I was just wondering if there's a decent market for these. I personally don't like the idea of cutting up or replacing a perfectly good headphone cable to go balanced. Maybe manufacturers can be convinced to make high end phones with balanced terminations as standard equipment.

Was just wondering how cable specs interact with their intended application. Behind all the mumbo jumbo, all cables have ratings for resistance, capacitance, and inductance. As I understand it, interconnect performance is most closely tied to capacitance, and the lowest capacitance cable is a...

Am I the first one home? Well, whatever... impressions in here, ladies and gents. Nothing from me yet. Edit for my take: For the first time ever, I felt like I brought some really good stuff to a meet, even by Head-Fi's lofty standards. I couldn't bring a full rig, because I don't own a...

Let's talk about obscure headphone-related stuff that noobs would never know about and even experienced peeps have never heard. These may be new DIY designs without much of a following or vintage products that, when properly dusted off, compete with the best new stuff around. I'm interested in...

Please allow me to talk out of my ass a bit, because I basically have no experience with the subject matter at hand. I was just thinking today about how I tend to chuckle at kids with fancy headphones but garbage amps. We all "know" that nice Senns, AKGs, even Grados or Audio-Technicas really...

I was just wondering: many top-notch headphone amplifiers tend to have preamp outs and some, like the Beta 22, have enough power to function as speaker amps. Many of y'all here own some nice speaker setups and have heard lots of speaker equipment. Have y'all compared these headphone amps vs...

I see an option on the Manufaktur site for impedance of 32. From what I've read, most people prefer DT770/80, DT880/600, and DT990/600 (I think). Has anyone tried the lower impedance versions?

By "budget," I mean something under $2000, used. I'm thinking something along the lines of a Beta22. However, balanced ones aren't easy to find, and I would ideally want something that can handle a couple SE headphones, as well. Everyone says the Beta is probably the best quality, reasonably...

Ok, let's say I have a moderately powered home amp and a moderately powered portable amp, both of which have multiple gain settings. Let's say I have a really inefficient headphone, and my home amp can't quite handle it. Can I switch my 2 amps to high gain, then use the portable to put a little...

Ok, I'm new. Seriously, what makes one cd player better than another? The DAC? What's all this talk about jitter reduction? How is that accomplished? Side note: is it possible to turn a videogame console into a decent cd player? Maybe a Linuxed PS3 USB out into a dedicated DAC or something? I...

Hi all. I'm getting a pair of woodies in the mail, and I'd like to know how best to take care of them. Do y'all use pure carnauba? Carnauba and beeswax mix? Where to I get them, and what's a good brand? How do I even apply it? So many questions...

It's quite simple, really. What do you believe are the absolute best values for hi fi headphones, EIMs, whatever? Can a hi end product be had for under $200? The only rule is to state a reasonable price. This means approximate market value for a good quality used one or wherever the product is...

Hello all. I've been lurking here for the past couple months, agonizing over my next purchase. I've never bought any expensive audio equipment, and I figure quality headphones would be the cheapest entry point. I love Jgonino's stickied headphone guide, but maybe it'd make more sense to...