kchew

I've bought my K240 Studio and K701 from Amazon, if you provide a Singapore shipping address they will tell you they will not ship to you when you checkout. That's why I used Vpost since they have a US address. If you buy from the partner stores, you can get it shipped directly but the shipping rates are quite pricey. I think one of them quoted USD70+ for shipping a USD200+ item to Singapore.

Amazon will not ship to Singapore directly. You will need to use Vpost (Oregon address) or Comgateway. Shipping and GST together will definitely be over $30 in total. I found the K70x headband very uncomfortable for the first few times I wore it, but after seasoning the leather by bending it repeatedly, it became much more comfortable. If you're lucky, your K702 might have 8 bumps instead of 7, so there wouldn't be a bump right at the top of your head.

How long do you want your headphone cable to be? Since your D2000 uses a dual entry cable, your Jena wire would have to be quad braided, meaning a 25 foot wire will become a 1.8m cable. If you need a 1.2m cable, then you need 16 feet of Jena wire etc.

Does anybody know where I can find Isoclean fuses locally? I was at MusiclinkAV today and they only stocked Furutech and Hifi Tuning. I really like the Furutech rhodium fuses, but I thought I'd try something different this time.

Perhaps AKG K701 + Heed Canamp + Cambridge Audio DacMagic. All three should be under $2k.

I think you can scratch the K702 from your list. They have very good bass quality, but not enough quantity for hip hop. They are very fussy when it comes to ampifiers too. And to be honest, I'm not sure if the LD MkIII is capable of driving a 600ohm Beyer well. For the DAC, the Maverick DAC seems like a good package for the price.

I got the universal monitor case, I can't remember the price but it should be under $20. Best to call and check.

I think Stereo Electronics sells the UE hard case. But I find it a bit small, I find the Westone IEM case better. Got mine at Jaben.

Sold, thanks for viewing.

Wow, I'm quite impressed! Looks like you can DIY a CDP/DAC/amp all-in-one device on a tight budget. Are you going to make a casing for it in the future?

You think the next Can Slam will have more T1s than HD800s? Still, it'll be nice to be able to hear one locally. I wonder how it pairs with the Beyer A1?

Just to make things clear, my previous statement that Stereo "receives at least 5 customs orders a day" is something that somebody told me, I have no way of verifying its truth. And I didn't order any customs from them. Their prices do sound reasonable though.

I was told that Stereo receives at least 5 customs orders a day, so I don't think you need to worry too much about sharing.

That's not really a joke. Since land area is scarce in Japan, most people live in small apartments so not many people have proper speaker rigs. Headphones and earphones are much more popular, so it makes more sense to master popular mainstream music for them instead of speakers.

All sold, thanks for viewing.

Asus Xonar D2X with optical output to Cambridge Audio Azur 840C.

I was surprised myself when I could hear the difference. Recently, my VDH Digicoupler coaxial cable was giving my Cambridge 840C some problems, so I swapped it out for a cheap Daiso fiber optic cable. I was shocked when this $30 optical cable gave me better instrument separation and a bit more midbass without sacrificing anything else. Now I wonder if a VDH Optocoupler would be even better. I realise that system synergy makes it very hard to recommend a specific coaxial or optical cable. When I had my Stello DA100, my Digicoupler performed better than the optical cable. With my 840C it is the reverse. All from the same Asus Xonar D2X soundcard. System matching sure can be a pain!

I'm using my old Mylarone X3i for jogging, nice bass for rhythm and it's no big loss if they get damaged.

I think Song has a branch at Plaza Singapura? Can pop by Stereo after shopping for household stuff there.

I test the polarity of my ES2 and TWag cables with a multimeter, and in both cases the coloured pins face up. Fun fact: the ES2 cable is a 2ohm load while the TWag is 0.7ohms.

Westone ES3X: With TWag silver cable:

Congrats! How is it with the TWag cable?

A DAC is a Digital to Analogue Converter. A USB DAC is an external device that takes in a digital signal from USB and converts it into an analogue signal that can then be passed to an amplifier. Think of it as an external soundcard that avoids all the noisy interference from onboard computer audio. By isolating the circuitry from electronic interference from a computer together with a dedicated power supply and higher quality parts, the output from a DAC can be vastly superior to a computer with onboard audio. External DACs usually take in coaxial or optical digital inputs, but USB inputs are getting more popular as more people are demanding better audio from their computers and laptops. Usually, Windows already has drivers for these USB DACs, and will recognise them as USB speakers when plugged in. Prices start from $100+ for small, portable DACs like the Ordnance DAC, Govibe Petite and some Creative products, while the top-end desktop DACs can hit 4 digit prices.

What price range are you considering? I wouldn't know whether to recommend you a Govibe Petite or Bel Canto DAC3 otherwise...

Come to think of it, did you bring your QED Signature to Can Slam? We should've compared yours with my VDH Digicoupler and see if we can tell the difference. THe VDH Digicoupler was a big step up from the Belden 1695A cable I had previously though. It's funny how a digital signal which is technically just 1s and 0s can be affected by cabling.