Support NeoGAF

[LCfiner]

haha. well you are at the end of the line now. speakers are next.

i've pretty much settled with my stax lambda signature pro skm 1/2 combo and speaker stuff. i need to sell a bunch of stuff, but instead it just sits around.

my P200 IEMs i use at work broke this week and i can't even bring myself to look at head-fi to figure out what i should get. alas.

Speakers were last summer.

Salk Songtowers. I love them. At this point, I would need to review my amp and my room treatments (or my choice of room/ living space entirely) to get better sound. (I installed some 2' x 2' sound absorption squares on my walls but it had no noticeable effect.)

The stax stuff is really impressive. I can't see anyone already in the high end market moving away from them unless they really value portability or the convenience of 1/4" plugs over SQ

I would be curious to try their "low end" 2170 system to see how their sub 1000 dollar combo compares against similarly priced dynamic cans. If it's anything like the 4170 combo that I had originally tried, it should be a big step up in detail, tonality and soundstage compared to the similarly priced dynamic competition

 

[Dynamite Ringo Matsuri]

I just realized I never posted a photo of the AIAIAI tracks I just bought.

Damn, what model MD player is that? I love some of the older units, they looked so cool

 

[Nopren]

In my young days I wore through 2 of those MD players. I believe it was the second model of MD player that Sony produced. One of my friends had the first model, which was hilariously bulky.

 

[ElyrionX]

We can do a phone swap so you can see if they are to your taste, I always wanted to hear the CK10s anyhow. It'll take a hell of a lot to beat out the ASG-1 in my opinion though. I think this about as good as it's going to get in the universal realm for awhile... until the double driver ASG-2 hits in 5 months anyhow...

I haven't heard the ASG-1 or the CK10s but someone mentioned to me that the CK10s are somewhat of an acquired taste.

Speaking of universals, have you heard the K3003? I own them and they are, by a pretty good margin, the best universal I've had the pleasure of listening to. Sometimes, I think I enjoy them even more than my T1s (I know, it's an apples and oranges thing).

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Damn, what model MD player is that? I love some of the older units, they looked so cool

Its the MZR37, and it has more buttons than an xbox controller! And FOUR input/outputs. I bought this mini tos link donngles that are huge and they GLOW so brightly, its AMAZING.

 

[Dynamite Ringo Matsuri]

I haven't heard the ASG-1 or the CK10s but someone mentioned to me that the CK10s are somewhat of an acquired taste.

Speaking of universals, have you heard the K3003? I own them and they are, by a pretty good margin, the best universal I've had the pleasure of listening to. Sometimes, I think I enjoy them even more than my T1s (I know, it's an apples and oranges thing).

Wow, you actually grabbed the K3003 after all? Nuts. And no, I haven't heard the K3003, I don't live anywhere near a place where I can demo phones unfortunately. I actually forgot about the K3003, i take it back then, that's likely the best universal out there. Then again, it costs $800+ more than the ASG-1 lol I'm kind of curious how the K3003 stacks up to the UM Merlin though, since that's got five BA arms and a dynamic driver for bass. The K3003 is supposed to have some highly tuned Knowles drivers in there that doesn't suffer from that metallic tonality (which is highly accentuated on cymbals) would love to hear it mysef.

JTwo - yeah, I love the way it looks! Did you ever post at Minidisc T-Station? I've got a Sharp DR-7, and a Sony RH-1 myself. I loved the DR-7, it's probably the most well built electronic gadget I own. Thing is like a friggin brick. I was sad that Sharp never got into the Hi-MD game cause I loved the sound of their Auvi units

 

[andylsun]

The following a little rambling about a recent acquisition of mine. a Stax Omega 2 Mark I. earspeaker (I love this name. it's like the name for a Transformer.) and a Woo Audio GES electrostatic amp.

One day I will own a pair of Stax earspeakers. I've drooled about them since seeing them in What Hi-fi magazine back in the 80's. I first heard them because my landlord in London had a pair of Stax Lambda's, 3000 classical records and a high end TT and pre-amp (no speakers at all). Had nothing to compare them to at the time.

I'll also need to find some Fotex T50, or other magnetic planar headphones, then I can stop buying them.

 

[JackEtc]

Guys.....I don't know what got into me.

I'm happy with my A700's and my HD555's. But I still need to replace my Klipsch S4 earbuds which broke last year, so I started looking at 'phones again. Suddenly, I felt the urge to buy a pair of smaller headphones that are more portable instead of earbuds.

I guess because I'll be going off to college next year and don't want to look like a fool in the library wearing my gigantic A700's plugged into my laptop. College will be in August, but suddenly I really want a pair of headphones like this.

Is the TMA-1 pretty much agreed upon as the best set of small, portable earphones? I really, really, like what I've seen and read about them so far. There's a few pairs up on Head-Fi for around $170 that I'm eyeing up, and I think I just need a final push from some of you guys to go through with it.

 

[Syracuse022]

Guys.....I don't know what got into me.

I'm happy with my A700's and my HD555's. But I still need to replace my Klipsch S4 earbuds which broke last year, so I started looking at 'phones again. Suddenly, I felt the urge to buy a pair of smaller headphones that are more portable instead of earbuds.

I guess because I'll be going off to college next year and don't want to look like a fool in the library wearing my gigantic A700's plugged into my laptop. College will be in August, but suddenly I really want a pair of headphones like this.

Is the TMA-1 pretty much agreed upon as the best set of small, portable earphones? I really, really, like what I've seen and read about them so far. There's a few pairs up on Head-Fi for around $170 that I'm eyeing up, and I think I just need a final push from some of you guys to go through with it.

I have a pair of HD595's and I love them, but they are not good for lugging to the office or on vacations, so I was looking for something similar to you (more portable, more durable) in my second set. I am jamming on my TMA-1's and a Fiio E7 as I type this. Do it.

 

[Alucrid]

I haven't heard the ASG-1 or the CK10s but someone mentioned to me that the CK10s are somewhat of an acquired taste.

Speaking of universals, have you heard the K3003? I own them and they are, by a pretty good margin, the best universal I've had the pleasure of listening to. Sometimes, I think I enjoy them even more than my T1s (I know, it's an apples and oranges thing).

Yeah, the CK-10s are a HiFiMan RE0s on steroids, that's why I like the idea of them. That said I couldn't decide between the Ck-10s or ASG-1s......so I got both. :|

 

[JackEtc]

I have a pair of HD595's and I love them, but they are not good for lugging to the office or on vacations, so I was looking for something similar to you (more portable, more durable) in my second set. I am jamming on my TMA-1's and a Fiio E7 as I type this. Do it.

So close to pulling the trigger, I want to so badly. Got another question for you guys, though.

I think I'm going to spend the extra $30 and just get a new set as well, and then buying the straight cable online as well. I see the TMA-1's listed on Amazon, but sold by "Amazing Deals Online", and I always hate buying from random vendors like that, and don't really want to unless any of you guys can vouch for that. So, where's the best place to buy both the TMA-1's and the straight cable? Somewhere online that ships fast and can be trusted, and has the most recent version of TMA-1's (I went through the beginning of the thread and I remember K.Jack mentioned TMA-1 V2's sometime in January of 2011, dunno if that's an issue anymore). Any recommendations?

EDIT: Sold by "Amazing Deals Online" and fulfilled through Amazon, so maybe I will just buy off there, it'd be nice if anyone had experience with buying the TMA's off Amazon that they could chime in about.

Bought them. Saw that if I ordered in the next 8 minutes they'd be here tomorrow, and I caved. $220. I'M SO FUCKING EXCITED

 

[Dynamite Ringo Matsuri]

Yeah, the CK-10s are a HiFiMan RE0s on steroids, that's why I like the idea of them. That said I couldn't decide between the Ck-10s or ASG-1s......so I got both. :|

 

[goodfella]

Is there a natural upgrade to the px100-II?

I like the portability and I like the the bass. I like that you can wear them while walking around and they don't look stupid.

I don't know if it is a limitation of the on ear design, but the sound just doesn't seem all that accurate or full. The bass is maybe to pronounced.

The only thing I hate is sibilance, I can't stand it. (not specific to the px-100, they are fine)

So if anyone reads this and thinks that they know of a headphone that would suite, I would be thankful.

 

[LyleLanley]

Anyone have a recommendation for good headphones for when I'm on a really long flight? I need something that's going to be really comfortable and that I can put in my carryon, which is usually a messenger bag.

 

[IceCold]

Anyone have a recommendation for good headphones for when I'm on a really long flight? I need something that's going to be really comfortable and that I can put in my carryon, which is usually a messenger bag.

ATH-M50:

Compact mode:

 

[Presco]

Speakers were last summer.

Salk Songtowers. I love them. At this point, I would need to review my amp and my room treatments (or my choice of room/ living space entirely) to get better sound. (I installed some 2' x 2' sound absorption squares on my walls but it had no noticeable effect.)

Damn, I've heard nothing but good things about the Songtowers. What amp do you have for those?

I just got an Axiom sub, the Axiom M80s for towers, and the Axiom VP180 for a centre. All this because I was given a Rotel Pre Amp / Processor and Rotel Amplifier by a very generous uncle who recently upgraded. I couldn't just let them sit there while I used my old Logitech Z5500 for ghetto surround. Still deciding on rears but think I'll go with something significantly cheaper.

Sweet jesus, my ears.

 

[LCfiner]

Damn, I've heard nothing but good things about the Songtowers. What amp do you have for those?

I just got an Axiom sub, the Axiom M80s for towers, and the Axiom VP180 for a centre. All this because I was given a Rotel Pre Amp / Processor and Rotel Amplifier by a very generous uncle who recently upgraded. I couldn't just let them sit there while I used my old Logitech Z5500 for ghetto surround. Still deciding on rears but think I'll go with something significantly cheaper.

Sweet jesus, my ears.

It’s part of a regular living room TV/movie center so I’m using my existing Pioneer 1019 receiver/amp. Maybe I could get an improvement if I went with something dedicated to 2 channel audio, i don’t know. I know this amp has enough power as per Salk’s recommendation for SS watts per channel - I just have doubts that it’s optimal for the job. Still, I won’t be moving away from an integrated receiver/ amp unit as the convenience is too high.

Those axioms look great. I like the minimalism of the songtowers, but I have a soft spot in my heart for speakers that are more flamboyant and just throw a ton of woofers and tweeters in there. Something about the extravagance of it all appeals to me.

 

[Unhandled Exception]

So I've been a headset user for years and years because I play games competitively. However, I haven't actually had a need for a microphone for this purpose in years and for some reason I only just realized that. I've always eyed the Sennheiser catalog if I were to ever make the jump to a quality pair of headphones, but after a good amount of research tonight I've jumped over to the Audio Technica side of things and went ahead and ordered a pair of ATH-A900 from Amazon. I'm still not all that knowledgeable of the subject but apparently Audio Technica sets typically have no use for amps? I have an Astro Mixamp that I'm currently using with my A40's, and I really like using it. Even though the ATH-A900's don't need an amp (apparently), will the amp cause any sorts of problems? I can't see why it would, but I just wanted to get an idea.

Thanks.

Edit: Also just to clarify, I won't be using them strictly for gaming. I'm aware of pros/cons of open and closed designs.

Edit #2: Also, anyone have an idea of how much burning in I should plan for with this pair? I've heard mixed things, many of which seemed to be guesses.

 

[kevm3]

It’s part of a regular living room TV/movie center so I’m using my existing Pioneer 1019 receiver/amp. Maybe I could get an improvement if I went with something dedicated to 2 channel audio, i don’t know. I know this amp has enough power as per Salk’s recommendation for SS watts per channel - I just have doubts that it’s optimal for the job. Still, I won’t be moving away from an integrated receiver/ amp unit as the convenience is too high.

Those axioms look great. I like the minimalism of the songtowers, but I have a soft spot in my heart for speakers that are more flamboyant and just throw a ton of woofers and tweeters in there. Something about the extravagance of it all appeals to me.

Nice to see more speaker fans. I've sold my headphones for speakers and haven't regretted my decision once. Unfortunately the speaker thread doesn't really get much business. If you can swing it, plinius makes excellent amps. Another top notch option if you can't swing for a Plinius is McCormack, and they have an excellent upgrade policy.

 

[Kukuk]

I just realized I never posted a photo of the AIAIAI tracks I just bought.

They're great. I think I mentioned they shipped to me with a weird pen mark on one of the earcuffs. I contacted amazon and they refunded me 20% so I'm over it. Great headphones, decent sound and very stylish. Obviously not quite as good as some fullsized 595s or whatever, but thats not the point.

Honestly, I thought the Tracks sounded very nice. Much better than the TMA-1's to me.

I just... Try as I might, just can't "get" the TMA-1's.


Anyone else here use the Sony MDR-CD900ST's? I bought them a few weeks ago, and have been loving them to death. I'd imagine there must be some Japan-GAF'ers that owns these. I wanna know if anyone else thinks their mids are as amazing as I do. :lol

 

[Eric WK]

Regrettably selling my Audio-Technica ATH-ES9As and NuForce Icon uDAC-2 because, well, I need money. Both are still in great condition. Details in the B/S/T thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=35472604&postcount=1412

 

[matmanx1]

Looking to invest in a pair of IEM's for my portable game playing and music listening and would like to keep my tab under $200. I saw the discussion on the previous pages about the ASG-1's and am assuming that those would be the best all around for what I am wanting?

Have any of you used your ASG-1's for game playing on a portable (like the new PSV) and if so did the sound quality suffer?

 

[Dynamite Ringo Matsuri]

Looking to invest in a pair of IEM's for my portable game playing and music listening and would like to keep my tab under $200. I saw the discussion on the previous pages about the ASG-1's and am assuming that those would be the best all around for what I am wanting?

Have any of you used your ASG-1's for game playing on a portable (like the new PSV) and if so did the sound quality suffer?

Yeah that was me reppin' them. The ASG-1's are incredible, and can hang with the absolute best of the best in terms of universal IEMs, save for perhaps the AKG K3003, or the new FITear models, but those cost more than $1000. They'll sound great out of just about anything you plug them into, and there is honestly so many layers of sound in even midi tracks on a DS game that you're missing out on if you just listen through the built in speakers. You honestly can't go wrong them for the price, believe me. Though I would act fast, the deal at Springtree is almost up, then they go back to their $300 MSRP

 

[Fou-Lu]

Really liking my M50s so far, haven't had a chance to burn them in yet, but I'm constantly surprised by how clear the highs are, considering I've heard some complaints about the highs on the M50s I am very pleased.

 

[Waikis]

i still miss that guy. glad you are still enjoying it!

Have you ever tried a solid state DAC with the zana?

I'm currently running it with paradisea+ bendix red bank tube, but i found the sound to be a bit too colored/tubey. I'm thinking of buying schiit's bifrost but im not really sure how well zana works together with a ss dac.

 

[deduce]

So it looks like Astro Gaming has discontinued the Mixamp 5.8 standalone in the US. What's the next best wireless amp to go with a Sennheiser HD598?

 

[swoon]

Have you ever tried a solid state DAC with the zana?

I'm currently running it with paradisea+ bendix red bank tube, but i found the sound to be a bit too colored/tubey. I'm thinking of buying schiit's bifrost but im not really sure how well zana works together with a ss dac.

yea, i only used with solid-state dacs. i think i had with the stello da100, rwa isabellina and audio g-d 5se.

and preformed wonderfully with all of them. i haven't heard any of the schilt stuff though.

 

[Gummifaust]

The Beyers 880 arrived. Yulong U100 amp/dac is ordered.

 

[nib95]

Despite having tried several different high end amps and DAC's now, I think my end game bang for buck (until NwAvGuy brings out his DAC) set up is...

Macbook Pro > Mini to Optical > Rein Audio X-DAC > JDS O2 > T1

To those of you who can't afford the T1, the Fostex T50RP Modded is the best, ultra affordable choice. DAC wise, wait for NwAvGuy to bring his out unless you can afford the X-DAC and want that extra bit of quality, musicality with it's optical processing (USB is straight neutral), connection options and build.

 

[shira]

HIRESDES is banned, I was wondering if anyone knows a good free online source of music we can compare with headphones.

 

[nib95]

HIRESDES is banned, I was wondering if anyone knows a good free online source of music we can compare with headphones.

Few good classical samples here.

http://2l.no/hires/index.html

 

[ElyrionX]

Wow, you actually grabbed the K3003 after all? Nuts. And no, I haven't heard the K3003, I don't live anywhere near a place where I can demo phones unfortunately. I actually forgot about the K3003, i take it back then, that's likely the best universal out there. Then again, it costs $800+ more than the ASG-1 lol I'm kind of curious how the K3003 stacks up to the UM Merlin though, since that's got five BA arms and a dynamic driver for bass. The K3003 is supposed to have some highly tuned Knowles drivers in there that doesn't suffer from that metallic tonality (which is highly accentuated on cymbals) would love to hear it mysef.

Yeah, I did. I kept thinking about it after auditioning them the first time and I went back to the store a second time and I just couldn't leave without it. The returns definitely diminish a lot at that level which is par for the course in high-end audio, but it was just very clearly a step above the Westone 4s and I had to have them. I haven't heard the Merlins for myself but I have read some impressions and they are definitely comparable, if not even better, as far as I can tell.

As for the K3003, isolation is definitely its weakest point. Background sound will definitely be leaking in if you're using these on the go. However, everything else is just so good that it's easy to overlook that part. Sometimes, I think I even like it more than my T1s which can be a little too cold and unengaging.

 

[JackEtc]

Alright, so I've spent about a day with my TMA-1's, which I got in the mail yesterday.

They look extremely sexy, sexier than pictures can describe.

Initially, when I put them on for a first listen right out of the box, I got a little scared. They seemed VERY dark and muffled. But after just an hour of listening, I could hear them lightening up. Now, I am in LOVE with them. Amazing headphones, glad I broke down and bought them, thank you K.Jack for sucking the TMA-1's balls throughout this entire thread, and Syracuse022 for being the final push I needed.

I also love how well they match my current laptop (CR-48):

 

[pax217]

Few good classical samples here.

http://2l.no/hires/index.html

Nice link, thanks.

 

[Snakeyes]

What are the sexiest earphones?

 

[Recon]

What are the sexiest earphones?

Bose and Beats by Dre. Accept no substitutes.

 

[Snakeyes]

Bose and Beats by Dre. Accept no substitutes.

Thanks. If NBA players wear them, they must be good.

 

[Recon]

Thanks. If NBA players wear them, they must be good.

If they are good enough for Bieber, they are good enough for America.

 

[Snakeyes]

For reals though. Stuff like UE is cool but way too pricey.

 

[Dynamite Ringo Matsuri]

My favorite looking phones are the Qualia 010 and be Stax Omega Mk II. Sexiest phones for sure.

Elryion - Yeah, I wanna stick with universals as long as I can, but I was definitely thinking of taking the plunge into customs this year, with either the Merlin or the ES5. Now that the FitEar 334 is available in universal form, I may look at those. I would get into customs if not for the fact that getting them in your ears takes more time than universals, you have to remold them every few years (due to your ear changing shape), and the isolation is too much (unless they have ambient ports), since I do want to hear things around me at times.

I'd also dump the money into a killer full sized rig, but I'm not home often enough to enjoy a full sized setup, and at the 1k+ price range, the major differences in hi-end iems and headphones are mostly in soundstage size and the amount of air they can move anyhow, two sacrifices that don't matter enough to me to forego the convenience of IEMs. So with that said, I can definitely see how you'd prefer the K3003 over the T1. The K3003 is supposed to be the best headphone AKG had designed outside of the K1000 anyhow. Incredibly impressive that they were able to tune two TWFKs and a dynamic to achieve sound with that level of resolution and dynamic performance.

 

[matmanx1]

Yeah that was me reppin' them. The ASG-1's are incredible, and can hang with the absolute best of the best in terms of universal IEMs, save for perhaps the AKG K3003, or the new FITear models, but those cost more than $1000. They'll sound great out of just about anything you plug them into, and there is honestly so many layers of sound in even midi tracks on a DS game that you're missing out on if you just listen through the built in speakers. You honestly can't go wrong them for the price, believe me. Though I would act fast, the deal at Springtree is almost up, then they go back to their $300 MSRP

Alright and thank you very much! I went ahead and sent the "click to get a quote" on springtree and mentioned the end of the month deal in the body of my quote request. Hopefully they will email me tomorrow but if I haven't heard from them by lunchtime I will make a phone call. My birthday is coming up and my wife has already asked me what I want for it. These will be fantastic!

 

[Dynamite Ringo Matsuri]

Alright and thank you very much! I went ahead and sent the "click to get a quote" on springtree and mentioned the end of the month deal in the body of my quote request. Hopefully they will email me tomorrow but if I haven't heard from them by lunchtime I will make a phone call. My birthday is coming up and my wife has already asked me what I want for it. These will be fantastic!

Yeah, no problem. I'd just call Springtree and ask for Matt myself, their response rate is excellent, and Matt is great to talk to. If you do that, you'll be getting your order in ASAP, cause at the moment, Aurisonics is inundated with orders so you might be in the 4th batch of orders which won't go our for awhile. The great thing about Springtree is that they are on the outskirts of Nashville so Dale of Aurisonics hand delivers the phones himself to Springtree, so they are able to fulfill orders extremely quickly once they are in hand. My pair were actually delivered the same day I ordered

 

[pax217]

Purchasing a portable radio to complement my M's tickets this coming baseball season, anyone have a suggestion beyond the Sony SRF-M37W?

The great thing about Springtree is that they are on the outskirts of Nashville so Dale of Aurisonics hand delivers the phones himself to Springtree

That's badass.

What are the sexiest earphones?

If you want to receive sexual acts from others based on the appearance of your earphones, I would have to say the Sony Qualias will get you the greatest number of favors.

If you, yourself, want to be sexually aroused by your earphones, Beats by Dre has much vibration to offer, or perhaps a set of M50's with a nice amp.

 

[Tess3ract]

Please don't suggest Beats by Dr.Dre. Ever. Not even ironically.

 

[Alucrid]

Yeah, no problem. I'd just call Springtree and ask for Matt myself, their response rate is excellent, and Matt is great to talk to. If you do that, you'll be getting your order in ASAP, cause at the moment, Aurisonics is inundated with orders so you might be in the 4th batch of orders which won't go our for awhile. The great thing about Springtree is that they are on the outskirts of Nashville so Dale of Aurisonics hand delivers the phones himself to Springtree, so they are able to fulfill orders extremely quickly once they are in hand. My pair were actually delivered the same day I ordered

When I ordered last week I got in the 3rd batch which should be in around the second of March or so.

 

[pax217]

Please don't suggest Beats by Dr.Dre. Ever. Not even ironically.

Not even in jest, or pure sarcasm?

 

[John Rabbit]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13759003/beyer880.jpg

The Beyers 880 arrived. Yulong U100 amp/dac is ordered.

*brofist*

been enjoying mine immensely since i got them a few weeks back.

 

[Alucrid]

Not even in jest, or pure sarcasm?

What if someone wants overpriced headphones that convey their supposed status in society?

 

[pax217]

What if someone wants overpriced headphones that convey their supposed status in society?

Wait, are we talking Beats or Bose? Cause I think THAT fits for both.

 

[Dynamite Ringo Matsuri]

Well, Beats did split from Monster so...

BOSE X BEATS products incoming. BELIEVE