[552609]

Yep. That's how the average consumer hears it. That's why the bass driven Sennheiser CX300, Klipsch s4, and Beats IEMs were the most popular buys for YEARS, before the advent of the wireless craze.

I can't find the vomit emoji right now, but I really enjoy GOOD quality bass, not just loud bass. Also, if the Beats factory had a battery fire, I wouldn't be mad.

 

[Carpet]

other than laptop use (via wired),
i use BTR5 most of the time via Bluetooth connection with my phone.
yes, direct connection might sound better but the convinience that nothing dangling on my phone wins it.

---
HiFri recently promote Canpur iem that went on 80% discount (great value on discount, not worth it on og price)
He dissect the iem and found out,

Problem is that the Heart Mirror is a single DD and the Canpur is a hybrid, so completely different implementation, despite having the same driver. Apples and oranges when it comes to sound and implementation.

My take on the teardown was that the Canpur used a driver that has proved capable when well implemented in another IEM. That of course doesn't always mean it will shine somewhere else. As I recall 30095 BA has been used everywhere over the last few years (CCA C10, KZ ZSN Pro, KZ ZS10 Pro, TRN ST1, TRN ST5, CVJ CSA etc.). I still use the CSA, but I listened to ZSN Pro just once.

 

[Vonbuddy]

Dongles are tough, some people love the THX for example, others hate it. The only one that works for me flawlessly is the Google dongle... And it doesn't get loud enough. For a tabletop amp/DAC, you'd really need to be more specific and give a price range/idea of how you'd use it.

Below 400 for the table top. I was looking for something different than a google dongle or apple dongle, which I have.

 

[Surf Monkey]

Below 400 for the table top. I was looking for something different than a google dongle or apple dongle, which I have.

The HiBy FC3 is an amazing sounding dongle dac/amp. Maybe give that one a try. No balanced output though if your need that.

 

[Carpet]

The HiBy FC3 is an amazing sounding dongle dac/amp. Maybe give that one a try. No balanced output though if your need that.

+1 for FC3.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

I spent some time with the reference filter on the AKG N5005. After awhile, I just couldn't deal with it. Though the details pop, and there much more air, I just couldn't get into how shouty the mids are and they become too prone to sibilance. So I took them off, and went back to the bass boost filter, and once again I achieve that creamy sound with still enough detail retrieval and resolution to satisfy the audiophile, but with more quality bass presence and treble that's still extended, but not sibilant at all.

 

[o0genesis0o]

So if you could buy only one dongle and one table top amp/sac what would it be? I mean in degree of functionality.

Dongle? Tough one. Can I grab my Topping G5? That one does everything and sounds like a typical desktop setup. It lacks the unique colouring of my Shanling DAP, but it’s more reliable for testing head-fi gears.

If you want bus-powered dongle, I can recommend Creative X1 dongle (I think they call it SXFI now). This is the only dongle in my collection that can connect to my nintendo switch. The SXFI DSP feature works great for gaming. It has no battery so it’s almost indestructible. I always keep one in my bag for random zoom call at the office or similar situations.

Desktop DAC/Amp? I would go for Fiio K7 because (1) it’s affordable (just a touch more expensive than K5, roughly same price as Topping and Schitt stacks in Australia), (2) it’s simple to use, (3) it’s full balanced, (4) it has AKM DAC.

Of course with desktop gear, sky is the limit. However I have no interest in getting susvara in near future, so I don’t need insane setup. I’m sure that if I have a chance to listen to setups across price range, I will develop a more nuanced opinion, but for now, K7 is a good deal.

 

[552609]

Below 400 for the table top. I was looking for something different than a google dongle or apple dongle, which I have.

ifi makes some of the best cheaper DAC/AMP combos - check out the ZEN series. Topping also makes some decent ones (ex5) and of course the cheaper Schiit stacks are recommended (Magni/Modi) along with the JDS labs ones (Element).

 

[552609]

+1 for FC3.

The FC3 is great because it's cheap and it usually works - also it sounds good and can MQA pretty OK with a decent amount of power. The FC3 is NOT good because the HiBy software is buggy and messes with the native Tidal app; every time you plug it in it requires you to hit OK to allow access to the DAC; it loses connection super easily if you bump the USB C, or just pick it up wrong; it can't decide if it wants you to control the volume from the DAC or from your phone; you CAN'T use the native Tidal app with any of its good features; MQA requires a subscription, which is only free if you buy it new. So uhh...yeah, it's a great price, and works OK, but I do have a lot of complaints about it.

 

[552609]

Dongle? Tough one. Can I grab my Topping G5? That one does everything and sounds like a typical desktop setup. It lacks the unique colouring of my Shanling DAP, but it’s more reliable for testing head-fi gears.

If you want bus-powered dongle, I can recommend Creative X1 dongle (I think they call it SXFI now). This is the only dongle in my collection that can connect to my nintendo switch. The SXFI DSP feature works great for gaming. It has no battery so it’s almost indestructible. I always keep one in my bag for random zoom call at the office or similar situations.

Desktop DAC/Amp? I would go for Fiio K7 because (1) it’s affordable (just a touch more expensive than K5, roughly same price as Topping and Schitt stacks in Australia), (2) it’s simple to use, (3) it’s full balanced, (4) it has AKM DAC.

Of course with desktop gear, sky is the limit. However I have no interest in getting susvara in near future, so I don’t need insane setup. I’m sure that if I have a chance to listen to setups across price range, I will develop a more nuanced opinion, but for now, K7 is a good deal.

Fiio can make some decent stuff, but I've also had more quality control issues with Fiio than any other audio company - the K9 pro ess I just bought didn't work at all and I've had a mobile DAC/AMP of theirs just die on me with no warning. That doesn't mean it'll happen to anyone else, and it doesn't mean other companies don't have their issues too - just a thought.

 

[Surf Monkey]

The FC3 is great because it's cheap and it usually works - also it sounds good and can MQA pretty OK with a decent amount of power. The FC3 is NOT good because the HiBy software is buggy and messes with the native Tidal app; every time you plug it in it requires you to hit OK to allow access to the DAC; it loses connection super easily if you bump the USB C, or just pick it up wrong; it can't decide if it wants you to control the volume from the DAC or from your phone; you CAN'T use the native Tidal app with any of its good features; MQA requires a subscription, which is only free if you buy it new. So uhh...yeah, it's a great price, and works OK, but I do have a lot of complaints about it.

I don’t use HiBy’s software with mine.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Fiio can make some decent stuff, but I've also had more quality control issues with Fiio than any other audio company - the K9 pro ess I just bought didn't work at all and I've had a mobile DAC/AMP of theirs just die on me with no warning. That doesn't mean it'll happen to anyone else, and it doesn't mean other companies don't have their issues too - just a thought.

I remember speaking to another head-fier on this thread about his broken FH3, so yeah, there can be issues. I personally have not experienced any issue with Fiio (luckily) and found that the QC of their IEMs and earbuds are very tight. As you know, buds are very difficult to ensure channel balance, but both FF3 and FF5 measure as tight as IEMs.

To be fair, if we talk about unlucky incidents, then both Topping and Schiit have fried their customers headphones in the past Ever since reading about those incidents, I learned the good habit of following the sequence: amp on, gear in, check volume, and then put the gear in my ears. I used to do things in reverse order.

 

[552609]

I don’t use HiBy’s software with mine.

Hmm, I couldn't get it to do MQA and the volume was about half when I tried that (too low to use.) Do you have a trick to fix those issues?

 

[552609]

I remember speaking to another head-fier on this thread about his broken FH3, so yeah, there can be issues. I personally have not experienced any issue with Fiio (luckily) and found that the QC of their IEMs and earbuds are very tight. As you know, buds are very difficult to ensure channel balance, but both FF3 and FF5 measure as tight as IEMs.

To be fair, if we talk about unlucky incidents, then both Topping and Schiit have fried their customers headphones in the past Ever since reading about those incidents, I learned the good habit of following the sequence: amp on, gear in, check volume, and then put the gear in my ears. I use do things in reverse order.

Ha, my Topping ex5 just randomly stopped doing MQA one day - of course after I sold it to a friend, he had no issues and it worked great for him. No clue how that happened. My Burson dang near trashed a set of headphones a few days ago because it ships on high gain and the headphones were at listening volume at 1/100 - I had it higher than that.

 

[Jmop]

Stupid question here probably, but say I may have damaged an earphone, does continued listening pose any damage to the cable attached it?