Aune T1 SE MK3 Headphone DAC/Amp Discussions | Drop

Free Standard Shipping in the US on orders over $99

Aune T1 SE MK3 Headphone DAC/Amp

Audiophile

Showing 1 of 149 conversations about:

Aune T1 SE MK3 Headphone DAC/Amp

jaydunndiddit

3262

Oct 18, 2018

@rastus Is the T1 worth getting if I have no intention to upgrade anything besides the tube? I am currently leaning towards this unit, the iFi iTube2, LittleDot mkIII, or DV336SE. Do you have a preference? I want to start with a cheaper option to see how much I like it before plunking down some serious coin going down the rabbit hole.

Vote

rastus

1391

Oct 18, 2018

jaydunndidditI have gotten the T1's, four so far T4;) doing two more now as grad gifts introducing niece & nephews to "HiFi" vs MP3 & Beats schlock. This nicely packaged DAC/tube buffer/SS amp at a very reasonable price point fit the bill... but I was not really satisfied with the sq until I put in a NOS tube and... then also upgraded the caps. If you want something small to fit on the desk at work, with a nice tube, it is fine as an all-in-one, but the caps open up the stage. No experience with a LD or iFi, look OK, reviews good. But if I were going for a tube sound, I would get the Darkvoice out of the four, and the DV has more interesting choices for tube rolling. I am still curious about the sound out of an OTL, the clean dark, and may still pick up a used DV. Wanted to get the La Figaro 339, but directed funds to a 300B SET amp instead. You can still upgrade the caps in the DV at some point as well, and adjust them to suite different impedance cans if you wish. Key for me it that it is a point-to-point wired amp, not a board. Not trying to open up a board vs point wiring, but a bad board is just that, done. It is a purist amp, un-hook the RCA outs, unless you need them. You will want to pay particular attention to your tubes, if you are not willing to spend some coin on quality NOS, do not enter here...

Money no object, you can move down from here,,, but... if you got this 5998 tube,, you would just have to play some Derek and the Dominos with it;) https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nos-Jan-CAHG-5998-421A-Tube-Brand-New-USA-Made-1959-Same-Western-Electric-421-A/183396068201?hash=item2ab341eb69:g:VfwAAOSw899bf5Y9 & https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-SYLVANIA-JAN-CHS-6SN7GT-VT-231-TUBES-TROPHY-QUALITY-PAIRS-for-CARY-AUDIO/232274550313?epid=141074578&hash=item3614a45e29:g:PbgAAOSwL1hbjrrt Or: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nos-Pair-6SN7W-6SN7WGT-RAYTHEON-Tubes-Perfect-tubes-Vintage-New-VT-231-B65/173591290701?hash=item286ad8e34d:g:HyEAAOSwPfBbxZp5:rk:9:pf:0

haroex1

Dec 12, 2018

jaydunndidditWhat headphones?

Vote

mayorblurps

499

Dec 15, 2018

rastusI've got the original version (mk1 I guess?) from MD a few years ago. I still love it. When I first plugged in the Fidelio X1 into the T1 when I first got it, I was blown away by the warm, musical sound and plenty of bass (I'm a basshead but I prefer good bass, not boomy) I looked at different tubes at the time but never did do any tube rolling. I'd love to swap it out for a Gold Lion or something with a bit more bass. I sold my M-Audio amp because I never used it once the T1 arrived. Suggestions for bassy/musical tubes? I am treble sensitive so trying to avoid anything bright. Pretty sure my T1 (from 2014) came with the Electro Harmonix tube.

rastus

1391

Dec 16, 2018

mayorblurpsI like the Amperex for the stage and detailed clarity, if there is bass, don’t worry it will come through. Just got a new T1 SE off the bay and went between the EH it came with,, and a USN NOS Amperex 6922, it opened right up and cleared the bit of fog out. Adventurous ? ,, you can do the cap upgrade... this gives a better bottom end, and middle,, and top:)) On the bay now: https://www.ebay.com/itm/A-VINTAGE-AMPEREX-6922-BUGLE-BOY-GOLD-PIN-NOS-NIB-VACUUM-TUBE/233039041739?hash=item36423594cb:g:ZZAAAOSwzDBa9PKM

https://www.ebay.com/itm/USN-Amperex-6922-E88CC-V-Gold-Pins-Vacuum-Tube-Very-Strong-Balanced/183564688532?epid=166830015&hash=item2abd4edc94:g:9SUAAOSwNe9cBApI A nice USB cable is not a bad thing, it is all ones & zeros_._...__ if they all get there, there is no bitsum; https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-00m-ViaBlue-KR-2-Silver-USB-Cable-A-B-1-0m-1m-1-Piece/123200756012?epid=25020598994&hash=item1caf56592c:g:P6YAAOSwX~dWpLdk

http://viablue.de/cn/kr_2_silver_usb_cable_a_b_mini.shtml

(Edited)

Nebby

Dec 17, 2018

rastusJust fyi. USB have built in error-detection. So spending large sums of money on a USB cable is somewhat questionable. If a 0 or 1 doesn't reach one end, it'll go back to the PC/Laptop or w/e you have it hooked up to to get some new ones, which may or may not result in wizardry on the unit its used on. Theres is no benefit from a wellcrafted 20$ USB cable to a 400$ one, other than the 400$ one might look and feel well built. However, you seem to know your thing about NOS tubes, and I do not. I was hoping to pick this up to pair with my 58X Jubilee, Hifiman 4XX's and my pair of HD 650's. I am however, no ready to shell out 400$ for a NOS tube. Is there a middle-ground? EDIT: Updated some terms. English is not my native language ;-)

(Edited)

rastus

1391

Dec 17, 2018

NebbyHi Nebby, first you are off in understanding music running through USB, the word is isochronous, it’s a one way street, your DAC will mute or substitute previous data for what it sees as bad data, rather than screech or flub. A common misconception. It started with cd’s and the music biz hiding what they did not want you to know. Not so much that the errors/missing data were occuring, they always will even without physical media, but just how bad it could get. The music industry has not the interest nor monetary incentive to correct this misconception. Case in point is MQA; feeding more pap to consumers; ‘good enough for the masses’ ergo; saves us bandwidth = saves us money; licenses for hardware = cherry on top... Tubes... ironically I have spent the last 40 years pushing corpuscles through ether,, or in new terms; electrons through vacuum and gaseous / vapor mediums,, in order to make solid state electronics,, i.e. an ‘electron pusher’ , in the end to move atoms. Tubes belonged in my father’s past, he worked for Sylvania. Only in the past few years have I come to appreciate & understand what tubes can bring to audio reproduction, bringing life back, that missing element, that spark, that harmonic, that beautiful natural mess, that became suppressed in the pursuit of paper perfection. Yes, I thought of them as interesting antiques, I called them hand warmers and room heaters... but I still worked with them for high power RF, until replaced by solid state. We still today repair tube generators, though all new is usually solid state up to 10Kw. Think in terms of tribal knowledge and you can look back in time and see the unique talent in making these valves during the peak period. Most interesting are the collector surface treatments and the ones with un-interrupted mostly smooth transitional, symmetrical surfaces. Don't give electrons really pointy things,, unless you want to make a gun. Gather free electrons on a warm fuzzy mattress with a bit of resilience and not too bouncy. A good NOS example is the Bendix 6094, the epitome of the EL84 design. Sophia has done this with their latest iterations of the 300B, 6SN7 and EL34 designs.

look at the markets that had the need, for the top performing tubes in amplification, in the human audio spectrum; military esp. the silent service, subs... hear them first and you might live...USN & JAN; computer and instrument folks - HP & IBM picking only the top; broadcasting - example CBS - Hytron; and of course the audio industry itself just before the solid state transistor, where they were cherry-picking from the best such as Fischer - bugle-boy & PQ amperex for OEM examples. There is not an endless supply left, many are now forgeries out of China. You may get burned, fact here,, but you can enjoy them while we have the true NOS still available to us. I have new 300B Royal Princesses and they are beautiful sirens, Sophia also has new $$ 6SN7’s that I hope to eventually try. Westinghouse is starting up the new 300B plant (again), interested to hear these: http://www.westernelectric.com/products/300b.html Not an expert on tubes, just now listening to the past and hearing forward... Have no worry about the English thing, it is so messed up that it is nuts - but useful, only rules hold it together... you did just fine, I am a fan of Mark Twain "Write like you speak." ;) I usually do find the bay to have the best deals still, and the dealers list there as well. Tubes w/o measured values,, a real risk, matched values key. Right now off the bay, to be pragmatic, I would buy for the T1: https://www.ebay.com/itm/A-VINTAGE-AMPEREX-6922-BUGLE-BOY-GOLD-PIN-NOS-NIB-VACUUM-TUBE/233039041739?hash=item36423594cb:g:ZZAAAOSwzDBa9PKM

(Edited)

Nebby

Dec 18, 2018

rastusWow, I did not expect such a lengthy and detailed explanation of the tubes. Rest assured, that I have saved your comment( As in, actually saved it in a document ) for when I go out and buy a tube amplifier. I did however end up with a MayFlower ARC this time around. We'll see how it plays with my 4 sets of cans. Perhaps a small tube like this Aune T1 SE next month or the month after that if its around :-) Just so you know, get a taste of what the tubes actually sound like, before I really get invested, because so far, all I've heard is solid-states.

MarcSpence

180

Aug 5, 2019

haroex1The aune plays well with both planars and dynamics. Using the aune with gain setting on 2 is plenty of power for my hd600, zmf atticus and lcd2f

View Full Discussion

PRODUCTS YOU MAY LIKE

Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX Headphones

$199

Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee Headphones

$169

Massdrop x Sennheiser PC37X Gaming Headset

$99

Drop + HIFIMAN HE4XX Planar Magnetic Headphones

$149

Massdrop x Koss Porta Pro X Headphones

$29

Drop + EPOS PC38X Gaming Headset

$169

Massdrop x Koss KSC75X On-Ear Headphones

$20

Massdrop x Meze 99 Noir Closed-Back Headphones

$199

Drop + EPOS PC38X Yellow Gaming Headset

$139

Drop BMR1 Nearfield Monitors

$79

Trending Posts in Audiophile

Simthaniel

Rigs

Modded headphones with qudelix at the core

When I received the Qudelix 5K, I had already modified a pair of Superlux HD-681 headphones. I previously soldered my own balanced connections to the drivers, providing multiple ways to connect and...

Apr 14, 2024

Audiophile

Rigs

brothamike

A decent set of IEMs

I am in the midst of a 300 hour burn-in but, I will say I am enjoying how this set sounds so far. Before I received these which was btw late by a few weeks, I purchased a Sony/Kimber Kable MMCX...

Apr 12, 2024

Audiophile

Photos

merrick97

Should I exchange the PC38X for better headphones?

I bought the PC38X headphones FOR GAMING and they are great, but I have NO use for a Microphone since I don't do competitive gaming and I was wondering if there were better headphone options at a similar price without a headphone, where (presumably) more of the cost was put into making it sound better. I also find that my PC38X don't get quite as loud as I would like and I was wondering if a cheap amp like the iFi Go link would draw a little more volume out of my phones. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BN6MM822?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details I went with the PC38X since it was considered the best bang for buck headphones. I care most about using spatial apps like DOlby Atmos and DTS Headphone:X. Suggestions are welcome.

Apr 11, 2024

Audiophile

General

LostnAmerica

Sound Signature of the Grell Project.

Wondering what type of sound signature the Drop Grell project headphones will have or trying to attain. Any update would be appreciated.

Apr 8, 2024

Audiophile

Questions

Fabulous

Looking for a gaming/content audio setup

Hello! I'm looking for recommendations on audio setups. I'd be planning on using it mostly for gaming. Preferably I'd like a pair of large closed back headphones since I have a big head and jaw. I'd also like to hear myself through my mic with mic monitoring. As far as budget goes, I don't really have one. But under 600$ would be nice. I can go higher if needed. The audio setup would be connected to a high performance PC. Thank you in advance for any recommendations!

Apr 4, 2024

Audiophile

Questions

1plsd

$10 Drop Coupon Email not sent?

Trying to buy some gear off Drop for the first time. I was told I would receive an email with a welcome to drop $10 off promo. I never received that email. Drop was able to send me emails for my login token and email for Password update. But for some reason the $10 off coupon was never sent to me.

Mar 31, 2024

Audiophile

Questions

Vote

NMPacella

New here

Hello, I just joined, primarily for the audiophile products. Looking at purchasing the NHT C3 speakers for our new living room. Space is about 15 feet wide by 33 long and they will fire long ways. Space is just for general listening, music room with all equipment is downstairs, so hoping they will fill it with sound nicely. Cheers.

Mar 18, 2024

Audiophile

General

Vote

Company

About Drop Studio Student Discount Privacy Policy Terms of Use Cookie Settings

Drop Refurbished

Like-new products you can trust

Drop Rewards

Get $5 for every 500 points you earn! Learn more

Drop Keyboard Club

Become a member and expand your keycap collection

Collaborate With Us

For Brands & Designers

Support

Contact Community Guidelines Help Center Sitemap

Follow Drop