[439598]

TheProject ember doesnt look like the best value.
The tube is acting as a gain stage, tubes tend to be good at providing gain compared to solid state (or so they say) but do you even need gain?
My amp is unity gain, I have my D50 modded to give a balanced output, this has even less gain the D50's normal single ended output. Going to 0dB on the D50 would still be enough to blow my eardrums with the HD650s.

Eliminating the gain stage would only make the amp better and the tube is whats pushing the cost up on that amp so much.

There are very very simple (20$ in parts simple) Class A Mosfet designs with no gain stage that can provides tons of power and they sound great, mostly because of how simple they are .

 

[439598]

You are obviously in the "Amir says it measures good" camp. He concluded that the Topping D50 ($199) measured better than the Schiit Yggdrasil ($2499) a Delta Sigma beats a NOS Ladder DAC? Hmm, maybe that would measure better if you had Beats headphones instead of HD650 from Sennheiser...if Amir said they measure better...

I really liked most of the R2R DACs I heard, no doubt they sound better and in some aspects they reproduce the music more accurately/realistically (which measurements dont seem to pick up on) than DS DACs, but they dont measure as well in THD and noise and to me this is audible. If R2R could measure as well as DS DACs for anywhere near the same price I'd never look back.
The R2R11 on the other just sounded like a bad DAC, though I dont think this is really a fault of AudioGD, to offer a good, fully discrete R2R DAC at that price (even less without the amp) seems like an impossible feat.

 

[MacMan31]

So I bought the following cable to use with my HD6XX and Fiio K3. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H7RXV6C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The connectors which go into the headphone are very tight. I don't think they are in wrong cause they can only seem to go in one way. However it's so tight that I had to use pliers to get them out. Nothing broke upon doing so but should I be worried about the tightness? They claim that the L and R indicators should face inside instead of outside but they won't go in at all when the L and R face outward. Once they are connected it works great. The sound quality is excellent. I just don't want anything to get wrecked.

 

[Robert Padgett]

So I bought the following cable to use with my HD6XX and Fiio K3. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H7RXV6C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The connectors which go into the headphone is very tight. I don't think they are in wrong cause they can only seem to go in one way. However, it's so tight that I had to use pliers to get them out. Nothing broke upon doing so but should I be worried about the tightness? They claim that the L and R indicators should face inside instead of outside but they won't go in at all when the L and R face outward. Once they are connected it works great. The sound quality is excellent. I just don't want anything to get wrecked.

"Please note that the L and R are facing inside, different from orginal cables. When insert the cable's 2 pin plugs into earphone , will be a little tight. Do not insert too deep and tight.**

The pin has "+-" mark, L and R are facing outward, the pin has letter "L R" , L and R are facing inside."

I can not see the problem, these instructions are perfectly clear...

**-Always good advice.

 

[MacMan31]

"Please note that the L and R are facing inside, different from orginal cables. When insert the cable's 2 pin plugs into earphone , will be a little tight. Do not insert too deep and tight.**

The pin has "+-" mark, L and R are facing outward, the pin has letter "L R" , L and R are facing inside."

I can not see the problem, these instructions are perfectly clear...

**-Always good advice.

Well my set has both the letter L and R as well as the + and - indicators facing outward. They are both on the same side of the connector.

 

[Robert Padgett]

Well my set has both the letter L and R as well as the + and - indicators facing outward. They are both on the same side of the connector.

There is a larger pin and a smaller pin. If music comes out you have connected, but may not be in phase. Look at the pins and you will see the difference. Small pin on right, larger pin on left. Now looking from the outside of the earpad, in this position insert into the holes. I was pulling your leg, those instructions have me confused and I have my Senns on my head, so I had to look at mine to see if I was right.

 

[MacMan31]

There is a larger pin and a smaller pin. If music comes out you have connected, but may not be in phase. Look at the pins and you will see the difference. Small pin on right, larger pin on left. Now looking from the outside of the earpad, in this position insert into the holes. I was pulling your leg, those instructions have me confused and I have my Senns on my head, so I had to look at mine to see if I was right.

I inserted them the way you said and it works. But they are definitely more snug than the stock cable connectors. How would I know if they are out of phase? Is there a way to test that?

 

[Robert Padgett]

It would be like connecting speaker wires with the red on the right and black on the left on one speaker and red on the left and black on the right, the speakers would still play, but the signal would be reversed, or out of phase or here is what people that actually know wrote: www.sweetwater.com/insync/out-of-phase/

And if it works and it is tight, cool, better tight than loose and prone to connections going in and out of contact. I was warned by everyone to be very careful. Why should you be pulling the connection apart after you install the cables? It isn't a good idea, just to leave it alone... Trust me I have learned this by ruining things...

 

[MacMan31]

It would be like connecting speaker wires with the red on the right and black on the left on one speaker and red on the left and black on the right, the speakers would still play, but the signal would be reversed, or out of phase or here is what people that actually know wrote: www.sweetwater.com/insync/out-of-phase/

And if it works and it is tight, cool, better tight than loose and prone to connections going in and out of contact. I was warned by everyone to be very careful. Why should you be pulling the connection apart after you install the cables? It isn't a good idea, just to leave it alone... Trust me I have learned this by ruining things...

Well perhaps I'll just send back the cable and get an adapter. I still have my 4 pin XLR balance cables. There is an adapter I could buy which converts that to a 2.5mm connector. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D7KZ8TL/?coliid=I2WVN2TTCAE3C&colid=3UE25CKFF25IF&psc=1

 

[megabigeye]

I inserted them the way you said and it works. But they are definitely more snug than the stock cable connectors. How would I know if they are out of phase? Is there a way to test that?

If they're out of phase they'll sound really weird; you'd certainly notice something's wrong. It usually sounds like certain frequencies are very far away while others are closer to where they're supposed to be. If it sounds fine, then it is fine.
I wouldn't return the cable unless you just don't like how tight it is (or, you know, because you just don't like it).

 

[HungryPanda]

to check for phase and other thing I always use : https://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php

 

[SilverEars]

If they're out of phase they'll sound really weird; you'd certainly notice something's wrong. It usually sounds like certain frequencies are very far away while others are closer to where they're supposed to be. If it sounds fine, then it is fine.
I wouldn't return the cable unless you just don't like how tight it is (or, you know, because you just don't like it).

I could tell better with iems, but the sound gets hazy (sounding like not in phase), and sound gets a bit echoey, and bass and dynamics are reduced. So, clarity is reduced as well.

It's like what Kimber PB&J interconnect cable did to the sound. I'm wondering if the cable is out of phase?

 

[MacMan31]

If they're out of phase they'll sound really weird; you'd certainly notice something's wrong. It usually sounds like certain frequencies are very far away while others are closer to where they're supposed to be. If it sounds fine, then it is fine.
I wouldn't return the cable unless you just don't like how tight it is (or, you know, because you just don't like it).

The cable seems to be good quality overall but the tightness of the connector is quite a lot. Yes I want it to be snug so it doesn't come out but it's like they didn't test it before deciding on the final connector size. Also the Y-split is oddly low. Easy four or more inches than stock cable. Where the cable splits off to left and right is down at my belly button. The split on the stock cable is up above the middle of my chest.

 

[RickB]

.

 

[megabigeye]

The cable seems to be good quality overall but the tightness of the connector is quite a lot. Yes I want it to be snug so it doesn't come out but it's like they didn't test it before deciding on the final connector size. Also the Y-split is oddly low. Easy four or more inches than stock cable. Where the cable splits off to left and right is down at my belly button. The split on the stock cable is up above the middle of my chest.

I say return it if it doesn't suit your desires. It doesn't sound like the quality is all that great.
I just wanted to point out that it doesn't sound like it's out of phase.