Pars

I would stick with what you have. What you are saying regarding orthos smoothing things over is the opposite of my experience, as I would say orthos in general are very fast drivers and will capture details that dynamics miss. I should preface this by saying that I have never been a fan of the HD650s, feeling they do a very poor job of classical (large symphonic), I've never owned them however, but have heard them both single-ended and balanced on good amps (Dynahi, etc.) I haven't heard the HE500s, but have heard the LCD-2s (r1) in my own system and liked them alot. +1 on reading your welcome PM (again).

Happy Birthday!

This is the dynalo I did awhile ago, and it is done with a plexiglass panel behind the faceplate, to which the switches and pot are mounted. The LEDs are on a PCB I etched which is also mounted to the inner panel.

Maybe its my monitors at work, but that doesn't look like it is that thick of a panel... maybe 3-4mm. Those switches look like they might be PCB mounted to me. But as already noted, you could have an inner panel that the switches actually mount to.

41.1%

Anyone still have these? I bought 2 of them and seem to have misplaced the tip used for charging them up. It appears that more recent versions of these (on Energizer's site) use a mini-USB in place of the tiny round power plug used on the ones I bought. I've emailed the Tips for Life site a couple of times with no reply from them, but their tip selector is geared towards actual devices you would charge with the battery pack, not the tip needed to charge the pack itself. If anyone could measure the tip for theirs, I'd appreciate it. I had wondered if these could be charged via the USB port itself, but I figured this was an output only.

Adding to what Nate said, how may A10s has Ray sold? 1? A far better exercise would be to properly implement the OPA541 in a "Dark Star" type amplifier and see if it sounds different (better) than what Ray is selling. As for high price = moar good, you're never going to win that battle of perception, and Ray is hardly the first or perhaps even the most blatant perpetrator in terms of this age old problem. This same crowd seems to also believe in audio mysticism to a large degree. Witness comments even in the BHSE thread, where if Justin didn't build it (i.e., lay his hands upon it), it isn't really a BHSE (or KGSS) or whatever amp the statement I am thinking of was in reference to.

Happy Birthday!

I would agree. Have you done a loopback RMAA measurement on your soundcard? Look at that and see how much of that is contributing to what you are seeing here. Sites like diyaudio.com would be useful as to where to go if you decide to stick with this DAC and upgrade it. Recapping the PSU caps, replacing the rectifiers with Shottky diodes, etc. might be a place to start. Redoing the output stage with something like a Pass D1 stage would also be a consideration.

Doubtful on the AC noise on one channel...

Happy Birthday Nate! Hope you have a great one!

Happy Birthday Craig!

Thanks for the info on finishes Kevin, Steve, and Craig! I've often wondered what the differences between shellac, varnish, neither of which I see much, and the polyurethanes etc. that I am most familiar with were. Craig, I had run across the denatured alcohol terminology before (can't remember for what), from a UK bike decals supplier advising me to use "meths" to clean the area before application. Having been watching "Breaking Bad" on TV (about a chemistry teacher turned methamphetamine producer), I wasn't quite sure what he was asking me to get

I'm not sure they are even discussing it there yet. I'll be waiting for the usual "Yeah, Spritzer, we know if it isn't Gilmore, its shit" response when you finally do get a crack in

Doesn't appear to have enough relays to be doing a relay-based stepped attenuator. Digital volume control? I'm sure they wouldn't be using a shunted differential pot such as this

Yes, that is very nice Shelly.

^ I'm sure you are quite experienced at rectifying that problem!

Happy Birthday Naaman!

^ Yes, ordered. Thanks.

Still don't think any output should use male pins, too much chance of shorting them. But I guess if this is industry (commercial sound) standard for XLRs it is kind of hard to change at this point. At least they didn't go with some goofy video camera connector or other.

How about just put the right jacks on it? They should make the female jacks standard. I'm not real familiar with balanced jack conventions, but the initial pic looked wrong to me...

Congratulations to you and you wife Ryan! Beautiful baby!

Deepak, The guy I bought my Pass Aleph P pre from has a set of Aleph 2 monoblocks that he was also going to sell. He was very reputable, can give you his contact info if you like. He may still have them.

Sure it isn't Lumberg? Looking them over, they do have receptacles with male pins, but not the same form factor. Kycon has some in the same form factor, but female pins. You couldn't switch it and the plug over?