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  1. Alcophone

    AES3 input, balanced analogue out DAC?

    Schiit Modius comes to mind, but it needs an external USB power supply (included).
  2. Alcophone

    Cheapest DAC with I2S

    All its non-USB ports are outputs, not inputs
  3. Alcophone

    Question: Topping D10S-DoukAudioU2Pro-S.M.S.L. PO100AK, Mini PC via Toslink to HT5.1...

    Not really. I guess the TOSLINK port could be more snug, but that's a common grievance with TOSLINK. Doesn't mean too much for the newer version, of course. Get both, tell us which one you like better and return the other one ;)
  4. Alcophone

    Question: Topping D10S-DoukAudioU2Pro-S.M.S.L. PO100AK, Mini PC via Toslink to HT5.1...

    For what it's worth, the Topping D10 (no experience with the D10s) has worked well for me as a USB to S/PDIF converter. I like that it doesn't need separate power and that it has a sample rate display. It is bit perfect. I cannot recommend the miniDSP USBStreamer B (should you stumble upon it)...
  5. Alcophone

    Schiit Magni Heretic Headphone Amp Review

    Website: "THE AFFORDABLE, NO-EXCUSES HEADPHONE AMP & PREAMP" "Magni is now the only affordable, true no-excuses headphone amp and preamp" "All Magnis include preamp outputs." Manual: "HEADPHONE AMP/PREAMP" "3 Optional: Connect the preamp outputs to powered monitors or an external power amp...
  6. Alcophone

    Schiit Magni Heretic Headphone Amp Review

    The ZMF Pendant SE (a collaboration with ampsandsound, apparently discontinued) has 8 and 100 Ohm outputs and the former certainly worked with the DCA Stealth, albeit with not too many volume levels left. Sounded pretty good with the vintage tubes they offered, but I still preferred the Pass...
  7. Alcophone

    Pass Labs HPA-1 Headphone Amp Review

    Alright, I bought the "Silent Shout" album on Bandcamp and downloaded it as FLAC (16 bit, 44.1 kHz). "Like a Pen" is a fun track! I wanted something to compare the HPA-1 to since I never know whether distortion is part of the recording, the compression or something in the chain. I figured I'll...
  8. Alcophone

    Pass Labs HPA-1 Headphone Amp Review

    By original you mean lossless or would you say Spotify Premium is good enough?
  9. Alcophone

    Pass Labs HPA-1 Headphone Amp Review

    The DCA Stealth is a power hungry headphone. It sounds beautiful out of the HPA-1. It's plenty loud with the volume level at noon. With some songs I get so into it, I turn it to 2 or 3pm, but very rarely because that's hearing damage territory. More than enough power for this application, it...
  10. Alcophone

    Pass Labs HPA-1 Headphone Amp Review

    That would have been up to the new owner, Amir had to wrap up the review because the owner at the time sold it to someone else who was waiting to receive it. But yeah, if this unit makes its way to Pass Labs, I'd love to hear their findings. This amp is really bad because whenever I foolishly...
  11. Alcophone

    Schiit Magni Heretic Headphone Amp Review

    It absorbs the bad noise and distortion and radiates it upwards while refining the good kind. Just kidding, I happened to have one because I like how they look and it's a fairly dense material, so it makes for a good weight.
  12. Alcophone

    Schiit Magni Heretic Headphone Amp Review

    Nice. My flashiest choice so far was a chunky pyrite:
  13. Alcophone

    Schiit Magni Heretic Headphone Amp Review

    Schiit's policy isn't bad, they pay for shipping the device back to you if there was indeed a defect and they also cover the shipping costs to them for units that have issues out of the gate. Some restrictions for international situations, of course. And that's just the official policy. The...
  14. Alcophone

    Schiit Magni Heretic Headphone Amp Review

    They used to offer this power supply: Don't know why it disappeared or whether it would have worked here (AC vs. DC, involved voltages, etc.). These are super helpful if you can hide them somewhere: Or go full hardcore with the Tripp-Lite PS1916D1U: Regarding the weight issue, these door...
  15. Alcophone

    My Topping E70 is defective. Skipping issue

    TOSLINK is very sensitive to how well the cable is seated, often you can move it quite a bit side to side, depending on the cable and device in question. See if you can nudge it to be properly centered/perpendicular, maybe that helps. The insertion depth also matters, sometimes results are...
  16. Alcophone

    Pass Labs HPA-1 Headphone Amp Review

    A matter or definition. To me the war started a few years ago when Schiit had to start catering to objectivists because too many people were suddenly influenced by the ASR hive mind, affecting Amazon reviews, Drop.com discussions, Reddit posts, etc. Before then it was clearly easier to find...
  17. Alcophone

    Pass Labs HPA-1 Headphone Amp Review

    Just throwing some thoughts in: When music is recorded and mastered, it's also listened to through gear that may not be free of distortion, so it's possible that the final sound that was approved included some distortion of the reproduction system in the studio (and maybe originally a lot of...
  18. Alcophone

    Pass Labs HPA-1 Headphone Amp Review

    Its power consumption doesn't change depending on the volume level or how much bass there is, even with the inefficient DCA Stealth. That's class A like behavior as far as I understand it.
  19. Alcophone

    Pass Labs HPA-1 Headphone Amp Review

    Weird, mine makes the Stealth louder than I can handle even with the grooviest of tunes.
  20. Alcophone

    Pass HPA1

    From the manual: I love this amp. My favorite so far. I use IsoAcoustics Iso-Puck Minis to keep it firmly in place (and shouldn't have to, the felt feet are a poor choice). The locking headphone jack is annoying when you want to compare headphones but no concern otherwise. I've gotten used to...
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