[yellowblue]

Would be intresting to try my LCD-3f directly from the XLR out of the Totaldac dual (even if I am really satisfied with my Master 9). My only problem is that I use a 4-pin XLR headphone-cable (Silver Widow). Is there Y-adapter for XLR (2x3pin to 1X4pin) out there that I can use?
 
Can´t say anything about the Hugo. But the Totaldac dual was clearly better than my Auralic Vega.

 

[goobicii]

I've tested the HD800 on the 6.35mm output and I found it to be better than the LAu. In that scenario, the HD800 is simply seeing the unamplified output signal of the DAC. The Totaldac had no issues whatsover driving the HD800.

Do you think TotalDac could handle HE 1000? I mean the direct output

 

[nepherte]

Do you think TotalDac could handle HE 1000? I mean the direct output

 
Based on specs alone, I don't see why not. But I have to insert a disclaimer here that I know very little about the HE 1000. All I can say is that the HD800 is a high-impendency low efficiency headphone and the Totaldac has ample room to drive it from the unbalanced headhpone output jack (double that when using the balanced XLR output jacks).

 

[cladane]

Vincent Briant told me that the 2x3 pins XLR can drive the Abyss. I think Cortazar did it ?

Having an high level amp, if price matters, is it worth buying the Dual or difference isn't huge with the Single ?

 

[bmichels]

Vincent Briant told me that the 2x3 pins XLR can drive the Abyss. I think Cortazar did it ?

Having an high level amp, if price matters, is it worth buying the Dual or difference isn't huge with the Single ?

 
I just chated few minutes ago with Cortazar about this and he wrote : " I found XLR output to drive abyss excellent!...I found the improvement after using Eddie Curent ec445 lets say 10%. Is it worth 4000 Euro?"
 
And I confirm that the HD800 direct on the SE headphone out of the TotalDAC of nepherte was VERY VERY good, and also that my HUGO impressed booth of us a lot !  
 
Conclusion: do we really need those complex set-up ?  Isn't just ARIES + TOTAL-DAC + A HEADPHONE enough ?  or even ...just a AK240+HUGO ?  

 

[bmichels]

  ..... With stax 009 and woo audio wes it sounded just perfect!

 
Cortazar, were you using the "stock" WES, or did you installed some WOO's  parts upgrades (tubes, V-Caps, rectifiers.... that can almost double the price of the WES) ?

 

[nepherte]

Having an high level amp, if price matters, is it worth buying the Dual or difference isn't huge with the Single ?

 
I can't comment on the Single as I've never heard it before. I suggest you keep looking for someone who did, or perhaps talk to Vincent directly. I found him to be very responsive. As a last resort, you can also get a 14-day trial from Totaldac. But you need to purchase it in advance. So it's more of a 14-day money back guarantee rather than a trial.

 

[nepherte]

  Conclusion: do we really need those complex set-up ?  Isn't just ARIES + TOTAL-DAC + A HEADPHONE enough ?  or even ...just a AK240+HUGO ?  

 
I think we both learned the hard way that more devices in the signal path often degrade the sound quality, regardless of price.

 

[nepherte]

Do you think TotalDac could handle HE 1000? I mean the direct output

@preproman has the HE 1000 on loan right now. I suggest you ask him directly.

 

[Cortazar]

My woo audio wes was a basic version. It is one of these devices that i regret i have sold them (abyss too   )
But i hope HE1K that i have ordered 1 hour ago will make it up for me !

 

[bmichels]

  My woo audio wes was a basic version. It is one of these devices that i regret i have sold them (abyss too   )
But i hope HE1K that i have ordered 1 hour ago will make it up for me !

 
where did you ordered the HE1K ? is it already available in Europe ??
 
We will be very interested to hear your listening impressions of the HE1K compared to the ABYSS
 
What Amp and headphones are you using now ?  what amp wil you be using with the HE1K ?

 

[Cortazar]

i  have ordered HE1k on ebay.com  It comes in 2-3 weeks. I am going to use/test it with EC 445 and via hifiman adapter with kondo souga, and directly with kondo souga (as i also did with abyss).
At the moment i have pretty ridiculous amp for my stax 009. I use upgraded LRT and combo ayon pre orbis and amp odin 3 or amp kondo souga.
I have compared it to stax 727, woo audio wes and KGSSHV and this is the best combination for stax bei a wide margin. Incredible detail, 3d scene and bass that i never heard from stax.
I am looking for a propriate source at the moment

 

[bmichels]

  I have compared it to stax 727, woo audio wes and KGSSHV and this is the best combination for stax bei a wide margin.

I am not sure I understand in your wording which amp you mean is the best for Stax009 ? 

 

[Cortazar]

I mean using LRT with a good tube amplifier (in my case it is ayon odin III). If you have LRT you can drive stax with any normal speaker amp, what gives you many possibility to ''tune'' the sound of the stax. Not every combination is better then woo audio or kgsshv. I have tried many of them and it sounded very good with for example accuphase amplifiers, but the best result were obtained with strong tube amplifiers as octave or ayon.
With my ayon and kondo souga i hear all the virtues of SET, with organic, detailed sound, the music breathes. I have obtained a similar results with abyss drove by sun audio 300B.
I know many audiophiles who had heard the best HP amplifier with flagships models and ended hearing HP like abyss, Hifiman HE 6 or AKG K1000 with speaker amp, or stax with LRT and amp. I do know that it should not be better than a good HP-amp that was made and tuned for HP, but it is better. Of course you have to be carefull and potentially you could damage your HP but hey, i only live once, and do not have time for second best

 

[goobicii]

Preproman,did you tried HE1000 directly from totaldac? This is combination I considering buying,since you have it all information you can give me would be very good,I am afraid if the HE1000 isnt too hard to be driven by totaldac,that SQ or distortion would suffer becose I am little deaf and listen loud