New Here? This Is The Spot To Introduce Yourself

Welcome to all this weeks new members.

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Hey all. I’ll try to keep this concise yet informative, though I tend to have a difficult time not being long-winded.

I’m 37, male, and live in Salem, Oregon, which I have basically lived my entire life (moved around some in Oregon and Idaho). I’m relatively new to what I would call serious audio. I’ve been subbed to Resolve/Andrew on YT for a while, as well as a couple other audio reviewers, but have been fairly loose about where I seek information on various products, trying to gain as many perspectives as possible before making purchasing decisions. Increasingly, however, I’m finding myself drawn to these forums, and specifically this company, as an honest and detailed resource. As such, I’ve finally registered an account and am delving in to hopefully contribute to the community.

I tend to play PC games with most of my free time, though I also listen to music constantly while browsing the net, and many times just to sit back and relax. I listen to a wide range of genres, but most often to industrial rock, edm, and hard rock, with 80s, 90s and current pop and rock a little less. While studying (I’m off and on with college), I prefer to listen to classical or celtic/folk.

My experience with audio products isn’t terribly exhaustive, so I’ll sum up here. I started with USB gaming headsets (gasp) (various Logitech) before getting a little irresponsible and deciding to spend what I considered at the time as a lot of money for headphones; I ā€œsplurgedā€ by getting an FX Audio DAC-6 dac/amp along with Beyerdynamic Custom Game headphones. That was a huge step up from all the gaming headsets I’d used, and it was only ā€œbudgetā€ quality! I soon realized I wasn’t content with budget, considering how much I listen to music and how much I play games that would benefit from more separation and soundstage. I eventually jumped up quite a few steps to what I have right now, which is the Focal Clear Professional powered by the S.M.S.L. M300 MkI dac and S.M.S.L. SP200 amp. I’m currently saving up for the Hifiman Arya to use mostly for gaming.

I think that about covers it. Maybe a bit too long, but… well, that’s an aspect of me, as well, which I suppose adds a bit of depth to the introduction. :smiley: Anyways, it’s good to be here and I look forward to interacting with the community!

  • Darrell
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Hello and welcome @gordoabc.

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Welcome to the forum.

I too own the Clears and I think they’re a pretty fantastic headphone.

I haven’t had a chance to try the Arya, but they get some pretty positive feedback.

Cheers!

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Hey all,

Joined a week or so ago but only getting chance to post! I’m a family man from the UK with a passion for all things music, despite having a dull job that has nothing to do with music!

I’ve always had reasonable hifi equipment and a decent pair of headphones, however, I’ve taken a bigger interest in headphones since we’ve all had some much time at home. I live in a flat and have a young family so loud music at night is a no no!

I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to buy a couple of new pairs of headphones and am totally hooked… my wife tells me that all these forums and youtubers are enablers/pushers!!!

Glad to be here. Take care.

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Haha. Welcome to the forum!

Looking forward to enabling you further. :laughing:

Cheers!

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Hello and welcome @canfabulous and @ruokh.

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Hello and welcome @parmiep and @banquier.

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Hello and welcome @jpmusic and @Manthony. Welcome back @tomcrable.

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Greetings from Victoria, BC (Canada)!

I’m a musician and sound designer (among other things), and while I still do a lot of my mixing and mastering on speakers (Focal Solo6 Bes), I’ve been getting into binaural recordings lately and I’m really loving listening on headphones. I’ve learned a ton from reading this forum already, so thanks! Excited to finally join the discussion.

Cheers,
Ian

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Welcome to all our new members this.

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Hello and welcome @IanS, @Bull_Buchanan and @PaisleyUnderground.

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Hello and welcome @Maturin.

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Hello all! Greetings from Houston, TX. I posted a longer intro in Hifman Sundara Open-Back Planar Magnetic Headphones - Official Thread, so I won’t repeat it here. I’m happy to be a new part of this community and look forward to discussing headphones and gear with all of you!

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Hello and Welcome @pow-low, @lacrimstein and @Koel_Chakrabarty.

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Welcome Ian! I had been planning a trip to Victoria this year. I’ve been enjoying Ottmar Liebert’s binaural recordings recently.

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Welcome Nuance! I also started with speakers and currently am particularly interested in better understanding the science/engineering of single ended triode vs push-pull vs parafeed and transformer based vs OTL tube amps. Happy listening and learning.

Brandon

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Hi everyone,

I’ve been into audio for over 15 years now, started with DIY speakers and slowly moved into headphones.
BH Crack was my first ever proper amp and it’s been a long journey trying all I could to find that ultimate experience even if I didn’t know what I was looking for. In the end I didn’t really found it untill I started to build my own.
I’ll gladly share my past experience but it’s unlikly I’ll get any other gear, maybe some headphones and looking forward to successor to HEDD yet the HD650 has stood like a rock. My contribution here will be DIY orientated.
Here’s my battlestation. The DNA Stellaris is the only commercial amp I own and use yet it’s expensive and I believe great sound almost at the same tier can be had for far, far less.

The things I’ve owned to give context of my experience and I’ve auditioned a lot more that this. Haven’t missed any local canjam so far.

Headphone Inventory:
MySphere 3.1
HD580 x 4
HD650 x 2
Neuman NDH20
AKG K1000(sold)
HD800 hardwired(sold)
Verum one(sold)
ZMF Eikon(sold)
Audeze LCD-4(sold)
Audeze LCD-3 x2(sold)
Abyss 1266 x2(sold)
HE1000(Norne Zoetic)(sold)
Heir Audio 8.0(sold)
HD700(sold)
HD598(sold)
HD380 PRO

Headphone Amp Inventory
DIY ongoing PX4 amplifier
DNA Stellaris balanced 422A/PX4/AVVT2A3M/ECC40
Bottlehead Crack x 3
Apex Teton 422A/GEC 6AS7G/ECC32(sold)
Apex Peak/Volcano B65/ECC32(sold)
DNA Stratus(sold)
Cavalli LG(sold)
GSX-MK2(sold)
Woo WA5(sold)
Simaudio Moon 600i(sold)
Trilogy 931(sold)
Project Ember
TBI Millenia

Source Inventory
Metrum Pavane DAC2 module
Schiit Yggdrasil x2(sold)
Pulse Infinity(6y+ wait)
GeekOut 1000
GeekOut V2
Xonar DX(sold)

Cable Inventory
Norne Silvergrande S3C
Norne Zoetic
DIY double gauge wywires platinum with duelund solid core
DIY double gauge wywires red with duelund solid core
DHC Complement 4 hardwires to HD800
Norne Draug(sold)
Norne Silvegrade S(sold)
WyWires RED(sold)

Power-Related Components
PS Audio P12
PS Audio P5(sold)

Other Audio Equipment
Bottlehead Quickie
Bottlehead PeePre
Halberth P3ESR
Wywires Platinum IC
Wywires Silver IC
Wywires Silver mains
Schiit Vali

I’ve also got a large collection of tubes, happy to give you feedback on the majority of sought after 6SN7,L63,12AU7,6AS7G, 5U4G and equivalents, 2A3, 300B, PX4, 45, VT52 and various 4V ones.

Hi my name is M17XR2B and I’m a tube addict.

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Welcome M17XR2B! I too am a tube addict! Glad to see another DNA owner around!

Sorry about what happened over at SBAF :frowning:

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Welcome!

Why is the Stellaris under a shelf? No one puts baby in a corner! Shame!

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