pbirkett

Dont forget to try the Beyer DT440, supposedly another groovalizer!!

My favorite high-end budget computer system... Terratec EWX 24/96 (Now only $99 USD from JDsound, rrp is normally much more) Perreaux SXH-1 ($350 - $500 USD depending on where its bought) Sony MDR-CD3000 ($400 USD) VDH The Bay C5 interconnect ($50) So, this is a rig that can cost less than 1000 US dollars, but the sound for such a modest setup is surprising, and its particularly well suited for electronic music IMO. This setup has extended, detailed highs, which are smooth and well integrated, midrange is very smooth and realistic, and the bass has excellent extension and slam. In fact this system can slam like few other systems can at this price, without being too forward to enjoy other genres. Also very well suited for pop and rock, female vocals sound excellent too. Pros: Smooth, extended treble, excellent mids for a closed can, and surprising amounts of bass slam Cons: Softer music genres may benefit from a slightly gentler touch, but really a good all rounder

No there are only a handful in existence, I was going to try one with the CD3k, but their failure to supply one within a reasonable time frame put me off. The only reason he said they are partciularly well suited to the grados and senns was because that was simply all he had at his disposal when developing the amp.

I doubt that actually, since its a British made amp and would have to be exported. The resulting price due to the exchange rate would put it up there with some pretty big names, and not only that, but its been shown very little real interest over there to be honest. I had my name down for one, but the delay for the new one was going to be too long. I bought a Perreaux instead.

I'll get pics up asap... I cant speak for whether its better than the Emmerline, but it sounds a lot better than other headphone amps I've had (Corda HA-1, X-Can v3), more bassy, a lot more realistic, dynamic, all the things I felt was wrong with the CD3000 before, it seems to have gone a long way to fix. I know its something of a flavour of the month, but I do think this is a great little amp for the cash. More impressions later, as i'm only at the 12 hour mark, but its sounding better all the time. Its a rev 0.5.

I have just received today a Perreaux SXH-1 headphone amp, to replace my X-Can v3. This cost me £274 shipped to the UK, and I have listened to this for an hour and a half, 3 hours burn in. I still think its got some way to go, but this is showing promise of being an outstanding bargain. This sounds far better than an X-Can v3 so far. Its bass is more impactful, goes far deeper, and has far more prescence than the X-Can, has greater dynamic power, far and away more detail, is more extended in the treble, but sounds warmer and more groovy sounding than the X-Can, which sounds a bit shrill in comparison. The midrange is almost tube like in its smoothness and overall presentation. This would be a great choice for someone who likes a tube sound but does not want the hassle. Its a discrete design, stable down to 8 ohms, and outputs 2.2 w RMS into 32 ohms, 235 mW rms into 300 ohms, < 0.005% THD 20Hz-20KHz, frequency response 5Hz-60KHz +0 db, -0.25 db, Class A design with its own terroidal transformer. This is a no brainer of an amp for the money IMO. My source is a terratec EWX 24/96, which sounds great with these headphones and this amp.

CD3000 - The king of electronica, bar none!!

I got mine from www.soundslive.co.uk However, they dont sell them anymore, and I paid double the JDsound price (albeit quite some time ago).

If you can get this a reasonable price, it is a good card. I use one with the CD3000 and previously was using an X-Can v3 but I am now waiting for a Perreaux SXH-1, and it sounds really good. It has a very full bodied sound with hard hitting bass and silky smooth treble and overall a slightly warm sound, it sounds better than any midfi CD player I've heard, this using Foobar 2000 upsampling to 24-bit 96KHz ASIO. Despite its warmth, its a lively and enjoyable performer, and goes great with the CD3000. Not sure where you can get one in Singapore though. I paid £130 UK POUNDS for mine, some people in the US have claimed they are able to get them for $99 USD.

I've had both the DT880 and CD3000, and I felt the CD3000 is clearly a big step up from the DT880, which to me lacked any kind of bass impact, but had it had good bass impact then it would have been more interesting for me. As it was I feel the DT880 sounds thin and lacks balls. I do not perceive any rounding of bass on the CD3000, which sounds faster and more dynamic to these ears. I'm a little puzzled as to why the CD3000 is described as laid back, it seems far from it to these ears, much less so than the DT880 or HD650, but it is more laid back than the Grado SR-80.

Have a good one

For what its worth, I used the X-can v3 with the Sony MDR-CD3000 and hissing tubes aside, I thought it sounded pretty nice to be honest. I prefer it to the Corda HA-1.

Cheers Ramiesh. You have been a great help There is no clear winner for me at the moment. I dont really want to go into tubes, as I prefer the set it up and forget it nature of solid state amps, although admittedly their sound is nice for guitars and the like, but having said that, thats just my view of the X-can v3, and something tells me the stock X-Can doesnt really sound that "tubey" anyway. The Perreaux SXH-1 is still one of the favourite candidates, there seems to be quite a few people who've tried them with the CD3000 and rate it really highly for the price - some even go so far as to say it doesnt get taken as seriously as it should because of its relatively low price (and its cheaper than either HA-1 Mk2 and HA-2). Its a shame you havent heard it. It is said to have a tube like midrange, good solid bass and detailed, crisp treble. I am also awaiting a quote for a PPA amp, although I suspect with diamond buffers this could end up as expensive as an HA-2, so wouldnt be 100% sure which way to go. Such a hard choice, because of the inability to hear any of these amps (I am in the UK, which makes things twice as complicated as it would be in the US). Definitely a hard choice... @Q00 - I had the HD580 for about a month, and I had the HD650 about two weeks. The HD580 was loaned to me a fair few months ago, and I only recently sold the HD650 I bought. They sounded very similar to me, the HD580 sounds a bit more lively though, but also a bit less realistic and a bit less refined. Both sound about the same in pace rythym and timing - that is to say I think both are a little slow, especially compared to the likes of the CD3000 and Beyer DT931. I liked the HD580 slightly better overall, but I seem to be an exception to that rule overall. Neither of them really float my boat though to be honest, I prefer a more forward, powerful sound.

Hi Rameish, I wasnt that keen on the HA-1, but to be fair, I never heard it with the CD3000, only very briefly with the HD580 (I've since discovered as an HD650 owner that I'm not keen on the Sennheiser sound, too boring), but with more depth with the Beyer DT931 (too bright, too lightweight), DT770 (too bassy, seemed to have lots of rumble without much impact), DT880 (too lightweight, too boring) and finally the AKG K271 (which I thought was pretty horrible sounding). It did sound best with the HD580 if I remember correctly, sounding laid back, but clean, detailed and fast. Some have said that the HA-2 is warmer and smoother than the HA-1, which wont be a bad thing for the Sony from what you are saying. Just out of interest, is there much difference between the HA-1 Mk2 and HA-2 with the CD3000? I had heard the HA-1 Mk2 was much better than the HA-1 Mk1? Cheers

Thanks Rameish, I have to say that the HA-2 does tempt me a lot, as it seems to be the case that it drives all cans wel and this flexibility might be a good thing in the future. How would you describe the sound of the HA-2 with the CD3000?l