[BournePerfect]

  ^^^ ok now some Radiohead. Its late!

 
...a cracked poly-styyyyyyrene maaaan...
 
-Daniel

 

[Dopaminer]

  thanks guys. Time for some bill withers! 
 

 
I first heard Bill Withers when I was a teenager and listening to a lot of crap music.  It was from his live album where they start the show with `Use Me` and it`s super funky.  At the end, as the applause is dying down, a woman in the audience shouts out, "ONE MORE TIME!" and Bill is like, "One more time?" and the crowd goes crazy, so he counts off to the band again and they do it again.  It was a turning point for me, musically.  I had to throw out all my CDs.....  
Thanks for reminding me of this genius that I had forgotten about.  He will be in my HD800s soon ! 

 

[catspaw]

Well, thanks to the HE-400 forum i found out about Florence+The Machine. So this is a rather nice site to even look for music .
 
I think the Beyer pads are very nice but if the HD800 are better, im all in .

 

[Blurpapa]

Sure John,

I really recommend checking this place out, Andix Audio  

http://www.andix.co.jp/

They`re primarily a tube specialty shop, but they decided to start to make these headphone dac/amps.  They had a table at the Tokyo Headphone show a couple of weeks ago.  The owner, Mr. Ishii actually speaks English well and has several amp options to choose from, and he`s very friendly and open to letting you spend the day there testing everything.  At his suggestion I actually packed my laptop, balanced dac, hd800s and all my cables into his shop and demo`d several of his creations.  Highly recommended.  

Andix is easy to find - just remember it`s right across the narrow street from the Akihabara "don quixote" store.  

Thanks for this Dopaminer. It was very unfortunate that I didn't call in advance and Andix was closed when I got there
But all is not lost! I have a friend who lives in Tokyo. He isn't into stuff like this but he should be able to help me pick up and ship an amp back to me in Singapore.

I'm looking for a balanced amp unit for my HD800 which I will feed from my DAC. May I know if you have any suggestions on which model to pick?
Is the HPA45 the only model they have, and we swap in our fav tubes? Does Mr Ishii's shop work like that?

Thanks again

John

 

[LugBug1]

   
...a cracked poly-styyyyyyrene maaaan...
 
-Daniel

Thats actually my all time fave song
 

 

[magiccabbage]

   
I first heard Bill Withers when I was a teenager and listening to a lot of crap music.  It was from his live album where they start the show with `Use Me` and it`s super funky.  At the end, as the applause is dying down, a woman in the audience shouts out, "ONE MORE TIME!" and Bill is like, "One more time?" and the crowd goes crazy, so he counts off to the band again and they do it again.  It was a turning point for me, musically.  I had to throw out all my CDs.....  
Thanks for reminding me of this genius that I had forgotten about.  He will be in my HD800s soon ! 

What is your favorite album? I love +'Justments 

  ^^^ ok now some Radiohead. Its late! 

just got up. im gonna give Radiohead a go, i think in rainbows first, that was the album that broke the seal for me. I listen to the thom yorke album last night and it sounded amazing on hd800!

 

[kn19h7]

Thanks for this Dopaminer. It was very unfortunate that I didn't call in advance and Andix was closed when I got there

But all is not lost! I have a friend who lives in Tokyo. He isn't into stuff like this but he should be able to help me pick up and ship an amp back to me in Singapore.

I'm looking for a balanced amp unit for my HD800 which I will feed from my DAC. May I know if you have any suggestions on which model to pick?
Is the HPA45 the only model they have, and we swap in our fav tubes? Does Mr Ishii's shop work like that?

Thanks again

John

From the website it seems they have only one model for balance headphones:
ＨＰＡ－ＰＲＯ　６ＢＸ７　店頭視聴できます　バランス型ヘッドフォン対応　完全バランスアンプ　デジタル入力のみです
... and this model only accepts digital input, which means you won't be able to use your dac with it = =

 

[Dopaminer]

Thanks for this Dopaminer. It was very unfortunate that I didn't call in advance and Andix was closed when I got there

But all is not lost! I have a friend who lives in Tokyo. He isn't into stuff like this but he should be able to help me pick up and ship an amp back to me in Singapore.

I'm looking for a balanced amp unit for my HD800 which I will feed from my DAC. May I know if you have any suggestions on which model to pick?
Is the HPA45 the only model they have, and we swap in our fav tubes? Does Mr Ishii's shop work like that?

Thanks again

John

He has several models, including a balanced version with XLR jacks. I believe every amp he makes includes the same 24/192 DAC which is in mine.  It`s great, and has optical, coaxial and USB inputs.  Of course there are also RCA analogue inputs, if you want to use your own DAC. I sometimes use my TEAC DAC this way.  Also, the amps have speaker terminals, and my new Q-Acoustics 2020i stand mounters sound decent in my small Tokyo apartment.  
 
EDIT:  I didn`t see kn19h7`s post above; I didn`t realize the balanced version is digital-in only and that is clearly what the above Japanese text says.  

 

[Dopaminer]

  What is your favorite album? I love +'Justments 
 

I`m going to check that one.  This is the album I mentioned:
 

 

[magiccabbage]

  I`m going to check that one.  This is the album I mentioned:
 

yea its one of my favorite live albums. the version of harlem on there  is the best one i think even better than the studio version. 

 

[skeptic]

 
OK, so this turned out to be an easy fix. It's a little fiddly but all I used was a small flathead screwdriver, tweezers and small pliers. First you detach the headband padding as per this clip. You'll then see the adjustment mechanism on the underside of the metal band. There's a small plate holding the ball which glides over the adjustment grooves (pic).
 
I used a small flathead screwdriver to gently pry the ball from its seat. Make sure you don't let this roll away. It's tiny! Once out of the way I then used the tweezers to detach the small plate from the edge of the plastic (where it just clips on). When you have that plate it's then just a matter of gently bending the part where the ball sits (I used the pliers for this).
 
To put it all back together you just align the ball on a headband groove. Place the plate over it, ensuring the ball is seated correctly. You then apply some pressure to get the plate to clip back onto the edge of the plastic. Re-attach the headband padding.
 
My right side adjustment is now perfect. It still glides smoothly up and down but now it locks with that tactile click on each adjustment marker.

 
olor1n - thanks so much for figuring this out and posting the solution!  After dissembling the pieces, I struggled a bit with exactly how to bend the small metal bracket (that holds the bearing in place).  Eventually realized I could just hold it with my pliers by the ring (that the ball sits in) and simple press against my work bench until the ring was slightly angled vis-a-vis the clips.  I set the ball back under the ring, slid the clips back on to the plastic edge of the headband and presto - my previously loose right slider is now behaving just like the one on the left.  
I'm thrilled to have this annoying issue fixed!  If you're ever in LA, hit me up so I can buy you a beer (or several) 

 

 

[olor1n]

No worries skeptic. My adjustment never slid when wearing the headphone - only when picking it up by the band. It gnawed at me though that one side wasn't as secure when aligned with an adjustment marker and the clicks weren't as tactile as the other side. I was so relieved to find the fix quite benign.

 

[RUMAY408]

Fisher 100T vintage (1960) tube preamp.  Currently enjoying the phono preamp stage via Meir Corda Classic Amp.  Vinyl and HD800 were made to go together.

 

[magiccabbage]

very nice rumay!!

 

[longbowbbs]

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 
Fisher 100T vintage (1960) tube preamp.  Currently enjoying the phono preamp stage via Meir Corda Classic Amp.  Vinyl and HD800 were made to go together.

Vintage gear is so cool....Nice to be able to use it with the 800's!