Yeah, I know. I’m tempted because the HD 600 is so widely and highly praised, because I have some reservations about my HD 6XX (while, overall, liking it very much), and because, well, the HD 600 is one of those benchmark headphones that I suspect I ought to experience to get a better understanding and appreciation of this hobby.
2 Likes
Hey friends,
I picked up a Sony wh-1000mx3 for my son. I listened to it briefly on the Lyr 3/BF2 and was really taken back by that low-end! I think it did leak a bit into mids, soundstage was small and imaging was difficult. But I still enjoyed them!
Is there an open back with this kind of bass that maybe addresses the deficiencies? If not open-back, what close-back would you recommend? Budget is around $1000. Thanks!
3 Likes
Really helpful feedback guys. I was a little worried about the quality control of the Sundara when I made my earlier post but after reading more closely about some of the problems I’d rather go with something tried and true. Especially as it’s my first pair I’d like to have the option of keeping it around for a while.
@Tchoupitoulas thanks for the suggestion on the HD600’s, I think I am going to go with them. Seems like they will pair well with the BF2/Lyr3 and will be a nice entry point that will get me even more hooked than I already am. @generic your Utopia review was a great read, very nice thanks for pointing me in that direction.
Now to read about equipment burn in and to wait patiently for everything to arrive!
6 Likes
A little late to the party here but I figured I’d just give my 2c. While I haven’t heard the Elex I have or have owned 600, 650, 6XX, HE400i (original with SMC), Sundara, and a bunch of other headphones. I also have Bifrost Uber, Bifrost MB, Lyr2, Asgard 2, BH Crack and a few other DACs and amps. The 600 was good but it has a peak in the 3.5-5Ghz range that bothered me at times so I sold it to a friend for what I paid for them within a few months of getting them for $230 new. My HD650 and HD6XX sound a bit different and its not due to the pads since I’ve swapped the pads and the difference is still there, very subtle but I think most who have even decent hearing will notice it. I’m not sure the Lyr3 would be a good/great pairing since I feel that the HD6 series needs an amp that has a higher output impedance, like that of the BH Crack or most OTL amps. The way I noticed this was on my Project Ember, an amp that you can change the output impedance between 0.1, 35 and 120 ohms. My BH Crack with TS5998 power tubes have an output impedance of 75-80 ohms IIRC and its what I think my HD650/6XX sounds best with along with my HD800, T1gen1, DT 990 250ohm and HD700.
As to the QC of Hifiman headphones, I guess I’ve been lucky and have not had any issues with any of them which includes HD400, HD400i, HE560 (2-gave one to my son), Sundara (sold), and HE1K (sold). Note that all are/were first generation so I’m not sure if recent versions are comparable.
2 Likes
I’ve got the BT connection running. I still need to check if aptX HD or LDAC works. It looks like the codec switches to SBC automatically.
Yeah, I do use USB.
I’ll check out the app you mentioned. This could solve the first question. Thanks!
Any suggestions for the connection between SACD player and DAC/amp?
If you want an external EQ that works in the digital domain, so no extra conversions, there is the MiniDSP nanoDIGI 2x8 K which is a reasonable price.
That is an interesting product. I’m going to check out the specs and capabilities of that thing.
If you know of similar products I’m interested.
In theory you will get baseline Aptx on Win10 but you will have to look at the Bluetooth stack to find out, probably it is just SBC. There is no real control over it without extreme tinkering which usually breaks with every update.
if you don’t want to spend anything for remote player control and want to max out the Topping input stream quality and apply any sort of DSP you like why not remote into the laptop music player/streaming app from your phone/tablet/whatever with VNC which is free. (Maxing out quality is purely for interest in my opinion as it makes little difference to the audio as many/most people can’t distinguish better than 16/44 if the recordings are the same).
You can use this for all your media, play video remotely/use all the PC functions as well. The content plays on the PC not the client by the way - it’s just a control interface unless you have the paid for version. I use a cheap micro PC as the media player.
If you want to DSP your SACD on the cheap then you could use a usb spdif input (can be had for a few dollars) to the PC and mix into the audio stream - this is not guaranteed to work but it works with a USB mic input for me which I use for a DIY “transparency mode” so I can hear the outside world if needed.
Easier to try to get the music as FLAC really unless you need the exercise or the nostalgia?? My disc collection sits unused now.
Just a warning this can result in lots of wires and boxes if you get carried away but the bitstream doesn’t care how much your kit costs and it still sounds the same.
You can buy the expensive stuff later once you have heard what it will sound like. Though if you want full 3D head tracked audio the cheap way is still the only way.
1 Like
On another miniDSP product, What about external EQ that does have the ability to adjust EQ, is that what the miniDSP 10x10 Hd allows ?
Sorry but I’m not sure I understand the question.
The nanoDIGI allows 5 bands of parametric EQ without any ADC/DAC conversion.
I haven’t really looked into the 10x10 HD (I use BSS) but it seems it has both analog and digital ins and outs, so you can use them at will.
Just trying to obtain an external EQ DSP solution without using my Windows or Apple devices (laptops/Desktop)., like dbx etc…
1 Like
Thanks @DavidA, I ended up revising my plan a bit and also bought the 6XX even though it arrives later, I figure if I don’t like them I can always part with the on the used market if need be. I still haven’t ruled out a Sundara but I figured I’d give the 600/6XX a shot first. We will see soon!
4 Likes
Are you looking to do it in the digital realm or in analog?
With the nanoDIGI, you can do it without any conversions, you will need a pc to set it up but then it can be controlled by its own remote control.
With the 10x10 you can do the same thing but with added analog inputs and outputs (and less digital outputs). Obviously these get converted to digital and back.
However, both of these will be a bit of a pain if you want to equalise on the fly without visual feedback on a PC screen. There is an additional unit (the WI-DG) that allows you to control them from Android or iOS but I haven’t played with it.
Yeah, maybe I’ll just rip all my CD’s to FLAC. (I have most of them in mp3 from when I was unaware of lossless compression)
This will be an issue for my SACD’s. But most of them are multi layer, so I can extract the CD layer to FLAC.
So the nanoDIGI has just a 5 band parametric EQ, not a 10 or more band?
Correct, it has a 5 band parametric EQ.
I don’t think it has enough processing capability to do more than 5 bands (plus other DSP functions) but that would be a question for the MiniDSP forums.
How many bands do you need?
I ask because that will limit both the selection and the price bracket in which options are available.
Looking for an analog solution. I’ve got a email into dbx to see if they offer a unit.
There are a lot of options out there but as almost all decent EQs are digital nowadays, especially if we are talking Parametric, there is always an ADC and a DAC to be considered.
I am not sure what is up in the high end of HiFi eq’s, as that is not something I really look into, but in the studio realm, a good EQ that is completely analog is by no means cheap.
You are so right, its not cheap but there are some dbx units under $600 that provide some benefit, but I also like the miniDSP equipment. I did find a used Marantz EQ-10 Vintage 10 Band Graphic Equalizer for $157.00, could be a cool experiment. And I just might bring out the laptop and start using it and get a software EQ for my headphones like most here instead of my 2 chl system where I wanted DSP and Room EQ. The 2 chl might have to wait. And I thank you for giving me some direction much appreciated.
1 Like