General Headphone Audio
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Caporegime
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Free, for keepsies?
No mention of return, so I guess so, even if long term 
I now want to get an XLR cable for the Arya Stealth just because why not lol. Will be interesting to see how much of a difference the DAC makes for the speakers as going from the A80's internal DAC to the K11 R2R shows audible differences in wider soundstage and imaging, and this X9 has a fully customisable config so technically should be better still.
I now want to get an XLR cable for the Arya Stealth just because why not lol. Will be interesting to see how much of a difference the DAC makes for the speakers as going from the A80's internal DAC to the K11 R2R shows audible differences in wider soundstage and imaging, and this X9 has a fully customisable config so technically should be better still.
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Caporegime
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No mention of return, so I guess so, even if long term
I now want to get an XLR cable for the Arya Stealth just because why not lol. Will be interesting to see how much of a difference the DAC makes for the speakers as going from the A80's internal DAC to the K11 R2R shows audible differences in wider soundstage and imaging, and this X9 has a fully customisable config so technically should be better still.
Perhaps I should start reviewing stuff lol (I have ALL the camera and lighting gear one needs for a YouTube channel)
How many subscribers do you have now?
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On Neowin we have over 4 million readers a month and that's where my reviews go, on youtube it's my personal channel for tech/gaming and car stuff but that's growing with 2k and a new project with guests starting later in the year which should boost it considerably as episodes get uploaded.
It's only more recently I have started tp do tech videos on this sort of stuff though.
Edit*
Seems I won't need to get a XLR cable for the headphones, same power output across all the HP outputs. I will however get a balanced XLR to TRS to give a balanced line out to the power amp. Be interesting to see what the presets for the headphones is like too as they claim over 2000 headphone presets already built in.
It's only more recently I have started tp do tech videos on this sort of stuff though.
Edit*
Seems I won't need to get a XLR cable for the headphones, same power output across all the HP outputs. I will however get a balanced XLR to TRS to give a balanced line out to the power amp. Be interesting to see what the presets for the headphones is like too as they claim over 2000 headphone presets already built in.
Caporegime
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Poor K11 R2R.....1 foot in the grave already lol
Premium headphones: Federal Cartel Office fines Sennheiser millions
The cartel watchdogs have imposed fines totaling almost six million euros on Sennheiser, Sonova and three managers for illegal price fixing.
Caporegime
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Don't get excited yet! The K11 R2R pushes way above its price point, the X9 will need to earn its price tag
It’s on life support, I can picture the sales thread in MM already
Soldato
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Dude, stop and smell the roses once in a while, audio is a journey, not a race, take heed of this rabbit hole before your 10k down for marginal gains.
I have not spent any money. Read the posyts above yours.
It’s on life support, I can picture the sales thread in MM already
It won't be sold, it will go on another system if I like the X9.
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Soldato
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Money aside it's my observation that (like my GF) you have 'shiny new thing syndrome', as an old fuddy duddy that has been in the hi-fi game for over 30 years try to take some time with your gear, you probably won't like hearing this but you have a known habit of every new item you get is the next best thing since sliced bread and that loses credibility imo, it takes time and experience to digest and process the nuances that come through different gear in audio, particularly DACs, closely followed by AMPs, end of the day your a free human being to do as your please, it's just an observation.
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I don't think any of that is logically accurate. The reason I stick with certain things over the years is because I get sent or buy competing products and I choose to stick with what is actually better for my uses hence why I have what I have.
Plus, if you actually pay attention to what I post instead of just reading what you want to read then you will see I criticise stuff in equal measure, such as the whole Topping DX3 Pro+ which failed weeks later and has a rubbish volume pot and fewer features than the cheaper MX3S, and then that TEAC the internet raved about but it ended up sounding too artificial and not a pleasant sound at all, and so on. I'll get what's best for me on paper and try it out, if it's rubbish I will return it, but will still share my thoughts, if it's good at first but later develops issues or I learn something new, I will share that too, just like I have done all this time, if there are little upgrades that don't cost a shedload then I'll try that out too and share my experience.
You should know by now if you have been paying attention that I have a highly specific taste when it comes to audio, so if that taste isn't met, or something else appears to improve on that taste then I'll be inclined to check it out and see what's what, and again, share that experience.
The only big spend in recent years has been the speakers, and my old speakers were coming on 12 years and it was about time to upgrade them to something more special. Otherwise everything else has been small cost relatively speaking.
Plus, if you actually pay attention to what I post instead of just reading what you want to read then you will see I criticise stuff in equal measure, such as the whole Topping DX3 Pro+ which failed weeks later and has a rubbish volume pot and fewer features than the cheaper MX3S, and then that TEAC the internet raved about but it ended up sounding too artificial and not a pleasant sound at all, and so on. I'll get what's best for me on paper and try it out, if it's rubbish I will return it, but will still share my thoughts, if it's good at first but later develops issues or I learn something new, I will share that too, just like I have done all this time, if there are little upgrades that don't cost a shedload then I'll try that out too and share my experience.
You should know by now if you have been paying attention that I have a highly specific taste when it comes to audio, so if that taste isn't met, or something else appears to improve on that taste then I'll be inclined to check it out and see what's what, and again, share that experience.
The only big spend in recent years has been the speakers, and my old speakers were coming on 12 years and it was about time to upgrade them to something more special. Otherwise everything else has been small cost relatively speaking.
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Soldato
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I've not criticised you for "sticking with certain things", not sure how you interpreted that from my post, quite the opposite, I said you have (of late) a habit of hyping yourself up for the next shiny thing that once you purchase is the next best thing since sliced bread, then you quickly move on to the next piece of gear that quickly supersedes that and then that becomes the next best thing since sliced bread, it makes it hard to take your 'reviews' on a product seriously, especially when you haven't spent a lot of time with that product, as I've said it takes time to digest the nuances in audio, sometimes weeks, months even, all I've said is slow down a bit and take things in.
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It's just the way it was worded that's what it sounded like is all.
What I'm saying is that you are being critical of someone showing interest in something new that may (or may not) provide a meaningful improvement to what they enjoy, and that's what's wrong with that kind of mentality.
What I'm saying is that you are being critical of someone showing interest in something new that may (or may not) provide a meaningful improvement to what they enjoy, and that's what's wrong with that kind of mentality.
Soldato
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Nothing wrong in showing an interest in something new and enjoying your hobby, just be careful of the hype and 'shiny new thing syndrome', VU meters!!, must own now!!
, all I'm recommending is taking time with a new piece of equipment before putting pen to paper and exalting it's virtues, expectation/confirmation bias in audio is a very powerful thing that has a dramatic effect on psychoacoustics, to varying degrees we are all at it's whim, even the feel and weight of a product can and does effect our psychoacoustic audio perceptions of it.
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My stance remains the same as it has always done tbh.
I only trust my ears at the end of it all, which is why I joke about at ASR forums who live and idle by measurement graphs exclusively which is actually funny and ironic at the same time.
If my ears can hear the difference in something then I'm confident enough that it's good for whatever use case. For example, I've now seen directly what the positive difference of even a cheap R2R DAC has vs a higher powered sigma delta DAC, so am now on the R2R boat for this very reason, and naturally I want to try out something new that has features no other DAC currently has, especially for free.
Same reason why I went through a small army of OpAmps and headphones to find what sounded best to my ears or on my speakers.
New stuff always comes out, it's worth checking out if it seems to tuck a bunch of new boxes, and no reason not to especially if it's not costing anything as can then share feedback based on what I already know is incredible bang for buck and so on.
I only trust my ears at the end of it all, which is why I joke about at ASR forums who live and idle by measurement graphs exclusively which is actually funny and ironic at the same time.
If my ears can hear the difference in something then I'm confident enough that it's good for whatever use case. For example, I've now seen directly what the positive difference of even a cheap R2R DAC has vs a higher powered sigma delta DAC, so am now on the R2R boat for this very reason, and naturally I want to try out something new that has features no other DAC currently has, especially for free.
Same reason why I went through a small army of OpAmps and headphones to find what sounded best to my ears or on my speakers.
New stuff always comes out, it's worth checking out if it seems to tuck a bunch of new boxes, and no reason not to especially if it's not costing anything as can then share feedback based on what I already know is incredible bang for buck and so on.
I've been using my Arya Stealth's probably 90% of the time since I got them last August, they just sound so good to me. However, I just swapped them out for my HD800S and was really surprised at how much more focused they were, the imaging was pin-point accurate while the Aryas, which I thought had excellent imaging were definitely more fuzzy - they still win on bass though. 
Caporegime
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I've been using my Arya Stealth's probably 90% of the time since I got them last August, they just sound so good to me. However, I just swapped them out for my HD800S and was really surprised at how much more focused they were, the imaging was pin-point accurate while the Aryas, which I thought had excellent imaging were definitely more fuzzy - they still win on bass though.
On a more budget level, I just put my HD600 back on and I think my Edition XS is more musical, it is more comfortable and everything is just more lol
Which one would you keep it it had to be just one!I've been using my Arya Stealth's probably 90% of the time since I got them last August, they just sound so good to me. However, I just swapped them out for my HD800S and was really surprised at how much more focused they were, the imaging was pin-point accurate while the Aryas, which I thought had excellent imaging were definitely more fuzzy - they still win on bass though.
In other news I'm relieved to have found all the audio gear I wanted to be happy for a while.