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What amp/DAC do you recommend for my Audio-Technica ATH-R70x headphones?

solderdude

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Ok then who are those engineers you like most and why ?

I don't care who works for which company and designs what.

When a device seems to be properly engineered and measures the way I think is good and the price is in my target range I am fine with it.
 

rkt31

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I don't care who works for which company and designs what.

When a device seems to be properly engineered and measures the way I think is good and the price is in my target range I am fine with it.
Exactly that's what is there in rob watt's presentation, engineering, measurements and technology.
 

staticV3

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It's engineering, measurements, and technology designed to fool you into believing that what is there has actual value and will improve sound quality.

Watts' technobabble is particularly potent for those who have a vague understanding of things like dB, jitter, and harmonic distortion, but haven't yet dived deep enough into the topic to see past his nonsense.
 
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solderdude

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Exactly that's what is there in rob watt's presentation, engineering, measurements and technology.

The point is one can over-engineer things which makes the final product more expensive than needed without real world benefits.
Believing that only Rob Watts knows how to 'properly' engineer things or is 'the best' is nothing more than a personal opinion.
He made several claims which he cannot demonstrate to be true.
We just have to 'believe' him and/or his customers.
 
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rkt31

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It's engineering, measurements, and technology designed to fool you into believing that what is there has actual value and will improve sound quality.

Watt's technobabble is particularly potent for those who have a vague understanding of things like dB, jitter, and harmonic distortion, but haven't yet dived deep enough into the topic to see past his nonsense.
Even if the measurements are good ?
 

staticV3

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The measurements aren't good enough to justify the asking price.
What you're buying Chord for is the whole 10k+ taps, 100+ bit processing, and -300dBFS precision shtick.

It's like a restaurant charging triple because they season their dishes down to the milligram.
 

RHO

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solderdude

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And how will they verify that it actually performs as intended? How will they measure this?

Its all in the digital plane so deteremined by the bit depth. Unfortunately that small number will have to be rounded off to the smallest bit level the DAC can resolve and that rounded off level will certainly drown in real world noise.

64 bit is already 380 dB
100 bits = 600 dB
 
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staticV3

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How will they measure this?
826.jpg

I'm assuming it's just theoretical simulations
 

Jimbob54

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I don't want to go through his presentation. I'm asking you how you discern the same eq profile applied to the chord vs somewhere further up the chain.

You are claiming you can tell the chord is superior. I want to know how the phase and distortion effects manifest in your listening to other eq solutions. Mr Watts is doing his job.
Distortion and phase issues. Unlike simple volume control and normalisation EQ works differently. I would suggest you to go through rob watts presentation.

@rkt31 Im still waiting on your response to my question on the back of this exchange...

"I'm asking you how you discern the same eq profile applied to the chord vs somewhere further up the chain." . What sonic characteristics do you hear that tells you you are listening the the Mojo 2 doing that DSP onboard vs further up the chain- what do the distortion and phase issues present in other DSP solutions sound like to you to enable you to discern the Mojo2 doing the DSP?

Instead you went off on some kind of bizarre audio engineering Top Trumps.
 

solderdude

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Rob W. claims he could hear differences in his lab while experimenting with filters between filters going -350dB deep and lower bit depth filters but did not mention whether or not it was a completely different filter (that also had a different bit depth) or that only the bit depth of the same filter changed.
So ... bollocks and sighted for sure it was anecdotal but used this in his presentations to show what great hearing he has at his age ?
 
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rkt31

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Problem with most audiophile is that they think they are only right. Why don't you try chord mojo 2 yourself ? If at all measurements are not important beyond a limit then what is the use of this website. They should not make any ranking based on sinad. It's very easy to discount anyone without proving him wrong specially when he is there with clear reason logic and explanation. Wait till mojo 2 is measured.
 

Jimbob54

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Problem with most audiophile is that they think they are only right. Why don't you try chord mojo 2 yourself ? If at all measurements are not important beyond a limit then what is the use of this website. They should not make any ranking based on sinad. It's very easy to discount anyone without proving him wrong specially when he is there with clear reason logic and explanation. Wait till mojo 2 is measured.
It will show perfectly acceptable measurements I am sure- nobody is doubting he is a competent designer of products (though the white noise blast reports are troubling). But so do most products that get measured here.

It's difficult to take anybody seriously when there is only anecdote and a presentation by Chords main designer/ salesman.
 

staticV3

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Easier to fool someone than to convince them that they have been fooled...

To be clear: no one is doubting that the Mojo 2 will produce competent measurements. Great, even!
What we are doubting is that the performance claims that I mentioned, which Watts is using to market and price his products, hold any merit at all.
 
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tifune

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To be clear: no one is doubting that the Mojo 2 will produce competent measurements. Great, even!
What we are doubting is that the performance claims that I mentioned, which Watts is using to market and price his products, hold any merits at all.

This is the deal breaker for me, personally. I find it difficult to believe he can be knowledgeable enough to build such good equipment, yet ignorant to the real world implications of "104dB EQ" and the like. I'd even be OK with a premium for the unique Speak N Spell appearance; not my thing but I get many people dig aesthetics.

But, at face value that's not what's happening here, rather a marketing blitz around variables that effectively vanish when they enter Earth's atmosphere (if not sooner). I guess that head-fi $ is a hell of a drug
 

RHO

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El_Arte

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Anything that can be solved for $50 can be solved for $50,000 or more.

The more expensive solution can be better in theory and/or practice…and still represent an inaudible difference for 99.999999% of the human population.
 

solderdude

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Anything that can be solved for $50 can be solved for $50,000 or more.

The more expensive solution can be better in theory and/or practice…and still represent an inaudible difference for 99.999999% of the human population.

I take it Rob Watts is among the remaining 0.000001% ? :)
 

kmidst

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I'm using Topping DX3 Pro+, it's under $200 and drives these headphones perfectly. It has extras like bluetooth reception, RCA outputs, and toggling of amplification (DAC only). Suits me really well.
 
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