Saturday, July 29, 2017

Raspberry Pi



Yesterday returned to Mexico with my JLH 1969 Headphone Amp and TDA1387 x8 DAC very excited to get the equipment setup.   

First listen was Sony MDR-7506 > JLH 1969 Headphone Amp > TDA1387 x8 DAC > MacBook Pro.  I was immediately disappointed the Sony MDR-7506 and MacBook Pro had a grounding hum that was bothersome.

Next tried Denon D2000 > JLH 1969 Headphone Amp > TDA1387 x8 DAC > MacBook Pro. Same issue grounding hum, believe the  Denon D2000 and Sony MDR-7506 impedance is too low for the JLH 1969 Headphone Amp.

Then got Volumio working on Raspberry Pi 3.  Listening directly out of the Raspberry Pi 3 was a disappointment.

Then got Audiophonics DAC ES9023 V2 TCXO > Raspberry Pi working, gone was the grounding hum.  The sound quality was a large improvement,  not as musical as TDA1387 but a big improvement.  I miss the laid back sound of the DT770 and the TDA1387.   Next will setup Digi + Pro with TDA1387.

To do:
Set-up Digi+ Pro
Assemble Ian Fifo
Assemble 9028
   
In Order of Sound Quality (SQ)
  1. WiFi > Linn Jazz > Raspberry Pi 3 > TDA1387 x8 DAC > JLH 1969 Headphone Amp > Sennheiser HD650  No grounding hum, wonderful musicality of the TDA1387.  Hard to believe the ES9028 and the Ian Fifo will sound better than this ! 
  2. HD650 300ohm > JLH 1969 Headphone Amp > Audiophonics DAC ES9023 V2 TCXO > Raspberry Pi No grounding hum, not as musical as TDA1387 but grounding hum is gone 
  3. HD650 300ohm > JLH 1969 Headphone Amp > TDA1387 x8 DAC > MacBook Pro Maybe it is the electricity in Mexico, but  more grounding hum than I remember   
  4. DT770 250 ohm > JLH 1969 Headphone Amp > TDA1387 x8 DAC > MacBook Pro.  Sounds natural and easy, not the largest sound stage, not that large a range, great left / right separation, very musical.
  5. DT770 250 ohm > JLH 1969 Headphone Amp > iFi Nano > MacBook Pro.  More digital, sharper
  6. DT770 250 ohm > JLH 1969 Headphone Amp > HiFiBerry DAC+ Pro > Raspberry Pi.  Sounds small, not rich, compressed and confused, all the information is there, but not musical.


Sunday, July 16, 2017

An Update



In order of Sound Quality
  1. DT770 250 ohm > JLH 1969 Headphone Amp > TDA1387 x8 DAC > MacBook Pro.  Sounds natural and easy, not the largest sound stage, not that large a range, great left / right separation, very musical.
  2. DT770 250 ohm > JLH 1969 Headphone Amp > iFi Nano > MacBook Pro.  More digital, sharper
  3. DT770 250 ohm > JLH 1969 Headphone Amp > HiFiBerry DAC+ Pro > Raspberry Pi.  Sounds small, not rich, compressed and confused, all the information is there, but not musical.
Also tried all of the above using the Sony MDR-7506, small soundstage, brittle sounding, too close

Monday, June 18, 2012

iBasso D7 vs. HRT Music Streamer II

iBasso D7 on left, HRT Music Streamer II on right

iBasso D7
  • Darker sounding than Music Streamer
  • More engaging, more musical, higher resolution
  • very "black" background
  • Asynchronous
  • 24bit/192khz

HRT Music Streamer II
  • Slightly larger sound stage
  • Asynchronous
  • 24bit / 96Khz
Winner iBasso D7.  A surprise, the D7 is much smaller than the Music Streamer II, I would have thought the Music Streamer the better DAC, but the D7 is just more engaging.  The deciding factor is the "black background" of the D7,  just love the quiet 

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

iBasso D7 vs. D4 with Topkit

iBasso D7 on left, D4 with Topkit on right
Really didn't expect the D7 to sound so much better than the D4 with Topkit.  Listening side by side, the D7 is so much quieter.  The back ground is dead silent compared to the D4.  Before listening to the D7 had not realized how much "noise" there was in the quiet passages of the D4 or the headphone jack.  The D7 the quiet and sound stage is bigger and the instruments more detailed than the D4.

iBasso D7
  • Quiet background
  • Large soundstage
  • Very detailed, with "space" between instrumentation
  • Have to restart computer to "sync" asynchronous
  • Only USB power 5V
  • Error Message of "drawing too much power.." 
D4 with Topkit
  • More headroom than D7 when used with 9V
  • Noise in quiet passages
  • Smaller soundstage

DT770 vs. ATH A900x vs D2000


Denon D200 on left, ATH A900x on right
Beyerdynamic DT770 250ohm
  • More of a monitor style headphone, great for critical listening.  The sound is a little "dead" a recessed distant sound, easy to listen for multiple hours
  • Love the fit, easy to wear for a long period
  • Comes with travel bag
Audio Technica ATH A900x 42ohm
  • More of a "fun" style sound quality
  • I find the "wings" bothersome the headphone keep sliding down
  • Very large and detailed sound stage
  • Too heavy on the head
  • Better isolation than D2000
Denon D2000
  • Wonderfully made
  • More musical than 900x
  • Not as large a soundstage as 900x, but more musical and accurate
  • A joy to use, so well made
  • Left / Right separation, incredible, "outside the head" experience
  • Reproduces lower bass than 900x
  • Quieter than 900x
  Winner D2000, returned the 900x and going to sell the DT770 250ohm


Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Mingo's in Hong Kong


I was in Hong Kong for a few days of meetings, googled "Headphones Hong Kong Kong"and found Mingo's:

Mingo's, Hong Kong
Shop No 115, 1/F Sim City
47-51 Shantung Street
Monbkok, Hong Kong

What a place!  Amazing!  They have four stores, I spent time in both the portable headphone store and the home headphone store demoing headphones, what I found:

Home Headphones:
  • Audio Technica Art 900x, great sounding closed headphones, better than DT770, bought a pair
  • Grado SR80 Great sounding 
  • Stax entry level, thin sounding
  • Headfiman HE-300 Muddy sounding
  • Beyerdynamic 990 no sound stage
  • Dac Magic looks well made
  • Audio Technica ATH-TAD300inexpensive great sound inexpensive open headphone, not as good as Grado SR80
Portable:
  • Ray Sammuels, SR71B first time I have seen one
  • Shure SE535, no where near ACS T1 sound quality, Westone UM3X better
  • Etydynamic MC5, thin sounding and brittle
  • iBasso PB2 sounds great, great range, great soundstage, addictive, 2500HK, also listened balanced with balanced cables
  • iQube, not as large a sound stage as PB2 or the dynamics
  • Miu Audio lit portable tube amp, looks and feels cheap
  • iphone dock to 3.5 silver strand LOD, opens up soundstage
  • Listened to Demo version of JH8 Audio, better sounding than UE16, muddy sounding, ACS T1 still better
While in HK also visited Kingsound, not as good selection as Mingo's and can't demo.  If you are in HK, check out Mingo's !

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Westone UM3X vs. ACS T1

ACS T1 - Silicon, Three Balanced Armatures IEM
I have been looking forward to this comparison.  How does a $950 IEM compare to a $350 IEM?

At first, going back and forth between the two, I was disappointed in the T1.  I missed the bright lively sound of the UM3X, then I realized that the UM3X were overly bright.

The T1 is musical, reproducing the music as it was recorded, where as the UM3X makes almost any music sound good.  There is a noticeable straining of the T1 to have clean separation between the three armatures.  Going between the two, I wanted to go back to the T1, it might not be as fun sounding, but it is a really rich musical experience.  With the T1I feel like I am sitting in a leather chair, oriental carpet on the floor, listening to my Thiel speakers.  Hard to believe the sound quality is coming from an in ear monitor.  After listening to the two, I would say the T1 is an in ear monitor and the UM3X is an earphone.  It is amazing, that with the T1 I can hear Coltrane's fingers on the keys of his sax!


Comfort
It is easy to put in and take out the UM3X, comfortable to wear.  The T1 is a pain to get into my ear and take out, but once they are in my ear I forget about them, amazing comfort.


Sound Quality
The UM3X is really fun, great for listening to music, but not a piece of reference equipment.  When I put in the T1, feel as if I am listening to a performance.

Isolation
I now realize that isolation has big impact on sound quality, if you can separate the listener from the ambient sounds, you can create a more musical experience.  The T1, has amazing isolation, the UM3X fair to good.

Westone UM3X

  • Okay isolation
  • Noticeably brighter than the T1
  • Nice full sound
  • Good bass
  • Very good sound stage for an IEM
  • Comply foam tips comfortable, but fall off
  • More of a fun sound
  • More fatiguing 

ACS T1

  • Richer sound
  • Much fuller sound
  • More musical
  • Larger soundstage
  • Less bright than UM3X
  • Less like I am wearing IEMs, I forget I have them in my ears
  • A little muddy, lower frequencies to the lower mid range
  • More of a reference sound than UM3X, "notice more of the music"
Equipment:
UM3X or ACS T1 > iBasso D4 >  6" Monster USB > MacBook Pro > Pandora

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Custom IEMs


Today I took the plunge and ordered custom In Ear Monitors. Visited Dr. Craig A. Kasper of Audio Help Hearing Centers, very nice guy and very knowledgable. I had planned on ordering the Westone ES5 in clear with 50" black cable for $950.  Dr. Kasper said IEMs are in two camps hard silicon and soft silicon, the Westone ES5 are of hard silicon, although they have a soft silicon coating on the ear canal section.  He expressed concern about Westone and the recent sale of the company.

After some conversation Dr. Kasper recommended the ACS T3 £249 ($388USD), he feels five armatures is too many and only muddies the sound, saying the seal is more important than the number of armatures.  The T3 is a three armature IEM and does not have a removable cable, although the cable is made of a kevlar coated material.   ACS is a British company with offices on Long Island.Saying it is not possible to have five armatures separate the frequencies, and one, two or three armatures is better than five or more.   He offered to order both the ACS T3 and the Westone ES5 and let me decide between the two.

I found Dr. Kasper through an article in Stereopile, by Wes Phillips.   I was told to request an open jaw impression as the ear canal changes shape with an open jaw and the fit will be better with an open jaw. Dr. Kasper recommended an open jaw for the ES5 and a closed mouth for the T3.

Al Jarreau and Dave Matthews are clients of Dr. Kasper, being a musician, he enjoyes working with musicians. We spoke about Etymotic and their "reference sound" and the mistake that is Dr. Dre Beats.   We talked about Headfi and the flying opinions and the lack of transparency.  

Will go back in a couple of weeks to try the two different IEMs and make decision

Very nice comparison of ES5 and ACST1

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

HEAD-DIRECT HiFiMan RE-262



Head-Direct HiFiMan RE-262, Purchased from Head-Direct $149

Great IEM, best I have heard.  Only lasted two weeks, then left ear stopped working and returned.  A few cool features, wired for balanced amplifier, comes with extra cables for non balanced play back.  Also can be worn over the ear or with wire coming down.
  
Great review of RE262

Thursday, July 7, 2011

PLCC Extraction Tool


Square IC PLCC Extraction Tool, $9.99, Radio Shack
  Have started opamp rolling in the iBasso D4, need to use an PLCC Extraction Tool to remove the opamps.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

D4 Topkit



iBasso D4 Topkit, $60 purchased from HiFlight on Headfi.org
  Purchased D4 Topkit with optional L/R opamps.  Sound Quality has a larger soundstage, seems more powerful than before and "natural sounding", like the sound opened up and more musical.  Still need to try the optional L/R opamp.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Behringer UCA 222



Behringer, $30.63, Purchased from Amazon, Returned, Refunded
Behringer UCA 222 - For $30 what a great deal!  The Sennheiser HD201 and UCA 222 may be the perfect $50 setup.  Not very loud and not as musical as the uDAC, but detailed and fun.  Not as powerful as iBasso D10, not as detailed, not as spacious, but a 10th the cost, pretty darn good!

iBasso D6



iBasso D6, $275, Purchased from iBasso, Returned, Refunded 
iBasso D6 - Silver, still deciding if I like the silver, I ordered in black and silver arrived.  Switches more solid feeling than the D4.  Potentiometer quiet on turn on, Gain and Battery / USB switches quiet.  On first listen, D4 sounds more powerful with more air than D6.  Smaller soundstage than D4, more intimate sounding.  More analytic sounding than D4 and a little "brittle" sounding. 

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

ibasso D4 vs. D6


iBasso D4, $199, D6, $275 purchased from iBasso

iBasso D4 - Potentiometer a little "squeaky", makes a mechanical echo noise on turn on, as if something is vibrating inside the case.  Gain and Battery / USB switch throw too long and feel cheap.  Slightly thinner case than D6.  Larger soundstage, more air, blacker background than D6.  Non rechargeable 9V battery

iBasso D6 - Silver, still deciding if I like the silver, I ordered in black and silver arrived.  Switches more solid feeling than the D4.  Potentiometer quiet on turn on, Gain and Battery / USB switches quiet.  On first listen, D4 sounds more powerful with more air than D6.  Smaller soundstage than D4, more intimate sounding.  More analytic sounding than D4 and a little "brittle" sounding.

Tested with Beyer Dynamic DT770 Edition 250 ohm