[DoYouRight]

Thanks Larry sorry bout the mentioning of another evil group P Jude ty for being nice) but I heard about you saying EF2 but can't find informatin anywhere?

Does the EF2 have usb? What kind of DAC? Ty

I want the best sound from my laptop that I can put on a cart or something and move from my desk to my lounge chair Compass is HEAVY so that's why Im worried. But I don't want to sacrifice BASS or SQ for size too much. As well as keep my purchase sub $500. Thanks Larry your the man!

I wish companies would send you every gear to review since you put the most time into reviews

 

[DoYouRight]

I am trying to decide if the D10 is good for my ESW10jpns if I take my laptop and FLAC Seagate Drive with me places. I would need a good bag

and bigger battery. Just curious if the Pico is better since people use it to feed their STAX rigs it has to be amazing right?

Thats the reason for not necessarily biting on the D10 though I almost did, is why do I keep seeing Picos running Stax amps from laptops and never D10s or something?

 

[LevA]

Hi DoYuoRight,

I don't have any experience with Pico but I do have the D10 and with ESW10jpns the sound is indeed very nice from the computer. especially if you have digital out from your laptop.

good luck deciding as they seem to both get good reviews. At least you know that whichever you get you will be satisfied.

btw, how's the esw10's with the compass???


Quote:

Originally Posted by DoYouRight /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am trying to decide if the D10 is good for my ESW10jpns if I take my laptop and FLAC Seagate Drive with me places. I would need a good bag and bigger battery. Just curious if the Pico is better since people use it to feed their STAX rigs it has to be amazing right? Thats the reason for not necessarily biting on the D10 though I almost did, is why do I keep seeing Picos running Stax amps from laptops and never D10s or something?

 

[DoYouRight]

Compass + Esw10jpn is great. They dont scale as much as other phones though. Just adds refinement and control. I can't tell alot of difference. But my compass is still burning in on softmode.

To be perfectly honest. I don't think the ESW10jpn are all that special. Compared to my HD595 or HF-1 they just sound a little more deep because of the wood cups. I dont find the bass or mids to be that much different from my HF-1. Maybe my unit is defective or the sound sig wasnt very diff so unless I downgrade it will be more obvious. I do have a hard time using the HF-1 now but maybe that is more to do with the cord issue? I wish the ESW10jpn would fit over my whole ear though as when I push it against my ear the bass and detail is way better.

 

[LevA]

Thanks for that info.
I actually was undecided which to get, the d10 or the compass. I eventually decided that for the esw10jpn the compass might be like an overkill as I suspected it wouldn't scale as much as others like you said.
so if you get the D10 you can actually tell us how much difference there is with esw10's

I'm sure compass still is better but like i said the d10 with esw10jpn is very nice...the DAC makes a big difference in clarity. and I like the option of taking it with my computer outside to listen with esw10's. and since ESW10's aren't the most compact portables, you will be carrying a bag either way so the d10 doesnt make it cumbersome as much as say iems+ipod.

btw, if you have the HPP5 case for the esw10's, the D10 will fit in there niceley. or you can get a small separate camera bag to fit your portable set up. here's a link with photo
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f105/d...5/#post5755042

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoYouRight /img/forum/go_quote.gif Compass + Esw10jpn is great. They dont scale as much as other phones though. Just adds refinement and control. I can't tell alot of difference. But my compass is still burning in on softmode

 

[DoYouRight]

thanks! The guy who sold me mine didn't offer the case at the time and now does for like $20, I just didnt think $75 shipped was ok for a softcase?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

DoYouRight - The EF2 is a new tube hybrid using a pair of 6J1 tubes, and has analog input and USB DAC input using the same type of DAC as the 3MOVE and XM5 - the Burr Brown Japan PCM2702 which is a pretty decent DAC, with just slightly less micro-detail or space than the D10 and Pico or Headroom or Duet DAC sections.

It will be $189 and sounds very good after 225 hours of burn-in here. For the high impedance phones like HD600/HD800 there is plenty of power and I would pick it over most or all of the portable DAC/amps here, while with Grados and Denon and other low impedance phones the portable have a chance to keep up or surpass it a little. The EF2 also has enough low volume knob control to not have channel imbalance problems with IEM, nor does it hiss with my custom IEMs. I have not directly compared it with any other amps yet except for the EF1 - but I think it sounds very much like my $399 EF1 with a little less power and maybe slightly less warm sounding with my HD800 (likely the cheap chinese tubes). How they added a nice USB DAC for half the cost of the EF1 I don't know. The amp does not scale up significantly with a better source than the internal DAC, but it can improve some with the Pico DAC-only and should get even better with some nice NOS tubes. The stock tubes may be limiting how well it scales with better sources, so we'll see. I plan to look for some 6J1 at a local tube place soon. I can't start a review until after the 17th when I get back in town, and I'll want to put 50-100 hours on the new tubes too.

 

[LevA]

well my esw10's and the grado SR-60 are my only experience with good headphones...I live on a tropical island and can't get anything decent here to even test out..too bad coz just until last year i was in japan for 6 years where i could have tested them all out...

oh well, at least I got nice beach to go for a swim everyday and enjoy scuba diving on weekends

As to the sound, maybe I'm lucky as i have a quite small mug and ears so it almost covers it and the sound I get is really good.

I might be heading over to japan for a week or so in October and will check out all these headphones people are talking about...
btw I think I got my case for ~14 dollars sent from japan (family). If I do go in october If you want I may be able to grab one. I don't think mailing would cost that much..

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoYouRight /img/forum/go_quote.gif Compass + Esw10jpn is great. They dont scale as much as other phones though. Just adds refinement and control. I can't tell alot of difference. But my compass is still burning in on softmode. To be perfectly honest. I don't think the ESW10jpn are all that special. Compared to my HD595 or HF-1 they just sound a little more deep because of the wood cups. I dont find the bass or mids to be that much different from my HF-1. Maybe my unit is defective or the sound sig wasnt very diff so unless I downgrade it will be more obvious. I do have a hard time using the HF-1 now but maybe that is more to do with the cord issue? I wish the ESW10jpn would fit over my whole ear though as when I push it against my ear the bass and detail is way better.

 

[DoYouRight]

Thanks LevA for the offer, might take you up on it.

Larry, so does the EF2 have a tube sticking out of the top of the AMP/DAC?

 

[V-DiV]

Quote:
Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict

For instance, I think the D10 driving headphones and IEM is very close to the $500 Apogee Duet that I am borrowing - with some phones one is better, and with other the other one is better (with Head-direct RE2 that I am burning in, the Duet sounds better with them, but with Westone ES3X or Westone 3 the D10 is everybit as good or slightly better). I haven't reviewed the Apogee as I consider it a desktop DAC/amp that wont run under it's own battery power like the others, but I put it among the top DAC/amps around.

Quote:

Originally Posted by elbuzzard /img/forum/go_quote.gif i was wondering how the duet stacked up against these others.

Me too. For someone who will be carrying portable headphones and DAC/amp to and from work to use where power is not a problem, does the Apogee Duet stand above the Pico and D10 or are they more-or-less peers?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by V-DiV /img/forum/go_quote.gif Quote: Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict For instance, I think the D10 driving headphones and IEM is very close to the $500 Apogee Duet that I am borrowing - with some phones one is better, and with other the other one is better (with Head-direct RE2 that I am burning in, the Duet sounds better with them, but with Westone ES3X or Westone 3 the D10 is everybit as good or slightly better). I haven't reviewed the Apogee as I consider it a desktop DAC/amp that wont run under it's own battery power like the others, but I put it among the top DAC/amps around. Me too. For someone who will be carrying portable headphones and DAC/amp to and from work to use where power is not a problem, does the Apogee Duet stand above the Pico and D10 or are they more-or-less peers?

Those three are more or less peers among each other, in terms of DAC quality, and headphone out is good with all three but a little different sonic signature. The D10 stock is similar to the Predator with a Pico DAC inside, the Duet is like a mix of the Predator's extra warmth and the spaciousness of the Pico so not quite as forward as the Predator. The Duet has good power and can Drive HD600 loudly, but sounds optimal with Grados. The Pico power level falls between the Duet and Predator, and seems to be similar to the P-51 power. The P-51 may sound closer to the Duet as well, when used with a good DAC.

To the other guy, the 6J1 tubes do stick up partially out of the clear top of the EF2.

 

[Skylab]

Larry do you have some nice NOS 6AK5's to use in p0lace of the 6J1's?

 

[V-DiV]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Those three are more or less peers

Thanks very much for sharing all the work you've done on this. I'm on the verge of buying either the Pico, Duet, D10, or Predator to pair with my ATH-ESW10JPN. I'd prefer to buy American so I think that means Pico, Predator, or Duet (is Duet made in the U.S. or overseas?). From what you said in your descriptions the Pico sounds like a better match than the Predator for the ESW10s - more spacious, more extended highs.

 

[DoYouRight]

Larry will you do a thread for Desktop Amp/Dacs? Since the trend especially with the EF2 you like and the Compass is people moving that direction to get even more power to their cans.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif Larry do you have some nice NOS 6AK5's to use in place of the 6J1's?

I haven't had time to look for nicer tubes yet - and I don't have any 6AK5 or 6J1 tubes. If you have some to sell please drop me a PM soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by V-DiV /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks very much for sharing all the work you've done on this. I'm on the verge of buying either the Pico, Duet, D10, or Predator to pair with my ATH-ESW10JPN. I'd prefer to buy American so I think that means Pico, Predator, or Duet (is Duet made in the U.S. or overseas?). From what you said in your descriptions the Pico sounds like a better match than the Predator for the ESW10s - more spacious, more extended highs.

The ESW10JPN are not as picky about what amp I use them with, like the Grados or HD600 for instance. So they tend to sound nice with most amps. Since I got the P-51 and D10 and Pico DAC-only, I only tend to listen to my Amphora, D10 or P-51 with my laptop, using either the D10 DAC or the Pico DAC. For me to properly answer that question I'd like to revisit the ESW10 with those amps again before I answer that fully.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoYouRight /img/forum/go_quote.gif Larry will you do a thread for Desktop Amp/Dacs? Since the trend especially with the EF2 you like and the Compass is people moving that direction to get even more power to their cans.

I planned to put the EF2 in it's own thread, and link to it from here. My first and second post in this thread are full, and I don't want to add the full reviews here since I have a few desktop DAC/amp reviews already posted elsewhere.

That would include the StyleAudio CARAT-TOPAZ (I should have a link to it in my public profile "about me"). I also have a review on the Travagans Greem desktop DAC/amp in another thread, with a link to it posted in my public profile. I could also dig up my impressions of the Nuforce desktop DAC/amp and put the links here - on the Nuforce I have several posts in someone else's Nuforce thread. I'm not sure if I also have a link already in my public profile "about me" for the Nuforce. I only had the Apogee Duet at my home for 2-3 weeks in February, while I was doing my D10 review, but I don't think I took good enough notes to do a full review. I mainly just confirmed my impressions of it from previous times that I played with it at Blutarsky's house. I did post a Duet vs Mini-DAC impressions in a mini-meet summer 2008 thread, so I could dig up that link and pretend it's a Duet review.

I am not collecting desktop DAC amps, so I don't have a lot to compare to each other. All I have on hand right now is the Nuforce and the EF2, and Blutarsky has the Travagans Green right now to drive his Stax Lambdas via the speaker out. He sold the Duet when I decided it was too similar to what I already have and declined to buy it. The CARAT-TOPAZ was a loaner to review, and I shipped it to the next reviewer. The EF2 is mine as I traded a more expensive EF1 for it, to be the first to review it.

So, maybe I could start a new thread for the EF2 review, and put copies of my Nuforce, Travagans, TOPAZ and Duet reviews in there to consolidate the 5 amps?