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littletree76

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About littletree76

  • Rank
    Junior Member

Previous Fields

  • Headphones
    Audio Technica ATH-ES5
  • Headphone amplifiers
    Ray Samuels Hornet
  • Sources
    iPod nano
  1. Tube headphone amplifier is mesmerizing according to my experience in listening to Schiit Valhalla paired with HD600 headphone. It's pleasant distortion particularly in high frequency range can not be created by solid state amplifier. Better still Schiit VAhhalla is still quite transparent and not too warm as other tube amplifiers. The main short coming with tube amplifier (strong point of solid state amplifier) is its low output capability to drive those difficult headphones. A good compromise is hybrid amplifier where pre-amplification stage is tube and power amplification stage is solid state. It can be good long term investment if you tend to switch headphone frequently with the same amplifier. Schiit Lyr is such hybrid headphone amplifier. Go visit Schiit website and someone claimed that it can even drive a pair of high efficient speakers. It is available for audition at Audio Iconic store in basement of Adelphi (friendly staffs). I bought the Valhalla from this store, hopefully sound signature of Lyr is close to Valhalla. These are made-in-USA headphone amplifiers with affordable prices.
  2. Klipsch X10i is an IEM earphone whereas Ultrasone HFI-780 is a headphone. Perhaps you should compare Klipsch Image One headphone at cheaper price with the HFI-780 headphone. Both headphones can be driven directly by portable players without amplifier. Ultimately you have to judge by your own ears and your favorite music genre with proper audition at the stores (Klipsch dealer is located in Adephi building) regardless of reviews in the Internet. I have bought and sold Ultrasone HFI-780 some time ago. As this is no longer a new product, there are many mod recommendations available in head-fi website for sound enhancement. I remember Stereo Electronics (the branch at Plaza Singapura) offer recabling service as well (call and talk to Aron Tan).
  3. I have been to these two shops some time ago in looking for tubes to upgrade my tube buffer. Most of the tubes found are brand new stocks manufactured in China or Russia but not NOS (New Old Stock) tubes manufactured in USA. Moreover finding match pair is impossible as these tubes are brand new from factories and have not been matched by users before. You need NOS tubes if matched pair is required for your application. NOS tubes are valued and priced higher than new tubes since they are no longer in production in USA and deemed to have gone through better manufacturing process than the new stocks (during 60s and 70s). Right now NOS tubes are only available through ebay, only pick sellers with good rating but not items/sellers located in Hong Kong or China. I have bad experience buying second tube buffer from seller registered in Hong Kong (but item shipped from factory in China) through ebay. The item was dead on arrival and seller refused refund according to policy stated in his ebay post. You need deep pocket to bid for hot/rare highly contested NOS tubes in ebay at very last minute just before auction is closed. The prices for these tubes have been rising during past few years as well. So might as well go for reasonably priced NOS tubes (perhaps second best) with "buy it now" option. Hopefully in near future there will be US companies take over tube manufacturing facilities in China and Russia and start producing quality tubes again (but tube demand has not been high since advent of solid state device). Then tube upgrade no longer become definite necessity whenever you buy a new audio equipment with tubes. Then price of NOS tubes will drop as well.
  4. I have just purchased a tube buffer to complement solid state headphone amplifier. I am looking for matched pair of 6SN7 NOS tubes to replace made-in-China 6N8P stock tubes. As I have few more tubes to purchase for tube rolling, it will be more practical to find them in local stores in Singapore rather than through eBay. I head there is a old store somewhere near Sim Lim (Square/Tower ?) where wide variety of tubes can be found. Thanks in advance.
  5. I have gone through following DACs with various models of iMac (current one is the latest model and my 13th Mac) and following active speakers: Klipsch's ProMedia 2.0, Harman/Kardon's SoundStick 2 and Acoustic Energy's Aego-M. I would like to share my experience with you (no flaming post will ever receive my response). Firestone's Fubar3, Firestone's Splitfire, iBasso's D1, Jaben's Go-Vibe Petite, Beresford TC-7510 and Tian Yun's Zero All DACs cost less than SGD 300 with overseas shipping cost included, except the Fubar3, the Splitfire (both with optional Supplier power supply) and the D1. Unless you need portability (iBasso D1 / Go-Vibe Petite) or transportability (Fubar3/Splitfire), sound quality of portable models can never beat desktop models because of space and power constraints (don't expect engineering miracle). Battery supply of portable models provides excellent noise free DC but much lower voltage and current. When multiple digital inputs are needed for different audio sources, only desktop models (Beresford TC-7510 in this case) able to provide such feature. So far the best combination of DAC/speaker to me is: Tian Yun's Zero (bought through eBay and shipped from Hong Kong) and Harman/Kardon's SoundStick 2 active speaker (bought in Funan IT Mall). After going through various DACs and headphone amplifiers, I still prefer separate/dedicated equipments such as desktop DAC and miniature/portable headphone amplifier (both can be integrated together). Since all modern Mac models come with optical digital interface (3.5mm mini jack labelled as headphone output) thus can be interfaced directly with these desktop DACs with a piece of Toslink optical cable (built-in USB ports run out on any Mac most of the time). For PC a decent sound card with coaxial/optical digital output is required else only spare USB digital interface is feasible. Advantage of ordering online and shipped from overseas is these online stores offer money back refund within stipulated period which never happen for local stores. Proper audition of audio equipments can only be conducted after burn-in period but not on the spot in the stores.
  6. I do own iBasso D1 with Toslink/Coaxial/USB digital inputs and headphone/line analog outputs. But selection among inputs and outputs is controlled by micro-controller automatically when the unit is turned on. In other words, you have to plug and unplug connections to speaker/headphone and recycle power whenever switching between these two outputs are required. In the end, my iBasso D1 has been used as dedicated DAC for my Apple Airport Express wireless router's digital audio output in bedroom. Audio output of DAC with sole USB digital input such as iBasso D2-Viper is subjected to CPU load fluctuation as the processor must be the central controller for all USB devices on USB bus. Another side effect of the dependency on CPU is computer in sleep will be awaken unnecessarily whenever there is any state change on USB bus such as power up/down of USB DAC. Though the USB interface in iBasso D2 offers I2S interface for DAC direct decoding without any conversion as oppose to optical/coaxial interfaces, I still prefer optical/coaxial digital audio interfaces as they are free from interferences caused by CPU load and ambient noise. Though iBasso D2-Viper has not arrived in Singapore yet, you can pre-order it at USD 199 in iBasso online store (www.ibasso.com). Any product developed and made in China must be taken with caution in term of build quality as my iBasso D1 has started to show failure in optical connection.
  7. Stanley Beresford develops affordable and decent DAC TC-7510 (latest MK 3/6 version) in UK (http://www.homehifi.co.uk/main/main.html). Order it online cost me SGD 266 and it was delivery from production base in Taiwan within 3 days. Stanley offers prompt support through email. Note this DAC requires break-in for at least 4 days before it sound good. You may return it for refund after on trial for a week. It comes with fixed level output and variable/headphone output with volume control, two optical Toslink and two coaxial digital inputs with selection buttons. One optical Toslink input was connected to digital/analog combo headphone output of my 20" aluminum iMac through optical Toslink cable of 1 meter length purchased together with the DAC from the same online store. It works well with audio enhancement software such as iWow plugin or OSS-3D utility and my Aego-M active speaker (all models of speakers with built-in power amplifier for computers). Note DAC is definitely needed to bring clean digital audio signal out of iMac and to active speaker. Power amplifier is needed only when passive speakers (those without power amplifier built-in) rather than active speakers are used. There are also audio receivers (with Toslink/coaxial digital inputs) built for home theatre system with both DAC and power amplifier built-in. So followings are the options in ascending order of cost: iMac (Toslink/USB/Firewire digital output) -> DAC -> Active speaker iMac (Toslink/USB/Firewire digital output) -> DAC -> Power amplifier -> Passive speaker iMac (Toslink output) -> Audio receiver -> Passive speaker
  8. The portable headphone was bought from Audio Technical head office in Singapore 10 months ago and still in perfect/clean condition. Original sale receipt and packaging are available for inspection (original price SGD120.75). It is used with iPod nano at home because it can be driven directly by portable player without amplifier for its high sensitivity (109 dB/mW) and low impedance (36 ohms). The headphone is highly adjustable to suit user's head, can be folded into compact size and carried along in a provided pouch. It is a light weight small close type headphone yet still come with big driver with good frequency response. Followings are the technical specifications: Type: Airtight Dynamic Driver: Diameter 40mm, Neodymium Magnet: CCAW Voice Coil Output Sound Pressure Level: 109 dB/mW Frequency Response: 10 -- 25,000 Hz Maximum Input Power: 100 mW Impedance: 36 ohms Weight (without a cord): 66 g Connector: Diameter 3.5 mm, Gold-plated Stereo Mini-plug Cord: 1.5 m, OFC, Y-type Accessories: Pouch Asking for SGD70 to recover some cash for new headphone amplifier as it was hardly used. Genuine buyer please call 94810866 for further detail. Audition before deal is sealed can be arranged. Please bring your own portable player loaded with your favourite music for the audition otherwise you have to make do with my iPod nano. [attachmentid=3618]
  9. At www.fixup.net/products/index.htm website, SuperMacro-4 costs USD 350 (SGD 560) whereas SuperMini-4 costs USD 200 (SGD 320). Both feature latest 4-channel technology except external selectors are replaced with internal jumpers, rolling opamps is more restrictive and fast charging is not avialble for SupreMini-4. I intend to have a audition of either SupreMacro or SuperMini before making purchase (most likely SuperMini-4). Xin SuperMacro is using AAA battery x8 (750mAH x8 EverReady NimH) whereas Hornet is using 9V battery x1 (270mAH x1 AcuPower NimH). Obviously SuperMacro has much higher current and charge capacities which means longer playing time and operating opamps in high-current mode (very low distortion) is possible.
  10. Hardly used and well maintained 5-month old Sony MDR-700DJ headphone in perfect original condition (original price SGD 219 bought at IMM Sony Gallery) . This headphone is generally used by audio professionals for music production (accurate reproduction of music without any distortion and coloration). - dynamic closed type - 50mm dome drivers - 24 ohms impedance - 107dB/mW sensitivity - 3000mW power capacity - 5-30,000Hz frequency response - LC-OFC cord - 300g weight - 1/4" or 1/8" input adaptor - carrying pouch It can be driven by any MP3 player directly without amplifier (low impedance and high sensitivity) and can be collapsed into compact size for transportation. Reason for selling: seller intends to find more portable/wearable closed type headphone replacement. Asking for SGD 80. Cash on delivery payment is preferred as functionality and quality of the headphone can be demonstrated on the spot with iPod nano to buyer before deal is sealed. Original sale receipt and packing are available for inspection. Genuine buyer please call +65-94810866 for further details. [attachmentid=3586]
  11. Hardly used and well maintained 5-month old Sony MDR-700DJ headphone in perfect original condition (original price SGD 219 bought at IMM Sony Gallery) . This headphone is generally used by audio professionals for music production (accurate reproduction of music without any distortion and coloration). - dynamic closed type - 50mm dome drivers - 24 ohms impedance - 107dB/mW sensitivity - 3000mW power capacity - 5 - 30,000 Hz frequency response - LC-OFC cord - 300g weight - 1/4" or 1/8" input adaptor - carrying pouch It can be driven by any MP3 player directly without amplifier (low impedance and high sensitivity) and can be collapsed into compact size for transportation. Reason for selling: seller intends to find more portable/wearable closed type headphone replacement. Asking for SGD 80. Cash on delivery payment is preferred (though PayPal is fine with me) as functionality and quality of the headphone can be demonstrated on the spot with iPod nano to buyer before deal is sealed. The demonstration will be conducted with and without Hornet headhphone amplifier for comparison. Original sale receipt and packing are available for inspection. Genuine buyer please call +65-94810866 for further details. [attachmentid=3567]
  12. Hardly used 8-month old headphone amplifier cable (model: Sky Blue Mini V3, original price: USD 63 / SGD 100 ) with 1/8" mini male plugs on both ends and 8" length from tip to tip. This cable was used as high-end interconnect between iPod nano player and portable Hornet headphone amplifiers. The end plugs are compatible with most portable players and headphone amplifiers. Easily available adaptor can be used for 1/4" jacks seen on some audio equipments. The cable was hand assembled in US by professional cable assembler with high-end materials and equipments. The cable consists of highly conductive premium wire a dual metal conductor hybrid, hand braided in a quad litz geometry and housed in a special sleeving. The connectors are housed in a proprietary heat sink, soldered with Cardas audiophile eutectic silver solder. This cable was bought through Head-Fi website: www4.head-fi.org/forums. Reviews of cables produced by RnB Audio are available in this website. Asking for SGD 60 negotiable. Genuine buyer please call +65-94810866 for further details. [attachmentid=3566]
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