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Showing 1 of 29 conversations about:
AltCtrl
1
Oct 29, 2017
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I have the old Matrix-M-Stage 2010 v.2 -- is it worth upgrading to this? My sound card is the Asus Essence STX. My headphones are: Beyer 1990 Pro, Beyer DT880 and soon to come HD6XX and Hifiman 4XX. How do I run these in balanced mode, is it a big difference? What are some other good solid state amp choices for these headphones? Thanks!
trybeingarun
137
Oct 29, 2017
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AltCtrlAs I had mentioned somewhere down, I have its sibling, the HPA-3u+ unit, which isn't balanced, but the circuit looks really close. If the sound signature is closer to the HPA-3u it should be great for bright sounding headphones (HE-560, which I have). HD6XX din't really pair with my amp well, it just sounded too dark & lean for my taste. The rest of the headphones you have should be bright which should make for a pretty good pairing (I guess). At this price point the Jotenheim should be a rival, which should work well with the HD6xx
AltCtrl
1
Oct 29, 2017
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trybeingarunWould running RCA cables from my sound card to XLR-to-RCA adapters not produce balanced sound? What do I need to run it in balanced mode? Thanks!
trybeingarun
137
Oct 29, 2017
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AltCtrlYou can't convert that easily AFAIK. At worst you might damage the amp itself. If that's what you want to do you can try the jotunheim which is a bit more expensive but should support rca ins.
AltCtrl
1
Oct 29, 2017
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trybeingarunWould that produce balanced sound using RCA cables or do you need a dedicated balanced DAC and XLR cables? This unit does come with the XLR-to-RCA adapters. Sorry I'm new to balanced sound.
trybeingarun
137
Oct 30, 2017
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AltCtrlWow, it does come with the converter and specifies you can use unbalanced signal as input. I think you should be fine in that case. But seriously, consider the Jotunheim too, since you're not saving as many $ too (esp if you have warm headphones). I guess either should keep you happy for a while.
d3rrlck
51
Jul 17, 2018
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AltCtrlI used to have the M-Stage 2010 v.2 (modded into Class-A Biasing), and was replaced by the HPA-3B. The old m-stage has a bump in bass and mids, and a treble that's sounds grainy to my ears. The HPA-3B (especially when used in balanced) is the cleanest, neutral and textured sound I've ever heard (YMMV). You just hear the recording as intended to be played. I would pick this HPA-3B over the Jot as the Jot sucks in SNR, THD, and some units exhibit a power supply hum. Here's my bedside rig running fully balanced Topping DX7s --> HPA-3B --> HD6xx/HE-400i
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