[goobicii]

when you decide to go on quest to find highest precision powersupply,then you put it in your dac,your amp,your pc,it doesnt stop there you put it in vibrator,a electric toothbrush,even the doorbell will end up with the superior powersupply

 

[Music Alchemist]

  when you decide to go on quest to find highest precision powersupply,then you put it in your dac,your amp,your pc,it doesnt stop there you put it in vibrator,a electric toothbrush,even the doorbell will end up with the superior powersupply

 
Nice. So I'm wondering...why did you so easily accept that the Schiit Yggdrasil could sound better than the dCS Vivaldi, MSB SELECT DAC, and TRINITY DAC, yet were not willing to accept that it could be better than the Totaldac d1-twelve? (Which is less expensive than all of them except for the Yggy.) I'm assuming you have not heard any of these DACs. (I haven't yet.) I would only know which one sounded better to me after hearing it. Heard impressive things about all of them, but that doesn't tell me much about what I will actually hear.

 

[DonutDeflector]

YKYAAW you think of the temperature of the waye thou prefer and think of the sound you prefer.

If this was true than I would have a super warm tube amp with headphones that are on fire...

 

[Music Alchemist]

YKYAAW you seriously wonder whether you would be able to do a crowdfunding campaign purely to raise the cash needed to buy the audio gear you want. (You'd be surprised at how many crowdfunding campaigns involving personal expenses are out there!)

 

[CaveManta]

Originally Posted by DonutDeflector /img/forum/go_quote.gif

YKYAAW you think of the temperature of the waye thou prefer and think of the sound you prefer.
If this was true than I would have a super warm tube amp with headphones that are on fire...

I like to be in different temperatures. In the winter, I need my M50 for warmth. And in the summer, I need my Q701 to cool down. Actually, the M50 doesn't only have a warm sound; It also warms up your ears! So it's a double meaning.
 
Originally Posted by Music Alchemist /img/forum/go_quote.gif

YKYAAW you seriously wonder whether you would be able to do a crowdfunding campaign purely to raise the cash needed to buy the audio gear you want. (You'd be surprised at how many crowdfunding campaigns involving personal expenses are out there!)

I need help, Alchemist. Can you fund me?

I only have a lowly HD800. Just kidding.

 

[Music Alchemist]

YKYAAW you decide to focus on a STAX SR-009 system.
 
I've been going back and forth trying to decide between high-end headphone systems I want to get...and I kind of want them all eventually...but I really should focus on the one with the highest likelihood of having the best overall sound quality, at least at this early stage where I can't afford to collect multiple high-end systems.
 
Shouldn't cost much more than $3,000 to start with. (I've made more than that in a single day, so once I stop being lazy, this shouldn't be too much trouble.)
 
STAX SR-009 electrostatic earspeakers
US retail price: $4,450
PriceJapan price: currently $2,722
 
STAX SRM-323S electrostatic amplifier
US retail price: $875
PriceJapan price: under $450
 
That amp would just be something to tide me over until I can get one of the best 'stat amps, which are crazy expensive. ($4-10K+) I'll need to do a lot more research before making a final decision on that...
 
Perhaps I will get the Smyth Realiser A8 virtual surround sound processor (which emulates the sound of any speaker system you can visit and measure and is reportedly indistinguishable from speakers!) and Schiit Yggdrasil DAC before the ultimate amp.
 
After that, I would be interested in things like better cables, vibration control, and power management.
 
...At least I don't have to worry about aftermarket headphone cables, since STAX cables are hardwired...

 

[CaveManta]

Originally Posted by Music Alchemist /img/forum/go_quote.gif

YKYAAW you decide to focus on a STAX SR-009 system.

Jeesh, you're going hardcore, eh? But why settle for an entry level amp when you get go all the way right now? Maybe even save a few hundred more in the long run.
 
YKYAAW you start measuring all of your equipment.

I wanted to see what makes my receiver tick, so I ran some sine waves through it, as well as my Magni 2 Uber. I used my PC line-in to record the resulting sweeps. The results are..interesting. The Magni 2 is ruler flat up until 18khz, while the receiver starts strong in the bass and tapers off slowly all the way. It's like it has a low-pass filter. Also, my receiver has a horrible channel imbalance!
Maybe I should get better technology, so I can make waterfall plots and THD measurements.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Jeesh, you're going hardcore, eh? But why settle for an entry level amp when you get go all the way right now? Maybe even save a few hundred more now.

 
Yes, I am so hardcore!

 
Perhaps you missed the part where I said that the high-end electrostatic headphone amplifiers cost between $4,000 and $10,000+. Obviously it will cost a lot more money to get the best amp for it, and I will need to decide on which one, out of all the options. There are many opinions on which is the best.

 

[CaveManta]

Originally Posted by Music Alchemist /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Perhaps you missed the part where I said that the high-end electrostatic headphone amplifiers cost between $4,000 and $10,000+. Obviously it will cost a lot more money to get the best amp for it, and I will need to decide on which one, out of all the options. There are many opinions on which is the best.

But you won't have to worry about the cost of the STAX SRM-323S ;3....which actually seems quite tiny compared to the cost of the high-end amps! Yikes, do you really want an amp that's more expensive than the cans themselves?

 

[Music Alchemist]

But why settle for an entry level amp when you get go all the way right now? Maybe even save a few hundred more in the long run.

  But you won't have to worry about the cost of the STAX SRM-323S ;3....which actually seems quite tiny compared to the cost of the high-end amps!

 
Your statements are a little vague and seemingly contradictory. Please clarify what I have quoted.
 

Yikes, do you really want an amp that's more expensive than the cans themselves?

 
Told you I was hardcore. It's common knowledge that those high-end amps are necessary to get the best sound out of the SR-009.
 
YKYAAW you will settle for no less than the best, regardless of cost!
 
If you think those amps are crazy...you ain't seen nothin' yet!
 

  The Yggdrasil is fairly expensive, but still somewhat affordable. Most people who have heard it say it's the best DAC they have heard. I wonder how it compares to the really expensive DACs...
 
TRINITY DAC
~$60,000
 

 
MSB SELECT DAC
$89,950
 

 
dCS Vivaldi Digital Playback System
$108,496
(Includes CD/SACD transport, DAC, upsampler, and master clock.)
 

 
Light Harmonic Sire
$120,000
(Not yet released.)
 

 

 

[CaveManta]

Originally Posted by Music Alchemist /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Your statements are a little vague and seemingly contradictory. Please clarify what I have quoted.
If you think those amps are crazy...you ain't seen nothin' yet!

I'm just saying that you could skip steps on your upgrade path and focus all the monies on that super amp that you want as your end-game. ..Unless you end up going even more expensive afterward!
Gersh, those DACs are crazy indeed. But that Trinity has multiple inputs, so that might be worth it- Actually, no. Not worth it. Do they at least not use Delta-Sigma topology?
This makes me think; With all the expensive, modern audio technology we have now, how much money are companies putting toward research on newer ways to record and play back sound?

 

[interpolate]

When you insist on speaking to the mastering engineer before buying a CD.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  I'm just saying that you could skip steps on your upgrade path and focus all the monies on that super amp that you want as your end-game. ..Unless you end up going even more expensive afterward!

 
If I have like $20K just lying around, sure. Otherwise, I cannot afford to spend $4,000 or more on one of those amps until later. The BHSE (HeadAmp Blue Hawaii SE) has the best reputation overall among them, but would cost me over $7,000, since I would buy it indirectly through my best friend, who can get it via the international market. That's still a great deal for me, though, because there would be no wait time, whereas those who buy it directly from HeadAmp have to wait many months or even years to get it!
 
Anyway, spending $450-500 on an entry-level amp is chump change at this level. Some people say the 323 amp sounds great; others say it sounds awful. Oh well. It's just something to use in the interim.
 

  When you insist on speaking to the mastering engineer before buying a CD.

 
Be honest. Did you find this thread because of me?

 

 

[interpolate]

No.....it just seems that way.
 
However I did find that strangely Scooby Doo spooky!

 

[Music Alchemist]

  No.....it just seems that way.
 
However I did find that strangely Scooby Doo spooky!

 
Hmm. If you saw the thread linked at the bottom of the site in the recent discussions, it was still because of me.