Recent content by Wunderphones

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    Sony MDRV6 Headphone Review (with/without BRAINWAVZ Pad)

    Back before companies started making purpose-built DJ headphones, these were the most commonly used headphones for the job. And they were...okay. So I've got a soft spot in my heart for them, because they were what I had when I was learning. But my nostalgia isn't remotely strong enough to get...
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    Master Thread: Are measurements Everything or Nothing?

    DACs shouldn't have a "sound signature." What you really (should) want to know about a DAC is how much it alters the sound (less is better), and how much that level of proficiency costs (again, less is better). These are questions much better answered with numbers than words. Personally, I...
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    DCA and Schiit collaboration

    The new Aeon RT/Asgard combo is a heckuva deal. Neither of these products is what I'm looking for. But if this had been around a few years ago, when I was just starting to get serious about headphones, this would definitely have been a good way to go.
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    FiiO M11S + FiiO FH9 as a first set

    I'm very happy with the M11S. I wanted a Roon Ready DAP, and it's by far the best value among that group. I don't know how it stacks up against other pure DAPs for value, but FiiO generally gets good marks for bang-for-the-buck.
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    Moondrop Paradise, Amazing curves!

    I know. But look at that FR graph! They've done it! (Not the Harman curve, obv. But the diffuse field.)
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    Moondrop Paradise, Amazing curves!

    It wasn't long ago at all that IEMs approximating one of the target curves were rare as hen's teeth. And expensive. Moondrop, more than any other manufacturer, helped to change that situation. I was frankly surprised that their first couple headphone offerings were not similarly disruptive to...
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    Gustard R26 R2R DAC with roon

    I don't see how that can be true. Can you have a wide-open sound stage if the instruments all collide with each other? I think this is more a question of the "air" that people attribute to R2R DACS; it's like the soundstage you get when you put a shell to your ear at the beach.
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    New Topping D70 pro

    The recent DACs that have the 9038 Pro chip going to new heights of transparency are apparently doing so by using all of the eight cores in parallel and summing at the end. This is just doing the same with eight mono chips.
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    DAC under 1500USD with top performance volume control

    What you really want is a digital volume control, but one that's implemented by way of a 64-bit DSP, rather than the DAC chip.
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    The Science of Roon Endpoint price points

    I went the luxury route and got a Raspberry Pi 4 with a nice case so I could just go with WiFi. I use RopieeeXL on that, and run it out to an SMSL 500 (again, I went luxury). So, the endpoint in total was, like, $475? I guess if you think of the Rpi as the endpoint, it was about $50--again...
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    Topping DX1 mini desktop DAC & AMP

    I gotta give Topping credit: they definitely are not afraid to cannibalize the sales of their higher-end models. Here they've got a $99 desktop box that runs off bus power and manages to put out distortion and noise levels that most manufacturers aren't matching at any price. And although...
  12. W

    Can anyone explain the vinyl renaissance?

    Yeah, all modern digital is up to the task. But digital used to be just 8-bit, and I wanted to be sure we weren't implying that digital is inherently capable of transparency.
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    Can anyone explain the vinyl renaissance?

    Yes, but it's so much easier to do that kind of task in the digital domain that a lot of restorers would choose digital even if the output weren't superior.
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    Can anyone explain the vinyl renaissance?

    That's probably my favorite Calvin and Hobbes of all time.
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