Does the XDuoo TA-20 seem to increase soundstage any?
It changes the sound a bit, but I am not quite sure how to describe it. So far, the LCX sounds the best with them.
I just happened to notice this cable I have appears to have the same cable sleeving as the focal Elexās stock cable. Would this cable give me a good idea of what the Elex cable is like? This cable definitely feels stiff and retains itās shape a good amount.
Itās most likely like that but somehow not as flexible lol
The focal cables are much worse than that, I have both.
Regarding the TA-20, not for me.
I had a bit of a four-way shootout today and the runaway winner was the Cavalli LCX.
I suck at audio terms, but while listeniong to a playlist of 90ās rock tunes for two or three hours, I would describe eash as:
- Zduoo TA-20: Almost a little congested. Female vocals didnāt sound great. Thin maybe.
- Schiit Vali 2. Clean, clear and loud. Almost seems bright? Not a pairing I would stick with.
- SP200. Sounded harsh to me on some songs. This amp is Really not a jack of all trades. At least not to me. Super impressive with my Fostexās though.
- The Cavalli LCX via XLR. Best, by far, was this combo. Clear, clean and solid bass. Picking the strings, kicking the drums, women wailing, it did it all perfectly. I was thinking this ampsās only strength was calming down the Beyer T5p.2ās and maybe I should look at moving it on, but I was wrong.
Tomorrow I have no plans and will dedicate most of the day to Elexās with Burson Fun-Classic, Liquid spark and LCX. I am thinking all three are going to match beautifully! But, weāll see.
I like these headphones more every day. There REALLY were subpar off just a DAP.
5 Likes
Just a reminder for folks, Iām going to be selling an essentially brand new pair of clears, and Iām going to wait a few days to see if anyone messages me about buying them before I post them to ebay. <3
Iām sure youāll find someone who will buy them in no time. I want them but my last ounce of sanity is holding me back from upgrading my amp for them.
1 Like
Oh Iām sure Iāll find someone who will buy them too, I just want to give folks on the forum first dibs.
This is probably the most wholesome, polite and helpful forum on the internet I have EVER encountered.
Have you visited head-fi? lol
4 Likes
Iām wondering now about how big of a role your audio source will play in the dynamic range of this headphone. If you were to find the dynamic range too vast on a loseless audio source would going down to a compressed mp3 file make a big enough difference in the dynamic range to make it more pleasing for some if the range on better audio sources feels like too much?
At least for me (and for anyone I know who has any level of audiophile streak) mp3 compression will never sound better than a lossless file through anything. Also I donāt think that lack of compression means more dynamic range particularly. Sure, that is part of mp3ās compression compared to say SOME flac files, but the main issue here is the bitrate. Losing all that depth to any given moment of sound is unmistakably worse.
I donāt know if there would be any reason that say 44khz might sound better than 96khz, etc etc
1 Like
Correct, you are just loosing data from the lossy file
Not going to get into that one lol
1 Like
If you found the headphones too dynamic, you could either use a plugin or hardware compressor/limiter if you really wanted to, or get a more compressed amp. But honestly if you wanted something with less dynamic range you can just get a headphone with less dynamic range
I donāt have a pair yet. Just wondering how significant the audio source will be to the dynamic range of them. Iāve only seen from Joshua valourās review of them noting that they could be too dynamic for some people.
They arenāt that picky, but I could see them being too dynamic for some, but I rarely meet people who say thatās the case. They do have a bit exaggerated sense of dynamics but itās still fun
1 Like
I guess Iād want to understand what he means by that before answering the question.
I have a hard time seeing how someone could have a problem with too much dynamic range. I mean it canāt exceed what was in the recording.
1 Like
Iām just going off of what I remember from Joshua Valourās review. (Possible I could be remembering it wrong) Pretty sure the problem that was noted is that you might have to adjust the volume up and down in loud and quiet spots of certain songs because of the dynamic range.
For some they might not want to crank the volume in an orchestral piece to hear low level detail and then get blasted or something is my guess. Personally I donāt think this is an issue or anything, but idk, some might find it unwanted
I guess, but to me the point of high dynamic range is to accentuate the differences.
There is something impactful about large volume changes that gets lost with compression.
Itās why I hated a lot of CD remasters.
Exactly lol. Compression is needed for producing listenable music, but not something you want to add on playback from your gear