AngusMcToon
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2002
- Posts
- 134
- Likes
- 10
Don't laugh.
I believe I have hit a sonic watershed with my setup...a point in time, however long or short it may last, where I can listen contentedly to my rig without thinking about upgrading anything. Earvana. WatersHead-Fi. Call it what you will. It sounds like what I want it to sound like right now, at home and on the road. It's taken a lot of obsessing, certainly obsessive board pounding on Head-Fi and HeadWize, and god knows more $ than I ever quite intended to spend on something Consumer Reports won't acknowledge as costing more than $25.
The ingredients, for what's it's all worth:
Work/home rig: Started with the seductive sound of the HD-600 which won me over during the Headroom tour in various configurations. (I went looking to try out Etys. Thought amps were excessive and only for freaks--so dammit, I didn't spend enough time listening critically to amps! What a waste--just wasn't ready. Founds Etys uncomfortable, so at the last minute got the 600 first.)
You have 600s, you really do need an amp. OK, I'm firmly in the camp that has liked each stage of 600-dom. They sound great. They sound greater with an amp, you knew they could and would improve with tweaking. Worked through an AH to a TAH in short order, now in the portable rig, picked up a used Little (non-premium) and thought that really made the 600 sing...and then, very recently the 2 pieces that have completed
the 600 picture for now:
1. Got my Tangent-built "all out" style Meta42...and omigod, I love this amp. Brighter and faster than the Little, this amp is still beyond adjectives--I can't compare it to the Little yet, because I can't stop listening to it. It mates with the 600 magnificently. It makes the 4P through 4S adapter ready for rock and roll. Hey, it makes the 600s totally safe for rock, in my opinion.
2. Cardas cable. Well, didn't believe in amps, let alone boutique wire. That was then. Straight out of my CD deck, mediocre Sony gear, the difference is audible and amazing. Smurf up to the Meta...and that is the apotheosis. My 600 now sound the way I want them to. I am awestruck by this combo.
Portable rig and travel rig: using my DLink portable MP3 with well encoded MP3 and my SlimX through TAH+ER4P, or straight through 4P. Microphonics and occlusion are there, but less bothersome over time, plus I've gotten totally comfortable with the fit of the 4Ps and they sound great in a very different way from the 600s...both sounds are wonderful, both very different in character, and the luxury of both a rare and wonderful privilege to listen to. Etys seem to violate nature, especially when on advice here I kept sticking them in my ears when they were uncomfortable hoping I'd get used to them. This felt counter-natural and freakish at first.
Now, it all just sounds great. I have finally reached a state of desirelessness with my sound.
(For now, at least...)
Thanks to the many folks here for opinions, advice, education, and patience with all manner of noobitude. Also thanks to Tangent and other DIY'ers who can make a great amp like the Meta available to those of us known only for soldering irony when it comes to wrangling with tiny components.
In grim and difficult times, somehow it seems paradoxically reassuring that a community can thrive discussing which headphones are best for the head. That's what Head-Fi is for.
I believe I have hit a sonic watershed with my setup...a point in time, however long or short it may last, where I can listen contentedly to my rig without thinking about upgrading anything. Earvana. WatersHead-Fi. Call it what you will. It sounds like what I want it to sound like right now, at home and on the road. It's taken a lot of obsessing, certainly obsessive board pounding on Head-Fi and HeadWize, and god knows more $ than I ever quite intended to spend on something Consumer Reports won't acknowledge as costing more than $25.
The ingredients, for what's it's all worth:
Work/home rig: Started with the seductive sound of the HD-600 which won me over during the Headroom tour in various configurations. (I went looking to try out Etys. Thought amps were excessive and only for freaks--so dammit, I didn't spend enough time listening critically to amps! What a waste--just wasn't ready. Founds Etys uncomfortable, so at the last minute got the 600 first.)
You have 600s, you really do need an amp. OK, I'm firmly in the camp that has liked each stage of 600-dom. They sound great. They sound greater with an amp, you knew they could and would improve with tweaking. Worked through an AH to a TAH in short order, now in the portable rig, picked up a used Little (non-premium) and thought that really made the 600 sing...and then, very recently the 2 pieces that have completed
1. Got my Tangent-built "all out" style Meta42...and omigod, I love this amp. Brighter and faster than the Little, this amp is still beyond adjectives--I can't compare it to the Little yet, because I can't stop listening to it. It mates with the 600 magnificently. It makes the 4P through 4S adapter ready for rock and roll. Hey, it makes the 600s totally safe for rock, in my opinion.
2. Cardas cable. Well, didn't believe in amps, let alone boutique wire. That was then. Straight out of my CD deck, mediocre Sony gear, the difference is audible and amazing. Smurf up to the Meta...and that is the apotheosis. My 600 now sound the way I want them to. I am awestruck by this combo.
Portable rig and travel rig: using my DLink portable MP3 with well encoded MP3 and my SlimX through TAH+ER4P, or straight through 4P. Microphonics and occlusion are there, but less bothersome over time, plus I've gotten totally comfortable with the fit of the 4Ps and they sound great in a very different way from the 600s...both sounds are wonderful, both very different in character, and the luxury of both a rare and wonderful privilege to listen to. Etys seem to violate nature, especially when on advice here I kept sticking them in my ears when they were uncomfortable hoping I'd get used to them. This felt counter-natural and freakish at first.
Now, it all just sounds great. I have finally reached a state of desirelessness with my sound.
(For now, at least...)
Thanks to the many folks here for opinions, advice, education, and patience with all manner of noobitude. Also thanks to Tangent and other DIY'ers who can make a great amp like the Meta available to those of us known only for soldering irony when it comes to wrangling with tiny components.
In grim and difficult times, somehow it seems paradoxically reassuring that a community can thrive discussing which headphones are best for the head. That's what Head-Fi is for.