General purchase advice: Ask your questions/for advice here!

I need advice!
3978

I’m 80, with severe hearing loss. However, the loss is volume and not articulation. I am not an audiophile and just purchased a basic headphone/dac/amp a month ago. I purchased Focal Clear and a JDS Labs El II Stack. I had a fellow in Canada build me a balance pot to sit between the dac and the amp.

Im thinking of giving this stuff to my grandson.

Is there a quality amp/dac or combo that has a very solid balance control. Ideally it would be great if I could EQ the left and right channels individually.

I an having a hell of a time with headphone reviews as so much opinion on enjoyment is subjective since no two pairs of ears are the same.

I’d also take headphone suggestions as well. Without seeming stuffy, price is no object. Many thanks.

6 Likes
3979

As I approach my 75th birthday I get it, and I’m due for annual ear eval in the sping.

This company makes a solid product with a boat-load of features.

I think the control marked “Laterality” is the one your looking for. But there is so much else that looks like a lot of fun to play around with. And you can get it with or without a DAC.

Depending on your source type you could put a cost effective “Schiit Lokius” in ahead of the HP amp, and use balanced or SE inputs, but its not dual channel. There is “Schiit Loki Max” in the works to be released probably next year, I’m not sure if that will be dual channel or not.

I have no experience with the Phonitor brand , but dam, it sure looks cool and a lot of fun stuff to play with.

7 Likes
3980

The “Laterality” control has a VERY small level of adjustment in comparison to that available with a traditional “Balance” control. It’s better to think of it as a fine-tuning rather than something that’ll adjust balance significantly overall.

From the SPL Phonitor X manual:

This control differs from conventional balance controls. If one channel is attenuated, the other one is increased at the same time. This means that, e.g. when hard left, the level of the left channel increases by 2.25 dB while the right channel is attenuated by 2.25 dB.

This control has a narrower range than conventional balance controls. Its resolution is very fine, which means it can be peciseley adjusted.

Sure, but too many too list without having a better idea of what other considerations you have. One example, however, would be the RME ADI-2 DAC fs.

That’s really the realm of professional software EQ tools (or professional/studio hardware EQ units) and typically only the higher-end ones allow different settings on an individual channel basis (and can be fiddly to setup if you’re just using them with music players instead of DAWs).

6 Likes
3981

@Torq hit the first and best example (RME ADI-2 fs), and also mentioned software EQ.

Other things to consider:

The Decware Zen Taboo MkIV has independent L/R volume controls, a solid reputation, and costs $2,300. However, Decware has an 11 month waiting list following several excellent product reviews over the last year.

I’ll mention the $150 xDuoo XT604 in passing, as it has a dual volume setup too. I have no experience with it, nor is this a recommendation. However, it may be good as a proof of concept or for a specific use case.

Beyond the Schiit Loki and Lokius (@FLTWS), there are all kinds of general stereo preamps with all kinds of features and in every price bracket.

Yep. Me too.

Brand provides a rough indication of tone, but one must try each product both for physical fit and audio enjoyment. Very broadly, Grado and Beyerdynamic tend to have elevated treble. Sennheiser and Focal often aim for the middle/neutral point, and many vendors produce bass-heavy headphones or a “V” curve with boosted bass and treble. Pairing with a specific amp and DAC can transform some products for good or bad. My opinions change with exposure and experience, so I always try to demo in local stores or expect to resell.

5 Likes
3982

Thanks, the laterality control does a slight sound stage shift. It is not a balance control. This comes direct from their tech support.

3983

The RME is a good solution. I was looking at a Sparkos amp (with real balance control) and a Qutest Dac. Opinions???

1 Like
3984

Everyone is different but for my hearing imbalance I have found my brain sorts it out. If I adjust balance to be louder in my weak ear it actually sounds wrong.

It’s at least something to try as it would simplify things a lot.

After all, if you’re in a room with a piano you aren’t balancing and eq’ing that. Your brain figures out what normal is for you.

4 Likes
3985

The Qutest is a fine DAC.

I don’t have much to stay about the Sparkos amp (I assume you mean the Aries). I’ve only heard it once and not for very long. I found nothing notable, sonically, good or bad. But that doesn’t say much as I did not have time to try it with different headphones and sources to figure out what the amp was contributing vs. what was down to other components in the chain.

I will say I am not particularly keen on the idea of an amp that is laden with socketed/replaceable op-amps that is built and sold by a company that I’d only known of for selling such replacement “upgrade” op-amps. And the first question the one person I know of that owns an Aries asked me when he heard I’d not been “blown away” when I heard the unit was “What op-amps did it have in it?”

3 Likes
3986

@Pappaboomboom - another thing to consider is to get a db meter to protect yourself from any further hearing loss.
i.e., https://amzn.to/3DJFZ8E

1 Like
3987

Thanks, I guess at 80 I’m just lucky to be breathing.

4 Likes
3988

Greetings from across the pond. I am looking for some assistance with an upgrade in a DAP. I currently have the HIBY R5s and now that there will be some sales going on I’m doing some window shopping. I have a pair of LSA HP-2 headphones and the balanced 4.4mm connection is more than a plus, (2.5mm adapter?), but a few of my ideas below did not have the 4.4mm. I’m looking for an improvement in sound, there is no need for streaming, WiFi, etc but those options would be a plus. I have a MacBook 12" for file transfer onto the storage cards and hope this next unit would be compatible. Reliability, sound, decent battery life, and 4.4mm output are the preferred options. See below for my potentials listed. Thank you for your input, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. All are in US$.

Cayin N3Pro new $399 US
Questyle QP2R 2: new $599
A & K SR25: new $499
HIBY R62020: new $499
Shanling M6 21: new $455

Thank you. Happy Holiday.
Cheers

1 Like
3989

I am very new to the headphone hobby, but have been quite busy…

I’m about a month or two in, and my gear list (so far) consists of:

  • LCD-5’s (in hand)

  • Violectric V550 (in hand, received today, but not sure I’m going to keep)

  • Holo May KTE (on order)

  • CRBN’s (on order)

  • Carbon CC (on order)

  • DNA (on order, have my place in line to pick either one once I’m up next)

  • HD650’s

  • DAC - SMSL SU8s that were paired w/ the 650’s (but won’t be keeping)

  • Also have a THX 887 - that was originally paired w/ the 650’s (likely won’t be keeping either)

  • And for good measure, I just ordered a ‘listening’ chair and ottoman - (real) Eames Lounge and Chair

This is all fed from my MBP M1 Max 16" via USB.

My music is all over the place. I love Discover Weekly on Spotify, but I also listen to a fair amount of Apple Music.

What I’m trying to figure out now, is how best to stream music from an amazing sounding streaming device, to the DAC. I have a couple of Mac mini’s laying around that I could use, and they’d be great in use, but they’re likely noisy, and not necessarily the best choice. However, if someone can tell me otherwise, or how to make use of them, I’d love to hear it.

Otherwise, there are items like the ALLO DigiOne Signature - Plus a Raspberry Pi. I don’t have any experience directly here, but its seems simple enough. With this however, I don’t know if I could natively stream from Apple Music or not.

Aside from those options, what else could someone recommend?

I do have quite a bit of music on a local NAS (and have zero issue picking up more), and can setup back up my Roon server. The problem w/ Roon however, is that I want a system to just serve me up different (new) things, and I can skip if I want. Spotify stations are also amazing. Then, I can like the songs I want, and add them for repeated listening. If Spotify and Roon would work, that’d probably solve much of this…

In a perfect world, I could just remote into the device (via wifi), control Apple Music natively, and be good to go. Spotify and Roon can be remotely controlled simply enough, so that’s a given.

5 Likes
3990

If you’re willing to spend a bit more, the Roon Nucleus and Innous Zen are specifically designed to stream music to a DAC. Roon is also a fantastic Library / Streaming organization software that I use. It includes a lot of nice features like DSP, crossfeed and EQ. Edit: Almost forgot, I’ve also read about the Auralic Aries G1

2 Likes
3991

Rockna Wavedream NET

1 Like
3992

Unfortunately, I don’t want just Roon with these devices, I wish I did, but it’s not how I consume music anymore. I do have the server setup (just not paying for an active license), and I have a ton of music on a NAS.

I really want to be able to stream Spotify and Apple Music (natively) if possible.

And, if I decide to go back to Roon, I have that option.

3993

I heard these do a great job with playlists

image
image1085×1085 52.5 KB

https://www.walmart.com/browse/apple-ipods/ipod-shuffle/3944_96469_1231508_1231509

2 Likes
3994

Oddly enough, this doesn’t seem to support Spotify. Am I missing something here? Otherwise, it seems like a great option.

3995

If Roon isn’t an option then I would consider the Auralic and Innous

3996

LOL. I don’t know you personally, but I’m 99% sure you’re joking.

That said, I like Spotify & Apple’s stations / weekly play lists. Saving and playing existing music is a simple thing. BUT, I tend to get burnt out on it. And, when I don’t have something stored locally, I want to just type it into Apple or Spotify and let it play.

3997

Thanks! Very cool options. The Innous isn’t cheap is it lol…

From what I’m seeing, unless I’m missing something, the Auralic will play Apple Music and Spotify if you have another device plugged into it - so this sort of puts me back at square one as I need to hook up a computer into the mix. BUT, this might be the best route to take. As mentioned before, I have a couple of mini’s laying around unused. I wonder if something like a Mac mini to a Audiophilleo2 MKII would make sense? I’ve only just heard about them and have no clue if they are even needed. Also, the Holo May KTE supposedly is able to clean the signal from USB. But I am not certain of this.

I know most people are looking to direct play, or local stream lossless content. But streaming (w/ Apple at least) has caught up here. Getting it to the DAC in the cleanest / easiest way however, is becoming a bit of a challenge.