HeadphoneAddict

Personally, I like it when people don't post like robots.

Hmmm I wonder how much that shirt costs...

I am going to cancel after I use these 50 credits I have. Used to be able to buy a 1 song album for one credit, now it is 12 credits minimum per album - which applies to much of the stuff I saved for later. It would have been cheaper to buy some bonus credits and clean out my saved list last month, and cancel then!

If you just got laid off you should be saving money, not buying a ZD.

Thanks, I'll go check out the details - I think 50 is at least double the pairs of Jade out there, so I don't think it is doable. I will email Fang about the leather curing smell.

So, would I simply have to rip my Jade pads off (glued on) and send them to you to get some decent ones made, or would photos and measurements work? Does one have to get several people to go in on a batch of Jade pads?

Nice! Looking forward to trying these out. Someday I'll need to order some custom pads for my HE Audio Jade, since their leather pads still smell like a sweaty horse saddle from whatever they used to cure the leather in China. Blech!

Well, the memory wire that goes over your ear near the earpiece is too short - it needs to be longer like the one in the UE cable.

All that and more, eh?

I bought a pair of Blue Hawaii PCB and several of the rare transistors needed, to hopefully build one and see if I like it (with massive help from my friends who can read a schematic). But at a meet in Feb I thought my GES was more musical than Naamanf's DIY KGBH, although his was faster and punchier. I figured I could get this BH built for almost half the cost of a KGSS (based on Naaman's estimate from a year ago). And I wonder if maybe tube rolling in the KGBH could help if needed (not sure I have read about that helping much). But now it sounds like it would be easier to buy a KGSS to compare to my GES, and then sell the one I don't like. I could put the new one on credit card and pay it off by selling one of the two amps or unloading some different amps. What I'm afraid of is that I will like the KGSS with my O2 Mk1 but the GES with everything else, and be stuck wanting to keep both. (this is based on plaidplatypus comments that my GES actually sounded better with Lambdas and other non-O2 phones than his KGSS ever did). I know I liked the KGBHSE at CanJam a lot - but to get one I'd have to sell at a loss my GES, WA6, Sq Wave, Amphora, some IEM like IE8, and maybe either my APS v3 RS-1 or woodied D2000 to get the funds. I could still keep the GES and WA6 if I sold the other stuff for a KGSS instead of KGBHSE. It doesn't make sense to sell any of my electrostatic headphones to pay for a more powerful stat amp because that would be like selling my hair to pay for a blow-dryer.

Doesn't Blutarsky still have ZD #40 for sale? I know the Melos is gone and the first ZD sale fell through when a resistor was damaged in shipping (now fixed). I heard it after the repair and it sounded just like before. I for one feel the ZDT must have a deeper wider soundstage than the ZD even though I haven't compared the two directly - my logic is as follows - I compared the ZD to my maxed WA6 with PDPS mod and Sophia 274B rectifier and they were similar in many ways including soundstage. Then with my more recent ZDT vs WA6 comparison it is very clear that the WA6 sounds more forward with a less deep/wide soundstage than the ZDT. Without having ever heard the ZDT I would have recommend the ZD easily, but for now the ZDT has won my heart. I should also add that I heard the ZD SE and Balancing Act at CanJam, and thought they were both very good with HD800 and HP-1000. The working ZDT didn't make it to CanJam, so there was no comparison. I will note - the HP-1000 sounded like someone wired the 4-pin XLR wrong, and crossed over the ground wires to the wrong channel, so they only sound right when used with the single ended adapter (but that will be fixed soon).

In this order, depending on what is available: Eva Cassidy Live at Blues Alley - "Stormy Monday" or Diana Krall - Live in Paris - "Case of You" It used to be Shelby Lynn - Just a Little Lovin' - the title track.

Will be nice to know how they sound off the new DAC/amp you just got. We can compare out K1000 at the meet next weekend, and compare them on different amps.

NICE! Did you really just buy some K1000 or pulling our legs?

I already said why - because it will drive my 4-pin K1000 and Stax transformers - a non-transformer ZD doesn't.

Check with Blutarsky about the extra 6922 tubes that he wants to sell, including some nice Siemens.

Should be slew rate is improved?

I didn't say better than O2 Mk1/KGBHSE, I thought they are on a similar level. I've spent more time with the JH13Pro and I clearly now prefer the JH13Pro with Pico DAC/Amphora over my O2 Mk1/GES combo. I actually think with the existing power levels of the GES that the HE Audio Jade work/sound better with the GES than the O2 Mk1. I think the Mk2 were a little easier to drive, but not as neutral sounding. I MUST get a more powerful stat amp someday. In the meantime, I will likely grab my JH13Pro before I go for my Stax O2.

I hate answering all this off topic, because this thread is about DNA amps (which I understand is similar to ZDT in being a dual differential transformer coupled output with a single ended input.) 1. I picked the ZDT because of the speaker outputs to use with my Stax SRD-7 Pro electrostatic headphone transformer and my K1000, as well as potentially being superior to my maxed Woo WA6 (which is also a transformer coupled amp and I really like that). 2. It turns out that the 4-pin XLR dual differential transformer coupled balanced drive output runs my K1000 better than all my other amps, and I don't need to hook them up to the speaker taps like I originally thought. Using the speaker output with the stock speaker > 4-pin pigtail is very similar but slightly less detailed due to the cheap cable, so there is no point doing it that way. 3. The 4-pin is a more solid and locking connection and more convenient that dual 3-pin cables for balanced - but it's actually there because of the "dual differential transformer coupled balanced drive output". This type out system improves power and speed (slew rate cut in half I think), and in most cases it also improves the sound-stage and channel separation as well. 4. PS Audio sells the DL3 for $699 (or $695) right off their site. Cullen Circuits also sells them, stock and modded, with the same base price. To the others, I apologize if I have garbled up any of the terminology or information here.

I compared the HD800 with the above amps to my Stax O2 Mk1 with maxed Woo GES and feel that the Stax rig is a little more refined and mellow or laid back and relaxing while the HD800 rig is a little more dynamic and energetic, and a little more forward and aggressive but in a good way. The O2 Mk1 soundstage seems deeper, while the HD800 seems wider, but both have good imaging and positioning and definition of instruments in the soundstage. The HD800 remind me a little of my HE60. I do think the HD800 have more bass impact and a more solid and grounded image than the HE60. My new EC ZDT amp is noticeably better with the 4-pin XLR HD800 than my old WA6 with HD800 and single ended adapter. Even single ended the ZDT is more spacious with better separation. The WA22 prototype is very comparable to the ZDT with SE and balanced HD800, HD600 and SE HF-2. But the ZDT pulls ahead with my K1000. The WA22 can give plenty of volume with the K1000 but it doesn't control the bass detail nearly as well, regardless of the impedance switch being set for high or low. So, the ZDT is the first amp to make my 4-pin XLR K1000 sound like they are worth keeping. But, my HD800 still have better speed, detail, and transparency. I traded my first pair of O2 Mk1 for these K1000 in Feb, then bought another Mk1 in March when I didn't like the K1000, but I ordered the ZDT for the K1000 just in case it really was an amp issue. In the end, I could not part with my HD800, O2 Mk1, K1000 or HE60 - I like them all. A couple of days ago I was offered $2500 for my fully refurbished HE60 with Stax plug (and I keep the HEV70), but I just don't think I can bring myself to do it. (my HE60 got new drivers, o-rings, ear pads and headband pad last summer)

My ES3X sound great balanced - p0wderh0und23 has a balanced cable and let me use it at canjam!

I was kidding.

I could trade you a silver maxed GES (plus black maxed WA6, black Sq Wave XL, a wood Amphora and a pair of Smegma Pro) for your black KGBHSE...

Yes, I have not sent mine in for the Cullen mods yet on my DLIII. I'm still trying to decide if I need to upgrade my Woo GES to a WES or maybe a KGBHSE. And then I'd have to sell my GES, WA6, Square Wave XL, Amphora and a few other odds and ends. Just a couple of days ago I thought I was going to upgrade the WA6 to the WA22, but after comparing my ZDT to the prototype WA22 I think I already have a great dynamic amp and the WA22 would be redundant (even if one for bedroom and one for living room). Then again, it's only gonna sound as good as the source, so then I'm back to thinking about the DAC mods again. Sheesh!

I need to keep telling myself that there is nothing wrong with my maxed GES - or that with Westone ES3X, Ultimate Ears 11Pro and Jerry Harvey Audio 13Pro that I don't even need full size headphones. Yeah, that's the ticket, and Marilyn Monroe was a personal friend of mine...