bakavic

The on/off switch gives it away It should be a hold switch. But casing-wise, it is a very good job. No spelling errors on the back area! Actually, all these fakes are just a variety of the "mp4" players that are selling well in the low-end market. All these mp4 players are using a variation of the same firmware, so they have some basic hardware functions which are fixed, like the on/off switch. There is a site dedicated to reverse-engineering these players (both mp3/mp4 players) and possibly developing an alternative firmware for them, ala rockbox - http://www.s1mp3.org/ . This is because the original firmware sucks. (Must stop music to change song, buggy ogg support, lousy file navigation, etc)

SE seems to have alternative flanges for your cresyn - http://www.sgheadphones.net/index.php?showtopic=5914 and http://www.sgheadphones.net/index.php?showtopic=5916 They will probably give better isolation, though I haven't had the chance to try them out yet...hmm, might give them a try the next time I go down. Not sure if it will fit or not - as ToD said, if it's the ball design blocking it from going in further, then no matter how you push in, also won't fit.

Contrary to problems you guys had with the fitting, the ck9 popped in the first try for me...perhaps it has something to do with me having about medium-sized earholes. I only listened for a minute or so - so I can't say much. It sounds forgiving, with rather heavily compressed music from my DAP sounding quite ok. Would definitely consider a second listen. Now, one major gripe I had with it was that the wires are too inflexible and thick to wrap behind your ears, and go down your back. Walking briskly might make them come off. Haha - try once, considered sold...forever, to you only.

Not bad pricing - about SGD$50+? Looks like it could be a first DAC for many people...would be very interested in an MO If by "usb DAC", do you mean something like the one in the pic above? The DAC above is truly no-frills. Only has analog and optical out (so can use ur com with an AV reciever - so those AC3 soundtracks on ur DVD-rips don't go to waste :X). Good for listenng with just headphones. On the other hand, we have creative's offerings - it's chock full of stuff - analog output for 7.1 sound, inputs of all sorts - a full-fledged sound card. Has EAX for game, etc. So, to cut the long story short :- usb DAC = listening with headphones or 2-speaker setups; can also hook up to AV reciever for surround sound. Good just for music listening. Cheaper. Audigy NX2 = headphones to 7.1 sound; has EAX for games - good for gamers. But ex. Also, when using a notebook, I don't think will have the space to setup 7.1 sound lol.

PSP supports AAC, but you need at least the 2.0 firmware - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable Probably won't want to upgrade if you have 1.5 firmware - cannot run homebrew and pirated stuff for firmware above 1.5, I believe.

Perhaps the darker coloured paints are more prone to peel? My E630 white neck-chain style seems ok after about 1 year's usage - used it for about 4 months before I got a pouch, just stuffed it into my pocket. The thing about weaker sound is true for me though - I think the wire connection is a bad design - not strong enough to withstand daily use. They should have something like the CK7 heat-shrink rubber at the connection point - it sure looks more durable than the current connection. I admit I abuse it quite a bit, using it in bed whle sleeping (I roll around a lot, so the wire tends to be stretched - got to stop doing this, otherwise might accidently commit suicide lol), but I also did this with my stock sens mx300, and they survived. Also tend to get it caught on the bus chairs when getting off. The connection feels a bit loose now - can push in & out a few mm from the earpiece housing. When I get the weak sound problem, I just push the wire back into the housing - seems to fix it. A more permenent fix would be to hot glue it in place or something, but I don't want to make it look like I'm wearing ghetto earpieces haha.

Blood The Last Vampire has it's own series now - Blood+; less gore, more storyline now, though. If you like pure action, Black Lagoon is a nice recent anime to try. It does seem that way for the first 16 or so eps... » Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... « ...But that changes after that. Mecha and a futuristic plot comes after that. The OP has a split-second shot of a row of mechas, I think. I'm still not happy that it's going to licensed as "Shadow Warrior Chronicles" in the US, but I guess it's better then fans going, "Hey, did you watch the latest episode of the Utawa-something show?" Welcome to the club! Bleach is a nice start, but do try other animes when you're free - there's more to anime then shonen genre. Haruhi is certainly out to take over the world - first the news & media companies, then the world!

Don't worry, I'm just as cheap as well! I think one of the big reasons why most people want an external (USB) DAC is because of the hiss/noise from the onboard or internal sound cards, especially with headphones. With similar offerings from creative and the like at the $100 or lower range, most people would get one of those just to escape from the hiss. They also tend to have more "features" (EAX, 24bit/96kHz, etc). It would seem like these cards are more bang for buck, especially if you want to do gaming or watch movies, whether they have good SQ or not is another question. If a manufacturer can come up with a below $100 DAC - doesn't matter if it's only 16-bit & doesn't have all the features the above DACs have - but with exceptional SQ, and the ability to accept optical in (for use in a home setup), I'm sure a lot of people here would be interested.

It probably sounded muffled as you've been spoiled by your Grados There is a saying that Grado lovers hate Senns, and Senns lovers hate Grados - the sound that comes out from both of them just go against each other. Grados have lots of detail, but not too strong bass, while Senns has good bass, nice warmth, but lots of detail lost. As a fellow SR80 user, I can say that after I got my Grados, the rest of my headphones all sounded less detailed, and kinda muffled, especially the ones with a strong bass. Stuff like the Westones sounded muffled to me - Aron at Stereo Electronics was having a good chuckle at me when he say me almost trying to shove a UM1 into my ear in an attempt to get every last drop of sound from it. If you're not afraid of IEMs, you should give the Etys a listen - they're known for their highs, and some people have even called them "sterile", but I think they should be right for you. If you want something more balanced, you can follow the other posters' recommendation on the FC-7, and give a listen (hopefully Stereo Electronics has an open set, if not, can use the 7-day return policy). Just be prepared to give up some of that detail.

I had less than 5 minutes with the 04 and 06 at Jaben, and like you, I was really suprised at the output of the 04s - it's really like chili padi, small but powerful! I liked the 04's detail, and the bass was quite good for me. It sounded very neutral, not like some speakers which like to overemphasize the bass for that extra "thump" factor. Should bring some vocal as well as rock cds to see how the speakers cope with them. Should take your time to test and find which speakers you like best - don't rush in to buy so fast. Maybe you'll end up liking the 05 more

Gah...sorry...I thought bowl meant the ones with no hole in them. You want the ones that come originally with the SR-80 right? I call them donut pads lol... Sorry to excite you over nothing...I only can sell you the no-hole pads, if you want.

Bought a pair of original pads on impluse when I bought my SR-80, but I feel that the muffled highs were not worth the increase in comfort. Just PM me your price 1st, still a bit unsure on the comfort/sound ratio lol... BTW, have you seen this thread? Maybe this a cheaper option to consider.

Yup, Wilson's really nice...I was there for about 2+ hours yesterday. Had a great time listening in on all the stuff that various customers were talking about. Saw Braxton make his ear impressions - quite an interesting procedure Must post review with pics so that we can all salivate over them, k?

$20? Ok, you got me interested I have some basic soldering skills and equipment (30w iron, multimeter, etc). Hmm...I did a bit of searching, but most of the designs posted online seem to be rather complicated (here & here) and expensive. Could you point me to some of these $20 DACs? Would be cool if they had ready-made boards, or even kits (Dare I say finished products also can? lol). EDIT: I tried searching this forum for more info, but it seems like all the interesting usb DACs are pretty ex...can't seem to find any instructions on making either. I'm kinda wondering to myself now - the output of my laptop may not be stellar, but it could be due to a weak internal amp...I should probably give a headphone amp a go with my laptop, and see if I'm happy with the results or not. Then I can have a look at these usb DACs. I also think that Jaben's has a usb DAC for testing - will give a go when I'm there as well to see if I can feel the difference or not.

Yup, I intend to amp the lineout of the PCDP - will go down to Jaben's to test the various portable amps he has there and see if I can improve the output - especially interested in the LDM+...too bad I just missed the MO on it. Oh well, there's always next time. I've basically given up on finding a DAC + amp combo - I don't think I'll be able to find one for under $100.