red_ryder

Some nature pics I took in Copenhagen 2 weeks ago with my Canon S45. My first macro shots, welcome any comments!

Price dropped to $180.

Surprisingly enough, I just took an SIA flight and the mid-air duty free shop was selling the HD600 also for $480! I expected it to be much more expensive but its not.

Review can be read here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...112131?v=glance Mine is the pure silver version, looks better than the black, believe me. Used for a few months, selling at $180. Slight scratches on remote control, otherwise player is in tiptop condition. Selling cos want to buy hd-based mp3 player. Comes with box, manual, warranty, battery pack, and sennheiser earphones (dunno what model though). Interested can contact me at 90115074 or send me a pm.

Bought in Mar 04. Selling for $450. Stock tubes, near mint condition. Selling cos under-utilized.

Thinking of selling my HA-1A as it is seriously under-utilized. Condition almost mint, bought in Mar 04. pm me any offers, I bought at $630. Also, a Beyerdynamics DT770 Pro bought from someone in SGheadphones about 1/2 yr back for $150. Not sure how old the item is, but condition is good. Still with box. thanks for reading!

I've often wondered, what is the use of speaker grilles? Does the fabric make the speakers sound better? Is it simply to keep dust from the drivers? I ask this because I feel that speakers look much nicer with the grille taken off. You see pictures in magazines and websites and usually the grilles are removed too.

Ok, I've tried out N@z and arj's configuration - namely cdp --> cayin --> receiver. The sound coming out from the speakers was quite bad, very muffled. I had to turn the volume on the Cayin up to the 12 oclock position and the volume on the receiver to 10 oclock position just to hear something. This is with the Cayin's pre-amp switch at the "on" position. If I switch to "off", I don't get any sound at all no matter how high the volume control is turned up. In comparison, if the cdp is connected directly to the receiver, the volume knob on the receiver need only be turned to 8 oclock position for a reasonable listening volume. And the sound quality improved tremendously compared to Cayin pre-amp configuration.

That's exactly what I want N@z. But since my receiver does not have any pre-in inputs, Mackie says that connecting the cayin to the receiver via the regular line-ins may be risky. I guess my receiver is not capable of being a power amp.

Ok, understood now. Didn't know that the Tapeout does not have any amplified signal. That's great, I'll try this tonight.

I don't get it Mackie. You are suggesting connecting the cdp --> receiver -->Cayin. Wouldn't that risk frying the Cayin? What's the difference between that configuration vs cdp-->cayin-->receiver?

thanks guys!

N@z, my receiver does not have any pre-in inputs. So can I just connect the HA-1A to any line input?

You're right, fuwen. The receiver does not pre-in, so I was afraid of connecting the Spark, in case something blows. I read your RCA splitter thread, it's very interesting. As an alternative to splitting the RCA cable, are there switch boxes with multiple audio outs? That is, cdp ---> switch box ---> Spark HA-1A and Receiver. Although I worry if the switch box will affect the sound quality adversely.

Ok, this is my situation: I'm using the Spark HA-1A for music listening via cans, but it's barely sufficient to drive my speakers. I got to turn the volume knob to almost 12 oclock position just to get reasonable volume. I also have a HT receiver that can drive the speakers very well, but the headphone jack is spoilt. Is there any way for me to connect my cdp to both the HA-1A and the receiver? Alternatively, can I use the HA-1A as the preamp and connect it to the receiver? The HA-1A as pre-outs, but I don't know where to plug in for the receiver end (also not sure what cables to use, I'm completely new to this preamp business). And on a related question : if a tube preamp is connected to a solid-state power amp, do you still get that warm distinctive "tube sound"?

Saw it for sale at Best Denki IMM for $799. Asked the sales person for an audition, but can't make any conclusions due to the overly loud ambient sound level.

Just wondering. If have would be great coz I have quite a few CF cards lying around unused.

What are the downsides of harddisk based mp3 players, especially compared to solid-state memory ones? First of, I would assume that they are more fragile. If you drop a hard-disk, god knows what would happen to it. Seems like if a solid state memory player is dropped it would be more likely to survive. Other than that, got anymore drawbacks? Because really for only slightly more, can get a much bigger capacity mp3 player that is hd based compared to a solid-state memory.

Ipod users, how stable and lasting do you think it is? Reason I ask is because there's someone selling a 2yr old 5GB model, but I'm a bit wary because of the age.

My requirements are quite unique for an mp3 player, hope can get some info here. Basically I need an mp3 player that behaves like a casette tape walkman. In other words, after turning off and turning on again it resumes from where it stopped. Right in the middle of the file. The reason for this is that I listen to audiobooks and spoken material, and oftentimes one mp3 file can last for hours. My old Iriver could do this, but it just broke down and I'm looking for another brand if possible. Sound quality is not important because I probably won't listen to music on the player.

Maybe Hung Bros can let you audition? I've auditioned Senn HD650 and HD600 there before, dunno about the cheaper cans though.

I chose option 2 also. That's essentially my upgrade path as well. Bought the Beyer 931s from Mackie, and listened to them through a dvdp + home theatre receiver. Enjoyed great detail, but sound was very bright coming from the dvdp. Few months later bought the Spark HA-1A. Soundstage widened up, and I started to enjoy that distinctive tube sound. Finally, 2 weeks back I bought an NAD C542 cdp. That to me was the greatest improvement. The bass on the 931s deepened, brightness was gone to be replaced with a warmth that left a big grin on my face. Most of my old cds just sounded so much better. So although I would agree that getting a good headphone lets you enjoy better sound first, I have to admit that the greatest sonic improvement for me was when I upgraded from a dvdp to a $600 cdp.

Rameish, I'm using DT931. Maybe it's just my ears not being sensitive enough to detect any significant change in the sound.

Great question. When I vary the impedance of the Spark HA-1A, it just changes the volume. Can't detect any change in bass or treble.

In contrast, I found the NAD sound to be warm and lush. Perhaps I was overly harsh, certainly the audiophile cds were at least equal to normal cds. At worst I heard background hiss or some sibilance in the female vocals. My biggest complaint is with local and taiwan/HK pressed compilation cds. Claimed to be HDCD, and yet sounded absolutely terrible, like an mp3 encoded at 32k. If there are two versions of the same CD, one imported and one locally pressed, is it worthwile paying more for the import? Would the quality of the local CD be much worse?