I would love to be able to hit up Taron and co. and purchase stuff from them (rather than just steal their bandwidth) but importing to Spain adds about 40% to the price in the end.
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Ahhhh shite! Sorry man, my bad. I still recommend it if you can maybe get a deal on it so it’s closer to your price range.
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I will certainly keep an eye out, thanks @MRHifiReviews
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I’m trying to decide between the Astell & Kern SA700 and the SE200. I think I’d enjoy the larger screen on the SE200 and see that it has better specs than the SA700. Does anyone have any experience with either of these products?
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This is the main reason why I unplug my “valuable” gear from the wall outlets whenever there’s bad weather/storms coming in. Here in Texas the storms can be so unpredictable that you may easily take a direct lightining strike hit! The missus got the memo as well, if I’m not home and the weather is going south, she has the duty to unplug all the “valuable” (more sentimental than $$$) electronics.
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Hey @leceyo5097 welcome to the community!! I am not going to be the best iem recommendation guy but I bet @antdroid or @TylersEclectic or @taronlissimore may have some ideas for you! Don’t forget to introduce yourself here: New Here? This Is The Spot To Introduce Yourself
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I think the Legacy IEMs would be a good jump of point! the Legacy 3 or 5 are both really good for the money =)
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Hey everyone,
I’m looking for a new standalone DAC to pair with the Bryston BHA-1 that I just bought. The obvious choice would be Bryston’s own BDA-3, but it’s just simply too expensive for me right now. My current DAC is the RME ADI-2 DAC and while I’m not dissatisfied with it, I’m definitely not using most of the features and I’d like to try something new. I’m interested in trying an R2R DAC, but I’m not completely set on that idea either, so I’m open to all types.
My price range is: around 2k AUD, flexible in either direction for the right DAC
I like to listen to: metal, rock music using Tidal, Spotify and Flac files on foobar
I will be using them for: Desktop use only
My shortlist is currently:
- Holo Audio Cyan or Spring 2 Level 1
- Schiit Bifrost 2
- Topping D90
- Denafrips Pontus
- Soekris dac2541
Thanks!
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As someone that owns the BHA-1, I’ve found the Bifrost 2 pairs nice. The others dacs, I alternate with the BHA-1 are the Aqua Voce S3, Orchid, Lumin D1, & T2, Ayre, and on loan is a Martix X-Sabre Pro. REally liking this combo, and there is NO ESS chip glare. I wanted to try a RME ADI-2 with the newer chip, but I really don’t need all the EQ functions. For the $ the Biforst 2 is hard to beat. OH PS, the Schiit Yggy works great as well.
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This is true. It’s a great dac, very natural sound. Maybe not the most dynamic if you are really in to that but it works well for the dynamics I listen to with classical
Has the new 2541 been out long enough for many impressions yet? I know some forums have a bit on it and first impressions are good.
Haven’t headgear it, there is some talk over on superbestaudiofriends.
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Looking for upgrade from the Focal Clear. Looking at either the Focal Stellia or ZMF Verite Closed. My main question is which of these two sound less like the Clears? Any thoughts appreciated! I use an RME connected to a Burson Soloist 3XP as my source. Any other suggestions would be great around the $3000 range. However, I’d prefer a closed-back.
ZMF November is coming soon. Might make for a good pricing decision. Clears are nice cans. What headphone cable are you using on your Clears?
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Yeah, Zack had told me about that. I think most of the release will be ltd editions though which will most definitely cost more.
They certainly are great cans! Funny thing is, I’ve lived with the stock balanced cable all this time and only now am deciding to get an aftermarket cable. 
I was going to go for one of zmf’s cables but now I’m leaning more towards a cable from norne. I’d be happy to hear any other suggestions if you have any!
If you’re buying new headphones from ZMF, it might be more cost effective to get their upgraded cables at the same time because they’ll give you a big discount.
If you think you’ll end up with both Focal and ZMF headphones, it might be worth buying a set of mini XLR (ZMF) to 3.5mm mono (Focal) adapters, so that you can use the same cable for both headphones. I bought a set of Arctic Cuprum cables with adapters to use for my Stellia and Verite.
In addition to Arctic, I believe Norne, Double Helix and Plussound also create adapters for their cables. But if you ask Zach, I bet he could do that too.
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Oh yeah definitely! I got my Aeolus with an upgraded cable at the same time I purchased it.
Oh, nice tip! Thanks, I didn’t think of that.
How will that look though? Will it basically stick out of the focals 3.5mm connections?
Yes, that’s right. Depending on the company, they might recommend ultra-short stubby adapters or a short amount of cable.
If you go down that route, I’d recommend emailing each company for a quote, not just to get a quote, but to also see how long it takes for them to get back to you, as that will give you an idea of how quickly they can turnaround custom cables. For instance, I sent 2 emails to Norne and didn’t get a reply so I crossed them off the list because I could just picture the buying process taking several months, just based on waiting for emails. Obviously that’s not an issue with any of them if you’re buying off the shelf cables from them.
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Yeah, I asked Norne about one of the cables and it looks like it’ll take a long long time. But that is good advice, thank you!
I’m curious, how did yours end up looking with the adapters? Stubby or short cable?
Very short cable (same wire as the main cable) covered in heatshrink. I’ll take a picture tomorrow. They’re not pretty, but I like the convenience it gives me.
I actually got the original cable terminated for my Stellia and added adapters for ZMF, mainly because I hadn’t received my Verite yet. I have a feeling that the Verite will get used a little more than the Stellia (I’m guessing 60-40) so if I were to do it again, I would terminate with mini XLR and get adapters for the Stellia.
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I see. At this point I might as well get both the vc and stellia! haha
I’ll probably end up getting Stellia first. Fortunately, I already have the upgraded cable from my Aeolus if I do go that adapter life.
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