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

Has anyone here ever bought B stock from Rosson?

I’m interested in how your experience was/is, and what if any blemishes you noticed?

Thanks!

(I put this in the Rosson thread too, sorry to be redundant)

Anybody know of a nice thick, heavy mmcx cable? I have a modded TH-X00 Mahogany and it is sporting a nice mmcx cable currently, but I kind of want something more substantial-feeling and more like a full-sized headphone cable. I tried Hart’s mmcx, but it was just too weak and came apart. TIA!

care to elaborate?
I have a couple of Hart cables, and was thinking about getting a couple more - mmcx being one. I would be using the mmcx cable for IEMs exclusively tho

I can’t speak for the mmcx, but I use a 2 pin Hart cable for my iems. I didn’t have have any issues in over a year of casual use during lockdown. It wasn’t until I started going back into work that I had a problem, where in my rush to catch my train, I threw my iems into a coat pocket, and when I pulled them out, one of them caught on whatever crap was in the pocket, causing the sleeve to pull away from the connector.

I don’t think this had anything to do with Hart’s build quality, as it was my fault, but on the other hand, if you tend to treat your iems poorly, randomly throwing them into backpacks and pockets, I would choose something a little more indestructible.

My lesson learned was to keep using the cable (which Hart repaired for a nominal fee) and treat my iems like I do my headphones, with care.

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Elaborate. The sleeve pulled out of the mmcx connectors because they are so small and weren’t fastened strongly enough. I have no problems with other Hart connectors.

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DUNU HULK (22AWG) maybe? Or any of the DUNU 24AWG range (Newly released AMBER too).

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Agreed. The Dunu cables are thick bois, so much so that I couldn’t use the one that came with the SA6. But if you want thick and heavy, Dunu is a solid choice.

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Unless something changes, I’m ordering a dac tomorrow to pair with my smsl sp200 . Narrowed it down to the ifi air , or the jds atom+ . Listen to mostly metal if that means much . Cost between the two, given I would need an extenal power supply for the Ifi, is about $20 . Thoughts ?

I can’t find the “very very basic audio questions” topic here, so I apologize if I’m posting a question where it doesn’t go, but I have some basic questions on how to decide between running headphones at low gain/higher volume or high gain/lower volume and whether to use balanced or unbalanced outputs. I’ve got the IFI Zen Dac V2 and the Focal Clear, so all options are open. Just don’t know if there all rules of thumb for how to get the most out of the equipment to get the best sound. I’ve been using low gain/higher volume using balanced output.

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Balanced is good for more power, so it doesn’t hurt connecting that way. If you don’t need the extra power, though, don’t feel obligated to connect that way; 1/4” is just fine.

Regarding gain, try low first and see how loud you turn it up before reaching your normal listening level. If it’s beyond 3 o’clock, maybe switch to high gain.

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I think the best way here is to just experiment and try them all out (unless someone has already tried everything with your specific gear which you can use as a general guideline) because it depends.

But generally…

  • Use balanced if your gear was designed with balanced in mind. You’ll typically see it advertised by the manufacturer because it’s a good selling point. It doesn’t necessarily mean it sounds better though. Or you can ask the manufacturer directly what they recommend.

  • With the volume control of a lot of budget gear you typically want your volume past a certain point (generally past 9 to 12 o’clock). Otherwise, having it below that can result in some channel imbalance and maybe degraded sound quality.

  • Low, med, and high gain is kind of dependent on the volume control thing mentioned above. However, in some cases it might be better to use med/high gain even with a low volume position depending on the gear.

So it’s gonna depend and you’ll have to do some trial and error. Or you can ask on the ifi thread or focal thread if anybody is using the same gear you use. Then try that out and see if you agree.

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Balanced output, if it is balanced and differential, will offer more power, and even simple-balanced will yield better crosstalk/separation (to the tune of about 20 dB) at the cost of increased noise and distortion (twice as many amplifier stages running, so double the noise/distortion - though these will still be at entirely inaudible levels in any halfway competent gear).

Ultimately, just use whatever you like the sound of best - and if you can’t tell between the different options then it doesn’t matter …

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Had the Oppo PM-3 for a number of years and really enjoyed them, but sadly not working as well as they used to and feel like it’s time for a new pair of headphones. It’s been a few years since I’ve looked at headphones so really not sure what the best ones currently on sale are, so at a bit of a loss.

I do want a good upgrade over the Oppo PM-3 if possible however if not the cheapest pair that is the closest to it will do.

My budget is ideally £300 or lower but willing to go up to £500 maybe £600 if the headphone recommended is worth the extra cost over cheaper headphones.
Rather avoid anything with leather if possible.
Closed back with low sound leakage is a must.
It will be mostly used in doors however will be used in public spaces such as shops and transport as well.
Size doesn’t really matter, will be using them outdoor but always have a bag with me.
I will mostly be using them for watching movies/tv shows, however, will get lots of use for music still.
I will have them on for at least 6 hours if not longer, so need something comfortable. I found the Oppo PM-3 comfortable but also had a pair of HD-25 which started to give me earache after long use.
I prefer wired to wireless.
I mostly listen to classical music and pre-90s rock. I avoid music like rave, rap, dance, techno and other similar genres.
I do wear glasses while using the TV, so something fine with glasses would be great however I rarely sit and watch TV for more than 2 to 3 hours at a time without a break.
Replaceable cable is a must.

Any help would be greatly appreciated and happy to give any more info if needed.

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You could check out the AKG K371. It’s tuned close to Harmon (meaning most people find it balanced and natural), is foldable and costs just $100.

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Welcome. What do you usually use to power your headphones? Your phone?

At the minute using a few years old sony walkman and my pc while at home, do plan to upgrade to a better DAP later in the year.

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That’s useful information. I assume you have researched headphones in the past, because you found the Oppo in the first place and us in the second. Therefore you know that choices are different depending on the power available to drive the headphones. Have you thought about which DAP you are getting?

It looks as if you are outside the US. (That talk about euros is a giveaway). So it probably means that you don’t have easy access to Drop, one source of some obvious inexpensive choices. I’ve only listened to the Oppos once or twice, and as I recall they were quite good, but I don’t recall the sound signature as I didn’t listen long enough. There are plenty of people here who do know your market.

Other information is useful. For example, do you plan to stream, and have you thought about using a phone, DAC/AMP combination instead of DAP? (Something like the iFi Go Blue, or GoBar, Qutest, or similar). Now I’ll shut up, having said hello, muddied the waters, and not knowing your market or even liking many closed-backs…. Or IEMs…

I may give useseful questions, rarely useful advice. Some others here are better at that. :wink:

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I’m from the uk, so yeah can’t use drop sadly . I did do research back in 2015/6 for headphones, and the oppo met all my needs but as I was happy with them never looked around at other headphones until now. My price in dollars would be $355 to $600 range.

Will pick something with a different sound signature from my Oppo PM-3 as long as it meets my needs listed before and the bass isn’t overly heavy.

Not looked into a DAP yet, most likely will wait until black friday to get one in a deal hopefully. As for an AMP I’m unsure I will need one as I always have my volume lower than most people do as I’m pretty sensitive to loud sounds. I wouldn’t use a phone, as I’m still using an old nokia with buttons. But really not worried about finding a DAP yet and will base what DAP I get on the headphones I get.

Have you looked at the Meze 99 Classic? I think they also have a cheaper non-wood cup model. The Meze is super easy to drive, looks fabulous, and sounds pretty great, but it’s not neutral!

Or a Dan Clark Aeon closed back of some kind? There’s the Aeon R/T and Aeon Noir (2) closed, but those might be too expensive outside the US…

looking up meze 99 classic seem poor for movie watching, and sadly the dan clark aeon 2 close back is over £800 here and the cheaper models seem to be USA only.