[Wurstteppich]

Hi,
 
Quote:

  Now, reports from Europe are 180 degrees out of phase with what I heard in Tokyo, so perhaps I just heard a completely undercooked sample / or otherwise it does not play wall with smallish heads.

 
another possibility would be that your pair simply hadn't enough burn in time. I learned that you have to give it some time to burn-in, at least a couple of days. Not sure if I only get used to the sound, but initially I wasn't blown away either, but I started to like it more and more with each day which passed by. Unfortunately I didn't have much time for listening this week and just a did a little bit really quick back and forth switching between the M1, T1 and HD900, but at least on my Oppo HA-1 the M1 most of the time won the comparison. I just gave me the best overall sound signature. However I still like the T1 on my Bottlehead Crack for rock or the TH900 for some electronic songs.
 
Hopefully I find some more time this weekend or next week to elaborate the M1 more and check out the differences between my headphones.

 

[obsidyen]

I wish this was sold at a more affordable price like Philips' Fidelio X2. I can understand that boutique companies charge more money but Pioneer can apply economies of scale in their big factories so I believe this could be sold at something like USD 999.

 

[Wurstteppich]

Hi plakat,
 
Quote:

 
Thats quite a stretch... no fixed plans yet. 

 
thanks for your detailed thoughts on your headphone amp lineup. It's very much appreciated, since I am thinking about buying a second headamp for our living room, which pairs good with my existing headphones. Right now I think the Oppo HA-1 does very well paired with the Master 1, on the other hand I don't have a proper comparison at the moment. I've listened to a couple of headphone amps in the past, but all with other headphones than the ones I own personally
 
The Violectric V281 seems to be a good choice, since it has a good reputation, a lot of power reserves and a balanced out. 
 
Back to the topic...Pioneer used to show the Master 1 paired with the U-05 on the shows. Does anyone here have experience with that DAC/amp combination? Not only it has an interesting price tag, it also has a nice feature lineup on the paper and a nice built quality/design. Since a lot of people had a good impression when being paired with the Master 1, my guess is that the sound quality compared with other devices in the "up to 2000€" area isn't bad either.  

 

[AppleheadMay]

   
thanks for your detailed thoughts on your headphone amp lineup. It's very much appreciated, since I am thinking about buying a second headamp for our living room, which pairs good with my existing headphones. Right now I think the Oppo HA-1 does very well paired with the Master 1, on the other hand I don't have a proper comparison at the moment. I've listened to a couple of headphone amps in the past, but all with other headphones than the ones I own personally
 
The Violectric V281 seems to be a good choice, since it has a good reputation, a lot of power reserves and a balanced out. 
 
Back to the topic...Pioneer used to show the Master 1 paired with the U-05 on the shows. Does anyone here have experience with that DAC/amp combination? Not only it has an interesting price tag, it also has a nice feature lineup on the paper and a nice built quality/design. Since a lot of people had a good impression when being paired with the Master 1, my guess is that the sound quality compared with other devices in the "up to 2000€" area isn't bad either.  

 
 
Seems we're interested in the same two amp/dacs.
I sure wouldn't mind having a chance to compare the U-05 with the HA-1 and my Marantz HD-Dac1.
Very happy so far with the HD-Dac1paired with my LA-900s and the price won't kill you.
Still, it's no match for the Zana. I wonder if the M1 will scale as well with amps as the LA-900s.

 

[Roderick]

  I wish this was sold at a more affordable price like Philips' Fidelio X2. I can understand that boutique companies charge more money but Pioneer can apply economies of scale in their big factories so I believe this could be sold at something like USD 999.

Of course they could. But it is a limited statement product after all. Similar to Sony R10 and Sennheiser Orpheus. That fact considered it is actually quite affordable. They can easily sell the 1000 pairs. They could easily do it even if those were priced at $5000. They will never get back the money they put inbut it's more of an advertisement than an actual product.

 

[up late]

that's a big call. think it's a bit premature to be likening this can to the r10 and orpheus. they really were bold statement products from those two companies. time will tell i guess.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Will Tyll receive a pair for measurements? 

 

[obsidyen]

 
Of course they could. But it is a limited statement product after all. Similar to Sony R10 and Sennheiser Orpheus. That fact considered it is actually quite affordable. They can easily sell the 1000 pairs. They could easily do it even if those were priced at $5000. They will never get back the money they put inbut it's more of an advertisement than an actual product.

Sony R10 and Orpheus both sound amazing though. I'm not really sure this headphone does, not yet. Sometimes companies just overcharge.

 

[plakat]

 
Sony R10 and Orpheus both sound amazing though. I'm not really sure this headphone does, not yet. Sometimes companies just overcharge.

The R10 is an easy target in my eyes... did not like it at all, so to me the Master-1 is easily better
 
Yes, I do think it would be possible for Pioneer to make more of them and sell them for less. They chose not to as they see it as a statement product. It its received well there might be follow up products I guess...

 

[Wurstteppich]

Hi,
 
Quote:

   
 
I sure wouldn't mind having a chance to compare the U-05 with the HA-1 and my Marantz HD-Dac1.

 
well I couln't stop myself and ordered the U-05 for my living room today, since I plan to feed it via USB either with my Nexus 6 tablet or my Diskstation 214+ NAS. One for Tidal, one for playing my digital stock of music.
 
So I might be able to compare it to the Oppo HA-1. I can't compare it to the Marantz DAC, since I don't like the wood finish on the sides (nothing against that in general, it just doesn't fit the rest of the interieur of my living room and my personal taste).
 
Their would have been some easier and smaller solutions (also considering that I don't use it as a pre-amp, since I have my active speakers connected to the Oppo HA-1), but I really like the ESS chipset, balanced outs and the finish of the device.
 
I might consider a V281 for later this year, when I give one of the Hifimans a try.

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

  Will Tyll receive a pair for measurements? 

I've asked and they said since it's not available in the US now that I couldn't have one for review. 

 

[AppleheadMay]

   
well I couln't stop myself and ordered the U-05 for my living room today, since I plan to feed it via USB either with my Nexus 6 tablet or my Diskstation 214+ NAS. One for Tidal, one for playing my digital stock of music.
 
So I might be able to compare it to the Oppo HA-1. I can't compare it to the Marantz DAC, since I don't like the wood finish on the sides (nothing against that in general, it just doesn't fit the rest of the interieur of my living room and my personal taste).
 
Their would have been some easier and smaller solutions (also considering that I don't use it as a pre-amp, since I have my active speakers connected to the Oppo HA-1), but I really like the ESS chipset, balanced outs and the finish of the device.
 
I might consider a V281 for later this year, when I give one of the Hifimans a try.

 
 
Sweet! I'm really looking forward to your opinion regarding these two dacs, I'll probably buy one of both in August though I will only be able to audition the Oppo, not the Pioneer. I would like to have a Sabre Dac as well, the ones I have now is a more expensive Burr-Brown and a cheaper Cirrus.
 
Regarding looks, the Pioneer is only available in silver and I prefer black, my Marantz is also black.
I also like the "wooden" panels on the Marantz, I like wood, so does my wife. 

No seriously, to each his own taste of course.
 
So really looking forward to hear your opinion on the sound differences between these two.

 

[takato14]

 

  Will Tyll receive a pair for measurements? 

I've asked and they said since it's not available in the US now that I couldn't have one for review. 

Feces.
 
Guess we'll have to wait for the NA release. Hopefully they don't pull the kind of B/S they pulled with their super-high-end products in the 80s and make it Japan-only...

 

[AppleheadMay]

  Feces.
 
Guess we'll have to wait for the NA release. Hopefully they don't pull the kind of B/S they pulled with their super-high-end products in the 80s and make it Japan-only...

 
That won't be the case since I can buy it in Europe and it's already available in the UK.

 

[gurus]

Pioneer had plenty of chances to introduce the Master1 at various shows in the US in the last two months. Looks like they have other plans for the first 1000.