Contrary to my most recent thread, I decided that bass cannons wasn’t what I needed.
I saw Zeos’ glowing review (at least regarding the audio) on these, and figured I’d give 'em a try.
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good purchase! mine have become the only Grado I’m keeping long term. Really nice, unique set of cans.
Grado’s can be really nice, but that F#!*ing cable! 
Welp I just bought this DAC to go with my new Akitika AMP.
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vendor-s-bazaar/379964-celibidache-nos-dac.html
It’s a true NOS DAC with 20 TDA 1387 DAC chips to bring down the noise floor. Will be very interesting to see how it compares to my Ares 2 at less than 1/3rd the cost. Will post impressions once it arrives 
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Seriously, I can’t stop using the 325X but my god the new braided cable is heavy and wonky as all hell.
The new cable has to be better than the old one. 
Not a TWS guy but at this price I couldn’t pass these up. Picked up the AKG N400 for $76 after tax. They’re 53% off at the moment. You guys might want to grab a pair if you want a decent harman target TWS. Dunno why they decided to swap the position of their L & R buds.
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Gah I went a little overboard this Black Friday… 
Picked up a pair of Audeze Sine (on ear) for $129, Koss GMR air for $25, Hifiman HE6 V2 for $549, and Focal Elegia for $379… Need to stop impulse buying when seeing a good deal
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Oh no that really is a great deal, I just bought some second hand Lypertek Tevi for $40, but it’s debatable that I’d rather have spent $35 more.
For one thing my main application is workouts, and the AKGs would for sure be a more secure ear fit (I’ve owned Tevis before)
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hindsight is 20/20 lol. I actually bought a bunch more to gift as stocking stuffers for Christmas. if you decide to change your mind its still on sale but i’ve also heard good things about the Lypertek.
Not exactly today, more like yesterday or the day before, but I landed a set of Tygrs with no mike from Beyer at $130, B-stock. Luckily, I have a family member in a country they ship to.
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Blue Mele arrived today, and I am pairing it with a XINHS 8 Core 6N OCC Rainbow Blue Cable that arrived last week, but I hadn’t posted it here, since I bought it for this IEM. The case came with the cable too.
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The DA-9 came in today. I got home as early as I could, but I didn’t get much time on it. I have a rule - off speakers and on headphones by 2000 hrs. So, at the 1.5-hour mark, here are the first impressions!
The unit itself is a nicely put together package. It’s amazing to me how small they are making these things now. It fit right where the DA-8S sat on the desk, so bonus there. No re-shuffling of equipment. The new screen is a huge improvement over the tiny little screen the DA-8S had. And I decided to pull the SU-8 off the system. I may have other plans for that DAC. Or I might sell the stack for a real good price. Not sure yet. But anyway, the DA-9 is in! So how does she sound?
Frankly, I was a bit underwhelmed when I played the first track. At first hit, it didn’t sound a whole lot different from the DA-8S I have been using. Granted, both units use the Infineon amp modules, but the DA-9 is employing two of them to maintain a fully balanced configuration all the way to the speakers. And they are the upgraded versions. I guess I had placed a bit too much expectation on the new amp. So I just sat back and let things develop. And develop they did.
I started to notice that the bass had more definition without losing any punch. And not as rolled off in that sub bass region. The BR02’s were definitely responding well to this new amp. So a nice improvement, there. And as you get into the real meat of the power curve, I realized that everything had more clarity, more authenticity. Guitar strings sound a bit more natural, pianos sound like they are right in the room! On David Crosby’s “I won’t Stay for Long” You can hear the low notes coming right from the deep belly of that piano! Vocals are wonderful. Imaging, stage - all have been improved by respectable margins. And best of all, no noise. No hiss. If this amp is not playing music, you do not hear it.
Obviously I need to give it more time to settle in, but I am impressed so far. Given my surroundings, This may be all I ever need for this desktop setup. To be continued…
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Finally got to experience some Audeze headphones. Although they’re uncomfortable with glasses, these on-ears sound incredible!
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Ha! I was thinking about getting a pair of those too! They look good lol
Yea they didn’t sound so great on the Tygr or the DT 880 that I own. But they work great with the Apos Caspian
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Lovely. It reminds me of something that’s decidedly off-topic to share here and hope it doesn’t come off as a bit TMI, but well, it reminds me of an amateur/semi-pro recording of the Latin translation of the Aladdin song. As someone who has studied classics for a couple of years pre-college, this has a very special significance to me. I hope at least some of you guys can enjoy it too.
Also, bought myself a FiiO K5 non-pro for what’s like fifty bucks, except here in Europe such things are much harded to come by and the prices are much higher. My first dedicated amp. I’ve only had speaker sets, stereos, soundcards, etc. so far. And my first real headphones (bar my parents’ old collection) haven’t even arrived yet (the Tygrs mentioned just above).
Oh, and yesterday I bought a really nice office/ergonomic chair from a local manufacturer for just under $300 in local currency. You get almost all the value of chairs asking double that and some of what they don’t provide, i.e. the best seat ever (you can find slightly better back if you double the budget, but for an equal seat you’d need to pay like… heck, I don’t know, four times as much?) and a really good headrest for a straight-back position, which I need for typing all day as opposed to sitting back for more typical office jobs. And a real good gas lift for tall people (6’4’'). You could perhaps guess the price by looking at the materials and finish (you’d probably still give it a large chunk of extra credit), but it really is packed to the brim with value. Oh wait, it’s on Amazon, though there’s probably no English translation.
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I know they’re flanels, but my first thought when seeing them on Dekoni’s website two or three days ago was ‘tartan pads’. They should make a special offer for Scottish people. You tell them what your family’s colours are, and they give you genealogically appropriate tartan pads for your heapdhones. 
Could strap a feather or a tassel to the headband too. Turn them into bonnetphones.
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