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CaseyOD
191
Jan 1, 2019
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Experiment 3: HD6xx's balanced out of THX into right cup, Topping A30 and Emotiva single ended into left cup, volume matched. http://www.2l.no/hires/ I found this site with various samples at different bit rates and types (DSD, PCM, MQA, etc). So I tried all that my D30 could handle. I'm still experimenting because I don't want to dismiss DSD out of hand. In my personal experience, in the past I had a DVD audio copy of The Flaming Lips Yoshimi album and it sounded incredible on the player I had back then. Sadly that player died and I haven't been able to listen to it, or the SACD's I got back then in years. But I clearly remember that and Springsteen's Devils and Dust dual disc sounding amazing on my home setup (Denon 3805 pushing a pair of circa 1986-7 Klipsch Fortes). So I know that higher bit rates can make a difference. Again, the Topping A30 with the Burson mod and Emotiva both hold up admirably. I've read that the THX isn't a "true" balanced amp. I'll take people's word for it. I don't notice a huge difference between any of these 3 amps. Slightly more bass response from the THX and Emotiva than the Topping. Slightly wider soundstage on the THX. I posited previously that I wondered if I may be bumping against limitations of my source material (a distinct possibility because Spotify is 320kbps Ogg Vorbis and my iTunes library is mostly AIFF files ripped from my CD collection). So I tried these files in their various formats provided my Topping D30 could decode them. Is there a difference between the 16bit 44k original files and the 24bit or DSD recordings? Yes. But, perhaps it's just my old ears making their limitations be known, but to me we're talking about very marginal gains. Or perhaps these are differences that are more pronounced via better speakers/headphones? I'm new to the headphone game and all of this equipment is sitting at my desk. I use my big system with just an old Yamaha CDX-1030 into the Denon and Fortes and it sounds spectacular. I've never felt a need to upgrade anything so I never did. But I did want something to listen to at my desk and down the rabbit hole I went. I purchased the HD6xx's because people refer to them as reference headphones. The HE400i's are similarly voiced, the HD58x's were just an impulse buy. In any case is it possible that none of these are capable of producing a listening experience similar to that of my Fortes or, for that matter, the Elac UniFi UB5's I have hooked up to a Sprout in my living room? Maybe I just don't get this hobby but it's mind blowing to me that I could spend this much money on this much gear and although I do get a lot of enjoyment out of my now collection of headphones, I don't get nearly the same listening experience. It just feels like I'm chasing my tail and I don't think it's reasonable to have to spend $1,500 dollars on a pair of headphones to get the sound quality of a $400 pair of Elacs. Maybe I started out with the wrong expectations. I'm just shocked that it's this difficult to get good fun and musical sound out of headphones.
Jan 1, 2019
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