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Originally Posted by Czilla9000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
orkney...thanks for the informative response.
By Duet, are you talking about the Apogee Duet? Apogee Duet | Sweetwater.com
Oh....I just looked at your sig, I guess so.
You think the Duet would be better than the xCanV8? The firewire interface intrigues me.
How do the JVC's compare with the Edition 9s and Denons in general and on soundstage? Since you sold your Edition 9s, I assume you like the JVCs more (?).
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Hi,
I've not tried the X-CAN v8, so can't really compare to the Duet, but the Duet has an excellent DAC section and a decent headphone out that works well with low-impedance phones (RS1, D5000, DX1000) and does a good job with my Senns as well. As a "placeholder" amp I think it's a good choice and I prefer the DAC section to the CI and MF DACs I auditioned with my MacBook -- very clean and detailed sound with no added warmth or etching. It works seamlessly with OSX.
I loved the Edition 9s but had two problems with them; one was sonic, which I could forgive, and the second was their (for me) serious discomfort which I just couldn't get past. I work with phones on about 6 hours a day now and the Ed 9s, even with the various mods and gentle headband stretching, just didn't cut it for me. In some ways their sound is unmatched by any headphone I've tried (speed, bass slam, dynamic swing) but as a package I prefer the DX1000, which is a greatly under-rated phone, I think. It has great bass, genuinely superb transparency, airy highs and rich mids (via tubes) plus a very high level of musical involvement that reminds me of the Ed 9s and which, for me, the D5000 just doesn't have. I listen to the Dx1000s though tubes but even from the Duet I just don't experience those "honky" mids that some have reported. There are other phones (Ed 9s, RS1s) that can seem more immediate but make no mistake, properly set up and with a wide range of music these JVCs are thrilling -- and yet, I can listen through them for hours.
Final thought: until recently I owned a pair of Martin-Logan Vantages and had to downsize to first Spendors and now Paradigm S2 v2s. The Logans were remarkable in many ways but most of all in this: they gave you EVERYTHING on the record without ever breaking a sweat; nothing seemed forward or spotlit and yet you realized that you were hearing all of a track. The S2s are terrific small speakers, with a tweeter to die for, but they simply lack the overall coherence and ease of the far pricier Logans. Like the Logans, the DX1000s offer a large, very relaxed and very detailed presentation, fully the equal of the usual suspects (DT880 600 etc.) which I've owned. But nothing is thrust forward; it's all cut from the same cloth. I appreciate this, but I suspect it makes these a little less immediately striking than some of its competitors. Having wibbled on and on, there's lots to like in the D5000s, and certainly the Ed 9s, and the W5000s seem like terrific phones also. In the right system any of these might suit you down to the ground.
best,
o
