I second that. The LCD-2C is very comfortable with frames!
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Hi Folks - Thanks in advance for any thoughts. Do you have experience with Dac iTx? I have an opportunity to buy a used one for $300.
- What are its characteristics?
- How is its reliability?
- How does it sound with:
a) Nightowl carbon
b) T20 rp which will be modified to be Argon mk II
c) Elex
d) Sundara - How does it pair with:
a) schiit amps
b) jd labs amps
This would be my first non-dongle DAC. It is primarily for listening to music and watching movies but also for some gaming.
Thanks again for your help.
I don’t know if you’re going to find many who have heard the Peachtree stuff. I haven’t.
Hi all, I’m having a bit of trouble making up my mind about the following situation:
I own an Empyrean, and have ordered a Feliks Audio Euforia which should be arriving next week. However, the Euforia only has a 6.3mm TRS output, and the Empyrean’s stock 6.3mm cable is well… Annoying. I already bought an XLR4 silver upgrade cable (for ergonomic & aesthetic reasons most of all), so I currently see 2 options:
-
Purchase an XLR4 (F) > 6.35mm TRS (M) adapter. This is what I thought would be the right move, so I got a relatively cheap (€25) adapter a while ago already, and to my disappointment this adapter has a significant negative impact on the sound. Treble rolls off and bass gets a bit wooly, so that’s a definite dealbreaker.
-
Purchase another silver cable from Meze (€399 for 1.5m, 6.35mm TRS terminated). The look & feel of this cable is simply far better than any other cable I’ve laid my hands on, so I’m not looking to compromise in that area.
So I’m wondering, are there any high quality XLR4 > 6.3TRS adapters available (preferably within Europe) for a reasonable price, that are guaranteed to not have an effect on the sound? If I’m opening a can of worms by trying to look for an adapter that just works, I’m okay with paying the premium for the extra cable, but I’d appreciate any advice on the matter.
TIA
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Thanks @ProfFalkin. Is there a reason why?
Also, maybe that’ll be my contribution to the forum (if I decide to get it).
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They never seemed to really catch on with the audio communities. When I first looked into them, they seemed a bit pricey for what you got. That’s my take in it anyway
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$300 would be about $250 more than it’s worth.
So many much better options today, including things like the Modi 3 and SDAC at $100 … hell, even the balanced 4490 card for the various Schiit DAC/amp combinations is a more convincing listen.
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I had the Peachtree iDecco … well, wow, has to be 12 years ago now (since I had it when I still worked at Microsoft). Not bad as an all-in-one DAC/pre/power/headphone amplifier with switchable tube-buffer AND iPod (30 pin) dock … especially for the then $999 asking price.
Certainly nicely finished, with features galore. Too pricey if you only used it as a DAC/headphone amp.
I liked it much better than the DAC iT X, despite it’s earlier version of the ESS SABRE (fortunately it was the version that was NOT cursed with the integer underflow issue).
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Thank you. I’ll explore other options.
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Perfect, pretty much exactly what I was hoping to find. Placed an order and delivered the message, I’ll just trust you on this one.
Thanks!
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just to follow up, Forza Audio is an excellent place for custom cables. In my experience anyhow. I have several custom iem cables and they’re great quality. Enjoy. Great setup by the way.
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Per the specs, this is an ESS 9023 Sabre DAC with a remote control. An archived review at Peachtree was from the year 2012, and mentions a retail price of $449. The website has a bunch of talk about integration with Airplay and Sonos, but the device itself has simple wired input and output ports.
Compare this to the current Topping E30 at $129: It has an AK4493 chip (i.e., vastly superior) and a full featured remote. Both products were/are made in China.
Just a quick followup, received it earlier today and it seems to be working as expected. 
Great quality, great service. So thanks again!
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I see that DROP has the Etymotic ER-4SR and XR for $225. I asked the bro’s at Headphones.com if they were going to get more in, and they indicated that once things go to DROP, there is not much market left in it for them. Probably not.
So the question is - Do I want to Join this Drop for the XRs? I’ve come to the conclusion that my old bass-shy ER-6’s are hopelessly lost. Is this just another mid-level IEM?
(I had to send back the eBay ER-3XR I was going to try at $75 - but $75 used and $225 new are not the same thing). I’ve never listened to an actually good IEM, so I don’t know any better. Thoughts and ramblings welcome.
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For general consideration, $225 isn’t a very good price. It’s basically sale/retail.
I paid $200 recently for a new and sealed box of ER-4XRs.
PM also sent.
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Interesting. @SenyorC and I had a chat about them yesterday. I ended up going to their website and the ER4s are not even being listed in there.
To be discontinued, or maybe I’m missing something?
The ER4S date back something like 24 years (maybe more). I bought a set in, I think, 1996 (from the original HeadRoom … Tyll actually took my order). The ER4-SR and ER4-XR have superseded them. The ER4-SR are tonally very similar to the original ER4S, the XR are a more enjoyable listen (I think).
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All you smart folk.
Anyone come across a good right angle XLR adapter? So 4pin male to plug into the unit and kick it sideways, then 4pin female to plug normal cans into?
Idea is to have the cable come into the unit sideways, and not clash with keyboard.
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