Hey guys Ive been following this thread for a while now but haven't posted yet. I like the focus of this thread on TOTL setups. I owned the Gungnir Multibit with Mjolnir 2 for a while as an amp and dac, but eventually let them go in favor of the ifi iCAN and iDSD Pro stack along with an iESL which I have since sold. The ifi setup may not be the pinnacle for an Amp and Dac by themselves. However when paired together I find them to be simply incredible and it would take a lot for me to move up the line from them. The shear volume of options that this pairing offers is quite fantastic. Especially for someone like myself who always wants to upgrade when I get bored of something. But getting bored of this pairing will take a long time as I have created some fantastic sound differences with different changes and haven't even scratched the surface of options yet.
As far as TOTL headphones go I can offer input on the Audeze LCD-X, MX4, LCD-4, MrSpeakers Ether Flow C, Ether 2, Focal Utopia, Stax SR-009, and soon the Shangri-La Jr. I am going to start from the last one on to the Audeze last.
Stax SR-009: I currently own the Jr, but have yet to hear them. I had the iESL for a while and was running both a Stax SR-L700 and the SR-009 through it. I find that the iESL was simply troublesome for the stats. It gave me a good taste of the sound of the L700 which in all honesty was simply an incredible headphone. If they would build a quality looking version that didnt feel like it was going to break everytime you picked it up I would still own them. The SR-009 out of the iESL showed that it has a great deal of potential, but thanks to
@Whitigir and a few others I decided to purchase a KGSSHV Carbon which I should have in a week or two. But for right now the 009 is not the best headphone in my inventory. Through the iESL the brightness was a little on the ridiculous side. I mean even the bloody mids where bright leaving little room for a dynamic sound. I will provide a better review of the 009 and Jr when the Carbon comes in.
Focal Utopia: For a headphone that sells or at least sold for $4k when I purchased it the stock cable that comes with this thing is just plain stupid. Fortunately when I bought it I purchased a balanced cable before I received the headphones. When I got the headphones and plugged them in I was so bloody overwhelmed by how underwhelmed I was by the sound of these. I mean I thought they sounded so bad I boxed them back up and was going to sell them. When the cable came in I decided to try it again just to justify the cable purchase. As most of you know when you own a balanced amp the single ended functionality leaves a lot to be desired, but I didn't realize just how much. When I ran the Utopias through the balanced section it was as though I experienced magic. They went from being so bad I had already posted them for sell to sounding so good they altered the way I looked at headphones. However though I did love them when I got the 009 even through the iESL it was so close that I knew the Carbon would make the 009 take that spot so I sold them.
MrSpeakers Ether Flow C & Ether 2: You guys said you wanted some mrspeakers in the thread so here it is. So even though the Flow C isn't really considered TOTL at this point it could well still be considered that in the closed back realm. I found the C to be a very good sounding headphone as far as closed backs go, but overall if you don't have need of a closed back I would never recommend it. It just isn't that exciting. The Ether 2 however is one of my favorite headphones period. It is rather dark sounding, but in the best way possible. It is musical, airy, open, and has great imaging. I also find that it just has some sort of ethereal tonality to it that I can't really explain, but also haven't heard on any other headphone. Even though it is only a $2k headphone I believe that is a bloody steal for this guy. It works well with all genres including metal and the bass is beautiful and accurate along with the mids. The treble is rather on the warm side but thats okay. There is a great deal of detail as well, but you have to look for it. I highly recommend it.
Audeze Line Up: This is where I find myself perplexed. I've read a lot of people suggest there to be a great deal of fault in the treble of the LCD-4 and I simply don't understand this. I can see that in the X as it did have a bit higher treble. The X for its price was a wonderful headphone but easily improved upon. Upgrading to the MX4 was a drastic difference. It was instantly cleaner and clearer sounding I would likely buy it again but will wait till the price drops a little more as I don't need it at this point. The MX4 cemented my decision to get the LCD-4. This is by far my favorite headphone to date. I like it more than I liked the Utopia which some may find to be blasphemous. Here is where I don't understand people's issues with its treble. The LCD-4 in my mind has one of the most accurate representations of the frequency spectrum that I have heard. Please don't start pulling out frequency charts and showing me where it fails or some such nonsense. When you listen to this headphone there is not one person that will suggest its bass is anything less than near perfect. It then has some of the most musical and beautiful midranges available without being as forward as other cans. The treble in my mind is almost perfectly represented in that it is in no way used anywhere that it shouldn't be but instead is place everywhere that it should be. Therefore when treble notes strike it provides what can only be described as sparkle. The mids don't ever intrude upon the treble nor the treble on the mids providing astounding instrument separation. Maybe its just my ears or perhaps it just pairs really well with the iCAN. Either way as of right now this is my favorite can.
When I finally get to hear the 009 and Jr. through the Carbon my ranking may change. Either way I will provide insight when I finally get to hear them. If you've managed to read this far I thank you for your time.
Thanks
Dan Lee