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Guys, maybe it is too early... but in any case any of you have heard the Shure SRH840... how does it sound compared to other closed/open headphone that you have? I'm particularly interrested to know how it is compared to Sennheiser HD25-1... Thanks, --- David

Hi Alvin, thanks for your reply.... and thanks on your found about the HD600 and K701 matching/unmatching with the MPA2.5. It seems that many people at the head-fi mention that K701 have better synergy with tube amp... I'll follow your development on your other amp :-) that you say sound like tube amp... Thanks, --- David

Hi Alvin, I'm not new in SGHeadphones... but I've been inactive for quite a long time... so that I do not follow any latest activities around SGHeadphones. I saw in your blog posts, your MPS2.5 pictured with K702... What do you think the difference between MPA2.5 driving the HD600 and K702? Regards, --- David

Hi TGR, where did you get the DAC? I'm still waiting a NOS Philips cd player with TDA1549... which I read is a close DAC to TDA1305T (the difference would be only the default oversampling received) I'm interrested to try the TDA1305T DAC as well... Thanks, --- David

what about for half of your budget but will sound very good? Check Crossroad Mylar 1 X3 at Jaben at Adelphi... http://www.jaben.net/ This is my highend budget IEM... (I'm not kidding... and don't be fooled with the price...) --- David

Hi Joi-ful, thanks for your update... maybe last time I do not spend enough time to listen to UM2 so that I did not notice the hump that you mention... one thing that actually sounds strange to me is... UM2 sounds very powerfull/impactfull... which is too good to be true... I mean I'm not sure if that kind of impact is really on the recorded material... (see my opinion on the http://www.sgheadphones.net/index.php?showtopic=5495# and http://www.sgheadphones.net/index.php?showtopic=5495#) UM2 sounds more powerfull than MS2 or DT990... when I hear UM2 before I listen to MS2 and DT990.... I'm really amazed by UM2... but after I heard MS2 and DT990... I later think that might be UM2 is not right... any way... if I have a chance I will try UM2 once again... I will check SF5pro too... (too bad, might be I don't have a chance to visit Singapore again this year...) Thanks... cheers, --- David

hi Joi-ful, I never hear shuffle... last time I hear UM2 with my notebook earphone out... and I don't think I hear no bass bloat at that time (I admit I only have a short time to hear it. Also my notebook earphone out sounds "neutral to cold", which match my warm SR60)... What kind of bloat? is it boomy or is it loose? Thanks, --- David

Hi Joi-ful, May I know... when you hear UM2 have strange bloated bass... what player (or equipment) that you use with it? Thanks, --- David

If you want to use Decware SET SE84C amp, why don't you ask Steve Dekert on what "budget" speaker that his amp would happily to drive? From what I read SE84C is different then normal SET amp... which prefer stable 8ohm impedance... SE84C can drive 2 ohm safely... (at about 4WRMS..., since at 8ohm it can only deliver about 1WRMS) Speakers with >= 89db sensitivity usually come from: Tannoy (M2, M3), KEF (check Q1, Q3), JM Lab, Triangle, some B&W, JMR (Jean Marie Reynaud), etc... SET is not for: Revel & Dyanudio check AHFartaudio, he has Fostex horn... Regards, --- David

he, he.... Bram, apa kabar...? I'm about to post this chip too... I check Farnell still do not carry it... I wonder whether any reltailer carry it... Jadi pulang ke Jakarta? Regards, --- David

Yes... Aron got it right... that's how WBT always suggest for terminating cable to their plug... my version is abit different... I don't cover the whole cable unto the braid using big copper tube... instead I use small size copper tube... (usually used on aircon or refrigerator to carry refrigerant fluid between radiator and the blower) to cover only the braid/mesh wire, which previously has been unbraided and then twisted tightly... crimpt it tightly... so that it seems the the tube and the wire becoming unite (copper is soft right... it also provide airtight-ness to the previously exposed wire) and then screw the connector to the crimped part... with the small copper tube it is possible to screw only to the crimped part without the crimped part touching other ground part... Do you know where this idea comming from? Bullet plug... I try to reduce the connecting point between the wire and the metal part of the plug... just like bullet plug... on bullet plugh you solder it right on the two small part of the plug... so that the electron will flew only to the concentrated joint... theoretically this should reduce time smearing... of course this only valid for plug with screw on the ground body... like WBT and some other cheap plug... (I think DAIYO is quite good... if you can find the one that is non magnetic) Regards, --- David

Hi guys, I want to share some experience that I know about DIYing interconnect... I once had a "business" of selling IC with Belden 89259 in Indonesia... (not run for long time enough... only managed to sell about 20 pairs... and have no time to follow on...) 89259 is good cable as it is... the key to make it sounds (if it really have the sounds :-) good is the good RCA plug... but there is something more important to make it sound good with whatever RCA plug that you use... read on... I once try it with many variations: from cheap tiffany style, cheap thick style, Canare (original) tiffany style, Eichmann copper bullet plug, and Neutrik Profi... From all above plugs... I can only say that it never sound good enough with tifffany style plugs, including Canare... whatever way... including soldering the braided shield wire as close as possible to the ground part of the plug... It also sound not good enough when I use a cheap thick plug, when I solder them... Later I found that soldering the braided wire like the shield wires on the 89259 is not easy... it acts like soldering wick... and this is added with the fact that thick plug need very hot solder to get the thick metal get enough temperature to melt the solder wire... that's why I never been able to make a perfect joint by soldering the braided wire to the thick plug... thus it cannot sound good... the 89259 start to sound good with the thick plug when I experiment like this... the central conductor is still soldered... but the braided wire is... I cover it with copper tube and pressed it... then I screw the tubed wire with the screw of the thick ground part of the plug... I make it such that only the screw that connect to the pressed copper tube (so the copper tube never directly touch the ground part of the plug)...It works well... This is the main combination which sell most during my business day... It beats my own QED Qunex 2 and based on my customer feedback, it beats Nordost low end interconnect too... I can understand now why WBT always suggest to use crimped copper tube to terminate cable to the gound part of WBT plug Then I use Eichmann bullet plug... the 89259 sound more focus and balanced with this plug... this has been long become my own interconnect in my system... before permanently replaced by Eichmann Express 6 cable later on... (no contest at all... Express 6 is few league better) Then since bullet plug has reliability problem... (it is 95% plastic) I try with Neutrik Profi... To my ears it sounds quite similar to bullet plug for the 89259... 89259 with bullet plug has been tested by my friend and comparable head to head to Kimber PBJ. PBJ is meatier but 89259-bullet sounds more focus... both has very close character... 89259 with bullet also head-to-head to Nordost Black Knight, but with different character... 89259 more balanced and relaxed and BK has better bottom and analytical... So as good as it is... standard 89259 (I never modify the cable; like twisting it or others) is respectable cable... I think I already push it to the maximum performance when I use Eichmann bullet and Neutrik profi... the result is repeatable... since then I also sold some IC with bullet and profi, the sounds character is stable... Another so..., termination is one other key to make 89259 (or any cable... or any electronic part joint) "sounds" good... both bullet and profi are easy to solder... thus produce perfect joint with the cable... Cheers, --- David

Mackie... is spot on... Regarding the DAC..., Joi-ful... please give it a check... An AKIRA DVD (I think only about Sin$40) (even better if the digital coax RCA out modified with BNC jack)..., combined with a good DAC... could sound better than most budget cd players... REgards, --- David

Hi Earphoners, I check that few days back Aron mention that he has d-Jay sample with him... Anybody has tried it? Impression to share? Thanks, --- David

Sorry... I make mistake... Sovtek 6n1p... actually I mean to mention Svetlana 6N1P...... because in the past time I do not hear about Sovtek making 6N1P... (I know that Sovtek making 6922 but... not 6N1P) So 6N1P model always relates to Svetlana... Until I found: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6N1P So I realise now that both might come from the same "Voskhod" factory... REgards, --- David

Hi Shi Hao, if you have notebook/laptop... try to come to Jaben... Uncle Wilson has Fubar USB DAC... Try it... and compare it to his cd player... (I think Cambridge Audio or Rotel... cannot recall) http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/audiocandy2/candy_3.html http://www.google.com.sg/search?hl=en&q=fubar+usb+dac&meta= Alternatively... use cheap DVD player with coaxial digital out and get this: http://diyparadise.com/dackit/1545bdackit.html The second might will sound better the first one above... Regards, --- David

Not an easy task.... but first you might want to check what is the highest voltage printed on the capacitors... 6922 can work on low voltage such us 70 to 80 VDC (volt DC)... but in most application it goes to 150 VDC, with 6N1P can goes beyond that... So if it is 100V on the cap... then it is 'quite' safe... unless you have a heart attack problem... most likely you won't be killed by 100 Volt... though it still shocking... Beyond 120 V is starting to be dangerous.... Some way to check: (it is not recommended if you don't have a skill to work on electronic circuit especially the high voltage circuit) (It is also a lot better to have the schematic on the circuit to work with...) If you can find the B+ voltage point (that is sometimes marked as V+) on the board and then you see Ground sign (GND or ground picture)... use DC voltmeter and measure both points... CAREFULLY!!! In other case, if you have V+ and V-, you might be want to check the voltage between both points too... A power supply section designed with safety in mind usually include drain resistors after the caps to make sure that the stored energy would be gradually zeroed after a certain time. If you check that there is such a resistor... then you might just give a time to the amp to cooling down (tube is hot right...?) while at the same time the voltage might already been dropped to the safe value... But... if you give a certain time and you check that the voltage is still high... then there is no such a drain resistor on the circuit... then the only safe way is to get a high-wattage/high-voltage resistor, 5Kohm/10W would be enough wire them on both end... cover them in an insulator (like high voltage heatshrink tube) then have both wire end with alligator clips. CAREFULLY!! Clips the resistor to B+ to Ground, or V+ to V-, or V+ to GND and GND to V-... wait for the certain time... check the voltage again... By suggesting above... I PERSONALLY DON'T WANT TO BE BLAMED FOR ANY ACCIDENT HAPPENED WITH YOU... (though if something bad happened with you, you might be don't have life any longer to blem me ... sorry bad jokes... but that is the fact...) REgards, --- David

Sin$15 for Sovtek 6N1P should be good price... normally it is sold for US$6 in the US... consider the shipping cost... and yuo got it safe in Sing already... Don't bother to look for 6N1P in other brand than Sovtek cause it will never be available... 6N1P is a new production tube and made only by Sovtek. It has close characteristic to 6922 / 6DJ8... but with certain different parameters too, especially it can stand higher voltage than normal 6922/6DJ8. It might can be used on 6922/6DJ8 circuit... but be carefull if you do the otherwise.... that is a circuit optimized for 6N1P... might won't fit for 6922/6DJ8... without any modification to drop the voltage... AND be carefull to playe with tube... sometimes the circuit work on the lethal voltage... MAKE sure that all capacitors fully discharged before you touch the circuit... An off tube amp with 400volt capacitor might still save the energy of 400 volt in its capacitors... Regards, --- David

IMHO...: SR 60 is the best value for its price... MS1 is even better value than SR60 for its price... http://www.sgheadphones.net/index.php?s=&s...indpost&p=75419 http://www.sgheadphones.net/index.php?s=&s...indpost&p=75421 If I to choose now... I'll save for MS1 than to go with SR60... (too bad MS1 is not available 5 years ago when I bought my SR60) Regards, --- David

Surprise, surprise.... unplanned at all, but my training finished one hour earlier and I still have time rush to Jaben... I will have one hour on Jaben Uncle Wilson is really nice as all the story spread about him in this forum... He is a kind of person that love his customers... because he loves them and not because they bought something from him... With the same notebook and songs, I audition the following phones: Allesandro MS2 -------------- They sound close to SR225... if my memory is correct... (I read that human memory can only hold details and characteristics of sound for 15 minutes... :-)) On the high freq. seems to be easier than SR225... Impact seems less than SR225... Strangely, I think I hear a fairly bit thickness on some CaiQin voices... (My ear is sensitive to overly resonated mezzo soprano - contralto female voice)... that I do not hear on SR225... I don't know which one is correct... the MS2 or the SR225 MS2 is definitely not using the same driver as SR225... it is a lot more efficient than SR225... MS2 is about the same efficient as SR60 Beyerdynamic DT880 ------------------ Sound similar to Allesandro MS2.... but it is not in the same class as MS2.... less detailed than MS2... Beyerdynamic DT990 ------------------ This one is definitely in the same level as MS2.... even sound very close... It is easier to ear than MS2... about the same impact... and without the resonated voice I mention MS2... It is a hair more detailed than MS2... (very difficult to disguise but...) Though not as difficult as SR225 to drive... I must put almost max all the volume up to drive this phone... Once again... surprising... my notebook can drive 250 ohms phone... Beyerdynamic DT770 ------------------ Not in the same class at all compared to other Beyer above and MS2... Maybe because I'm so used to listen to open phone... I think it does not sound natural... even worse it is colored on tenor male voice (Counting Crow: Big Yellow Taxi)... Alessandro MS1 -------------- It sound a bit distant from ear than SR60 but not as distant as MS2/DT880/DT990 (all three in the same distant level) It is good phone too but not in the same level as MS2/DT880/DT990... It sounds different... rightly between SR60 and DT880 I think it is even have better value compared to SR60... ----------------- So if I'm allowed to rank all the phones that I hear I will list them as: the lower to better quality... at least to my ear... UM1 SR60 MS1 DT880 UM2 SR225/MS2/DT990 (all three are in the same level) Sorry I cannot include CK7, DR150 and DT770 on the list.... they are not for my ear... Actually in Jaben... I do not always listening to the phones.... It is more fun to talk to friendly Uncle Wilson than to listen to the music... :-) I learn many things from him... :-) just in one visit... No choice... I have to save more to increase my budget to get the better phone... (I previously hope DR150 is as good as SR225... or at least close... but seems to be wrong...) Which phone I would consider then? The last four from my list above: UM2/SR225/MS2/DT990 - UM2 for it's impact and intimacy... (all other three cannot beat it in this regard) - SR225 for the best value being the cheapest form all four - MS2 and DT990 for their overall quality... but lean toward DT990 for it's 250ohms impedance... (easier to drive with tube amp...) That's all folks..:-) --- David

Hi Guys, I would like to share my experience on searching my new earphone/headphone on Tuesday (Aug 22) night on Stereo Electronic. (Aron... if you read this post... thanks for your staffs courtesy and friendliness... I read somewhere in this forum that some members asking you for better service... and I can share to others that whatever Aron takes, I experience only a good night on Stereo... kudos to them...) I have one night and one day for a training in Singapore... so I use the chance to go to Stereo at that night. I managed to spend one hour at the store. I bring my notebook HP Compaq nc6220. Before, at home, I carefully compare the output part of this notebook with my home system (Meracus Tanto CD player with AD827 output stage, which originally from the manufacturer's come with Class A biasing on the opamp and temperature controlled clock, a serious player >>> Eichmann Express 6 interconnect >>> Going to PINT with OPA2107 gain stage and OPA2604 virtual grounding; simplified without charger component; point-to-point wiring; no LED pilot lamp; oversized PS caps, bypassed with 100n caps everywhere; 1.5uF WIMA MKP DC blocking cap for L/R channel; no L1 and C3 at all. Amazingly this notebook phone out sound so close to my system which still win a bit on smoothness, a bit more detail and involvement compare to the notebook. But my notebook is a bit sweeter and has more impact than my system (maybe because of opa2107/2604 combination... both famous to have low impact sound). The songs I use to compare: (I play only parts that I'm familiar and particular to listen to sweet songs, complex passage, good and detailed treble, instrument sound like piano & trumpet & sax, attack, male and female vocal, base frequency, etc.) CaiQin - Golden Songs: track 1; 2; 3, 4 Counting Crow - Films About Ghosts: Angels of The Silences; Big Yellow Taxi; Anna Begins Jennifer Warnes - The Hunter: Lights Of Lousianne; The Hunter; I Can't Hide ColdPlay - A Rush of Blood..: In My Place FourPlay - The Best: Chant; Track 12.. forget the title... Phil Collins sings the song John Williams - Greatest Hits 1969-1999: Jaws, Saving Private Ryan, JFK, Olympic Contennial Mark Isham - Blue Sun: Barcelona, That Beautiful Sadness Pat Metheny - We Live Here: Here To Stay, The Girls Next Door STING - The Best: If You Love Somebody Set Them Free Alison Krauss - Forget About It: Forget About It, Dreaming My Dreams With You So I have a set of songs with their own greatness and weakness to be reproduced through the phones that I compare. I listen to: - my own Grado SR60 as my reference - Audio Technica ATH CK7 - Westone UM1 - Westone UM2 - GoldRing DR150 with standard QED cord - Grado SR225 So this is my finding: ATH CK7 ------- Mid is a bit clearer than SR60. Base sound similar with SR60 but SR60 goes lower. High is ear bleeder especially on rock. Definitely a cold sounding earphone. I can understand why it is a complement to warm sounding Creative portable player like Muvo series. I spend only for a while with this phone... cannot stand long enough... It is impossible to use it on my notebook and listen to it for a long time. CK7 is also less efficient or need more drive than SR60; I have to increase the volume everytime after listening to SR60. Westone UM1 & UM2 ---------------- Surprisingly UM1's character is similar to SR60 but with flatter sounding (not frequency flat) and not as involving as SR60. Mid is cleaner than SR60, but it is probably because in most parts it sound thinner (in all frequency region) compared to SR60. Less balanced compared to SR60. To get a bit the body of the sound, I can increase the volume... but it makes it sound even less balanced and more forward... even starting to harsh... which is not good for rock songs. I read comment on this forum and also the comment from the Stereo staff that UM2 is UM1 with better sounding on the base and more dynamic.... Then my finding is... UM2 is totally different animal...(read: higher race :-)... I'm racist about the sound... :-)) UM2 is more efficient (easier to drive... I have to lower the volume everytime I use it), even compared to SR60. OTOH UM2 sounds good on low volume or on high volume... (UM1 bad on high volume) Everything sound bold, powerfull and muscullar (not thick, but) on UM2. It is a much "better" version of SR60. Piano sound very good on UM2... I can hear it reproduce the wood sound hitting the piano string... (sorry... I don't know how to call that part on the piano) UM1 might only be good for lively player (read: colored player) otherwise it will sound flat. UM2 will make a player that sound a thin to have more body on the sound... I never hear Shure or ER or UE and don't have a chance to hear them. But anybody who want a really portable earphone, I believe, UM2 is one of the best you can have. If I personally to take earphone... I would not take UM1 and save straight to get UM2. Both do not compared at all... I read somewhere that for inner-ear- or ear-phone to compete with headphone, it won't be cheap. Then I admit that it is true.... SR60 give a better value than UM1, and SR60 can be bettered by UM2 but with a steep price too... For it's price, although it is really designed to be portable, I doubt that somebody use UM2 with cheap portable player.. and I ever more doubt that there is portable player (with MP3, even with 320Kbps CBR) can send enough musical information details to the UM2... (I never hear FLAC on those protable... is it good?) Goldring DR150 -------------- To my surprise.... I'm just spending a while with this headphone. It is not because it sound different than Grado.... My surprise is it's treble/high region do not sound natural at all... too thin... Why I can say that? because I have my 'humble' reference speaker Dynaudio Audience 40, which sound similar to SR60, especially on treble/high region. Although cannot compare on the detail and sweetness to my friends systems (with Merlin VSM, which using the Dyn tweeter too; with Lowther full range speaker; with bunch of tube amps), at least I know that my Dyn sounds "correct". (I know that Dyn Aud 40 sound a bit lifted on the high freq.) The treble has the body. Not thin like DR150. DR150 is definitely not above SR60/SR80. DR150 and SR80 are on the same level. (I myself think SR80 is on the same level as SR60, but with a bit better base and clearer sound, which is also because it use open bowl pad while SR60 use pad with no hole). Somebody might like it, but not me. And if the cable must be replaced... it will add another cost to the phone. SR225 ----- A different animal (with higher race too....) compared to SR60. It produce a lot more detail. More impact and attack. But it also sound distant and more relax than SR60 (though on the high region it can sound less friendly than SR60). It is more detail than UM2. But at the same time not as bold as UM2. It does not have the impact of UM2. If SR225 sounds "natural", which I think so..., then it means that UM2 is actually colored; though in a good way (my SR60 is also colored in a good way compared to SR225). The other difference of SR225 to UM2, is SR225 sound sound like all the musician play song distant outside of my ear; UM2 sound like all the musician play outside but close in my ear, While SR60, all the musician play inside my ear. SR225 is less efficient or need more drive than SR60. On some songs, like "The Hunter", I have to maximize all the volume on my notebook (both master volume control and the "Wave" volume control). And it sometimes still sound too low (on "Jaws" soundtrack I cannot hear the opening part...).... Then I start to realise... how good my notebook amp actually... it does not distort at all on max volume... SR60 ---- To my surprise.... after comparing to SR225.... I would say that there is advantage of this phone even over SR225.... Because it sound "closer" to the ear... it is more "involved" with the user... even when compared to SR225. It is like the musician play for my ear. It is sweeter than SR225. It is also less forgiving than SR225. It would not a proper analogy but it can be something like this: you know a beauty woman with a good voice. When she talks in a distant from you... you can admire her completely; her voice will be clearer too. Compare it to when she talk right on your ear; her voice most likely will not be clearer and will be heavier too, but at the same time it would be more intimate to you... :-) For it's price it is a phone with a super value... ---- So after spending about one hour comparing them... which one that I buy? :-) Bad news: cannot decide yet... and the store is closing... but value wise...I'm leaning toward SR225... Too bad I cannot audition Alessandro MS2... to compare to SR225, they are out of stock.... including the demo unit... so here come the good news for you all: Stereo staff leak an information about Alessandro.... since for the next batch Stereo order more stock units, they might probably get cheaper cost price... which in turn allow them to offer MS2 with cheaper price... :-) ... the staff said will be closer to $400 then previously to $500... :-) I'll be waiting for the Allesandro MS2... compared to SR225... After knowing the competition, I must say that I'm really pleased with SR60 for potable use. Suddenly I'm not in urged to get a new phone now... But if I get SR225, it would be for my reference at home only... Cheers, --- David

Hi Mackie, I think there is a truth and falsity both on "If a can exhibits a flat response curve in between the frequency extremes eg 5Hz-30KHz, where a natural rolloff is apparent., technically speaking, the can should not sound colored as coloration is caused by a hump/notch (dB gain/cut) in certain frequency band. This simply contradicts the flat response curve theory." In the speaker world, designer play with notch filter (electronically) to flaten the frequency response. They also lift up the response by playing with the box design (electroacoustic) including mass load, also to extend the response reach and to flaten frequency response. The result could be flatter frequency response... but it does not guarantee that coloration would not be there... there is frequency shift and time delay between the "driver case" resonance and the driver resonance it self that produce coloration. In other attempt, the designer can do many tweak to remove all the peaks and minimise the shift/delay, but at the end it can make the speaker sound dead. not lively at all... because either/or both that many musical information lost in the filter components or the driver movement is physically limited/affected by the "driver case"... It sound like "paling" the sound... but a pale colour is actually another colour right? Outside the speaker, the attempt using parametric equalizer... in most of the time resulting the same thing as I mention above... that's why when you said you hear someone correcting the room acoustic using equalizer the music simply gone... it is becuase many valuable musical infromation robed by the equalizer it self... I even believe that clinical, cold, hard or "cleaned" sound is actually another kind of coloration to the original music itself... In ideal world, if we can make one driver truly flat (or very minimum peak/dip) by itself in an open baffle (means no casing is required, moving freely in the air)... yes... that is when the flat response will be the accurate representation of the music signal... as natural as music should be... I myself could accept the unflat response if I can get better accuracy (and transparency) coming out... from the equipment that I hear... Just my two cents..., --- David

Hi Joi-ful, thanks for your reply... I understand that frequency response do not automatically relate to accuracy.... in fact the same with something sound sweet usually is also not accurate in the real sense... Just... the flatter the response (provided that it does not remove any inside detail) will make me easier to work on the equipments behind the phones... (I'm tweaking cd player, cables, amp, etc...) Although my budget is limited...my standard is high... by mentioning accuracy I mean comparing to the real musical instrument sound... This is something very difficult to get... I've heard violin played only 1 meter in front of me... I've heard a piano played few meters of me too... I'm dreaming to reach that realism in my system... But... soundstage is not really important to me... especially with headphone... which I don't think we can get with stereo recording.. (unless we go with binaural recording). I guess what we can achieve with headphones maximally is instrument layer separation... and that is what I hear on SR225 better than SR60... Hi Afbug, I'll give Allesandro a try then... seems to be a good candidate too... Last question... out of topic... what is the considered as the best converter to create OGG and FLAC file format? (just like LAME for the MP3)? Thanks, --- David

Hi Afbug, the moderator... right..? Yes... I'm sorry... I just realise that I post on the portable audio after I post it and walk back home... (I did post it in my work's pc)... too late... though not really portable actually when I travel for a bit longer usually I bring my SR60 since it can be flat packed and use it to listen through my laptop headphone socket... Maybe I do not stated it clearly...: - I like accurate sound... a bit forward is OK but I avoid laid back sound... the reason is because I want to use my headphone as my alternative monitor during tweaking my other rest of equipment or trying my DIY amp or others... - I used to believe what SR60 sound and use it as my monitor... but after I hear RS1... I realise that SR60 is coloured and not accurate... (a bit thicker mid sound) - I read somewhere that MS2 is more comparable to SR125.... which in my opinion is not a jump over SR60... I listen once SR225 which I found quite a jump over SR60/80... a lot more detail and instrument separation from SR225 (of course the biggest jump I've ever experience is when I listen to RS1) - I did try some AKG and like the sound too... but I think they are pricier than Grado for the equivalent model... - I mention DR150 because it seems that it is a bit forward and can deliver a lot of details too... which might be not far from Grado... if DR150 is flatter than SR225 then it might be even a better choice for me... (back to my first reason above... I need an honest monitor phone...) since I understand that the forwardness of Grado is mostly because it is a it peaking on high frequency... - If DR150 is really a good value... which do you think it will be comparable to other phone brand? regardless of the price? (so for example... for Grado to SR125 or SR225?) FYI... I do not live in Singapore... I just one or two times a year come to SIngapore because of my job... and usually only have a very limited time to shop around in Singapore... Thanks, --- David

Hi Guys, Need your advice to upgrade from Grado SR60... I love Grado's sound... and definitely don't love Sennheiser's sound... I'm blown away by Grado RS-1 after hear them at Bram's system (RS1 with well regulated PiMeta + AD8065)... I must say that RS-1 + his Pimeta is... "powerfull but very behaved sound" and leave my SR60 to dust... SR 60 sound coloured compared to RS-1... But... RS-1 is away out of my budget... and I'm looking for something in between for the next one or two years... Regardless of price difference... which one would be better DR150 or SR225? I check but nobody seems to write/comparing between both in written in this forum...? do I skipp the review? Oh yes... the cans will not for portable... I use it with a serious CD player and PINT amp... (which might be upgraded to PiMeta in the future....) Thanks, --- David