would that affect the sound at all? I always had the idea that where possible, always try to use plugs attached to the cable itself rather than an adapter as it may negatively affect how it sounds... but this could also be another one of those snake oil moments that have gotten to me!
I think this is exactly it -- it's the same for me with 'burn-in' periods on headphones or amplifiers. I don't think they exist, it's just a waste of electricity keeping an amp, DAC and source turned on for that long. how your brain perceives sound is always different person to person, and very often you notice new details in tracks on even cheap £10 earphones, because your brain is only now processing it. those details were always there!
I had a chance to compare burned-in and new headphones twice with 2 different models - the AKG K712 Pro and the ATH MSR7B. I A/B-ed them, the only difference I heard was the bass - it was a little deeper and thicker on the old ones. And I'm sure it was due to formed pads causing a slightly different sealing. That's it.
Difference isn't massive, but it's there. For me 50mA sounds a little more congested, less spacious, less thick, and not as full. But it's not like it was a completely different unit or something
I personally hear more of a difference when switching between the OS and NOS modes in the EF400. Especially when I'd plug headphones directly.
Update: turning my S17 to a HI-GAIN does not affect the maximum reached temp (as described above). Even though the 63° C seems to be an operating temp on 100mA mode, my OCD would probably like to see the temp bellow 60° so eventually I will stick a passive aluminium radiator to the bottom of the unit which will help to reduce few degrees (as someone here already did).
Actually I did not long ago:No sure if this has already been covered, but have anyone stuck a power meter between the S17 Pro and the wall socket and monitored how it behaves? Max load constantly, or does the amount of power it draws change with volume/load?
How much power does it draw?
Just curious
Exactly what I was looking for, thanks a lot
Have you ever done any comparisons of different cables yourself? The differences are often obvious. Sometimes very subtle. Always "different" if you really listen close enough and have a revealing system.
I should clarify that I consider Passion For Sound's cable reviews to be sincere, I just think that most of this is snake oil and we'll have to agree to disagree. (FWIW, Wave Theory references SQ on cables frequently and he remains one of my most trusted reviewers even if I take those reviews with a few grains of salt. There's just something about Passion For Sound that I find off-putting, though I'm not sure I can put my finger on it.) But I will be able to put this to a small scale test soon: I just ordered a $275 USD 4.4mm cable from Norne for my new Hifiman HEK Stealth. When it comes in (and I believe there's a substantial lag time) I'll test it against my current $70 4.4mm cable from Audiophile Ninja. As I noted earlier, I got the Norne cable, which looks quite spiffy, entirely for aesthetic reasons--Audiophile Ninja keeps prices down by offering no options other than amp connector and length (like the Ford Model T, you can have it in any color you like as long as it's black). I'll report back on results (unfortunately, it will not be a blind test), though it will likely be a couple of months.Have you ever done any comparisons of different cables yourself? The differences are often obvious. Sometimes very subtle. Always "different" if you really listen close enough and have a revealing system.
I find Passion For Sound, Wave Theory, iiWi, etc. (Sound-Advice is still good but slightly more positive about everything) are all very honest and are doing us a great service to navigate our immense choices in this arena (Topping must have 100 current products and HiFiMan 40 different versions of its headphones over the last 3 years).
Passion For Sound did highly recommend the $125 Supra Excalibur USB cable over any others, including contenders that are much more expensive. He also like things like the $800 Schitt Bifrost 2/64 in comparison to $1500 DACs from Denefrips, Gustard, and even Chord. iiWi has a high opinion of the $500 Geshelli J2S DAC with Sparkos op amps. Wave Theory raves about the $2,000 HiFiMan HE1000SE and places it well above all comers including Tungsten Dual and Meze Elite up to Susvara and Senn Utopia ( I listened to some of these at CanJam and agree. I parked mt Nanos and bought the HEKSE).
How do we come here and argue over which amp sounds better or endlessly cry about the difference in sound between 50ma and 100ma (which it does sound different. But not necessarily worse in my opinion and is less different than between various USB cables, headphone cables, DACs and amps), and then imply that these excellent reviewers are biased and in the pocket of the high end manufactures by not saying that all decent cables sound the same?
I looked at the Norne headphone cables yesterday and they seem like they should be excellent. I'm using these $200 Pure Sliver cables with my HE1000SEs and am not inclined to try anything else right now. They are extremely fast transparent and detailed. The Norne Vygard Fusion are heavier gauge but $360 and the Pure Silver are $890.
Which is why I bought the OCC copper, base price $259 IIRC.
