Absolute0

I am leaving Singapore for a prolonged period so I am putting this up for sale again for $850, firm. Valid till Saturday.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/

I'd recommend that you upgrade your earphones first. For $200, you can get a very decent IEM which provides good SQ out of your zen vision without the need for an amp. Amping a mediocre pair of earphones will not yield significant sonic improvements, and the effect of the IC (at this level of equipment) would be even more subtle. YMMV.

Opt for low gain if the amp is able to drive your headphones to sufficiently loud levels at that setting. Better dynamics and control.

Please note that MO organizer is obliged to provide information as stipulated here: ***Mass Order/Bulk Purchase Rules***

The AKG701 is very demanding in terms of amplification, and probably not the best portable cans.

My sentiments as well, phuque. It's ok to go with lossy - the differences with lossless might be subtle depending on your gear, hearing, external factors, etc. - but encode directly from CD or a lossless format (e.g. WAV, FLAC, apple lossless, etc.). Transcoding is definitely a no-no as it serves no purpose except to increase the file size or to convert to a format compatible with your DAP.

Thanks gal n guys!

It's the same. These conversions are termed 'transcoding', which inevitably results in data loss when one lossy format is converted to another, even if the file size or purported bitrate increases.

Sounds like a mass order to me. Organiser and participants are advised to read the rules carefully. The organiser is required to provide information on the source/vendor. And thread craps have been deleted.

Yes, I would think so. The encoder assumes it is compressing the source file (it cannot differentiate between a 128kbps file and a WAV file), so in order to do that, it has to discard certain data.

Get Corda amps from Meier Audio directly. They have fast shipping times, and prices listed include international shipping. Dr. Meier is also incredibly helpful, top notch customer service.

While this might not be the best platform to seek redress, I agree with loop that it is in the interest of our members to keep this thread open as long as discussions remain civil.

Nice review, and interesting comments on system matching. As usual, the importance of synergy is reinforced. And you have an amazing (and expensive beyond my dreams) rig!

My personal observation is that since the beginning of the year, with the influx of new members, a lot of posts have been on portable audio and new products, e.g. iems. I guess for the older members, they tend to focus on their home rigs, and because their rigs are more or less "mature" (subject to less upgrades), they aren't as familiar with/interested in the slew of new products on the market. So they don't comment quite as frequently. Other personal commitments/reasons may also come into play. But if you miss them enough, maybe they will reply!

Moral of the story: Bring along your IEMs when buying DAPs, and vice versa.

I only have experience with the PPX3-SLAM, and it did indeed have a healthy dose of dynamic solid state sonic characteristics, which was why I was ready to sell either that or the GS-1. They weren't as complementary as I had intended. I've read that the MPX3 is smoother and possibly more laidback, but I thought the SLAM variant would be rather similar to the Extreme, with wide soundstage and increased dynamics.

Any reason to own both at the same time? You didn't explicitly state which is better, but one suspects the MPX3-SLAM is superior in most areas, and with the same house sound, you must be a real SP fan to buy both.

Kudos on the excellent write-up, tbln. Did you previously own the MPX3-SLAM?

This is not normal. DAPs shouldn't hiss with IEMs, as they are designed for the same purpose - portable use. You might want to try your zen with other earphones to see if there's hiss. It might be a faulty player.

Thanks loop_, for the irrelevant comment. I think I've already made my stand very clear, so I'll leave it as that before this turns into a flame fest. Those who bother to read this thread in full can come to their own conclusions. Some points are so pointedly obvious they don't even have to be argued. We continue to welcome feedback but we're not here to please everybody, so don't take it too hard if it's not accepted.

Thread moved.

I don't see how this is relevant to the classifieds posting requirements, but with regards to bumping classifieds threads, it is not a hard and fast rule of prohibition. When we come across such threads, we advise members to use the forum in-built function. But we are not/cannot be so free as to scrutinise every thread to enforce this. And I personally have not seen members ignore an in-thread reminder, but you're welcome to use the "Report this post" option if you come across them. The lounge lizard is indeed a good place to earn post counts, and we try to close one eye as long as it is not too blatant or disruptive. It's really not difficult to make 50 posts, whichever sub-forum you choose to post in, so the key of this rule is not in stopping people from gaining posting rights to the classifieds, but rather to encourage (hopefully) constructive participation and to deter those who register just to sell gear for profit. ezzo asserted that these posting requirements for the classifieds will not prevent people from getting conned. The point is, the purpose of these requirements is not to prevent people from getting cheated, but to deter profiteering. Which was why I suggested that "we Singaporeans can all read more and complain less", because people are completely missing the point. Seems like ezzo wasn't the only one... The same old points have been raised time and again, so members intending to comment are encouraged to read the other posts in this thread and the mods' replies first. I will only be replying to relevant, new arguments and feedback. Thanks.

Neither am I. Since you don't care, I shall not risk being more condescending than my previous post already is.

There are the Beyer DT990/880, which are apparently excellent bang-for-buck mid-range cans that should do well in most systems. The AKG701 and HD650 are contenders as well, but like the others mentioned, quite difficult to drive, and rather pricey.