FlySweep
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2010
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Thanks LFF.. exactly what I was looking for.. will report back..
Thanks LFF.. exactly what I was looking for.. will report back..
The track you want is track no. 3. Only 3...that's right...3 headphones have been able to play that track correctly and accurately. A 4th headphone could dish out the bass but the rest of the spectrum was seriously lacking in quality.
Sure. If you really want to test bass quality as well as extension, you only need one disc!
The track you want is track no. 3. Only 3...that's right...3 headphones have been able to play that track correctly and accurately. A 4th headphone could dish out the bass but the rest of the spectrum was seriously lacking in quality.
If you want something more forgiving, try this one.
The hard track here is track no. 4. See if your headphones can accurately separate the bass drum hits from the electric bass guitar...in other words, they should not sound similar at all. Not that easy to do it correctly.
Just curious...what are those 4 headphones?
AMEN Raven! Part of the problem I believe is that they are not as accessible as the m50, retail-wise. I <3 mine so much I'm looking for a closed version with similar sound signature. The mids are liquid with the FA-011 and the sound stage/airy presentation is awesome.
AMEN Raven! Part of the problem I believe is that they are not as accessible as the m50, retail-wise. I <3 mine so much I'm looking for a closed version with similar sound signature. The mids are liquid with the FA-011 and the sound stage/airy presentation is awesome.
Quote:
I've never owned the uDAC-2 (NWAVGuy's reviews turned me off), but from what I understand, they should be able to handle the FA-011s just fine. Of course, if you spend more you will likely get more, but that's a very deep rabbit hole. There isn't much in that price range (US$120 +/-), especially with a nice user experience (from what I could discern).
I went with the E7($90, or $200 for the E7/E9 combo), which also handles them well, though I'm not so happy with the user interface for my purposes (primarily desktop use). I also considered the FUBAR III($230), Fireye II($100), EF2A($160), and at one point considered the Music Streamer II($150) paired with a Little Dot MK II($125) or MK III($200). Also considered the Sound Blaster X-Fi HD USB ($100) briefly. If I had a hard limit of the uDAC price, I think I might go with the X-Fi, which should drive the FA-011s while still providing a hassle-free user experience and hopefully without the channel balance issues of the uDAC.
Though my E7/E9 combo sounds very good and provides oodles of power, I don't like having to turn on my E7 independently, every time I turn on my computer. Then remember to turn it off independently as well. The little power button on the side is a pain to use while it's docked, and I don't always hold it long enough (since my hand blocks the screen when I do it, I can't tell). I also don't like that every time I turn my computer on, I'm recharging its internal battery. That thing is sure to be useless within a year or so, because of that.
If I could do it all over again, I think I'd suck it up and spend the money on a Music Streamer 2 and a stand-alone amp.
As an aside, I also picked up the Behringer UCA-202($30) and a Bravo V2 ($30-50) mini tube amp off of ebay. No complaints about the UCA-202 as a basic DAC, but it's anemic on its own. The Bravo amp is... cute. The sound's pretty good unless I do a head-to-head with better equipment. Definitely coloring, quite powerful, somewhat inconvenient input and power switch placement, but for a $40 amp, I'm not complaining.
Standard disclaimer: I'm more of a mid-fi than hi-fi guy. I mostly listen to 256-320kbps MP3s, in a relatively noisy environment, with no single piece of audio equipment costing more than $300, and am perfectly happy. I'm not rich enough to ignore the "diminishing returns" issue and would rather have my 80% of perfect for $150-300 than 90% for $1500. Since you're looking at the uDAC-2, I have to assume you're in the same camp!
Glad I could help -- I'd love to know how you like them with the uDAC-2!