Preachy1
1000+ Head-Fier
We have very similar tastes!!!!!
Show us your Head-Fi station at it's current state. No old pictures please...
- Thread starter HiFiGuy528
- Start date
I recently convinced my pa to invest in some speakers after years of using my old Onkyo AV receiver amp and Q Acoustics 2020 speakers. Music is possibly his dearest passion and hobby (a couple of his albums are now on Tidal and Spotify ha!) yet he's never had a decent sound system.
We ended up with a pair of Sonus faber Lumina III in the wengue and a HiFi ROSE RS201 on DAC, amp and streaming duties - gotta keep these things simple for him, so this fit the bill.
He's over the moon with them, and I must say, so am I!
On another note, I'm also incredibly impressed with the general functionality, simplicity and features of the ROSE and its companion app - it's also a full MQA decoder which, while wasn't a deciding factor, is a nice bonus. The screen is awesome with touch interaction having no lag, plus it can show a real myriad of display options (such as the VU mode in the earlier snaps).
We ended up with a pair of Sonus faber Lumina III in the wengue and a HiFi ROSE RS201 on DAC, amp and streaming duties - gotta keep these things simple for him, so this fit the bill.
He's over the moon with them, and I must say, so am I!
On another note, I'm also incredibly impressed with the general functionality, simplicity and features of the ROSE and its companion app - it's also a full MQA decoder which, while wasn't a deciding factor, is a nice bonus. The screen is awesome with touch interaction having no lag, plus it can show a real myriad of display options (such as the VU mode in the earlier snaps).
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When the days get too hot for tubes, you have to find other/small solutions:
Roon on NUCi7 - ifi iusb micro - ifi iDSD nano - ifi iCAN / Grado RSA - or Woo WA11
Roon on NUCi7 - ifi iusb micro - ifi iDSD nano - ifi iCAN / Grado RSA - or Woo WA11
Current state - Just fired up the Pendant SE with a very special tube combo and my Atticus hooked up. Let the long weekend begin! 
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Very nice setup!!I recently convinced my pa to invest in some speakers after years of using my old Onkyo AV receiver amp and Q Acoustics 2020 speakers. Music is possibly his dearest passion and hobby (a couple of his albums are now on Tidal and Spotify ha!) yet he's never had a decent sound system.
We ended up with a pair of Sonus faber Lumina III in the wengue and a HiFi ROSE RS201 on DAC, amp and streaming duties - gotta keep these things simple for him, so this fit the bill.
He's over the moon with them, and I must say, so am I!
On another note, I'm also incredibly impressed with the general functionality, simplicity and features of the ROSE and its companion app - it's also a full MQA decoder which, while wasn't a deciding factor, is a nice bonus. The screen is awesome with touch interaction having no lag, plus it can show a real myriad of display options (such as the VU mode in the earlier snaps).
UntilThen
Headphoneus Supremus
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MLGrado
500+ Head-Fier
My first tube amp was a Icon Audio Stereo 20 that was lovely sounding on speaker taps. And it had a nice sounding dedicated single ended headphone output with its own custom transformer winding. But it just could not drive two of the three sets of headphones I owned at the time.
It drove my Grado RS1 brilliantly, but choked on the higher impedance Sennheiser HD650 in the bass.
And it absolutely could not even begin to drive the Hi-Fiman HE560.
So I got a Icon Audio HP8 MKII that sounded brilliant and drove the HE560 and then some. Right before the warranty lapsed, (lucky it happened that day and not a few weeks later) the Icon just died. Power Supply was gone. That was 6 months ago. Music Direct still hasn't replaced my amp, which is in their possession this entire time. They said they were not going to have it repaired but exchange with a brand new one. Well, that is fine, but Icon themselves still don't know when they will ever be sending another stock shipment of any of their products here to the states at MD, the only authorized dealer. So, I am effectively in Music Direct limbo with both my money and my product gone.
Silver lining??? I got a balanced cable and started listening to the 560 via the pentaconn port on my iFi iDSD Pro.
WOW, WOW. and WOW. Stunning. Whenever I get my brand new Icon HP8 it is getting sold to some lucky buyer at a small discount (and it will be a treat because it is a GREAT sounding tube headamp, probably the best sounding (especially with the proper vintage tube rolling) tube headamp under that $1500 mark.
But I am SO stunned at the synergy the HE-560 has in balanced operation via the iFi iDSD Pro. I am still stunned at the quality every time I listen.
Now everyone is going to have their own opinions no matter what, but there is a large part of me that wonders if those that do not like the sound of the HE560 Might change their minds if they heard it properly amped. It is not as notoriously Difficult as the HE-6 But nonetheless requires an extremely competent amp to sound its best. The more power the better. Right now I am in audio Nirvana. If I ever get my icon HP8 amplifier back for music direct like I’m supposed to, once it sells I am getting the matching iCan pro.
Also, I upgraded my 2014 Mac Mini with the Uptone LPS kit and chose this wonderful behemoth of a LPS by ZERO-ZONE. I had no real expectations the sound would change other than perhaps take some burden off the USB receiver with a bit less noise in the signal, especially the removal of the PWM fan controller in the Mac Mini that operates at 25hkz, so very close to the audio band. But WOW. Its of course just a subjective anecdotal experience on my part, but it took the audio to another level of 'black background', realism and clarity. Wow.
And just to be a head-fi junkie, here is the other computer audio setup.... HP Intel all in one, behind it is a Intona Galvanic USB Isolator and LPS for this little AD/DA from RME. LOL. It sounds great, but my preference for reference listening is still the iFi iDSD Pro. I can listen back to back and compare all day relative strength and weakness of the DAC, but the iFi overall just wins pretty clearly in my head.
The real reason the RME is here is for her AD duties for measurements as I begin my online blog/v-log reviewer presence. As if we need another one of those, but I like it so I am going to do it anyway haha.
It drove my Grado RS1 brilliantly, but choked on the higher impedance Sennheiser HD650 in the bass.
And it absolutely could not even begin to drive the Hi-Fiman HE560.
So I got a Icon Audio HP8 MKII that sounded brilliant and drove the HE560 and then some. Right before the warranty lapsed, (lucky it happened that day and not a few weeks later) the Icon just died. Power Supply was gone. That was 6 months ago. Music Direct still hasn't replaced my amp, which is in their possession this entire time. They said they were not going to have it repaired but exchange with a brand new one. Well, that is fine, but Icon themselves still don't know when they will ever be sending another stock shipment of any of their products here to the states at MD, the only authorized dealer. So, I am effectively in Music Direct limbo with both my money and my product gone.
Silver lining??? I got a balanced cable and started listening to the 560 via the pentaconn port on my iFi iDSD Pro.
WOW, WOW. and WOW. Stunning. Whenever I get my brand new Icon HP8 it is getting sold to some lucky buyer at a small discount (and it will be a treat because it is a GREAT sounding tube headamp, probably the best sounding (especially with the proper vintage tube rolling) tube headamp under that $1500 mark.
But I am SO stunned at the synergy the HE-560 has in balanced operation via the iFi iDSD Pro. I am still stunned at the quality every time I listen.
Now everyone is going to have their own opinions no matter what, but there is a large part of me that wonders if those that do not like the sound of the HE560 Might change their minds if they heard it properly amped. It is not as notoriously Difficult as the HE-6 But nonetheless requires an extremely competent amp to sound its best. The more power the better. Right now I am in audio Nirvana. If I ever get my icon HP8 amplifier back for music direct like I’m supposed to, once it sells I am getting the matching iCan pro.
Also, I upgraded my 2014 Mac Mini with the Uptone LPS kit and chose this wonderful behemoth of a LPS by ZERO-ZONE. I had no real expectations the sound would change other than perhaps take some burden off the USB receiver with a bit less noise in the signal, especially the removal of the PWM fan controller in the Mac Mini that operates at 25hkz, so very close to the audio band. But WOW. Its of course just a subjective anecdotal experience on my part, but it took the audio to another level of 'black background', realism and clarity. Wow.
And just to be a head-fi junkie, here is the other computer audio setup.... HP Intel all in one, behind it is a Intona Galvanic USB Isolator and LPS for this little AD/DA from RME. LOL. It sounds great, but my preference for reference listening is still the iFi iDSD Pro. I can listen back to back and compare all day relative strength and weakness of the DAC, but the iFi overall just wins pretty clearly in my head.
The real reason the RME is here is for her AD duties for measurements as I begin my online blog/v-log reviewer presence. As if we need another one of those, but I like it so I am going to do it anyway haha.
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@MLGrado congrats on great setup. You may want to checkout Pro iCan with your Pro iDSD. Being fan of some of ifi audio equipment I can understand why your prefer Pro iDSD over other dacs.
I'm very interested in how you want to exploit RME as AD for measurements. If this is not a secret share some more details please. Looking forward to whatever you are planning.
My first tube amp was a Icon Audio Stereo 20 that was lovely sounding on speaker taps. And it had a nice sounding dedicated single ended headphone output with its own custom transformer winding. But it just could not drive two of the three sets of headphones I owned at the time.
It drove my Grado RS1 brilliantly, but choked on the higher impedance Sennheiser HD650 in the bass.
And it absolutely could not even begin to drive the Hi-Fiman HE560.
So I got a Icon Audio HP8 MKII that sounded brilliant and drove the HE560 and then some. Right before the warranty lapsed, (lucky it happened that day and not a few weeks later) the Icon just died. Power Supply was gone. That was 6 months ago. Music Direct still hasn't replaced my amp, which is in their possession this entire time. They said they were not going to have it repaired but exchange with a brand new one. Well, that is fine, but Icon themselves still don't know when they will ever be sending another stock shipment of any of their products here to the states at MD, the only authorized dealer. So, I am effectively in Music Direct limbo with both my money and my product gone.
Silver lining??? I got a balanced cable and started listening to the 560 via the pentaconn port on my iFi iDSD Pro.
WOW, WOW. and WOW. Stunning. Whenever I get my brand new Icon HP8 it is getting sold to some lucky buyer at a small discount (and it will be a treat because it is a GREAT sounding tube headamp, probably the best sounding (especially with the proper vintage tube rolling) tube headamp under that $1500 mark.
But I am SO stunned at the synergy the HE-560 has in balanced operation via the iFi iDSD Pro. I am still stunned at the quality every time I listen.
Now everyone is going to have their own opinions no matter what, but there is a large part of me that wonders if those that do not like the sound of the HE560 Might change their minds if they heard it properly amped. It is not as notoriously Difficult as the HE-6 But nonetheless requires an extremely competent amp to sound its best. The more power the better. Right now I am in audio Nirvana. If I ever get my icon HP8 amplifier back for music direct like I’m supposed to, once it sells I am getting the matching iCan pro.
Also, I upgraded my 2014 Mac Mini with the Uptone LPS kit and chose this wonderful behemoth of a LPS by ZERO-ZONE. I had no real expectations the sound would change other than perhaps take some burden off the USB receiver with a bit less noise in the signal, especially the removal of the PWM fan controller in the Mac Mini that operates at 25hkz, so very close to the audio band. But WOW. Its of course just a subjective anecdotal experience on my part, but it took the audio to another level of 'black background', realism and clarity. Wow.
And just to be a head-fi junkie, here is the other computer audio setup.... HP Intel all in one, behind it is a Intona Galvanic USB Isolator and LPS for this little AD/DA from RME. LOL. It sounds great, but my preference for reference listening is still the iFi iDSD Pro. I can listen back to back and compare all day relative strength and weakness of the DAC, but the iFi overall just wins pretty clearly in my head.
The real reason the RME is here is for her AD duties for measurements as I begin my online blog/v-log reviewer presence. As if we need another one of those, but I like it so I am going to do it anyway haha.
We are either twins or brothers with the amount of equipment and tastes we share.
MLGrado
500+ Head-Fier
yup. iFi is interesting. Not going into too much detail, but Thorsten Loesch who is no longer with iFi anymore has a certain philosophy that leads to good sound, and I find the his 'signature' if you will to be my preferred type of sound. He also is balanced and sensible about measurements vs subjective sound. Measurements tell us some basic things, beyond that, we aren't even really sure how 'well' a product should measure before that particular parameter in isolation moves out of the realm of human discernment. But don't ever believe his designs measure poorly. Of course he and his team know (knew) what they should expect from the components they chose to use. That is the nuance. Building a device with components that are proven to sound outstanding, have synergy, and an EXPECTED result before measurements are even taken. The measurements confirm their work along with what their ears hear.
But iFi has some warts on the business side. I hesitate to get into what little I know, but, for example, the iFi iDSD Pro review models that went to major publications like Stereophile?? Had incomplete and buggy firmware that led to less than the expected test results on the bench, such as noise floor and headphone power output. The 2.08 firmware fixes all of that, and the end result is a product that is definitely Sterophile Class A. Class B is an insult for this device.
Yup, I am eyeing a iCan Pro right now. Hoping that will be my final stop and my end game for a least a couple years.
MLGrado
500+ Head-Fier
cool! Yeah I have a certain philosophy on what I like and why. Some people get it; some people don't and are very critical. Thats fine. Well the few that have PM me calling me an idiot and using 4 letter words, not so fine.
Glad you like the same kind of sound. For me? Detailed with great imaging, good soundstage, warm midrange, tight punchy bass but not a 'Basshead', great instrument tone. Palpable tone that just makes you want to listen for hours. I like slightly more forwardness in the presence region, but hate treble distortion and sibilance, so I am always trying to find that balance between the detail and presence I want from the 8kz range, without being graining and bright. Cymbals should have a gorgeous linear and smooth decay, not massive amounts of harmonic distortion that has that artificial metallic sound associated often with digital.
Yup, the 8khz perfection is a thing of beauty when you nail it right. Treble that is just making its presence known completely without stepping the line.
Big fan of details with correct imaging and soundstage done correctly as it helps project a holographic space.
Listening to a track on Apple Music yesterday and the portrayal of the kick drum along with the rest of the low end was just perfect.
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