For the first round I used the DAC built in to the Questyle CMA Twelve. Then, I used a Schiit Modi 3 plus for the second round. I also tested out the Schiit Multibit card on the Jotunheim 2 since that amp paired well enough to place and was curious how it held up comparing all-in-one vs. all-in-one. Even though not up to par for some, to my ears it presented good sound for the money. A good budget option for those on a limited budget, or already own the Jotunheim 1 or 2.
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Rearranged things on the desk today:
VC Desert Ironwood
Auteur Wenge + Brass
RME ADI-2 DAC fs
Feliks Euforia
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Hafler HA75 tube headphone amp being fed by LH Labs Geek Pulse Signature Edition DAC. The amp has a Mullard NOS from 1958 or so in it. The amp is on loan from a friend.
And a new chair. Ikea Poang leather set I got on the used market for 88 bucks.
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Some beautiful gear you have @all24bits. The chair looks like a great buy too. Congratulations.
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Fulla 2 for the win!
Haha mine is brokenā¦ Not sure if I should send it in for RMA or just throw it away
Iām sorry to hear it. For a $99 product thatās a few years old, Iām not sure itās worth RMAāing. If only there were more electronics repair folks aroundā¦ My Fulla 2 gets little use these days but Iām loathe to sell it because itās hardly worth the effort, and it can be useful to have for certain moments. Sometimes if Iām trying new transducers and the sound doesnāt seem right with my amps, Iāll give them a whirl with the Fulla 2. Itās been a trusty little device.
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Iām more of a porta-fi person.
My daily drivers are the LCD-i4 and Dunu Zen Pro. Former is for overall SQ and comfort as a portable open-back, and the latter is for when I want the isolation. I usually use my DX300 with both, but in a pinch or out of sheer laziness, I will use the Qudelix-5k and a rather cheap dongle DAC with them, namely the Apple USB-C dongle or the ddhifi TC35B dongle.
I think the Zen Pro needs something like an iFi Ear Buddy with the ddhifi dongle, though, as there is a noticeable difference in sound signature for the better when I use the ear buddy on the ddhifi dongle. I havenāt measured its output impedance, but itās probably high enough to mess with the FR of the Zen Pro, which I assume doesnāt have a flat impedance curve.
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What do you do for EQ with the LCDi4? I have the LCDi3, and find myself using an iPhone/Cipher Cable combo far more than playing with the regular cord and rolling my own EQ (either with ROON or some other way - of course ROON has the preset Audeze EQ which is pretty good).
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I havenāt owned the iSine 20 fo a good few years but it was a great iem. What really made it stand out was the Cipher cable. It just took it from being ok to excellent.
In terms of itās relative sound quality. It just made a very big difference from the normal cable with EQ. For my ears anyhow.
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I posted the EQ settings I tend to use here: Audeze LCD i4 TOTL In-Ear Monitor Discussion | Page 269 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org.
There is a third setting I use thatās more warm-relaxed, e.g. when I donāt want vocals to be up in my face:
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I still have the iSine 20 also - could not give up the tie-fighter look. Just a spare IEM now. I was hoping that Barbara would like it, but she plays screechy iPhone speaker music way more often - doesnāt like to put things in her ear. And doesnāt seem to care to Airplay to the Sonos, unless sheās going to seriously listen either. The trials of an audiophile husband . . . 
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My office / listening setup.
Bifrost 2 (Under desk)
Asgard 3
Shortest Way 51+
Iāve got a Hagerman Tuba and a Modi 3+ on the way. Iām currently trying to work through the idea of scaling back my desk setup and scaling up a two channel / headphone setup in my living room. Iām not really enjoying having my desk the place I do work and also the place I relax. I was going to try a Modi 3+ with the Asgard 3 and a Tuba/SW51+ (Iāve realised I need tubes and solid states at my desk depending on mood). Then move the Bifrost 2 out in the living room as a start of a two channel setup.
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Great setup! I share your BF2 and SW51+ in my chain, and I share your concern about the place where you work being the same as the place where you relax. My setup is in a bedroom, for this reason.
What are your headphones, if you donāt mind me asking? It looks like those are the HD 6XX. Is that right? Whatās the ZMF?
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Nice, BF2 and SW51+ is such a good combo. They are a 6XX and ZMF Aeolus, just noticed itās a little dark in that corner and hard to spot.
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Try colored lighting. When Iām working, the colored lighting stays off and Iām all business; when Iām relaxing, my desk and the area around it becomes a relaxing zen rainbow that tells my brain itās time to enjoy.
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