingpage]

Tell her the headphones are only a fraction of whatever she spends on make-up, fashion or accessories, and headphones are highly collectable and highly resaleable items whilst whatever she buys for hobby or otherwise aren't.

 

[googleli]

But once you get the Stax you will  need to look into a better source - and that brings you to the Hi-fi world...

 

[Mozu]

Unfortunately, she's a biologist, and while she dresses much, much better than anyone else I've met through her (other profs., post-docs, grad students), almost all of her expensive clothes are high-end outdoor gear, which is half for work, and half for us going camping/hiking.

I'm not sure I could come up with an argument that wouldn't end in her laughing at me (or dodging thrown objects).

 

[Spinlight]

So today I was doing some homework in the commons with my HD 25 Adidas Originals on while waiting for my soccer game to start. All of a sudden, my friend asks to try my headphones and I let him for a song. Then this girl sits down in front of me and asks what the big deal is when my friend makes that gaping mouth face. She asks "Why not the Beats? Those don't look all that great." 
 
So now my friend behind her who was on the computer takes a look at me and says "Beats," snickering, "why not let her try your headphones?" She's now freaking out about these and is eager to start listening to some of her Top 40 tracks on her iPhone. After she put them on, the volume gradually got louder as she started shaking her head with this huge smile on her face.
 
By the end of it, 3 other people had showed up to try them and my work table has now become a headphone auditioning stand for people. I got a huge amount of questions that were more or less "Where'd you get those?" and "How much did they cost?" One person commented "Dude, those look absolutely sick." So now he's going to go and buy these. Guess who didn't finish either Algebra II or Geometry homework today?
 
tl;dr: Tons of people tried the HD 25 Adidas Originals today. One person knocked the style, asked about Beats. Tried it. Loved it. Got someone to buy them.