Thanks so much for the info! I had been looking at the Elegia, Aeon2, Beyer Amiron. I have not seen the Fostex, so I will have to look for them.
I had also been looking for the Audeze LCD2 used.
I am leaning towards the Elegia right now.
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Indeed, that was mentioned in a review I was watching. But if the engineer doesn’t know what he’s doing or whatever factors, it will come out garbage.
@ETEXAG, if you decide on the Elegia, see if this $399 coupon still works:
https://www.adorama.com/fofelegia.html?EmailPrice=T
It was posted on this forum over a month ago, but when I clicked on it just now, it still shows up at $399, even in the cart. That’s a lot cheaper than the current Adorama price.
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Hell yeah! This makes the Elegia the key winner. Thank you!!!
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Do it! Good luck, I hope you can get it at that price.
If I didn’t already have my Fostex TH-X00, and if I weren’t saving up for something else, I’d have snagged a pair.
The resale value is pretty sweet, too, in case you find it’s not for you. But I hope you love it! I took this screenshot just moments ago:
That price definitely worked. They are on order.
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Both planars and dynamics. My comments apply to both equally.
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Well hopefully when I get my opportunity to test them in person I will I figure make a decision.
How much does a dac affect the amp? Since I will be buying a Schitt amp and possibly a different dac. But my tests will be with Schitt DACs only, since it will be at the actual store. They don’t test or sample other products.
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Not much. Differences between amps are generally substantially more significant than differences between DACs. Focus on the amp first, and once you find the amp you want to buy you can try a few different DACs.
“Moderately” I encourage you to read the many, many deep posts from the recently retired @Torq. He’s had a ton of experience with even the most expensive equipment on the market. Samples below:
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Grand, only asking cause I don’t want the Schitt DACs to influence the amp. And I would assume that’s true since amps seem to be purely power drivers.
I’m guessing it would affect more of the tone, if that’s the proper terminology.
Yea, I’ve seen many people already on reviews video and written suggest if you want spend a 1000 per say, don’t purchase 1 thousand dollar dac. The experience will be unpleasant. Rather buy 3 or 4 different DACs to see what you would prefer, somewhat of trial and error for people like myself who know nothing. Equivalent concept with headphones too
I think that gentleman that I was referred too will also provide some hands on mentoring. Much needed.
First of course I need to truly fathom the terms to start breaking this down or this maybe a very costly process.
Just got back from a small vacation from SF, was contemplating to ask or look up a hifi headphone shop.
This isn’t in response to any post in particular, but might be a good resource for new members to read second or for others to revisit/bump.
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Dude - with that listening preference, you want to ditch the headphones and save up for a pair of Klipsch corner horn speakers. Can be driven to over 120 DB with reasonable power. Your AV receiver should work.
Heavy metal should be listened to at neighbor-punishing levels. I’ll bring over some Blue Oyster Cult and some Ramones just for a break.
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Two beginner questions please: I keep hearing that there are very good sales on headphones and amplifiers on “Black Friday“. How and where does one look for those sales then?Secondly, when there are no special sales where would one look for sales/discounts on new or open box items. Thanks.
This the Friday after US Holiday Thanksgiving (4th Thursday in November). In the web era it has morphed into an entire week. Lists have been posted on this site in prior years, and are all over the web. It’s a major shopping week.
Audio websites with used sections, Amazon, Ebay, etc.
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To add to @generic’s suggestions, I’d also recommend looking out for sales directly by the manufacturers themselves for Black Friday, at least in some cases. Some companies have sales at various times of the year, sometimes coinciding with other holidays and not just Black Friday. Check out the companies’ websites as some of them allow you to sign up to be notified of the sales.
For others, you’ll need to do some sleuthing. Last year, I found out from a head-fi thread that Audeze sells some b-stock headphones on Black Friday (people love to boast of the deals they got). Make up your mind in advance about what you want to get and keep your fingers crossed, your favored item might not be included in the sale. If it is, you’ll need to be attentive and act fast, some of these deals sell out pretty quickly.
For open box items, google is your friend, as are the websites for dealers and retailers (see here, for example). Patience will be rewarded! Keep checking the listings…
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Although perhaps not pertaining to headphones, but I know it applies to major appliances, a lot of manufacturers will use the entire month of November for “Black Friday”. However, retailers are not allowed to advertise these prices until the actual event is ongoing.
May help to start inquiring about prices in November before Black Friday so you can beat the rush and still have some inventory to purchase. Probably easier to do with brick and mortar stores than purely online retailers.
Online seller websites, manufacturer websites, or emailing certain manufacturers that do not always post such items. It can take some legwork. Sometimes info is posted on this forum in the relevant category/thread. Good luck.
Be aware that “B stock” in audio has come to mean something like “Outlet Mall” used to mean. At one point these sold slightly damaged goods at a lower price. There was a famous Birkenstock outlet south of San Francisco. One in the whole country or world. Demand at outlets outstripped supply so these morphed into “Factory Stores” in remote locations. These stores are now all over the country, and the vendors have no hope of finding any slightly damaged goods.
I’ve purchased several B Stock items (Audeze & Schiit). I didn’t see any cosmetic or functional problems with any of them. YMMV. Some vendors seem to use this term to indicate (a) the item doesn’t come with a fancy factory case, and/or (b) the item cannot be returned if you don’t like it, and/or (c) the item is ineligible for sale by standard retail distributors. The B Stock label provides lower prices but keeps the resale values stable.
Or so I’ve concluded.
Note also that the Schiit B Stock list shows a few higher demand items at a time. Then they’ll go away for a few days. Then a few more will magically appear. Someone at Schiit makes “errors” at a very predictable rate…
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The ZEN CAN has trickle-down Class A discrete balanced circuitry from iFi audio’s US$1,699 flagship Pro iCAN. With 15.1v @300 Ohms on tap, it has serious power that will make even difficult-to-drive headphones thump to the beat.
- Class A discrete output buffer from the flagship Pro iCAN using Op-Amp (OV2637A)
- FET input avoids loading volume control – low distortion/noise
- SE inputs (1M Ohm) ensures loading of the source so always in Class A operation
- Output amplifier gain of four steps in +6dB perfect for headphone matching
Considering ifi zen can. What you guys think about it ? Headphones are Ananda and DT 770 250ohm. Zen dac + Zen can combo ? There are lots of good measuring op amp based amplifiers around. JDS, Topping, Schiit etc… This one differs with its discrete class a architecture and it caught my attention. Price is nice as well.