Charismatic

Mackie,

 

Shanling CDP/SACDP seems to have some reliability issues. I'll put a pause button on that one for now at least.

 

Charismatic,

Added to that SACD software (thought better than before) is still limited. I would go for a better redbook player. Roughly split your S$3K budget into 3 parts. And go from there.

 

If your 3K is for your headphone setup, I suggest you bring your Creek & CDP to my place and give the Corda and Grado (which I sell a listen).  The Beyer DT-880 also corrects many of the flaws found in the Senn HD-600.

 

The only real way to know is to listen for yourself - otherwise it's a hit and miss approach.

 

If you don't wish to spend too much on a new HP Amp then go for the X-Cans but that only solves part of the HD-600 veiled sound.

 

You might want to send Tee a PM as he has the Shanling and just ordered a Grado RS-2 and Corda HA-1 from me yesterday. BTW he has the Beyer DT-880 as well as a Grado RA-1.

 

Your Call, Have Fun.

Thanks again Rameish,

have to settle the source first. But i m a cans guy, so do worry, u will have business .

And yes, enjoy the music.

Charismatic:

 

Looking through your request, it's quite a tall order as system building is based on one's musical taste, sonic preference, room size and lots of research/auditioning.  No system can excel in all kinds of music and in this respect, I would appreciate if U can start by telling us your preferred repertoire. 

 

Next area in question is, do U listen more to headphone or speakers?  U seem to have quite a large budget ($3000?) and with due respect, balance and synergy is vital to system building.  I recommend an overhaul of both systems so that U can achieve a sonic balance and pleasure at the same time.

 

If U're considering a multi-channel SACDP, this feature is redundant for headphone setup.  Not may SACDPs fare well in both SACD and redbook playback and those that do cost lots of money.  If U wish to seek a balance in the 2 systems and SACDP is a must-buy, I would place it in the speakers system.  However, your old luxman amp and wharfedale speakers are likely to be replaced with more contemporary gears that can handle the much wider bandwidth of SACDs.

 

If U listen more to cans, has low priority for the speakers setup and SACDP is a must-have, I'm afraid the current headamp may not be able to do justice.  Why not get a better cdp with 24/96 or 24/192 oversampling?  The Consonance Opera 2.2 (24/192) cost around $1750 (depending on wood or steel chassis cover) and has tube driven output.  Accolades aside, the tube signature should give U warm vocals and a more analogue sound.  Marantz CD17MkIII ($1099) is also another lovely player, warm and dynamic at the same time.  Marantz SA8260 is an economical SACD/redbook player (around $1250) which handles SACDs pretty well but perhaps less so in redbook playback relative to CD17III (subject to taste of course).  At around the $2000 mark, there's the awsome looking Shanling cdps/SACDPs (tube output too).

 

Beyond this, I can no longer be of help until choices are narrowed down to a few.  Afterall, music and sound is YMMV....personal.

Mr Mackie,

thank for u precious time to reply to my query. .

Prefer neutral, it should sound as it's intended at least from the source(SACD or CD). No more and no less. If the source is a crappy recording, then it is crappy, and vice versa.

listen more to hp. Not able to expand on spk setup as prohibited by circumstances. $3000 is guideline, not a forced budget where every stated cents has to be spent, i have to stop somewhere. Overhaul of both? i will got a BIG headache, no lah don't want lah.

i would give spk setup a pass.

Pls eleborate as to why the current hp amp may be insufficient, thks.

would still prefer a SACDP that also do well in Redbook. Do u know anyone(not the dealer) that have marantz SA17 or SA14 where i can've audition?

What is YMMV?

My take on this is:

 

1) It's not an SACD issue.

2) There is no synergy between your current CDP (warm), HP amp (warm) and Senn HD-600 (also warm and lush).

3) You can do several things but the question is: Do you find a lack of dynamics in your system? That is your foot is not taping to the music and you mind wanders about thinking about other things while you hear (but not listen) to music.

 

If you answered yes to any of the above, I may be able to help you recommending a more detailed CDP, amp and headphone.

 

BTW I'm assuming the CD5000 sounds similar to the CD6000 OSE.

1) need SACD. Police SACD is selling $23.99 at Sembawang and it may be cheaper at some cd shop in chinatown. Have to go and check things out again.

2) Feel that the creek and senn are under-achieved.

3) not sure. depends on the type of music. sometime the thinking may preoccupy me regardless of the music. That is another issue..non-audio of course.

would still prefer a SACDP. Thanks for the offering, hear from the rest of the forumer u r a nice guy . May look for u for amp once i settle the source thing.

Yes they sound similar, they have the Marantz sound(i m not joking).

Thanks once again.

try koss ksc-50 or ksc-55 from hung brothers.. about 50 dollars each I think

I personally like the neckband ksc-55 !!

the sound is about the same as ksc-35

Ok! I will go and check thing out! Thanks!

Good Afternoon.

I bought a old luxman int amp + old wharfedale spk to pair up with my marantz cd5000. It's another headache, placement of spks, room acoustic...and the setup since like don't do well in complex music(a lot of instrument one), in fact is BAD. However, it's doing OK with jazz, vocal, reggie, simple music(less instrument), which is what i needed. It do quite well with live vocals from tuner, that comes as a surprise.

With that, i m relegating the cd5000 to spk setup and i have no Source for the hp amp and hp setup now.

Sincerely, I would like to seek help from fellow forumer, esp members with vast experience in system matching/pairing to recommend a SACDP(2 ch or multi-ch also can) with equivalent for my hp setup. My budget can never >$3000 and preferably the budget can contain a pair of IC also and the brand of SACDP is not an issue.

The recommendation should be, in no order of preference,

1) the pros and cons of the recommended SACDP to pair with my hp setup.

2) the resale value of the recommended SACDP.

3) the musciality of the SACDP(both sacd and redbook), vocal, allrounder, handle complex music well,etc

4) the SACDP can be used in what sort of spk setup, i.e. to pair with what amp & spk should it is to be used a spk setup.

5) The sonic of the SACDP, sound stage, image, high, low,...all the jargons...etc.

6) What i need to change to the hp amp and hp should i get the recommended SACDP and want an even better sacdp-hpamp-hp setup

7) the IC, yes it's vital also, esp for hp setup.

Thanks!

Thanks folks ,

i want to get Koss because i would like to heard the "American sound" (becos it's an American brand!). Grado hp is too big to be carried around.

Got any spare ksc35 to sell?

Or is the ksc50 good also? Or any other koss(earbud or earclip one) that is comparable with ksc35 in terms of sound characteristic?

Have a nice day!

Good morning forumer.

Visited hungbro yesterday and was told that no more stock and the supplier not bring it in any more as it was discontinued. However, KSC35 is still shown as current product in Koss website(http://www.koss.com/koss/kossweb.nsf/HomeCatalog).

Would like to find out from forumer who owns the mentioned portable hp, where to get it other than hungbro.

Thanks!

ablaze: that's because we are listening to high quality ripped mp3s.. talk about 192 kbps lame encoded.. lol

The quality is at least 80-85 percent of the real cd. So the gap is closer.Hence, our source is quite already. Then, when we change the headphones, the difference is very detectable

That's why some people go as far as running art di/o out of their cmputer, as they feel it can rival cd qualities( budget- mid end), definately not in the class of those 5-6 thousands cd players.

oh 192kbps. I used to encoded with 320kbps(rip from CD). Still found something amiss...like some depth(i don't know how to explain) is not there as compare to CD. Now i spend less time on listening to MP3 through PC at office. Instead i got a pcdp(Sony D777) and listen from there.

kekeke..

yeah, I have tried hd600, only for a while, in rameish's house.

My opinion : with the obh-11se and his marantz 6000, the senn does vocals like no other cans, subjectively speaking anyway.

The sound is very warm( I like), smooth and the strength lies in vocal. Utada hikaru's vocal appears as though she is right there in front of me.. very life like.

This is what I like about the can. Probably it has got to do with the setup also.

 

I don't remember hearing any veil.. well.. probably because I have untrained ears. But even if it does, I can safely say that it doesn't destroy the sound. In my opinion, the veil is there for a reason (try digging the head-fi thread on this), some people commented it is there because senn engineers want to make it like live performance. I am not sure how true is this.

 

But in my case, the hd600 is a very pleasnt cans for vocals and orchestral.

 

Anyway, I've recently bought Tim janis' cd: with american symphony orchestra, recorded at alice tully hall. Very nice cd.. the songs are dead-on relaxing...

I wonder if there are anymore such relaxing cds..(I am sure alot)lol.. right now I am crazy about instrumental music

I have similar setup like that u hearnt at Mr. Rameish's place. Pls refer to my home setup. Late night listen of melancholic femal vocals like NaYing, WanFang or XingSiaoChi, sassy vocal of Norah Jones is fantastic...i mean that is to my ears only.

IMHO, we should listen to music...not listen to "cans", why purposely go and switch among cans to detect the veil... cans is there to let u listen to music, of course u get better music from better cans...ultimately is that your cans lets you enjoy the music u like.

finger point to the moon - r u referring to the moon u finger is pointing or the finger that point to the moon?

i m a senn supportor, heehee

u use a dvd player as source?

My 2 cents:

 

For me, the reason why I came up with that order is simply because how the signal path travels, as shown below:

 

Source -> Amp -> Headphone

 

It's the domino effect, if the first stage falter, the second stage will go as well and so on.

 

 

 

However, I do wish to put in something else. I somehow seem to think that different stages affects different aspects of the music.

 

The source comprise of the transport and the DAC. The role of the DAC is to get the digital bits of 1010 from the diss and then convert it to analog signals, hence DAC Digital Analog Converter. Thus the source will provide detail, accuracy, timing, tonality or in fact, whatever bits of sound that has been recorded. This is the first place where everything can go wrong.

 

This signal is then passed on to the amplifier. The role of the amplifier is to simply amplify the input signals. It get crappy signals, it delivers crappy signals. Pracitcal amplifiers tend to affect the transients, the attacks, the loudness, the brightness of sound but at times, a poorly designed amp will also affect the pitch, the tones etc. This is the second place where things can go wrong.

 

The headphones usually affect the brightness, the extension of bass and treble, soundstage, imaging etc. I prefer to thnk that the latter two have to do with the design and build of the amps, i.e. the physical properties.

 

An example that relates to the early topic, if you want to hear a clear, high treble, you must first have the source that has a wide bandwidth, as an early roll-off would definitely affect the treble, likewise on the bass. Then you must have an amp that's capable as well. Finally, you would have the headphones that able to reproduce the sonic effects. However, if the source has an early roll-off, you wouldn't hear the trebles, unless you have an amp that has a frequency response curve that's biased on the highs or if you use an equaliser.

 

Another thing about that sequence of source-amp-headphone is that you may spend less on upgrading equipment. A story I've liked to use is that :

 

The source is the foundation of the building, no matter how good you can build the windows, the roof, the walls, a shaky foundation will eventually pull the whole building down. Get the roots right and the tree will grow.

 

okay, enough of the blabbering. Sorry for being so long-winded. All the above are just my humble opinions and just for everyone's info, the previous path I took was : Headphone -> Amp -> Source. Now that I know its demerits, I would always tell everyone to follow the Source->Amp->Headphone.

hi Northern Oak,

Good analysis...i don't know u but u should be from engineering background, right?

Just that the IC between cdp and amp and the hp cable between amp and hp need to be considered in the flow also...they do affect the signals.

Try SLS or SLT.

Good Afternoon breakneck .

Sony V700DJ.

Good Afternoon forumers ,

Just a update. The Technics PCDP refused to work after 5 days of usage,

mati liao(death in Melayu ). I have exchanged it with a Sony E445 but have to top with $38 more... . The E445 is more stable and less skippy then the SL SP-150. Sound wise, it's comparable with the SL SP-150, no complain.

Good Afternoon Ablaze ,

Final destination? I thought it's just the beginning? Since u got all the necessary eqpt done, it should now be the time to listen to u CDs, LPs or whatever source to "rediscover" them or buy new source to enjoy. The journey has just started...my -2 cents.

Good Evening ,

There isn't a permanent thread(stricky) that list out the forumers' audio eqpt and configuration.

Just like I have posted a question earlier regarding the Stax earspeaker and 0 reply... ...should i know no forumer owns a Stax, i would not post the question. To avoid such embarrassment i would like to suggest a permanent thread for forumers' audio config.

A suggested format would be something as follows:

(my current config)

Source

-Marantz CD5000(temp)

-Iriver SP250(semi-perm)

-Technics SL SP-150 (temp)

Amp

- Creek OBH11 + OBH2 pwr sup (rather perm)

Headphone

- Senn HD600 (rather perm)

- Senn HD200 (semi-perm)

- Sony V700DJ (semi-perm)

- Sony 73(Spiral) (very temp)

(my future config - subjected to the availability of $$ )

Source

- Shanling SCD-T200 (need a lot of $$$)

- Sony SCD XA777ES (need a lot of $$$)

- Sony EJ01 (need <= SG489)

Amp

- Stax Tube amp (need a lot of $$$)

- Stax SS amp (need a lot of $$$)

headphone

- Stax Omega (need a lot of $$$)

- Stax SR-001 mk2 (need SG400)

- Senn PX200 (need < SG100)

P.S. the format is just my suggestion, there may be better ways from the others forumer and is subjected to the acceptance of the moderator to convert it to permanent thread(sticky).

Good Afternoon ,

just got this old PCDP from cash convertor for $31 2 days ago. It has 2-DAC/8 times oversampling labelled on the front of the PCDP. High current output, no problem driving directly my Senn HD600, Senn HD200(even harder to drive than HD600 even though the impedence ohm stated in it spec is 64ohm, 600 has 300 ohm), sony v700dj and sony 73(spiral).

It occasionally skip, guess that is why it's at the cash convertor. However, I found that if i place it vertical [], rather than flat [ ], lesser skip, weird...

When i listen it with African tribal type of music like Deep Forest, it is great! fast, punchy, on to u face. Guess this PCDP would be good for rock and pop music.

However, for jazz like Jennifier warne or norah jones where emphasis is detail and tone, it is not as good as IRiver SP250 which I have one also.

I was not able to find any further info on this PCDP on the web. Any kind soul here has the technical specification for the PCDP? Furthermore, anyone know how much is it to replace the CD len for PCDP?

Thank you.

Good night ,

I would like know if any forumer using/used the Stax SR-001 mk2?

Thank you .

Guy,

 

What am I going to do with an OHB11SE without the power supply hmm. It can't use the OBH-1 btw.

 

If you're interested call me. I think you know the number.

Hi Rameish,

need to consult u something on the OBH-2 pwr sup. I bought a OBH-2 pwr sup from hungbro. There is a small sticker on the plug indicating that it has a earth line. However, when i unscrew and open up the plug i found that it has no earth line. Does u OBH2 pwr sup has earth line? I called hungbro and only being informed that the .'. head is for the ease of plugging in instead of the . . head, they are implying that there is not earth line for the OBH2 pwr sup....is it true?

Thank you.