HeadphoneAddict

I am certain that you will like it - I've had mine a few days and the output is very nice. I would say it is on par with some of my optical DACs using 16/44 lossless files from my Macbook Pro. I am now hearing more detail out of the Pico DAC-only USB than the Headroom Micro DAC USB, vs when I compared the Pico DAC/amp as preamp to the HR a year ago. I'm still trying to figure out why I still bought this after I recently got the PS Audio Digital Link III for my Stax rig. The Pico DAC-only was originally going to be for my Stax rig when I set my mind to getting one 6 months ago. Then when it was available for pre-order I went on auto-pilot. I'm sure I'll have uses for it, although in my bedroom rig I use the Apogee mini-DAC with my Macbook to feed my home amps. Time to build a basement rig again I suppose...

No, my vote doesn't count. I was just offering to help Neko, but I don't care if the SP is at CanJam or not.

That's not how I meant it to sound. I'd still be happy to pay shipping to help out.

That was hilarious.

So far the vote is 4 against, 0 for it. I would say you take their advice and not associate yourself with SP. Maybe Naamanf will loan you his Beta 22? You could always ask. Maybe I could talk Craig Uthus into bringing my Zana Deux T to CanJam for you to use, but it is SE input balanced output. He was focusing on getting the Balancing Act's shipped out first.

I plan to use it with my RS-1, and maybe my K1000 if they will fit (to spare the wood box when transporting them). Hence I ordered two. My HD600 should be too deep to fit, as are my D2000.

Yes, I am willing to send you the loaner balanced amp. And I could bring it home with me when I leave CanJam. The Square Wave XL is a controversial amp because so few have heard the final version at the CO Head-fi meet in July 2008, and because SP customer service sucks. It is a small balanced discrete output SS amp about the size of an external 3.5" external hard drive, with a power brick that is bigger and heavier than the amp itself. My Sq Wave is the upgraded 2008 demo version with Blackgates caps in it, which I talked SP out of at the 2008 Colorado meet when with my HD600 it was outperforming a Headroom Balanced Desktop amp out of a Music Hall 25.2 source. When the prototype was introduced in 2007 it was sent to a few reviewers and got mixed reviews - it was felt to be an average amp, so SP made some changes that I think now make it a very good amp. It was not embarrassed to be compared side by side with a Zana Deux, Melos SHA Gold and maxed Woo WA6. It does sound better balanced than when driving headphones single ended (Denon D2000 and Senn HD600), but with Grado HP-1000 and PS-1 and RS-1 it still sounded pretty good when used single ended. It has no power switch and stays warmed-up all the time. It has two 3-pin XLR jacks that each contain a single ended 1/4" in the center, so it can drive one balanced pair or two pair of SE headphones at the same time. It doesn't do well with two 25-32 ohm headphones (Grado or Denon), but one low impedance and one high impedance headphone (like HD600) works well. There are two small volume knobs, one for each channel, so that channel balance can be altered or tuned by ear. I use a Apogee mini-DAC as a preamp for volume control so that I only have to set the two volume controls and leave them. Power output is enough to drive the AKG K1000 to loud volumes, although I don't think it is the best choice for K1000 (Beta 22 or a speaker amp does sound better with those). It has a set of RCA and XLR inputs, and the RCA can be used as a single ended loop out when it is fed a balanced input. So, you can still still hook up the input of one of your other amps to the loop out. Per SP, it converts single ended input via RCA to balanced by "re-creating" the inverse of the positive input, and ignores the ground input in the process. I don't know if that is marketing fluff but it works pretty well with SE input. I do not hear much difference in the sound between balanced or SE input from either my PS Audio Digital Link III or my Apogee Mini-DAC. It is what SP tried to dub "8-channel" technology because each 90 degree phase of the sound wave is driven separately (up +, down +, down -, up -) for each of the two channels. Some people disputed whether that was actually 8 channels, but the way he described it may fit, I don't know. Naamanf wants to bring over a BuffaloDAC32 to try out next week, and I could send the SP to you after that if you PM me your address. Also in the PM let me know what date it has to arrive by to make it before you leave for CanJam, so I can choose between ground, 3-day or 2-day shipping. I can simply bring it home with me at the end of CanJam. One note - the power brick has a slight rattle inside of it since the day I got it, so don't worry that it broke in transport as it works fine. If the rattle drives you nuts you are welcome to look inside for me to see what broke loose. I'm afraid that if I send it to SP for repair that I will never see it again. No Joke. If you don't want to use it, no problem, just let me know either way. Maybe the head-casers will have an opinion about whether you should use it?

My Eddie Current Zana Deux T wont be ready till June but I could loan him my balanced Single Power Square Wave XL.

Well, I guess if you need a more accurate head-count to tally it up, I did order 2 at around 4:45PM when I saw the post.

I've only seen three SR-5NB go up for sale, and I bought two of them (one for me, one for my son). Later I sold one of them (fabric covered round cable to SACDman) when I replaced my son's with an SR-Lambda. Kept the one with the flat ribbon cable.

I agree, but the SR-5NB Gold Edition would be a nice choice too.

Right, Blutarsky is going to CanJam with my son and I, and he is a head-case member, but only so he can watch you guys crucify me and offer his condolences... He owes me a few scotches now.

Wow, that sounds just like the mashed potatoes and gravy with halibut I had on a previous flight!

Mmmmm... Turtle soup!

I went back to look at my old SubaruPlanet.com website, and the new owner has left my old blog, mods and photos pages up as a tribute I guess. I thought it was cool that parts of the site still have all my old ramblings, as I re-read my articles on the Detroit Auto Show and the Subaru Ride and Drive event. On the photo page it mentions where I used my Harley as a trade-in for my Miata - I sure miss both! On topic - I bought a 160gb Apple TV this weekend.

Exactly - I used driving shoes when I was doing SCCA autocross with my turbocharged Subaru (Impreza RS with aftermarket turbo 233whp and upgraded suspension and brakes). I was 2nd place rookie in CO my first year, and the next year 2nd place State in Street Mod category. Then I got too sick to do it anymore after I coughed up a quart of blood at my last race in 2001. Up until that time I was sole proprietor of SubaruPlanet.com which I eventually had to give up too (which was a nice side job for extra income and sponsored my racing). But the shoes REALLY helped, although some nice Hoosier race tires and coil-overs helped more. The scary part is how fast the stock Miatas with Hoosiers were - most of the time they beat everyone out there because of the handling. I was beating Corvettes and BMW M3 but half the time the Miatas were faster than me. I sometimes wished I hadn't sold my 1993 Miata. Once I did win the 1000 point top score against 47 other cars, including the Miatas, but the weather was dumping icy rainy sleet on the course at the time and with AWD it was like taking candy from a baby...

I also enjoy both the Mk1 and Mk2, depending on my mood or the music/source/amp. But when I first got the Mk2 I hated the mids which were too forward and they drilled into my head. Gave me a real headache they did. With about 200 hours on them and Spritzer's ear-pad spring mod they improved noticeably and became useable. If not for that mod and breaking them in I might not still have the Mk2. Interestingly, sometimes I feel the Mk2 may be closer to my Jade than to my Mk1 - maybe due to the forward mids and smaller soundstage vs the Mk1. Nevertheless, the Mk1 are getting all my ear time and I haven't listened to the Mk2 since a few days after I got Naamanf's Mk1 from Blutarsky (who switched to my old ESP950). I have also listened to my HE60 and Smegma Pro more recently than I have with my Mk2, but the Mk2 aren't bad - just redundant. So, I can't explain why I haven't sold them yet. Pack-rat mentality I suppose. I know I could use the money for the second half of my ZDT or my HD800 pre-order...

Movie - Eurotrip. Character Scotty goes to Germany to meet his female penpal and has an adventure. Song by Lustra - "Scotty Doesn't Know" made popular by movie.

Say hi to Scotty for me, or does he not know?

Nice. I look forward to seeing it at CanJam and meeting DNA.

How is the HD600 coming along?

Weird, because my second pair of HD600 hardly changed at all with burn-in, same with my ESW10JPN.

Good job!

I should clarify. I have an Airport Extreme already that was set up for a mixed 802.11g/n network at 2.4Ghz using WPA/PSK encryption. I wanted to change to a 5Ghz 802.11n network but I have too much wireless stuff like iPhone, Wii, Nintendo DS, XV6800 pda phone etc that wont work on 5Ghz (but have 5 macs, an ATV and AP Express that will). Blutarsky loaned me the second extreme when he got the dual radio version, and this will replace the Ativa. So one Extreme will be set to run 5Ghz 802.11n for all the new Macs + Apple TV + the newer Airport Express; and one will be set to 2.4Ghz mixed n+g for the older Airport Express, iPhone, Wii, DS, and Verizon XV6800. One will be used as the router and one will be the access point plugged into the back of the router. I will have all the gear on the 5Ghz network fall back to the 2.4Ghz network if the macbooks stray too far from the 5Ghz signal. The plan was if I liked the setup I could trade him for the spare Extreme, or I could sell my old Extreme, return his, and fork over $195 after taxes for a dual radio version. He already has 6 tubes of mine on loan that are worth over $100 but he wasn't sure he wanted to trade for all the tubes, so I might have to put up more trade or cash in addition to the tubes that he'd like. Since I paid for the hotel room, he can pay me cash or pay me with an Extreme.

And a nice rant it was.