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Post by hifidez on Mar 31, 2015 9:16:03 GMT
Based on observations made while abroad, in the type of holiday destinations I'm able to afford, I'd say 'A Lager of Brits' is about right.
Derek
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Rabbit
Administrator
Posts: 7,087
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Post by Rabbit on Mar 31, 2015 10:14:31 GMT
You're spot on there Derek. I was over in Tenerife a year and half ago, playing in Las Americas in night clubs. The beach was littered with Brits throwing up since when they see alcohol, the go daft with it!!!
Not a good example at all.
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jkb89
contributing
Posts: 99
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Post by jkb89 on Mar 31, 2015 11:26:11 GMT
Thanks for all the recommendations folks, decided to go with the DT990's from Ian :-) Will get the paypal sent over soon.
Now I'm just trawling through the web looking at amps - I'll give them a go with my Behringer, but dont think it'll get the best from them.
I'll only be using it for desktop use so it doesnt need to be portable (I'd prefer it not to be so I dont have to mess about with charging/batteries). Does anyone have any recommendations (new or used) for about £50-100? I'd like to try Tubes, but as said above - cant be sure of the quality at this price range.
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Rabbit
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Posts: 7,087
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Post by Rabbit on Mar 31, 2015 15:27:49 GMT
Personally Joe, I'd hold off the amp until you hear them and then, if a Kameleon is around for home use rather than portable, in the future, you'll get a massive surprise. Or if you just want power for the time being .... www.amazon.co.uk/NX1-Portable-Amplifier-Headphone-Rechargeable-Black/dp/B00ULJEA1K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1427814842&sr=8-3&keywords=Nx1Tiny little amp that'll see you through to something decent later at £24. The DT990 goes to a new level with Kameleon since its frequency response is really flattened out so that it becomes a really crystal listening experience. I've heard it with different headphones and would have bought one there and then after hearing it with both the Senn 650 and Beyer 990.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2015 17:17:21 GMT
I would wholeheartedly second Ian's recommendation. ATMIL - to Robert Johnson's "Stones in my Passway", as covered by Joe Bonamssa on his album "Driving Towards The Daylight". I usually use the Sansa Clip+/Topping NX-1 combination when I'm out and about, and normally with one of three different headphones. Either a Skullcandy Aviator, Sony MDR Z-1000, or an i-Grado (if I'm running). All of these headphones are very low impedance, and very easy to drive. So I wondered if the Topping had the grunt to drive my 250 ohm DT-990's Pro? So I'm now listening to a Sansa Clip+ as a source, into a Topping NX-1, and out to Beyer DT-990 Pro (250) and the combination sounds absolutely excellent. The Topping can definitely drive the 250 ohm 990's! Now listening to Lou Reed's Dirty Boulevard from New York. I'm looking at these two toy-sized bits of kit which fit easily into the palm of my hand, feeding these great headphones, and I can't believe this huge, clear, clean sound is coming from this very inexpensive combo. Ultimately I would want more power, as I think these headphones deserve it and are able to exploit it. But as a stop-gap, till you are able to acquire a full-sized head-amp, you absolutely cannot go wrong. And you would then have a brilliant little portable head amp for on-the-go. A real no-brainer.
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Rabbit
Administrator
Posts: 7,087
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Post by Rabbit on Mar 31, 2015 17:27:22 GMT
It's a surprising little box isn't it Jeff? Nothing special about it but lots of kick. I use it quite a lot outside in the garden, sitting on my bench!!
The Sansa clip and NX1 must look like micro hifi to the extreme.
Makes you wonder just how much are they making on these amps?
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Post by mechjan on May 10, 2015 7:19:41 GMT
Hello, my name is hard to pronunciate in english so I often present myself as Meejan, which is a fair aproximation. To be honest I found the site because I'm a value freak, always looking for the best way to manage and invest my low budget. After reading some of the articles posted by Solderdude my interest in this hobby has grown. Though I admit that, not having any knowledge on this subjects, the information has been kind of overwhelming. (Figuring out how to read the filters schematics for instance, I think I'm starting to get it) So I'll take it easy and focus on one thing at a time. My main objective right now is to get a pair of affordable headphones modded, and I'll see where all this leads. My second objective is to get rid of the headband mechanic on my superlux hd681, tired of it pulling my hair, so I'm willing to change them if necessary.
About music, I haven't explored it too much, but I like stuff like ELP, King Crimson, rock in general, and acoustic guitar in general (especially finger picking).
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solderdude
Administrator
measureutternutter
Posts: 4,882
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Post by solderdude on May 10, 2015 7:46:10 GMT
Welcome to the forum mechjan (or Meejan).
The HD681 and HD681-EVO are about kings of value, for a slightly higher price the Philips Cityscape uptown + mods is quite above the Superluxes. To go above that you need some serious money and the VFM gets worse. Whether one is able or willing to dosh out lots of money for that slight improvement (which may be big for them) is a personal matter.
I don't dislike any view/opinion on this. Having said that ... VFM is something that I like to keep as high as possible myself, even though I can afford spending way above the dosh I am willing to spend..
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Post by mechjan on May 11, 2015 2:25:01 GMT
Thanks for the warm welcome and the advice. Been listening to Big Big Train as I saw it mentioned on the first page of this thread, haven't listened to something this good in a while.
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Post by mbusby on Jul 27, 2015 6:46:36 GMT
Hello, I stumbled on this site after a couple of purchases from garage1217.
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solderdude
Administrator
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Post by solderdude on Jul 27, 2015 6:56:31 GMT
Welcome to the forum. It's a small community, but not a closed one.
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Post by marveltone on Aug 8, 2015 2:57:43 GMT
Another new guy here. I guess I'd better introduce myself.
My name is Joe, I've been a musician for over 40 years, so I guess you can say music is important to me. I sing, play guitar and built my own tube guitar amp from scratch, so I have at least a little bit of familiarity with tube sound, and what it can do. I bought a set of Grado SR80e a few years ago because I like the detail and sound-stage they provide. (Yeah, I'm one of those Grado nuts!) I listen mostly to Blues, Prog and Classic Rock, but listen to almost anything.
So, here's the deal: I've just discovered the garage1217.com site and am very intrigued. I want to step up my listening gear a bit, but I live on factory wages, so I'm a bang for the buck kind of guy, but I love tubes, and I'd rather buy American than Chinese. With this in mind, I want to warm up and smooth out the Grados just a bit, while adding the dynamic range and punch that a better amp can provide. I plan on buying a Schiit Modi 2 DAC to run my music through to the amp.
With all this in mind, while keeping a tight budget in mind, I'm contemplating the Starlight (love the price and ability to roll opamps), Sunrise III or the Solstice.
Thoughts? Advice?
Thanks!
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solderdude
Administrator
measureutternutter
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Post by solderdude on Aug 8, 2015 7:24:12 GMT
Hi Joe, Welcome to the forum. I owned the Grado SR60 for a while and had an SR125i here for measurements: What I found is they have indeed a very 'forward/open' and lively (dynamic) sound with at first glance a lot of details. Thougt the SR60 sounded better than the SR125i as the 60 (and so the 80) has a bit of a bass peak. In the end the lack of bass extension, treble (fine nuances) and lack of comfort is what made me sell the SR60 again. Mids were actually good with a bit of 'over the top' forwardness. About the sound altering properties of tube amplifiers. When you have connected music to your guitar amp you may have noticed how different it sounds from a hifi setup. The 2 of them (guitar and hifi) have only one thing in common and that is a tube. Otherwise the properties differ more than they are the same and so are the requirements. So what can you expect from a tube amp ? Well ... that is kind of tube dependent and some tubes roll-off in the audible range. Stock tubes do not. Also when you look at the FR of the SR125 (same driver as 60/80 AFAIK) you will notice the somewhat exaggerated 'forwardness/openness/dynamics' lies in the 1kHz to 4kHz region (the peaks you see there) The (fake) treble detail is partly caused by the 10k spike, this spike is narrow so won't be that audible in most music. None of the tube amps roll-off before 10kHz so the 1kHz to 10kHz will not be 'mellowed'. Of course it could still 'warm up' the sound but through another 'mechanism'. There are 2 of them that do the trick and that is a high output resistance setting (also a good thing to counter tube noise) which, as you can see on the SR125i plot below has to do with an increase in bass. green is 120 Ohm out, red = low output R (the plots are level matched, in reality the 120 Ohm setting will lower the level considerably) As the bass is somewhat elevated our brains 'evaluate' the overall tone slightly (and I mean slightly) different and subjectively makes it sound a bit 'fuller/warmer' where the mids and treble are a bit lower. The second mechanism is added harmonics. You playing guitar will know the effect added harmonics have on the sound (effects or tubes being overdriven). Well the effect for hifi differs a lot because these effects also produce large amounts of InterModulation distortion. This isn't 'bad' for a single instrument that must distort but terrible for all sounds. Hifi sounds awfull with too much harmonics added, certainly because there are a lot and they are high in order (well above 5th) as well. For G1217 amps ther are added harmonics but not much, and almost none for low amplitude signals. The bass and lower mids have the highest amplitude so they have more harmonics, but only low order (2nd and some 3rd) which isn't that objectionable. As it is amplitude dependent and a high output R also means a higher output voltage needed the effect is a bit more as well. As Grado's are low impedance and fairly efficient the SRIII and Starlight are both good choices. BUT I would either change the high output R value (from 68 to 100 or 120 Ohm) or contact Jeremy (if you want one ready made) and ask him to change the 68 Ohm to 100 or 120 in your case. The SR80 will still go loud enough but you will get more 'mellowing' what you seek.
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Crispy
very active
Madrigal music is playing - Voices can faintly be heard, "Please leave this patient undisturbed."
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Post by Crispy on Aug 8, 2015 7:42:19 GMT
Another new guy here. I guess I'd better introduce myself. My name is Joe, I've been a musician for over 40 years, so I guess you can say music is important to me. I sing, play guitar and built my own tube guitar amp from scratch, so I have at least a little bit of familiarity with tube sound, and what it can do. I bought a set of Grado SR80e a few years ago because I like the detail and sound-stage they provide. (Yeah, I'm one of those Grado nuts!) I listen mostly to Blues, Prog and Classic Rock, but listen to almost anything. So, here's the deal: I've just discovered the garage1217.com site and am very intrigued. I want to step up my listening gear a bit, but I live on factory wages, so I'm a bang for the buck kind of guy, but I love tubes, and I'd rather buy American than Chinese. With this in mind, I want to warm up and smooth out the Grados just a bit, while adding the dynamic range and punch that a better amp can provide. I plan on buying a Schiit Modi 2 DAC to run my music through to the amp. With all this in mind, while keeping a tight budget in mind, I'm contemplating the Starlight (love the price and ability to roll opamps), Sunrise III or the Solstice. Thoughts? Advice? Thanks! Wlecome to the forum Joe. Frans is the main man for anything electrical and has a great knowledge of headphones and how to get the best from them. Ian is also very knowledgeable about headphones and is also a fellow musician. I am confident somebody somewhere will help you achieve what you are after? Regards Chris
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Post by marveltone on Aug 8, 2015 13:27:48 GMT
Hi Joe, Welcome to the forum. I owned the Grado SR60 for a while and had an SR125i here for measurements: What I found is they have indeed a very 'forward/open' and lively (dynamic) sound with at first glance a lot of details. Thougt the SR60 sounded better than the SR125i as the 60 (and so the 80) has a bit of a bass peak. In the end the lack of bass extension, treble (fine nuances) and lack of comfort is what made me sell the SR60 again. Mids were actually good with a bit of 'over the top' forwardness. About the sound altering properties of tube amplifiers. When you have connected music to your guitar amp you may have noticed how different it sounds from a hifi setup. The 2 of them (guitar and hifi) have only one thing in common and that is a tube. Otherwise the properties differ more than they are the same and so are the requirements. So what can you expect from a tube amp ? Well ... that is kind of tube dependent and some tubes roll-off in the audible range. Stock tubes do not. Also when you look at the FR of the SR125 (same driver as 60/80 AFAIK) you will notice the somewhat exaggerated 'forwardness/openness/dynamics' lies in the 1kHz to 4kHz region (the peaks you see there) The (fake) treble detail is partly caused by the 10k spike, this spike is narrow so won't be that audible in most music. None of the tube amps roll-off before 10kHz so the 1kHz to 10kHz will not be 'mellowed'. Of course it could still 'warm up' the sound but through another 'mechanism'. There are 2 of them that do the trick and that is a high output resistance setting (also a good thing to counter tube noise) which, as you can see on the SR125i plot below has to do with an increase in bass. green is 120 Ohm out, red = low output R (the plots are level matched, in reality the 120 Ohm setting will lower the level considerably) As the bass is somewhat elevated our brains 'evaluate' the overall tone slightly (and I mean slightly) different and subjectively makes it sound a bit 'fuller/warmer' where the mids and treble are a bit lower. The second mechanism is added harmonics. You playing guitar will know the effect added harmonics have on the sound (effects or tubes being overdriven). Well the effect for hifi differs a lot because these effects also produce large amounts of InterModulation distortion. This isn't 'bad' for a single instrument that must distort but terrible for all sounds. Hifi sounds awfull with too much harmonics added, certainly because there are a lot and they are high in order (well above 5th) as well. For G1217 amps ther are added harmonics but not much, and almost none for low amplitude signals. The bass and lower mids have the highest amplitude so they have more harmonics, but only low order (2nd and some 3rd) which isn't that objectionable. As it is amplitude dependent and a high output R also means a higher output voltage needed the effect is a bit more as well. As Grado's are low impedance and fairly efficient the SRIII and Starlight are both good choices. BUT I would either change the high output R value (from 68 to 100 or 120 Ohm) or contact Jeremy (if you want one ready made) and ask him to change the 68 Ohm to 100 or 120 in your case. The SR80 will still go loud enough but you will get more 'mellowing' what you seek. Your answer was very helpful so far, but I see I was a bit unclear... Oops! I don't listen to music through my guitar amp, as it was built specifically to create the sound I want with my electric guitar. Very specialized item. I only mentioned it to let you know I'm familiar with tubes (I have a fair amount of different 12AX7s and a few 12AU7s to play with) and love what they are capable of achieving. My listening is done through standard phone outputs in either my CD player, Stereo receiver or PC. The limitations of these factory ports are quite well known, but it's what I have, currently. These (probably mostly the PC) are the devices I will be hooking up my DAC and headphone amp through. That being said, are there any perceived sonic differences between Starlight and SRIII? I'm leaning toward the Starlight, but you guys are the experts.
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