[LoryWiv]

My humble setup

Nice setup @zeromacro! What nearfield speakers are those and how do you like them?

 

[TooFrank]

My new edition of headphone stands in a row

Wauw - nice - what is the story about the pipes? Are they still a part of your life and enjoyment

 

[zeromacro]

Nice setup @zeromacro! What nearfield speakers are those and how do you like them?

Thanks!

They're called Kanto YU2's. The company is actually near where I live which is how I got to know them. They're compact and I like the simple design and built in dac/amp. A lot of people compare these to the Audioengine A2+'s but the YU2's to be more on the neutral side. I haven't heard the A2's but I'd agree that the sound signature is on the neutral side and is easy to listen to (slight roll off on the high frequency range). Not a high fidelity speaker by any means but gets the job done for what I use them for (background music, media consumption, slight games). It also has a lineout for their subwoofer which I hear are nice.

 

[MLGrado]

Not much new to post but the system has changed a bit, and plans are in works to get rid of the desk matching glass 'tower' and go for a cleaner looking and hopefully more functional arrangement of pure computer componentry and critical audio components. So in the next few months I am hoping for a substantial new look, but I HAVE found my final destination (very likely anyway) when it comes to my DAC. The iFi iDSD Pro has moved in permanently.

What you can't see to the right is my Hewlett Packard All-in-One that handles typical computer chores, like posting on head-fi right now.

In the photo is pretty much all audio or an overlapping component. Finally have it working flawlessly. The audio equipment, anyway. Still have occasional performance issues with my Synology NAS (not visible because it is on bottom shelf hidden by chair) that requires every once in awhile a restart to refresh everything. The BIGGEST offender is something on the other side of the home network when using Roon. Roon sometimes just doesn't like to move from NAS local files to MQA files on Tidal. It will stutter, freeze, buffer etc, and give an error 'excuse' about slow network issues. I have yet to experience this problem, though, when using Tidal's own desktop Macintosh software. Feels no different than playing from a local SSD drive. Its fast and so far flawless. So it is probably safe to assume the issue is with somewhere between Roon, the Network and the DAC. It is a rare occurance but not so rare enough to be out of mind. At least worst case scenario I can quit Roon and go directly to the Tidal software interface.

But back to the primary changes.. the new iDSD DAC Pro has rendered a lot of my USB equipment unnecessary as it doesn't use the 5v bus that comes from USB. All I kept in the signal chain was the Intona USB 2.0 isolator. The iFi is 100 percent Galvanically isolated internally; all its inputs, not just USB, are galvanically separated from the 'analog' side with the all important buffer/reclocker and the master clock. Even still, from a previous experience with another respected company with a galvanically isolated USB input, having the USB signal 'cleaned up' externally specifically with galvanic isolation before it made it to the DAC caused a MAJOR drop in the noise floor and therefore a major gain in Signal to Noise ratio. So ever since, regardless of the maker, I am going to keep my trusty Intona Galvanic Isolator handy and in use!

Source is year 2014 Mac Mini, now with Wireworld Chroma 8 USB 2.0 cables feeding the Intona and the iDSD. (OH, there is also still one more small legacy part in the chain.. the USB port on the Mac Mini chosen for audio usage has a iFi iSilencer+ on it. Overkill I am sure, and it probably will come out. But I just bought it recently so I feel I need to get at least what I paid for out of it haha)

Of course the new crown jewel of my system is the iFi iDSD Pro Dac and headphone amp. Used here only as a dac with fixed gain stage. RCA single ended output with Kimber Kable Tonik interconnects.

Interconnects over to the the other quite special if not underrated piece of gear, the Icon Audio HP8 MKII headphone amp with NOS tubes. (Tungsram ECC 83 at the input and pair of Sylvania 6F8G as output, as of the typing)

I had to downgrade at one point my actual headphones. I no longer have my Audeze LCD-X nor my Focal Clear Pro. But I am currently using with great results a pair of Hifiman HE-560 Planar headphones. Couple things in play here. These headphones are under-rated or underappreciated, with part of that possibly being they are low sensitivity and not all that easy to drive, especially compared to say, the Audeze Planars. But the Icon Tube amp pair masterfully with them. With significant power to spare. Which leads to incredible results on great orchestral recordings. The quietest details all the way to massive swells that have nary a trace of audible distortion. It is a glorious thing. Soon enough, though, I am upgrading back up to the higher end planar spectrum. We will see.

Finally the photo itself.. a little aside thing. I broke my iPhone so I went in yesterday and got one of the iPhone 11 Pro MAX phones. Wanted to see what the camera upgrades could do. This photo is in quite low light, so I set it manually to hold a full 3 second exposure. No post processing has been done. Phone did a pretty darn good job of stabilizing a handheld exposure of 3 seconds. And it seems there are a lot of other tricks up its sleeve, for a smartphone camera, that is. ANYWAY, enough with the fricking 'epistle' and here is the photo

of course, click on the photo itself for full/highest rez version..

Peace

PS.... left out mention of the SBooster 15v BOTW linear power supply providing the juice to the iFi iDSD Pro!

 

[KPzypher]

Finished! A walk-in closet converted to a listening room. Liking the compact speakers for such a small space. nice and cozy and ready for the winter!

 

[BobG55]

Finished! A walk-in closet converted to a listening room. Liking the compact speakers for such a small space. nice and cozy and ready for the winter!

Very nice conversion, looks very cool. Your own private little audiophile paradise. A+

 

[kyotousa]

Finished! A walk-in closet converted to a listening room. Liking the compact speakers for such a small space. nice and cozy and ready for the winter!

You just sit there and listen to music?

 

[KPzypher]

You just sit there and listen to music?

Among other things..

 

[kyotousa]

Among other things..

Oh jw, I just didn't see computer or books haha.

 

[KPzypher]

Oh jw, I just didn't see computer or books haha.

Ah gotya! Computer and books are just outside the walk-in closet, in my study. Walk-in closet is just for listening.

 

[kyotousa]

nice ardbeg uigedail

 

[Kukuk]

Ah gotya! Computer and books are just outside the walk-in closet, in my study. Walk-in closet is just for listening.

Is that the LG 38GL monitor? I went with the 38GN, and man, it is a fantastic panel. The latest generations of LG's IPS displays are killing it.

 

[holytiger]

I like those small whiskey glasses. Where are they to be found?

The bottle and the glasses comes together and it was a gift from the president's oval office as a thanksgiving present

and the postman delivered with some cables I ordered few weeks ago.

 

[holytiger]

Wine and dining your headphones?

its their date night

 

[holytiger]

There's a logic-bomb here:

• You take a pricey/valuable bottle of whiskey, either unopened or mostly full...
• And put a headphone on it (nice!)
• But what about drinking from that bottle? The headphone is in the way of that
• Of course you could remove the headphone temporarily while decanting the bottle
• But the more you drink from the bottle, the less full it is
• And the more unstable it becomes as a headphone stand

I foresee a tsunami of beached & wallowing endgame headphones

I'll just have to fill them with juice then! apple juice to be precise to look them like if its whiskey