Leonardo Drummond

Quick impressions to those who may be interested (from using them with an iPod Classic and the GS-X/Abrahamsen combo): The sound signature is warm, with very thick sounding mids, which may give an initial impression of too much bass even with the knob at the minimum. But this impression fades away quickly and it all sounds very balanced and coherent; It manages, at the same time, to sound very transparent and clear; Treble in particular is exceptionally clear and extended but it's not at all invasive – treble presence is close to perfect for me; All the BA earphones I've heard (and I've heard quite a few) seem to have a certain characteristic in the mids... an ever-so-slightly plasticky character somehow.The Roxannes are an exception; Bass adjustment works well and makes it sound like a subwoofer when at max, but it's not gonna see much use here since it has even more than enough bass at the minimum. Overall the sound is completely different from the JH13s (non freqphase at least, which is what I used to have), which sound a bit more dry in comparison. I have a Unique Melody Mentor demo on loan and this one (which is fantastic BTW) is much closer to the 13s. I'm really liking it, but unfortunately it's gonna have to be sent back for a refit because it's extremely uncomfortable as it is

It's here!

Or that hahaha

I found it interesting that they liked the Alfa so much while the guys at Evo magazine pretty much hated it... I liked the P1 review though, even though I'm not that fond of the car. I think today's crop of hypercars (P1, 918 and LaFerrari), while definitely technically better, lack the flair and soul of the last one (Carrera GT, SLR and Enzo).

Oh, thanks man! Found it!

Where is the info on it? I read from Tyll on IF but can't seem to find any more info about it.

This: It's an acoustic piece from a friend. Strikes me as one of the most honest songwriting I've ever seen, in a kind of Justin Vernon way... really impressive to me, and surprisingly well recorded and mixed.

Well, the USB sources were the same that I used for the other DACs, a MacMini and a MacBook Pro. I ruled out a cable issue because I tried two, an Acoustic Zen MC2 and also a BlueJeans one. I figured it wasn't a problem with my particular XDA-1 because it worked flawlessly with all the other inputs and the USB was working, just not up to par with the other inputs in terms of sonic performance. And I've read quite a few reports of DACs with poor USB implementation – never really believed that it would be particularly noticeable, until I heard what sounded like it with the XDA-1s. In any case, I was just sharing my experience with it.

XDA-1, really?? I was never a big believer in that sort of thing, but I had the XDA-1 for a few months and had the chance to compare it to the Abrahamsen V6.0 and Electrocompaniet ECD-1. I first heard it through USB and thought there was a huge gap between it and the other DACs. It sounded muffled, with a slightly overpowering bass and lack of definition in the mids during A-B comparisons. Then I switched to Toslink and coaxial (through a HiFace) and the gap shrunk considerable. It became much closer to the other DACs. Still not in the same league, but a lot closer nonetheless. It was quite surprising since to me the difference was far from subtle, and I'm quite skeptical when it comes to that sort of thing. I couldn't hear a difference between the V6.0 and ECD-1 for example, and thought that the difference between these and the original DacMagic wasn't incredibly big.

Great value for money, but if you mean the XDA-1 he needs to stay away from USB. It truly sucks on that one.

LOL

That's what I thought. It seems that the K812 Pro is an answer to the HD800s, which are apparently better. So Sennheiser won't have to move a finger, I guess.

Never heard that one, unfortunately!

I'm not too fond of the square headband either, but all I can see in that picture is wood... I like wood. Very much. And Birgir, no love for HiFiMANs? I actually prefer my HE500s to the LCD2s by a wide margin. I can see that the mids and treble on the Audez'es are more cohesive and very neutral (IMO), but I can't get past the bass which is, for me, just too much. Add to that serious comfort issues and it's a win for the HE500s. I know I'm the exception, though

I'm not sure whether this has been mentioned here, but it appears that HiFiMAN is launching some new models. Have you guys seen it? Major updates, apparently. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-57616687-47/hifimans-advanced-headphone-tech-at-ces-2014-improves-sound-quality/ Just when I thought I had finally assembled my definitive setup...

Did anyone here get to listen to these? There's a gigantic thread on head-fi but as you would expect it's pretty hard to find proper trustworthy impressions. I'm considering them for my incoming Roxanne, because, among the current crop of not-much-memory-horrible-UI-and-ridiculously-high-priced high-end players, it seems like a very reasonable option.

All I know is that I laughed out loud at the Ed.10s!

Core of the issue for me. I get sort of crossed when I see people with a 1K+ DAP and a regular 500USD IEM or even worse sometimes. Inverse priorities I guess, they seem to get attracted by the "cool gadget" factor more than anything else.

Good to know Purk, maybe I can give it a try. Now that I'm pretty much finished with my home rig and with a Roxanne in order, I'm thinking about maximizing my portable rig, but within acceptable levels (no 1K portable player for me!), so I guess that one's worth trying!

What bothers me about players nowadays is how little internal memory they usually have (I don't like the hassle of memory cards). I'd trade a high-endish sound for moar memory anyday. So that ZX-1 with 128Gb seems really nice, but I wonder if I'd prefer it to my 160Gb iPod Classic synchonized with my iTunes library at home – nothing more convenient – and mating with the Sony PHA-1 when I feel like I need more performance.

Well, slightly off-topic but could be relevant... I recently got an E12 and an E17 just to try them, and I was pleasantly surprised with both, especially with the E17. It's very sweet sounding and the attention to detail is quite surprising. It's really well made, has loads of connections and comes with everything you need – even screen protectors and Toslink to mini-Toslink adaptor. The E12 sounds harsher and somewhat less refined and the crossfeed is garbage, but the bass boost really isn't and it can drive anything. I'm very impressed!

On Headfonia Mike said that the universal would be like 100 or 200 dollars cheaper, I don't remember. I already placed my order

Exactly! And apparently it completely changes the performance. One of them even makes him believe he's playing the piano himself. That's very nice. Should be called 400Moons, I guess.

Please read this cable review by a Brazilian guy with Google translate. Excerpt: However, placing the SR Element CTS Analogue in the power conditioner, therefore feeding indirectly both the dCS Debussy and the AR preamp, the results are transmuted, and the sound becomes warmer, with textures and timbres even better and more palpable, mantaining correction and transparency but improving other aspects, providing more evident, natural and convincing decays and harmonic bodies. We noted that in all these places, the plug placed in the power cable that provided better matched results in the testing system was the silver one. The manufacturer himself hints at it being more aerated. At home, more than that happened. With this plug, soundstage became ample, tridimensional and the sound more balanced than with the other plugs, the grey and the black one. Nice touch, very reasonable.

What's up with the font used? It looks playful, kind of a Comic Sans' cousin. It sure is a clash of many styles.