[MarkRS]

Afternoon all, just curious as I've just bought the above kit for home use but have been given the kit on loan for 2 weeks before the new items ship.

Which OEM cabling choice is best for the headphones, 6.3mm or XLR in terms of sound/performance?

Which input option on the back is the best for my AK SP1000 player? Toslink or USB? I was thinking of the Audioquest Carbon or Coffee options.

Anyone care to wade in?

 

[flailure]

I'd use the 4.4 balanced, as the headphone should come with it, and the amp has it built in. As for input, it really depends on source files, toslink can be iffy sometimes for high res, but it works fantastic with cd quality and medium res, and you avoid some of the issues with USB. Never hurts to have options though, try both and see what you like.

Enjoy the headphones, they are surprisingly not very amp picky, so, give it some good head time and try out what you have, may be surprised

 

[MarkRS]

I'd use the 4.4 balanced, as the headphone should come with it, and the amp has it built in. As for input, it really depends on source files, toslink can be iffy sometimes for high res, but it works fantastic with cd quality and medium res, and you avoid some of the issues with USB. Never hurts to have options though, try both and see what you like.

Enjoy the headphones, they are surprisingly not very amp picky, so, give it some good head time and try out what you have, may be surprised

Thank you, didn't realise that...this loan pair just has the 6.3mm connection. Wondering now if it's worth buying the effectaudio 2.5mm balanced to pentaconn adapter for my Lionheart cable on my Layla 2s? Would be cool to hear the Laylas through a dedicated dac.

Interesting on the toslink, what is it that causes issues with higher res? Also what issues do you mean with USB? Do you think getting a very good cable for either option would reduce issues? I'm thinking USB just for ease of being able to run the macbook through the dac when I'm being lazy.

 

[flailure]

Toslink has limitations, it has come a long way since it was introduced, but 24/96 is the bit rate that is commonly considered its cap, although with a short glass cable (cable can make the difference) and good equipment it has been able to exceed that limit, even all the way to 24/192. Toslink (optical) has no metal wire, so no ground loops and no interference, so if you have no music higher than 24/96, it is the preferred medium, though not all devices have optical toslink as an option.

Usb also has come a long way, each new generation seems to get better. Usb often does not have the bandwidth issues of other inputs (unless using USB 1) and can handle high bitrate multichannel signals with no problems. USB is not cable particular (with some exceptions) and gives a lot more options for input devices. Some of the problems with USB include driver compatability, ground loop issues (metal wire), voltage issues, and a lot of devices that use the USB for power input or for battery charging can be insufficiently powered with certain device configurations. Not to mention availability of usb ports for other uses (like charging a battery). Nearly all devices nowadays have USB.

Like I said, try them both, unless you need the higher bandwidth of usb for higher bitrate files. Pick which one you enjoy most

 

[MarkRS]

Thank you again. I've been using the Audioquest Toslink today and Tidal plays fine via the SP1000 but none of the albums in flac format (44.1, 16bit upwards) play any sound! I've set the SP/DIF out to force bitrate to 24/96 and all other configs but no noise..very weird.