General Headphone Audio
- Thread starter garyfl
- Start date
That is true,. although Fiio themselves hint at using it that way going by their stock images stacked with the Warmer 
But yes, dedicated boxes for each stage is probably the best way to get the most performance for the money.
But yes, dedicated boxes for each stage is probably the best way to get the most performance for the money.
Also less cable options for XLR to 4.4mm cables. I had that fun and games when I was looking at the Gremlin balanced-only connections. I do get why you bought an A90D. To be honest I'd never heard of the A90D until you mentioned it the other day. Dangerous though because I then start watching reviews and I'm starting to price it up! Makes sense why you bought it though.
Using the k15 as only an amp/pre-amp for the warmer seems a bit of a waste when half the cost of it is for the DAC and streaming features
Apart from the fact they would look awesome together I do think the K15 will give you a different flavour of sound as well being able to work on it's own when required. But certainly it's a shame Fiio don't sell a K14 that's the internals of the K15 without the software, streaming or EQ stuff that I'll never use. Maybe in a smaller form factor too. But that said I agree with both of you that it's a bit wasteful. I think that's where Fiio need this other amp in their pictures of the Warmer, they may work fantastically well as a combo.
Fiio has a bunch of new devices coming soon the CEO said that follows in Warmer's footsteps, we already know of one of them, the power amp, and I suspect a dedicated pre/headphones amp is on the cards too. Interestingly Fiio offered me the new JT3/JT7, so I chose the JT7 (planar headphones), as well as the upcoming CD transport which is R2R with build in headphones amp - I didn't care much for that though as have no CDs left lol but it does look cool.
Of course they would, they get more money that wayThat is true,. although Fiio themselves hint at using it that way going by their stock images stacked with the Warmer
But yes, dedicated boxes for each stage is probably the best way to get the most performance for the money.
That's cool. It sounds like the latter of those two amps is going to be the more interesting for me.
Also bumped into this video on HD 6x0 earpads from DMS. We all know the short answer is that the stock earpads are the best. However it was nice to see two of the four he's recommending are from Soulwit and aren't £60 and readily available in the UK. Kind of tempted to try a set of the cooling gel pads (only £17.ish) on either the 58X as a comfort play where I'm less bothered by tuning, or on my modded HD 6XX.
Last edited:
I've pad swapped on the EPOS H6pro with some of those Wicked Cushion Cooling gel pads. I don't use the headset for anything more than calls these days, but it was more that they are so bloody comfy. They do warm-up as you say. The other negative is the added weight which is probably true of some of these pads in the video.
Last edited:
Suspended
- Joined
- 20 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 78,237
- Location
- Wish i was in a Ramen Shop Counter
I love that video, always hated the price of the official pads, partly the fact that the only place I can find genuine ones is from Thomann's and the price is just hard to swollow after shipping.
The ZMF one looks good though.
The ZMF one looks good though.
Audio Sanctuary are official. Similar price £33 vs 35.
He didn't review the Geekria ones which DMS has recommended in the past (for Koss models) and I imagine they are possibly similar to the Soulwit ones.
I get the strong impression from using and hearing the A90D that it is the type of amp that can easily gel with everything, the K11 R2R for example has a less wide soundstage and image than the K13, and the Warmer is even wider still and more detailed up top thanks to the layering. All of these differences are transparently presented via the A90D from a DAC only perspective. The X9 from this perspective still retains its sound signature as a pre-amp as, those AKM Velvet chips seem to be distinctly "AKM smooth" - Which I really like and have no issue with, the A90D seems to be similar but applying on top of the signature of the source DAC.
I guess this is expected, the X9 is £1000 for a box of many tricks, the A90D is £600 and is dedicated to doing this one trick effortlessly.
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 16 May 2008
- Posts
- 2,614
- Location
- Bristol
Anyone seen any good headphone/earphone deals today?
Caporegime
- Joined
- 9 Nov 2009
- Posts
- 25,810
- Location
- Planet Earth
Depends if you don't mind using Aliexpress. Just got pair of HiFiMAN Sundaras from China for under £60 delivered during the current sale:
HIFIMAN SUNDARA Over-Ear Full-Size Planar Magnetic Headphones (Black) with High Fidelity Design Metal Casing - AliExpress 44
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
www.aliexpress.com
A bit of convoluted way to do it. You need to use codes,etc.
Use codes GBBF91 or NOVHUKD20,which gets the price down to £103. Pay via Paypal as there is another £7 discount(code refreshes every day at 10am) so down to £96. There is the coins section in the App can give you upto another 40% off dependent on how many coins you have. Plus you get 10% store credit if you join one of the maximum level cashback teams. I had a bunch of credit from a previous purchase.
The Edition XS and Ananda are available for £150 and £175 nominally with codes. But once you start doing the Paypal discounts,coins,etc it will be less than that.
Maybe not for everyone though!
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 16 May 2008
- Posts
- 2,614
- Location
- Bristol
That's exactly the sort of thing I was looking forDepends if you don't mind using Aliexpress. Just got pair of HiFiMAN Sundaras from China for under £60 delivered during the current sale:
HIFIMAN SUNDARA Over-Ear Full-Size Planar Magnetic Headphones (Black) with High Fidelity Design Metal Casing - AliExpress 44
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
A bit of convoluted way to do it.
Use codes GBBF91 or NOVHUKD20,which gets the price down to £103. Pay via Paypal as there is another £7 discount(code refreshes every day at 10am) so down to £96. There is the coins section in the App can give you upto another 40% off dependent on how many coins you have. Plus you get 10% store credit if you join one of the maximum level cashback teams. I had a bunch of credit from a previous purchase.
The Edition XS and Ananda are available for £150 and £175 nominally with codes. But once you start doing the Paypal discounts,coins,etc it will be less than that.
Maybe not for everyone though!
Can you elaborate a bit more on the cashback teams bit, is that in the app somewhere?
Caporegime
- Joined
- 9 Nov 2009
- Posts
- 25,810
- Location
- Planet Earth
That's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for
Can you elaborate a bit more on the cashback teams bit, is that in the app somewhere?
Do you want me to do this here or via PM?
Edit!!
Sent a PM.
Last edited:
Further to the DMS video I linked to on Wednesday, I did order the Soulwit Cooling Gel earpads as I had some Christmas presents to order. At £17.81 I thought they were worth a punt.
Feel well made, albeit not to the level of the Wicked Cushions/packaging isn't as nice. The pads are softer than the WC Cooling Gel ones. Curiously include a water dropper for adding water. Did not use the included foam, but might be denser. Weight 32.4g vs. 15.7g stock. The bass lift is very, very subtle. On my modded 6XX with Custom Cans mod the effect was nice. I couldn't hear much difference with treble. On the HD 58X I'm not sure they do as much.
So I don't think they are worth it over stock, but obviously are much cheaper. As DMS noted crucially they don't really take away anything from the HD 6x0. That said I don't feel compelled to explore other pads for now. I'll try and use these for a few weeks and see how I feel about them.
UPDATE: Following the Bears win and posting s##t online, I've been using these some more and I don't like them on the 58X. I just prefer the stock pads too much. So back on the modded 6XX for more listening.
Feel well made, albeit not to the level of the Wicked Cushions/packaging isn't as nice. The pads are softer than the WC Cooling Gel ones. Curiously include a water dropper for adding water. Did not use the included foam, but might be denser. Weight 32.4g vs. 15.7g stock. The bass lift is very, very subtle. On my modded 6XX with Custom Cans mod the effect was nice. I couldn't hear much difference with treble. On the HD 58X I'm not sure they do as much.
So I don't think they are worth it over stock, but obviously are much cheaper. As DMS noted crucially they don't really take away anything from the HD 6x0. That said I don't feel compelled to explore other pads for now. I'll try and use these for a few weeks and see how I feel about them.
UPDATE: Following the Bears win and posting s##t online, I've been using these some more and I don't like them on the 58X. I just prefer the stock pads too much. So back on the modded 6XX for more listening.
Last edited: