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salmon1
11
Dec 3, 2018
Don't have a pic, but just bought my first set of decent headphones and dac/amp so this is my first foray into this. Using the following: Focal Elear NAIM DAC-V1 Macbook Pro AudioQuest Forest USB cable
rastus
1391
Dec 3, 2018
salmon1Ummmm... you are off to a fine start;) might as well take it a step further, if you haven't already; do you have player software, like Audirvana so you can feed the Naim DSD? https://www.naimaudio.com/news/21751/dsd-playback-now-available-naim-audio-dacs
Volly
328
Dec 4, 2018
salmon1Gotta have pics for us GearSlutz! Like @rastus said, great start! Holy cow...what a start! You like the sound @salmon1?
rastus
1391
Dec 4, 2018
Volly salmon1 s a perfect 'case in point'... as I was saying about the Elex... a bit tongue-in-cheek;) but with the underlying truth, if you do have the means, jump... you are saving money, time and frustration/disappointment trying to hear the sound. Want to hear the "journey" you missed, buy something cheap,, or virtual audio time travel... I just bought a used pair of HD600's with a 30097 serial number, they have the original wool damping diffuser... But, yes, salmon1, we all do want the picture(s) and what the Naim does this rig sound like? We don't see people dropping Naims around here much, curious minds would like to know.
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https://www.massdrop.com/talk/11361/whats-the-best-set-of-entry-level-headphones-you-can-get/2268537
rastusTalk about saving money, time and disappointment, you could save yourself $400 by just EQing a 650 to exceed the Elex :p
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A simple bass shelf boost can take care of the 5 dB max delta in the lower end. Human ears are blessedly tolerant of distortion in the bass region, and both cans have ample performance room to boost here. The news is less good for the Elex' mess above 10 kHz, but many people find they do not mind it so much either way up in that region. Of course, none of this will do much good if you are giving advice to someone that tracks with population norms and prefers Harmon to Diffuse ;)
rastus
1391
Dec 4, 2018
GiantHeadphoneSquidTrying to stay away from "EQ" tonal balance control layer "fix",, been fed it for a long time, it's on the FB2K synth fun play list for later,, I view it a bit like "Pet Conversions";) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3Q2HZRjHHQ
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Man: (John Cleese) Good morning, I'd like to buy a cat. Shopkeeper: (Michael Palin) Certainly sir. I've got a lovely terrier. [indicates a box on the counter] Man: No, I want a cat really. Shopkeeper: [taking box off counter and then putting it back on counter as if it is a different box] Oh yeah, how about that? Man: [looking in box] No, that's the terrier. Shopkeeper: Well, it's as near as dammit. Man: Well what do you mean? I want a cat. Shopkeeper: Listen, tell you what. I'll file its legs down a bit, take its snout out, stick a few wires through its cheeks. There you are, a lovely pussy cat.
Man: Its not a proper cat.
Shopkeeper: What do you mean?
Man: Well it wouldn't meow.
Shopkeeper: Well it would howl a bit. Man: No, no, no, no. Er, have you got a parrot? Shopkeeper: No, I'm afraid not actually guv, we're fresh out of parrots. I'll tell you what though ... I'll lop its back legs off, make good, strip the fur, stick a couple of wings on and staple on a beak of your own choice. [taking small box and rattling it] No problem. Lovely parrot. Man: How long would that take? Shopkeeper: Oh, let me see ... er, stripping the fur off, no legs ... [calling] Harry ... can you do a parrot job on this terrier straight away? Harry: (Graham Chapman, off-screen) No, I'm still putting a tuck in the Airedale, and then I got the frogs to let out. Shopkeeper: Friday? Man: No I need it for tomorrow. It's a present. Shopkeeper: Oh dear, it's a long job. You see parrot conversion ... Tell you what though, for free, terriers make lovely fish. I mean I could do that for you straight away. Legs off, fins on, stick a little pipe through the back of its neck so it can breathe, bit of gold paint, make good ...
Man: You'd need a very big tank.
Shopkeeper: It's a great conversation piece.
Man: Yes, all right, all right ... but, uh, only if I can watch.

Heefty
1387
Dec 4, 2018
GiantHeadphoneSquidLooking purely at the FR plots, one might be inclined to go believe your theory. However there's a lot more involved with how a headphone sounds than its FR. No amount of EQ is going to make them sound the same even if it does get the FR to align. https://www.innerfidelity.com/headphone-measurements-explained
HeeftyI am quite familiar with the virtues and limitations of a purely spectral approach. I don't particularly find I have issues with causality or passivity, but thanks for the link :) At the end of the day there is no substitute for listening, and Focal is a brand my local Headphone bar carries for what they are worth.
rastusRhetoric in response to reason. I am thrilled you enjoy your Elex, but do understand your assumptions about their finality are misplaced. Cans as great as these are well into side-grade territory, and newcomers to the hobby would do well to be skeptical of those that claim otherwise. I don't want to derail this thread further (sorry!). If you'd like we can start a new thread to talk tabernac about your frenchophones :p ?
rastus
1391
Dec 4, 2018
GiantHeadphoneSquidQuestioning the value of EQ is rhetoric? Derailment? I’m supporting salmon1’s choice of Elear’s as “first set of decent headphones”.
rastusRepeating a whole Python scene is rhetoric (and in defense of the French at that!). . . There's not a lot of tonal info sub 80 Hz where the Senn's benefit from a boost, so you can certainly question all you like. . . I'd agree there's no EQing out the peaks >10K for the Focals without blurring things. My point is that you are well into subjective territory despite your initial post congratulating your own claims to the contrary. I was (am) the one derailing the very nice thread, which is why I apologized; you're fine :)
Heefty
1387
Dec 4, 2018
GiantHeadphoneSquidIf you have access to them I recommend that you give them a long critical listen. Make sure you listen for long enough for your own psychoacoustic adjustments to take place and then make your claims on whether it is a side-grade or an upgrade. I thought the same thing about Focal cans until I bought some and took longer than about 10min to listen to them at my local shop (it took about 30min). Now I'm absolutely stunned that headphones can sound so good. In short duration listens you don't have time to overcome the psychological "it doesn't sound like I expect it to so I don't like it" effects that cloud your judgement. I may have spent $900 on them, but I can easily add up to another $1200 worth of headphones that I've purchased in the past trying to get to where these already are. I believe the recommendation of the Elex as a first step is based on the "why did I spend $2k to get these $700 headphones" type of introspection. While I don't recommend skipping straight to the end of a book to see the ending, I can easily understand why someone would make that recommendation in this case. This hobby is all about the journey in my humble opinion.
rastus
1391
Dec 5, 2018
GiantHeadphoneSquidYou’re fine too, I’m just staying on this un-adulterated* journey right now,, but now I more-so want a damn headphone bar... are you in London, where these things occur? Jealous... {*tube-SET,, free ether corpuscles allowed;}
salmon1
11
Dec 5, 2018
VollyQuick snap from this morning.
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salmon1
11
Dec 5, 2018
rastusThanks for your feedback. Unfortunately, this is the only set of better headphones and amp/dac I have ever even listened to so I don't have any reference points. I did the same thing when I put together my two channel setup years ago which I have only changed slightly up until this point. I have only changed one component in close to ten years and I am just switching speakers in the next few weeks from the originals. As far as the Elears and NAIM, all I can say is that I love the sound and am very happy with the listening experience. Is there a different combo that I may like better? Without trying more headphones or different amps, it's pure conjecture at this point. I hope that I "got it right on the first try."
rastusSeattle, although the weather could be London :p Check out high end stereo / home theater shops, many will have solid cans to demo, even if they don't have a hipster wooden bar to do so at. My local favorite has Focals, Audeze, Audioquest and Sony. The last time I was in they had them running through a McIntosh tube monstrosity or an Audeze Deckard.
rastus
1391
Dec 5, 2018
salmon1At the level you entered, you now get to pursue finding the best recordings of the artists that you love. I have found that pretty much anything at the 24 bit & 96 or 192 KHz for FLAC level is very nice and DSD (SACD) has the most "natural" sound. There are many sources out there, one is Acoustic Sounds https://store.acousticsounds.com/cat/365/Digital_Download . If you have a player such as Audivarnia and get FLAC files, as not much is available in DSD, you can up-sample if you wish. If you want to sample a true DSD recording, and play it in DSD - try this, as well as the other levels for yourself, another DSD source: https://bluecoastmusic.com/meghan-andrews/fire-single#.XAftKWhKiUk Marantz put out a white paper that covers all this quite well: http://m.us.marantz.com/DocumentMaster/US/Marantz_DAC_White_Paper_4_5_2016.pdf Beyond this, you may want to get a SET tube amp to compliment your solid state Naim. Tubes can bring a 'life' back into recordings being reproduced; the even order harmonics that we humans love. This is a very deep rabbit hole,, with rewards... I fell deep, 300B SET deep... but remember the full saying, "curiosity killed the cat... satisfaction brought it back". For a second set of cans, you may want to get what I and others are hoping/waiting for, a possible new collaboration between MD & Sennheiser, for an "affordable" ~$1K yet "top-performing" electrostatic rig (you get to make another jump past planar magnetic;): https://www.massdrop.com/talk/10100/massdrop-x-sennheiser-he-0-x-electrostatic-system?commentId=2250807 Glad to hear you like your rig, your journey continues, it just started at a very nice level.
salmon1
11
Dec 5, 2018
rastusI've stuck with SS for my two channel system but perhaps I will try tubes out for headphones. I suppose if I'm in a good spot for open back, I can start to explore closed back, planar, and electrostats next. Any specific recs for each?
Volly
328
Dec 6, 2018
salmon1So pretty! Who put you on to Naim or did you pick this up from your speaker days? The green LED's are a refreshing sight! What a cool combo, good job!
salmon1
11
Dec 6, 2018
VollyI’ve actually never owned any NAIM equipment. My two channel is all BW, Pass Labs, and Cambridge Audio. I started with the Elgar’s and decided to go with NAIM based on a few recommendations and also that the Utopia (and I think Elear) were designed using that DAC.
rastus
1391
Dec 6, 2018
salmon1So many choices,, my only closed set are Phonon SMB-02 DS-DAC Edition (mated to a Korg DAC) for travel, not for airplane use - those are NC Sony, for not-so-quiet hotel rooms. If I were to get another set of closed, I would simply be going for the bass, here on MD you can get the Fostex TR-X00 Purplehearts for example. Nor do I currently own planar magnetics, I do own a very old set of Yahama YDH-2 orthodynamic's, that were very nice for the day, I am waiting to see this possible collaborative electrostatic effort with Sennheiser here on MD.
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