[Whitigir]

009 never bothered me, but it short of excellent all around. However I do run it from grounded grid, and that must contribute into the 009 overall signature. The carbon though, I had to run 16-16.5mA, anything over that will just make 009 to have artificial tone, and this must be why you are EQ-ing.

 

[Pokemonn]

but you know EQing "few dB" diffrences are far much much much bigger than amp or pad or cable or whatever diffrence. and there is no perfect HP on the planet.

Frequency response is the single most important aspect of the performance of any audio device. If it is wrong, nothing else - Floyd Toole

 

[zolkis]

But it is very difficult to produce an accurate FR for a headphone that correlates well with subjective listening, more so than with speakers, which are debated as well, see e.g. manufacturers responses to Stereophile speaker measurements.
Then you also need e.g. CSD, impulse, step, spectrogram etc to get closer, but still critical audition is the first, aided by measurements. Both can be learned, and both are hard to master.
Technically EQ will improve something at a cost and I could never make peace with EQ for music types involving acoustic instruments.
If you could achieve similar or better sonic improvements with correctly tuned amplification, IMHO it is a better thing to do.
But EQ is cheap and may suffice you, that is fine. Just not for technical reasons .

 

[Tiazmat]

So my situation is probably a little too specific, but I'll put it out there in case anyone has any advice.

I'm going to be getting a pair of 007mkII's (modded), and need to power them. My plan was to get a Woo Audio Wee and power it with an Emotiva A-100. It's an incredibly cheap solution, but that's kind of what I'm looking for. But I now realize I have an opportunity to buy a DIY Aristaeus(ish; it's very similar) build by none other than Mr. Spritzer himself. The Aristaeus is an absolute bargain, but I know the tonal signature of the amp likely isn't the best pairing with the O2's, while the SS option of the Wee+A100 is likely tonally closer to what I would want. In addition, my plan was to save up and in maybe 6 months to a year to buy a used KGSSHV Carbon. Thing is, I'm not sure what that would mean for either scenario; I live in two different places so to keep one amp at each would be nice, but is definitely not completely necessary. But if I already spent ~$1500 on an Aristaeus, I may be less willing to shill out for the upgrade; though it would compliment the SS Carbon much better than the just inferior Wee combo. And if I ever did get a 009/HE90, the Aristaeus would be nice to have, but I certainly don't count on either of those. And I'm slightly against owning a tube amp because of the worry about burning a house down/needing to replace them (will be used probably 6+ hours a day, every day), but a bargain is a bargain.

So while if anyone has any input on any portion of this it would be appreciated, to put it most simply would be: thoughts on Aristaeus + 007s?

 

[Jazic]

Quick question, are there any reasonably priced optical dacs out there with balanced out?

The Gungnir comes to mind but I was hoping for something cheaper that isn't garbage.

Right now I'm using my Mojo but it's not balanced. It works well but idk..

 

[zolkis]

Quick question, are there any reasonably priced optical dacs out there with balanced out?
The Gungnir comes to mind but I was hoping for something cheaper that isn't garbage.
Right now I'm using my Mojo but it's not balanced. It works well but idk..

IMHO just swallow the price, get the Gungnir [MB], and enjoy. Save your search time for something else .

 

[zolkis]

So while if anyone has any input on any portion of this it would be appreciated, to put it most simply would be: thoughts on Aristaeus + 007s?

I loved the combination of the Aristaeus and my 007 Mk1. You can also do tube rolling. However, the 007 Mk2 sounds a bit darker, but it should be still fine.
Given your context of an imminent Carbon, perhaps it is wiser to wait for that one.
However, a Spritzer built Aristaeus... I would personally go for that, but make sure you listen to it first.

I don't have experience with the Wee, but reportedly it has deficiencies. I have good experience with the SRD-7 Pro driven from tube and SS amps. But a dedicated amp will sound smoother, will drive better / more correctly, and it is safer, especially if you like to listen loud (I don't).

 

[Whitigir]

Why would a Tube amp burn down a house ? If tubes are dying, you can see it, or hear it, or both.

I don’t normally listen loud, but Stax and KG amps always make me crank it up, because it sounds so good...the louder it goes. Then Stax is so open, when I listen to music, everyone else does too....lol

 

[zolkis]

Why would a Tube amp burn down a house ? If tubes are dying, you can see it, or hear it, or both.

Yes, one can hear when tubes are dying and need to be replaced. I don't know who stated that a tube amp would burn down the house.
However (OT), it is not impossible. I used to have a large and heavy c-j vintage tube amp that blew up a capacitor. The blast was huge, nearly destroyed the amp, some serious restoration was needed. The house was not in danger, but better be safe than sorry.
Checking/changing caps in amps (tube and SS) should be regular service.

 

[kylev]

Bring in an HV at the least to begin the transcendence.

Thanks for the input, I guess .. 717 is indeed under powered to drive Omega series.
Needs to use more powerful amp...

 

[kylev]

I used to think that estats cant compete with planars in bass for a long time, until i tried a proper amp. Also with a carbon, the 009 hits harder than every audeze can ive owned(3/X/4), with incredible speed and extension.

If 009 with KGSSHV Carbon really hits harder than Audeze, I think that would be my dream setup.. ohh.. i can see clouds.. and $$$$ flies away already

 

[kylev]

Did they come out with a new 727? My old one was dark and muddy as hell with a 007 until I did the global feedback mod on it. Nothing bright about it at all.

Hmm.. that's surprising, cause the 727 I heard from the store is a tad brighter .. just a bit.. perhaps due to my sensitive ear to bright sound (?)

 

[Whitigir]

Yes, one can hear when tubes are dying and need to be replaced. I don't know who stated that a tube amp would burn down the house.
However (OT), it is not impossible. I used to have a large and heavy c-j vintage tube amp that blew up a capacitor. The blast was huge, nearly destroyed the amp, some serious restoration was needed. The house was not in danger, but better be safe than sorry.
Checking/changing caps in amps (tube and SS) should be regular service.

Ah well....when Capacitors blow, it just blows, even if it was a solid state amp. Capacitors blowing is never fun, hell...nothing blowing is fun ....but Capacitors are exactly firecracker, the bigger they are....the more boom they make

 

[Jazic]

Amp question, I think this has been asked 1,000 times but is it better to control the volume with the estat amp just set it 100% and use the pre-amp to control the volume?

Right now I'm liking the idea of running the amp at around 75-90% and setting the pre-amp volume to be just louder than I find comfortable. That'd give the estat amp some headroom to play with when adjusting volume.

I'm using the Jotunheim pushing balanced to a SRM-007tA btw. They don't exactly stack well so I'd rather only have one easily controlled and rarely adjust the other.

 

[Quixote79]

Ah well....when Capacitors blow, it just blows, even if it was a solid state amp. Capacitors blowing is never fun, hell...nothing blowing is fun ....but Capacitors are exactly firecracker, the bigger they are....the more boom they make

has you blowing lots captors with normal volume?