Hey Man I said earlier the hell I put all of you through which is at least 10 of you would eventually help others.
I think I went on an extreme deep dive on so many aspects that if it was cataloged with Q&A and also my end results my help some people. I don’t expect anyone who is a new comer to be aware of the drama I created with questioning everything and maybe a great resource or go to for people just getting into this and save a lot of you further exhausting your effort and focus on more critical insight or thoughts.
Edit: as mentioned take into consideration what people suggest and where they are in their journey. If I had said for example those gold planars that would be foolish. Certain company’s which are established and have a long history would and not always the case isn’t going to drop something that’s questionable. We would hope
I have the Radiance not the Celestee but a balanced cable isn’t necessary. They are very easy to drive. A true balanced connection would provide more power which isn’t needed for either of these. That’s one of the things I like about the Radiance in that it sounds great out of my DAP. That’s really my only my use case for it is tinkering around the house when doing chores so my wife doesn’t have to hear great music and I don’t have to hear another episode “Housewives of who gives a sh*tville”. Otherwise, I use open backs for all other listening in my reality-tv free “man cave”
You know with your knowledge and ears it’s spot on, but for me especially trying the Clear first and then owning the Elegia and ironically the HE6 which I see many say is bright to my ears isn’t an issue. Not sure if the clears come off as bright.
I know when I was debating the purchase and watched many reviews, Andrew had mentioned he EQ’s them and I’ve had mine for 6 months now and never felt the urge to EQ.
I do want to EQ them just to see the difference, just procrastinating.
I am in my early 30’s which maybe a factor, second the equipment I’ve paired with have been on the warm side. Burr brown and AKM, I just purchased the meridian prime combo unit and it too hasn’t changed my opinion.
I feel the meridian is far more forward, if that is the proper term.
But I listen for hours on end and from what I got is that bright headphones create fatigue. With the amount of time I listen per day makes me believe that’s not a factor for me.
But ironically with speakers and demo’s I really disliked Klipsch and B&W which are I guess known to be bright make me cringe with certain instruments and I guess that entire upper register at volumes I prefer to listen at
Also to consider that with the HE6SE as bright as people say it is I am using it with an amp that is providing 10 watts per channel and I listen at fairly high volume cause it sounds so much more detailed at higher volume you pick up everything in the recording.
I read all your posts above and I highly appreciate your wisdom and your fairness.
I believe everyone of us has his background and selfishness.
No absolute values here.
These days I’m listening to HD660s.
Many reviews state they are bass lacking and quite bright. Maybe it’s synusite or some other winter related problem but to my ears they sound full and smooth.
Thank you for your kind words and for bringing good, real experience in the discours.
Highly appreciated.
Got you, I see your use case and I think if you have the space and ability it would be far more cost effective to buy a comfortable sofa in your own space away from any disturbance then end up dishing out so much strictly for headphones.
Regardless of that consideration you should try open backs without having to purchase anything.
I use my setup in my room, my source is PC, my pc gets hot so I always have my AC set to 70 degrees and it runs fairly often and it’s not central air conditioning it is a window AC, my PC makes a sufficient amount of noise it got 10 super powerful cooling fans.
I have no issue with open backs under these conditions and I never listen at extreme volumes. I can’t imagine the noise being so much higher in your living room.
Just prior to anything the last bit of advice is try not to rush into anything unless it’s not going to be costly. I would still refrain from doing so, go in the first time for the experience and then if you really want to make a purchase set another appointment and demo a second time and make a purchase.
I think being so excited for headphones and that emotional aspect won’t provide you with a sound decision.
Also come back here with your thoughts and we can probably provide better advice
I also see the headphones they are providing are high end try to start at the lower spectrum of pricing if possible.
I’ve only heard the multibit module in the Asgard 3 amp and I compared it to feeding the A3 from a Bifrost 2. The BF2 was much better as a DAC but then it is more expensive. On the other hand, when I stopped comparing, I spent a few hours just listening to the A3 with the DAC module and I forgot that the BF2 was better, and just enjoyed listening to the music. Your brain is really good at adapting.
So with the caveat that I haven’t heard the Jot 2 with internal DAC (although it’s the same card as the A3), I’d recommend the BF2 if you can afford it and have the space because it’s good and you will probably not need to upgrade it for a long time, if ever.
But if you can’t afford the BF2 or only have space for one box, I wouldn’t worry too much about getting an “inferior” product. That’s just my opinion. There’s always going to be something better than what you have now, and when I get too obsessed with that, and am stuck in “analysis paralysis”, I have to remind myself that I got into this hobby to listen to music, and I’m not listening to music if I’m spending my time worrying about differences between 2 models. Again, that’s my opinion, and you’ll see me contradict that opinion the next time I’m obsessively trying to decide between 2 items.
As @Audiophool said, you probably don’t need balances cables for your headphones. But if you want to experiment, I like Hart Audio cables. Just email them, tell them what headphones you have, and that you want both an XLR and a single ended amp connector, and they’ll tell you which components to buy. It’s cheap and is an easy way to switch between SE and balanced to see if you can tell the difference. Just do a search for Hart and you probably see a lot of posts from me. I swear I don’t work for them, I just like them.
Maybe , but the the stores I’ve been to, they leave you alone while you listen. And only intervene if you ask for assistance. Actually if you talk to the seller or owner you just might be able to take the device home for a day or two. I’ve had nothing but a positive experience each time. Actually thats how I got my Lumin streamer and Bryston headamp.
Oh I never want refer to it as a negative experience, just wish to put that as a consideration. Not really a full fledged factor, but can create bias.
I felt more or less that if I want to hear what I’m hearing I need 4000 dollars worth of complimentary equipment. At that time with no experience a person would assume anything less is going to be far less superior. Which creates another misconception which isn’t true. It really made me consider giving up on headphones altogether cause I didn’t have money like that.
Another thing maybe you buy a warm pair of headphones and pair it with a “warm” dac, not that dacs influence sound like that, and you end up with muddy bass. Maybe a bright set of headphones paired with an Sabre dac making it glaring. Which was totally a different experience at the demo.
You bring up a very good point in regards to Hart cables. That being, though the Radiance/Celestee don’t require balanced cables, the cable that came with the Radiance (Celestee, I assume will fair no better) is pretty janky. Not poor quality…just stiff. So I definitely recommend a replacement. @wkesquire .
Haha, yes, the cable that came with my Stella was terribly stiff and microphonic. I read that the Radiance cable was better, but I suppose it’s all relative, they’re both variations on bad.
Just adding to what others have said, the “journey” is whatever you want it to be while you enjoy audio as a hobby, as opposed to buying something and being done until you need to replace it, as you would an appliance.
I was in your place, with around a $4K budget and looking back, I have a little regret that I jumped straight into the deep end with TOTL headphones because I’m probably not going to get any more for a while. I also feel very lucky that I liked what I got, because I didn’t have the opportunity to demo any of this. I can’t imagine what I’d felt if I was disappointed in them.
So demo as much as you can, it’s a very educational experience. And bear in mind that the same headphones might sound different on different equipment, so try out different combinations.
But I’ve still been enjoying the journey by trying out different amps, particularly tubes, trying different types of cables, finding old retired people that make stuff in their free time, and getting custom built cables or equipment. It’s all been a lot of fun for me and I’m sure it will be for you too.
I’m a Chef… have been for 30+ years and that is a recipe I’ve never come across. Came out nice I’ve heard of cooking cables but not literally. Thanks @ProfFalkin
Edit: not sure how I deleted my post🤷♂️
I found the lower end of Klipsch and B&W do sound both forward and bright. By the time you get to the 802 series in B&W they sound balanced to me. Klipsch never sounds balanced to me but the big horns sound awesome on much of the music I like.
In conventional dynamic speakers I’m a big fan of Wilson Audio and the few Magicos I have heard.
I like the better Martin Logan speakers of the last generation (Odyssey and Prodigy and of course the CLS) have not had a chance to hear current powered ML enough to have an opinion. Also like the Quad 2912 estats, but they have some volume limit issues. I haven’t heard a Maggie (Magnepan) I don’t like. The 3.7i Maggie is high on my want list as it’s affordable compared to mid product line Wilsons.
I’m speechless. Thank you for this long reply, that help a lot.
And I have the feeling I will do like @Dynamic said
Not that I will completely ignored them. I think you explain in more detail the advice he received :
And that’s my fear to
Overall, I lack experience and knowledge (vocabulary). I will follow exactly what you said:
But before that I need to understand the vocabulary to help me identify what issue I’m trying to resolve.
May I ask if somewhere in this forum someone have publish a guide on what sonic and staging mean (and all the other audio related term) ? Sorry if I missed it somehow.
And thank you to all the other! I didn’t reply to your answer individually but I read them and they are helpful as well. @pennstac , @PaisleyUnderground , @SenyorC and @mfadio
Otherwise, I use open backs for all other listening in my reality-tv free “man cave” 
I’ve heard of cooking cables but not literally. Thanks 