[Khalem]

Quote:

Oh dear. Not this can of worms.
There are highly passionate discussions of this all over head-fi. Seek and ye shall fynde these ancient battles. 

Why would this be a can of worms?
It's a digital signal, either you have a signal or you don't.
 
Cable quality should only make a difference on the ability to pass the signal over longer distances.
 
Same way a 5$ HDMI cable will give you exact the same picture and sound as a 2000$ cable.

 

[wormsdriver]

Quote:

Why would this be a can of worms?
It's a digital signal, either you have a signal or you don't.
 
Cable quality should only make a difference on the ability to pass the signal over longer distances.
 
Same way a 5$ HDMI cable will give you exact the same picture and sound as a 2000$ cable.

did somebody say Worms!?

 
Nice first post BTW! welcome to Head-fi, you'll fit right in sorry about your wallet!

 

[Khalem]

Thanks.
 
My wallet is already feeling the impact of the Masterclass 2504 and the M8

 

[wormsdriver]

good deal my friend, not a bad way to start!

 

[FraGGleR]

Quote:

Why would this be a can of worms?
It's a digital signal, either you have a signal or you don't.
 
Cable quality should only make a difference on the ability to pass the signal over longer distances.
 
Same way a 5$ HDMI cable will give you exact the same picture and sound as a 2000$ cable.

Welcome to Headfi!  Please keep comments of this nature to the Sound Science forum.  

 

[mrfcpa]

Alright folks, speaking of spending money, help me out. I've got to get headphones ordered since the pre-ordered M8's should be here (hopefully) in about six (6) weeks.
 
I know nothing about full sized balanced 'phones. I've narrowed my personal choices down to Audeze L-3's or Beyer Tesla T-1 with appropriate 3-pin connectors. The nice fellow at Moon Audio suggested the Beyer T-5p with what appears to be some very nice cabling done by him.
 
So, I will let the forum decide which cans I should purchase.
 
BTW - I currently use Schitt Lyr/Bifrost with HE-500; Headroom Amp/DACE with HE-400; RS Predator with DT880; and, I have every SOL, Dr. Dre, cheap Grado, and Deadmau5 headphone imaginable sitting around. The latter ones are collecting dust so, please, no one tell me that I'm an idiot for having them and use the former listed cans as a sense of the sound I like.

 
I will take your comments, suggestions and votes to heart and plan my credit card accordingly.
 
Please forgive any misspellings and/or poor grammar. I am not in good health and do not read computer screens so well anymore.

 

[jacal01]

The nice Drew Baird man at Moon has not been apprised of the the raison d'etre of the M8, or he wouldn't have pointed you in the direction of the T5p, which is basically at the top of the food chain for 32Ω impedance easy-to-drive headphones for portable rigs, which generally are capable of analog signal outputs in the neighborhood of 500 mW or less.  The T5p is a very nice headphone with good sound isolation and sparkling mids, but not fatiguing (I have a set), but you don't need them with this particular (trans)portable DAC/amp setup.  The M8 has been developed with enough output power to purportedly drive all headphones except maybe the most demanding Hifiman planar magnetic models.  And of course Stax. 

 
The T1 may be the better choice for matchup, since it has a bigger following and ostensively a flatter frequency range response.  I assume the slightly forward mids are still there, since that may be the beyerdynamic house sound.
 
I use the LCD-2 at home, and I love them for their extended and controlled bass response, as well as fast and articulate response to transients.  The Audeze headphones are noted for their flat frequency response over the full range, altho the mids may seem a little dark, tho certainly not at a level that distracts from enjoying the music in any sense.  The LCD-3 is of course the flagship model, so I would anticipate even faster response and transient definition, and tighter bass control at the lowest frequencies due to its lower mass driver diaphragm, as well as other technical enhancements (magnetic density?).  And altho it is a planar magnetic headphone as well, I don't expect any difficulty in pairing my LCD-2s with the M8.  The Audezes are reportedly a lot easier to drive than the Hifimans.
 
You mention only the top end dynamic and planar magnetic headphone models.  There are a lot of good mid-price range headphones out there that may be better suited to your budget; the Sennheiser HD650 with its large devoted fan base to name one.  But others can speak more knowledgeably about these choices.  And cables do make a difference.  Good luck and happy hunting.     

 

[mrfcpa]

Thank you very much, jacal01.
 
I'm printing out your much appreciated thoughts and suggestions for future reference without having to get back on the "small screen".
 
Thanks again.

 

[jacal01]

Altho I appreciate the reference status, I'm fairly new at this myself.  I know what I like, or more the point, what I'm striving for.
 
You might start a thread over on the full-sized headphones forum to solicit member opinions.  I don't know what kind of response you'll elicit on a headphone inquiry on this thread, which is mostly devoted to the M8 goings on.  Pretty much most headphones can be driven satisfactorily by this particular portable unit, according to our resident sonic engineer.  You might get a better indication of which headphones pair admirably with this HiFi-M8 by reviewing the member listening impressions with the DACmini or DACport, if there is a CEntrance house sound that complements certain types.  Just be wary of member enthusiams for whatever setup combinations they happened to buy.  There are some pretty informed opinions out there, tho even those are subjective to the type of sound profile that that individual prefers.
 
I'm slightly repulsed somehow by your avatar, and I don't even know what the hell it is. 

  

 

[aamefford]

Quote:

Alright folks, speaking of spending money, help me out. I've got to get headphones ordered since the pre-ordered M8's should be here (hopefully) in about six (6) weeks.
 
I know nothing about full sized balanced 'phones. I've narrowed my personal choices down to Audeze L-3's or Beyer Tesla T-1 with appropriate 3-pin connectors. The nice fellow at Moon Audio suggested the Beyer T-5p with what appears to be some very nice cabling done by him.
 
So, I will let the forum decide which cans I should purchase.
 
BTW - I currently use Schitt Lyr/Bifrost with HE-500; Headroom Amp/DACE with HE-400; RS Predator with DT880; and, I have every SOL, Dr. Dre, cheap Grado, and Deadmau5 headphone imaginable sitting around. The latter ones are collecting dust so, please, no one tell me that I'm an idiot for having them and use the former listed cans as a sense of the sound I like.

 
I will take your comments, suggestions and votes to heart and plan my credit card accordingly.
 
Please forgive any misspellings and/or poor grammar. I am not in good health and do not read computer screens so well anymore.

I'm a fan (probably fanboy) of the Mr. Speakers Mad Dogs.  He has just announced a balanced option, preorder for an additional $50, the price goes up a it later.  Check this thread out, and see if they may meet your needs:  "Mad Dog" by MrSpeakers, modified Fostex T50RP review .

 

[zilch0md]

Quote:

[snip]
 
I'm slightly repulsed somehow by your [mrfcpa's] avatar, and I don't even know what the hell it is. 

  

 
I think it's an aardvark or anteater of some kind. Cute!  

   What's his name?  
 
 

Spoiler: Original%20pic%20for%20mrfcpa's%20avatar%2C%20from%20his%20profile%20page...

 

[seeteeyou]

.

 

[NorthernAvengeR]

Cheers. Will check out.
 
This seems to be the best bet so far. I'll keep my options open until the HiFi-M8 gets a firm date. Shame they're not offering angled connectors.

 

[Saraguie]

Quote:

Alright folks, speaking of spending money, help me out. I've got to get headphones ordered since the pre-ordered M8's should be here (hopefully) in about six (6) weeks.
 
I know nothing about full sized balanced 'phones. I've narrowed my personal choices down to Audeze L-3's or Beyer Tesla T-1 with appropriate 3-pin connectors. The nice fellow at Moon Audio suggested the Beyer T-5p with what appears to be some very nice cabling done by him.
 
So, I will let the forum decide which cans I should purchase.
 
BTW - I currently use Schitt Lyr/Bifrost with HE-500; Headroom Amp/DACE with HE-400; RS Predator with DT880; and, I have every SOL, Dr. Dre, cheap Grado, and Deadmau5 headphone imaginable sitting around. The latter ones are collecting dust so, please, no one tell me that I'm an idiot for having them and use the former listed cans as a sense of the sound I like.

 
I will take your comments, suggestions and votes to heart and plan my credit card accordingly.
 
Please forgive any misspellings and/or poor grammar. I am not in good health and do not read computer screens so well anymore.

I have and am a huge fan of the LCD3 for home use. From what I read a lot folks say, that except for the STAX-009 and a 5K+ amp, a properly driven pair of LCD3s is the best sounding headphone at the present time. Centrance has said the M8 will properly drive the Audeze line. Hopefully we will know very soon.

 

[jacal01]

Quote:

FYI - for those of us who are planning to connect our phones / tablets to HiFi M8 in the future, our sponsor just announced this new cable with Micro USB > USB B option:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/659431/new-moon-audio-black-dragon-v1-iem-lod-cable-hot-off-the-press
 
http://www.moon-audio.com/audio-cables/moon-audio-mini-cables/moon-audio-black-dragon-v1-iem-lod-cable.html
 
I kept trying to find that particular option with USB OTG known to be working. So far that particular full-sized USB B option might not be available anywhere else.

The iDevice input connection on the M8 is a USB A port, right?  I'm not seeing that particular combo on the Moon website for this cable.
 
EDIT:  Drew went in and added it after my post on the cable thread.