Yep, sounds like we will both be happy with the exchange
Looking forward to trying it out with my Atticus
1 Like
Nice!! That is the only ZMF I haven’t tried!
Linsoul legit sucks sometimes.
FINALLY got the Topping A50s in the mail today. Pairing it with the Topping D50s that I already had. Used it primarily as a preamp for right now, but sampled a few choice tracks.
This won’t be long…but my initial impression is that the Topping A50s is the $200, metal case, small footprint, more oomph ChiFi Head/PreAmp that JDS Labs Atom lovers would have preferred was made in America. Its the upgrade to the Atom, IMO if the Atom is your jam.
Initial impressions as a PreAmp.
Slap High gain on it, put the volume up, and it fills my room up with more sound than just running my D50s to my amp. Without question…improved sound as just a PreAmp. Fuller sound…and especially more bass.
Initial Impressions as a HeadAmp
Side-by-side test with the A50s/D50s v Asgard 3/Modius with Elegias, HD600, and Beyerdynamic T1.2s.
I preferred the Schiit combo for every single headphone. Elegias was nearly a push, but I do like the Schiit signature a bit more than Topping to be fair. I felt I needed to push (yes I used balance) the T1.2’s past 2 o’clock to get’em cookin on the A50s and at this point, I’m so used to the T1.2 and Liquid Platinum pairing and enjoy it so much, its unfair to even include it as a comparison. It was aight.
With all of that said…I did like the A50s on a brief first listen…will give it a bit more of a go later on.
2 Likes
HE1000 v1’s. I shouldn’t have since I already own a pair of Arya v2’s, but I’ve been enamored with the HE1000’s for a long time. From my initial impressions, the Arya v2’s mids approaches that of the HEKv1, and the Arya v1’s bass (and its Helmholtz effect) is present in the HEKv1’s.
On my gear, my Arya v1’s mids were a bit recessed, which could get lost in the mix for some tracks. The Arya v2’s rectified that by bringing it back up a bit (or it could have been the amount of pad wear between the two versions). I guess I could’ve EQ’d the mids in the Arya v1’s if I was that bothered by it before they met their untimely demise when my chair caught its cable and launched it off my desk (the magnets broke when they struck something on their way down). The Arya v2 lost the pretty cool Helmholtz effect with the sub-bass as heard in the Arya v1: the sub-bass in the latter gets thunderous when you move the cups slightly off-ear a la the Abyss 1266.
10 Likes
Aaaaah, airbrushes…
Back in college I impulse-bought a 1/350 USS Laffey model. Since then I’ve been aiming to get a decent airbrush setup and detail parts, but now I’m stuck in audio hell instead. Some day I’ll actually build it, lol
1 Like
They sound pretty good actually. They do need a subwoofer in my opinion but, I prefer a little more low-end than most. I’ve had them only a short while and they are warming up more, the more they are used. Music sounds really good and so does spoken word. All in all I’m pleased for the price.
I’m still experimenting with placement. On the desk they do sound better without any toe in. They also sound better just like the manual says - if you can get them up so that your ears are between the tweeter and woofer. I’ve been using some yoga blocks as a temp but, I’ve ordered some 5" risers so…
As far as driving them, I’m using an SA300 (amp only) and 20 out of 60 on the volume is getting 60-65 dB with peaks into the low 70’s to my seat (just a silly iPhone spl/dB meter). I’ve never turned it past 25/60 on the volume and I normalize @ 16/60 when not jam’n out.
Edit: This was my primary reason for trying these, and what I took from the reviews. IMO these do keep their overall tonality even at lower volume and it doesn’t feel like anything is dropping out - just gets quieter.
1 Like
Couldn’t pass up a good discount:
16 Likes
Tremendous, i can make suggestions with more confidence for those looking to get good audio for not alot of lettuce. Thinking of picking up more sets for home theater. Sacrificing 2 pairs by mounting them as height ch.
1 Like
They are really TOTL cans…work well with all kinds of music. Dont believe the crap on how they are recessed…they give u the missing bass stuff thats in real music, mids that are perfect…vocals 10/10.
Very listenable with anything u throw at them…made for people that like to listen to “music” and not charts and graphs and eq curves…
Absolutley Stellar!
Alex
8 Likes
Enjoy the Music!!
While YOU can!!
All the best!
Alex
2 Likes
Obligatory Satisfying Clicky Video:
This will (eventually) be going into my theater setup to enable listening to Susvara over “Zone B” of my multichannel speaker amp. I am still sourcing an XLR switch (have one picked out, but haven’t finalized the order yet) that will go upstream of this level control to allow me to route playback from my DACs to this chain, to my loudspeakers, or to some headphone amps.
10 Likes
While trying out super cheap tws iems I kinda fell In love with how convenient they are and ended up just biting on this
11 Likes
24 Likes
Dbl Big Mac with extra onions and pickles.
11 Likes