I am hoping to hear more reviews from those of you breaking in T1.3s ASAP... I have spent a week with the Tygr 300r as I was kind of hoping for something that would tide me over for a bit, but they are going up for sale now as they just didn't quite give me enough resolution/detail and after...

The GS-X mini certainly seems to draw mixed opinions, I have yet to hear it myself but looking forward to checking that box at some point. I am jumping to the conclusions about the signature of the T1.3 but will need to hear those for myself as well. My assumptions so far based on various...

Yeah... I like just about everything I have read about the Arya but your post above and some of my own experience with the brand many years ago is what keeps it off my wish list at the moment. I am tempted though, as the Arya sound signature and performance is definitely calling my name. The...

Fair enough, those are all good points that I would tend to agree with. I am hoping that you are right about the T1.3 having more to offer than the Element II can bring out, and at some point as I slowly build up my collection/rig and hear more of what's new I will definitely be upgrading. I...

That makes perfect sense to me, and is consistent with much of the feedback I have read from experienced headphone addicts. I have the DT1990 but gave it to my son because the treble was just too much for me, and while I don't own any Schiit gear as of yet, I did hear my DT1990 on a...

So far I am happy with all the feedback I am reading about and I stand by my original plan to start with an Element 2, which should arrive any day now... and that I will probably buy the T1.3 at some point soon. I would not hesitate to argue against tubes for the T1.3, that makes zero sense to...

Hello head-fi'ers.. I am back after a very long break from this forum, though I have been lurking every now and then. It warms my heart to hear folks still talking about the Nighthawk every now and then, it is by far the headphone I now regret selling the most. Anyways, I am very excited about...

Thanks @Hedonism ! I appreciate the comments and digging it up for me, I need to go through that thread as well. Sounds like the only solution is to buy both. I will probably get the Clear first since it sounds like the right choice for both home studio work and audiophile listening, then add...

I am quite possibly moving in the same direction, but for a few different reasons: 1) I am selling all my current gear and getting out of the head-fi hobby so to speak, moving into pro audio and at the same time just need to simplify and streamline my life in general, but still going to own one...

I have really been enjoying my Liquid Crimson, running X-Sabre Pro into Liquid Crimson into HD800S... but have recently decided to sell off my prized head-fi gear and get more serious about pro audio. So all three of the components mentioned here are going up for sale this weekend. Thought I...

I am considering this unit as a "one and done" solution to replace my current separates. Would love to hear more about the headphone amp section and how it sounds compared to any other well known references many of us have heard or at least heard about. For example, very few solid state amps...

I had the same requirement a couple years ago, including optical output from TV as well, and went with the Emotiva Stealth DC-1. Very nice unit and good value. There may be even better options on the market right now but I haven't been following all that close. I do know that more and more DACs...

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, I get the physical comfort I am looking for with HD800S but the R70x definitely feels lighter on the head and perhaps some of the alternative pads mentioned here would take the comfort up further and even past the HD800S. The king of imaging (though maybe that is...

Nice to see these headphones getting some love here. I saw this thread earlier this evening and decided to throw on my pair. It has been a few months and I wanted to see if I still loved them. I have moved twice in the last 9 months and just recently had some DAC issues so it is a bit...

I think you are in a tough spot with your budget actually, because you are under what I feel is the beginning of top tier headphones (HD800S, Ether Flow) and well above best of the mid-fi (Audioquest Nighthawk, Beyer DT1990) though IMHO the DT1990 could and should very well be end game for a...

I just got mine yesterday, haven't even hooked it up yet... I will be posting some pics and impressions at some point soon but my schedule is not looking all that good for the next few weeks unfortunately. Will try to get some quick notes on the forum here this weekend.

Yep, I am now tracking my order and can't wait to get it set up. I will be happy to take some pics and report on my experience... just feel bad that I will not be able to speak with enough relative experience and a complete enough audio chain to do justice at this level. For those who have been...

  I never heard the original, just read some reviews and followed threads on the X-Sabre. It was out of my budget range at the time but from everyone's description of the sound I thought it would be something that I would like very much.   Size was a factor for me as well. My amp is 12 inches...

Thanks! Well, I am assuming it will be mid to late January before I actually get the DAC, but whenever it does arrive I will leave it on and break it in for a few days and then report back a day or two after that. 

Well I couldn't wait so I pulled the trigger on the pre-order. Now I wait to see if my confidence in this decision grows or if it plunges into the ground :)   I haven't heard nearly enough DACs, so just going by what I have read across many forums and how I interpret comments and consider the...

Well alright alright alright!!! nice to see this thread come alive again!   @aamefford   Nice post and good call, though the last few days have had me quiet due to illness (food poisoning) I spend the first 3 days after getting home from Thanksgiving just stupefied over how good this amp is...

Any early impressions on the X-Sabre Pro as of yet???  I am really tempted to pull the trigger on the pre-order but it sure would be nice to know how the Matrix team has voiced/implemented their new DAC. Same personality as the original? Deeper/Stronger Bass? (Yes, please) More towards neutral...

This DAC really looks promising IMHO. I am tempted with the NOS stuff, and of course the multi-bit and R2R stuff as well... but still open to the idea that a really well implemented TOTL ESS chip and power management can bring the punch and detail I crave without any harshness or fatiguing tonal...

I am really digging the design of the X-Sabre Pro dac, maybe they will use the same case for a base model X-Server that just stores/streams audio files and makes a nice stack setup with the X-Sabre Pro. That would get my money on the table...   I am very tempted to pre-order the X-Sabre Pro...

  I have the Liquid Carbon 2, it is fantastic and changed my expectations of what an amp can do for your system overall. I bought it because I was looking at the HD800S very closely but have not yet heard either version of HD800 on the Liquid Carbon myself... I was one of the few with a volume...