Cool site. Prices are a little higher than a local community center, but on the other hand we hopefully wouldn't have to deal with a huge children's birthday party in the room next door.

One thing I will stand behind is my ability to hear audio artifacts being generated via Bluetooth SBC.

I don't have anything close in quality to the HEK in your signature (unless we're both willing to sprinkle a lot of magic pixie dust on my SASH Tres) but I feel like my current stable of headphones has so much diversity in sound signatures that at least one of them would have picked up an...

What constitutes "cheap" in this context?

The price swings on these things (on amazon.ca) are insane. They literally double - and then halve - in price from month to month.

I'm not 100% clear on whether you're looking for a digital signal switcher (pre-DAC), analog switcher (post-DAC) or both. Amazon sells USB-C switchers, so that may solve that problem. For analog switching, multi-pole rotary barrel switches are the way I'd personally go. A 4P4T switch for...

Finally got around to giving Alex Lifeson's solo album a spin, and it's a pretty interesting creative exploration. From absolutely savage metal tracks to funk-infused rock to an impressive 2:30 wailing guitar solo that harkens back to the great works of Joe Satriani.

SASH Tres

Maybe it's the fact my 880's are 600ohm, or maybe it's got something to do with the way my soundholes are shaped, but I don't find them to be excessively bright or anything. Yes, they're the sharpest headphones I own, but everything in the sound signature is exactly where it should be.

I've had my MSR7b for over a year now, and I think it's time to admit the relationship probably isn't working out. They are my only closed-back, and while I think it makes sense to have at least one closed-back in the collection, I honestly hardly ever reach for these. There's just something...

Mmmmm ... spacious and sparkly.

SASH Tres 45ohm. Gotta love those creamy vocals.

I'm starting to wonder if you're an AI

First time I read this, I thought you were saying it's a good idea to remove them from your head before cleaning...

I spent a while banging my head off this and have to admit I'm stumped. Paint Protection Film something? Something to do with Picofarads?

Would love to find more artists like these guys...

Those adapters exist, but they shouldn't. Plugging a single-ended headphone into a balanced amplifier (via one of these ill-conceived adapters) is a great way to permanently damage the amp.

There seems to be a lot of confusion and differing opinions about balanced audio in consumer gear. In short, a regular (unbalanced) stereo setup uses two amplified channels to "push" the signal to the headphones, and the signal then returns via a common negative conductor. That's why a typical...

The C200 is on deep discount at amazon.ca right now (@TyTB I think you mentioned you're in Canada too)

I own the SMSL DO200 mk2 + HO200 stack and would happily recommend it, but honestly I feel like the new DO400 all-in-one is the better value at this point. It's an updated DO200 DAC plus integrated HO200 power, at ~2/3 the cost of separate components.

My listening chain will take one of 4 configurations: Android phone running Deezer HiFi -> Bluetooth LDAC -> SMSL DO200mk2 -> XLR -> SMSL HO200 -> headphones Android phone running Deezer HiFi -> USB -> SMSL DO200mk2 -> XLR -> SMSL HO200 -> headphones Pioneer DV-333 -> digital coax -> SMSL...

I'm not going to claim to have enough experience to really comment much on amps.

My recent perspective on this topic: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/starting-to-question-everything-i-thought-i-believed-about-dacs.972629/post-18096349

I recently had an experience that has made me seriously question my DAC snobbery ... I have the SMSL DO200mk2 DAC as part of my main listening rig. About a month ago I found an ooooooold thrift store Pioneer DVD player to use as a "CD transport" feeding into this DAC (since I still own a decent...