General Headphone Audio

Raymond Lin said:
The Passion For Sound guy has no reason not to mention the seal mod, his video came out 3 weeks after the mod was made public and confirmed it is going to be in the final production model. Even if he had shot it before that, just add a quick text overlay as an addendum would be enough. All the other videos on the i5 that was released since then has made mention of this (and I have seen them all), he didn't and it is either pure laziness or just he somehow was no aware of it, which is strange as that's kind of his job to know.
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Indeed. I do think sometimes they aren't as knowledgeable. For example the 50%/-16.75db USB volume issue that has affected PS4/PS5 for years (until the Pro) has virtually never been mentioned. Which is odd given it's one of the very first things you tend to notice, i.e. why does everything sound quieter in comparison to PC/Switch. Or the Zeos review on the APOS exclusive Audio-Technica R70X Refine where the very first comment picks him up on the fact it's just the pad swap. And loads of other examples.

It is rare to find someone that is a specialist in the field first (i.e. SkillUp was a professional writer) before jumping over to Youtube/influencer. Most are unqualified, super fans that will never know as much as the 'rest of the field' so to speak. And there's also the commercial side where many of them don't want to put a foot wrong and damage thier relationships.
 
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I think you have to find a reviewer that you gel with, then perhaps try a product they like and see if you agree. Passion For Sound didn't do anything for me after he sort of started off negative about the excellent value proposition that is the Fiio FT1.

GadgetryTech is the one I consistently like and for the most part agree with. Joshua Valour started off good when he was doing cost effective products but now he's a lot of very expensive hard to get in UK stuff. Z Reviews I enjoy but watch at 1.5x speed :cry:
 
Yeah, I agree about GadgetryTech, i like the more objectivity approach and he compares to the "right" competitors.

Zeos...just too much ranting and padding about a lot of irrelevant stuff and even from a Waifu lover myself I just don't understand that wallpaper on every video.

Joshua Valour is probably my favourite, when he is not talking about super high end gear that I will never buy. But I like that he has experience of it so there is a reference point but I have completely blanked those videos and clicked the Back button when I found out about the price.
 
Yea seems we are all GadgetryTech fans which is nice. Again he started to stray into the more expensive audio gear in recent years, which I don't think is really his target audience, but he still does all of the budget stuff unlike Joshua Valour (who I did notice saying he hears that feedback about doing more budget stuff).

Ayahuasca said:
I really like DMS but he doesn't do many headphone reviews nowadays.
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Agreed. Like the fact he tends to appreciate budget stuff as well. Also Resolve in the same Headphones.com group has a good way with words and does a lot of work around measurements. Not perfect and I think a certain review was bad and incomplete; the iFi Zen Signature HD6XX review from four years, where he spends 30mins talking about a bass button and the measurements. But overall they can be quite watchable.
 
I don't mind some expensive stuff, like Crinacle show case his $80k Sennheiser, that was interesting to see. That kind of flagship stuff is in the same realm of like watching a Ferrari video, I'm never going to get one but i just like looking at it.

For headphones though, there is this weird bracket where at about £1,000+, my brain just tunes off, I am definitely turned off at £10k especially if the design itself is unoriginal.
 
I think what is clear is that you can't simply watch one reviewer, you have to accumulate a bunch of them and then form an opinion on the item before making a decision. I know the ones I follow most closely have similar sound tastes to myself so know even if the rest of their reviews consist of non relevant stuff, at least the sound observations will align with mine most of the time and this turned out to be true once I jumped on the Hifiman wagon with the Sundara, then Nano and now Arya, and having watched all the Fosi i5 reviews, I've already got a good idea of what they will sound like compared to the Arya, though without the updated sealing ring. I have a feeling the i5 will beat the Arya in several areas like build quality and comfort, but not in other areas like sub-bass extension, an area that Hifiman seems to be very good in.

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^ I've been using the Openheart XLR cable on and off for a full day now and you know what? I actually prefer it vs 4.4mm. Not for sound or anything like that as there is no diffference obviously, but the connector itself. Yes XLR is more simple and you have to manually switch output to it and back on the DAC instead of it auto sensing like single ended and 4.4mm, but like a manual gearbox on a car, that's part of the process in being "involved". It's the weight and feel of the connector that I like too, feels so robust. Plus the cable is almost half the length of the Tripowin, so that helps desk clutter a little bit.

Will be using XLR from now on leaving 4.4 for testing.

Raymond Lin said:
... even from a Waifu lover myself
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HOLD UP! Wait a minute!
 
Today the APOS Gremlin turned up in its very fun packaging and manual. In addition the Topping D10 Balanced and Visio Sound TRS to XLR cables arrived a day early, so I've had the chance to listen to it. My only balanced headphones are the HD 650 & 6XX, but that is what this setup was bought for.

And TLDR...I'm blown away.

I've spent the entire evening listening to FLAC files and comparing it to my iFi Zen Signature DAC & CAN stack. Beyond all the usual terms used to describe the sound, it just improves music in every way. The 6XX open-up on this thing. I can only now imagine what a full tube amp, or much more expensive set-up can do. But even within the first few minutes of listening I could hear the difference straight away. And what was interesting was I got my other half to listen to a couple of tracks she knows fully expecting her to be like her usual; 'yea that's nice', but instead she said with no prompting; 'wow, that's so smooth' (obligatory 'that's what she said'). Soundstage, vocals and guitars are particularly improved. The bass on the 6XX now has impact too. It's hard to explain because it isn't distortion, but a warmness that is really pleasing. Whilst the iFi stack has it's own flavour of warmness it doesn't have as fun a sound. It's flatter, more sterile.

In terms of the negatives I played the Ride of the Rohirrim scene from LOTR: Return of the King and it doesn't quite sound right. It almost over emphasises certain sounds and I think in this regards the iFi stack, or my Fiio win. And I'd imagine gaming would be similar. Also it stinks. It's not quite a burning smell, but has taken me back to when I was a kid playing with Scalextric. It has that hot plastic mixed with electrical current smell. I did notice that the large white resistor behind the tubes has already partly turned brown in a similar manner to others on Head-Fi. So I've ordered two TS-9 socket savers from Tube-Shop UK to lift the tubes , which was a recommendation. The unit also get incredibly hot and makes Ubquiti networking gear seem like it runs cool.

As an aside the Topping D10 Balanced that I got for £75 from eBay was mint and although I haven't tried the USB to optical part it does DAC duties fine. It also runs quite cool. Bit of a fingerprint magnet even more so that the Fiio's I've owned because of the brushed metal finish.

So yea, it's thrown me off me off because it has now opened up my ears to this better HD 650/6XX sound. And I would imagine the HD 600 & 660S2 would similarly improve too.


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Timber said:
So yea, it's thrown me off me off because it has now opened up my ears to this better HD 650/6XX sound. And I would imagine the HD 600 & 660S2 would similarly improve too.
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I think it is something often under-appreciated until people hear it for themselves - just how much the HD600 series can benefit from the "synergy" with the right amp and a touch more voltage/slew than many off the shelf general consumer devices will drive them with.
 
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Timber said:
Today the APOS Gremlin turned up in its very fun packaging and manual. In addition the Topping D10 Balanced and Visio Sound TRS to XLR cables arrived a day early, so I've had the chance to listen to it. My only balanced headphones are the HD 650 & 6XX, but that is what this setup was bought for.

And TLDR...I'm blown away.

I've spent the entire evening listening to FLAC files and comparing it to my iFi Zen Signature DAC & CAN stack. Beyond all the usual terms used to describe the sound, it just improves music in every way. The 6XX open-up on this thing. I can only now imagine what a full tube amp, or much more expensive set-up can do. But even within the first few minutes of listening I could hear the difference straight away. And what was interesting was I got my other half to listen to a couple of tracks she knows fully expecting her to be like her usual; 'yea that's nice', but instead she said with no prompting; 'wow, that's so smooth' (obligatory 'that's what she said'). Soundstage, vocals and guitars are particularly improved. The bass on the 6XX now has impact too. It's hard to explain because it isn't distortion, but a warmness that is really pleasing. Whilst the iFi stack has it's own flavour of warmness it doesn't have as fun a sound. It's flatter, more sterile.

In terms of the negatives I played the Ride of the Rohirrim scene from LOTR: Return of the King and it doesn't quite sound right. It almost over emphasises certain sounds and I think in this regards the iFi stack, or my Fiio win. And I'd imagine gaming would be similar. Also it stinks. It's not quite a burning smell, but has taken me back to when I was a kid playing with Scalextric. It has that hot plastic mixed with electrical current smell. I did notice that the large white resistor behind the tubes has already partly turned brown in a similar manner to others on Head-Fi. So I've ordered two TS-9 socket savers from Tube-Shop UK to lift the tubes , which was a recommendation. The unit also get incredibly hot and makes Ubquiti networking gear seem like it runs cool.

As an aside the Topping D10 Balanced that I got for £75 from eBay was mint and although I haven't tried the USB to optical part it does DAC duties fine. It also runs quite cool. Bit of a fingerprint magnet even more so that the Fiio's I've owned because of the brushed metal finish.

So yea, it's thrown me off me off because it has now opened up my ears to this better HD 650/6XX sound. And I would imagine the HD 600 & 660S2 would similarly improve too.


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Nice, what a cool little setup, I hear great things about the APOS Gremlin, glad you like it, definitely got to try one one day!
 
Rroff said:
I think it is something often under-appreciated until people hear it for themselves - just how much the HD600 series can benefit from the "synergy" with the right amp and a touch more voltage/slew than many off the shelf general consumer devices will drive them with.
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It's not something I expected to be this distinct in-terms of the difference. Either that, or I'm getting high from the electrical fumes (if you enjoy the smell of the Steam Deck fan then this is another level).

It's not night, or day, or anything but as you say you have to experience it. And the APOS Gremlin is still a hybrid, but I assume it's doing enough 'tubey' things to the sound to give it that magic. I enjoy the HD 6XX on the iFi stack, but on the Gremlin music has something special about it. There's a Megadeth (not really my thing) song called 'A Tout le Monde' and the way the guitars kick in on the Gremlin just induces a smile. It's wonderful. It seems to both improve things the HD 6XX already did well; vocals and guitars, but also picks up some of it's weaker points and improves them; soundstage and bass. And also there an improvement in treble but I think that's probably more noticeable so on the 600.

Things change I've changed said:
Nice, what a cool little setup, I hear great things about the APOS Gremlin, glad you like it, definitely got to try one one day!
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It's my only reference so I don't know how it compares to other tube set-ups. From the research I've done there's a lot of budget tube offerings £300 and below, but then nothing really until the £900-1,000 range. It feels like there's a lack of mid-fi offerings the same way as solid state stuff. But I think this changes my view on what an endgame setup would be. The importance of the amp and potentially going to a nicer tube setup one day. Ultimately I still need solid state somewhere for day-to-day listening.

This set-up cost me about £215 (£122.86 + £75 + £15) which is comparable to the iFi Signature stack (£265 second hand) and Fiio K7 (£229). OK there's some second hand stuff in some of it, but for the money and for music the Gremlin blows my other stuff away. And that's what I didn't necessarily expect. I don't know if I want to go too into tube rolling on something so cheap and there might be a question mark around durability of this in the longer-term. Certainly I'd find it hard to believe this Gremlin doesn't punch way above it's weight.
 
If I live near Worthing and want a Tube amp....I would be seriously tempted to get this.

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also just spotted the discussion about tube [or valves as i prefer to call them] amps
not the first place I would expect to see such things :-)
I have a small collection of valve based amplifiers but for my guitar [which amusingly have become more ornaments than anything since i discovered the pc and audio interface based setups instead of amps] in fact thats how I ended up here , I only got into computers a couple of years ago because its far more convenient for me to plug my guitar into my pc than it is to annoy the hell out of my neighbours whanging a huge fully valve powered stack with a pair of 4x12 cabs especially as my playing, well it leaves a lot to be desired lol
 
Uh oh. The Apos team reached out to me on reddit about contacting their Support team for a warranty return. I merely replied last night after they said let us know what you think. Much like here I said I loved it although it was whiffy and the resistor has turned a shade of brown.

A1 customer support and really pro-active, but I don't want to let go of it :rolleyes:

Hi u/Digfox1, just heard back from our product team. They’d like you to reach out to [email protected] so they can set up a warranty return and sort out a replacement unit for you. Really appreciate you flagging this, and we’ll make sure it gets taken care of!
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EDIT: OK they aren't steering me down a warranty return just yet. Any more browning of the resistor and that might change. Just asked me to reach out if anything deteriorates.
 
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