[olor1n]

 

   
You can't listen to a spec sheet. 

 
Is that how you buy things?  Ignore the specs?

 
What do you hope to achieve here?

 

[upstateguy]

   
What do you hope to achieve here?

 
Nothing more than to increase the awareness that specifications matter. 
 
For instance, the Vali has a THD of <0.4% while my Woo3 has a THD of <= 0.08%.
 
Does this matter?  Maybe, maybe not.
 
Will the Woo3 sound better?  Maybe, maybe not.

 

[chee006]

   
I've got the dx50. It is not enough to drive the 650. The amp portion is somewhat of the weak link in this otherwise fine dap. Paired with a decent portable amp, I think that you'd do pretty well with the dx50 and the 650. I don't know anything about the amp that you mentioned though. 

This is the amp I mentioned, it should drive my HD 650 but I am just wondering if it's gonna synergize well or not.

 

[spacequeen7]

   
 In that case I'll increase my budget to $600 however I have some DAC and AMP in mind.
 
First off, my guy told me to just upgrade the tube of my Bravo Ocean and he says it would increase the sound quality significantly, he said the stock tube can already surpass the quality of my PB 2. For my DAC I use a Go Vibe cheap DAC which is adequate if you never own a DAC before however I really wan to upgrade it as it's my weakest component of my PC rig.
 
For DAC I had the Aune T1 or X1 in mind which I heard it's quite good and also somewhat cheap, however I am planing to up that later to a matrix-i DAC and for my AMP after I up the tube I can lastly go from that to a La Figaro 339 Dark Voice 2013 wich looks great and sounds great from what the reviewers said.
 
I would still like to see more suggestion bear in mind my budget is'nt fixed and I can go higher as long as I am happy with the item and think it has good value.
 
Thank You.

When it comes to tube amps I will repeat my self again ..upgrading  tube makes the biggest difference ,re-cap  second 
I have Aune T1 and Shiit modi and both are very close in performance all tho I like the Aune T1 smoothness and ability to throw third tube in to the mix amd sometimes I listen via modi so I only use the tubes from my OTL,..if I was you I would just wait and save you $ for the the amp/DAC of your choice (like DV339 you mention ) otherwise you keep spending money on something you end-up selling anyway 

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

  This is the amp I mentioned, it should drive my HD 650 but I am just wondering if it's gonna synergize well or not.

 
Your DX50 and PB2 are iBasso.  Why not get the DB2 and make a balanced triple stack?  I haven't heard any iBasso stuff, but have read plenty of their synergy with each other...

 

[chee006]

   
Your DX50 and PB2 are iBasso.  Why not get the DB2 and make a balanced triple stack?  I haven't heard any iBasso stuff, but have read plenty of their synergy with each other...

I think I have mentioned in my previous post that if I were to get a DB2 then it would render my Dx 50 useless except for being able to play music as all the other components that are being use are external plus not to mention adding another thick layer to my already thick portable rig, so i thionk I'll go this far in terms of value for my portable rig, I am thinking about upgrading to Hm-901 when I have the money.

 

[chee006]

  When it comes to tube amps I will repeat my self again ..upgrading  tube makes the biggest difference ,re-cap  second 
I have Aune T1 and Shiit modi and both are very close in performance all tho I like the Aune T1 smoothness and ability to throw third tube in to the mix amd sometimes I listen via modi so I only use the tubes from my OTL,..if I was you I would just wait and save you $ for the the amp/DAC of your choice (like DV339 you mention ) otherwise you keep spending money on something you end-up selling anyway 

Yeah good points but wat do u mean I can add a third tube to the Aune T1 when it has only one? I believe the DV339 is amp only and also I dun mind just upgrading the tube of my Ocean Bravo then the next one would be DV339. As for DAC I am still torn between Aune T1 and X1 the price difference is about 60USD.

 

[spacequeen7]

  Yeah good points but wat do u mean I can add a third tube to the Aune T1 when it has only one? I believe the DV339 is amp only and also I dun mind just upgrading the tube of my Ocean Bravo then the next one would be DV339. As for DAC I am still torn between Aune T1 and X1 the price difference is about 60USD.

I was just saying that with my OTL I can use  three tubes (1 on Aune+2 more on OTL)
P.S. Aune T1 sounds marvelous ,there is no sibilance  and can use a LOT of tubes but I don't think it would be night-day upgrade over Bravo ,try different tube on Bravo first  

 

[chee006]

  I was just saying that with my OTL I can use  three tubes (1 on Aune+2 more on OTL)
P.S. Aune T1 sounds marvelous ,there is no sibilance  and can use a LOT of tubes but I don't think it would be night-day upgrade over Bravo ,try different tube on Bravo first  

OTL?

 

[m2man]

Is that how you buy things?  Ignore the specs?

I totally ignore the specs. I'm sure my ZDSE doesn't measure as good as the O2 while it smokes the Crack even. I like it better than my LCD-3 and Mjolnir. Anyway user impressions and reviews are the way to go...

 

[m2man]

OTL?

OTL is output transformerless. Most tubes have an output impedance of 100 ohms. That works great with high impedance phones. You can lower impedance of the amp with transformers but these change the sound. Even dramatically.

 

[Byronb]

   
Is that how you buy things?  Ignore the specs?

In fact it is. I listen, that is what the hobby is all about, awesome sound, not awesome specs.

 

[James-uk]

If you want high fidelity sound then specs do matter . If you want a personal flavour of sound then they don't .

 

[Byronb]

If you want high fidelity sound then specs do matter . If you want a personal flavour of sound then they don't .

The problem with that is that specs become quite useless very early on. Most humans cannot discern such small difference is distortion, etc. But, what your hearing/brain can do is tell you what sounds "right". I agree that there is a certain point where specs do matter, but most gear today surpasses that point quite easily and the listener has to rely on his ears/brain to inform him what sounds "right" to him/her. I did not intend to take this OT. All I meant to say was that you have to listen to the gear not just look at the spec sheet. 

 

[James-uk]

I am the first to admit I'm a git when it comes to this subject! Personally I think the recording and headphone play a bigger role in determining the sound and what sounds 'right'. Based on this I advise buying an amp and dac based on specs and then you can box this off and concentrate primarily on finding the right headphone ( or combination of headphones) and recordings that float you boat