New x-head

[django1]

My new and improved x-head is on the way. I haven't seen too many reviews. Will it be :woohoo:or :crap: ?

[engtaz]

Congrats.

[dvenardos]

Well now, you let us know. :yes:

[django1]

Well I received the new x-head last week. Well boxed this time and in perfect condition. It's only got about 5 hours on it but right out of the box it sounded better than the previous version. I'm not much of a reviewer and can't really compare it to anything but it has me enjoying the music. I was just going to listen a bit and then watch a movie but I've ended up spending the evening with the phones on.

I'm just using it with a portable cd player and some Grado SR80 headphones. I popped in Nelson/Marsalis "Two Men with the Blues". The sound is not as detailed as on my two channel system and sometimes just a bit grating but with good bass and a very engaging quality. I'm actually kind of stunned at how good this sounds as I was never taken with the quality of this cd player. I'm listening to Porcupine tree now and :woo:. So far so good...

[HAL]

Got my updated X-Head last week, but finally got to listen to it last night. Using the laptop sound card to drive the X-Head. With about 3 hours on it driving Sennheiser HD650's sounds pretty good so far.

Downloaded the free HDtracks demo FLAC files and using Media Monkey to play them, sounds very open and dynamic. These are CD rate losslessly compressed files and sound very good.

Next tried the HRx recordings from Reference Recordings as WAV files played back from Adobe Audition 1.5. This is as close to listening to the master recordings as I have found from purchased music. Listening to the Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances from the HRx 176.4KHz/24bit stereo WAV file, the overall sound is very relaxed. Very good bass response well integrated with the entire frequency range. Overall a slightly warm tonal character from the replay.

:)

EDIT: Forgot to mention no AC hum/buzz issues that I can hear with the HD650's. Same phones as before where I could hear the hum/buzz with the original unit.

[soloz2]

it's great for what it is... a cheap solid state headphone amp. Does better with higher impedance cans like Senns or AKG's than it does with Grados. Mine is just a bit too noisy to be great for Grados.

That said, it's not a world class headphone amp, but for the price it is the best retail offered ss headamp I've heard to date.

[django1]

No noise here either. This is what the product was supposed to be the first time. I think...

Soloz, you don't like the Grado s-head combo. What would you suggest at a reasonable price?

[soloz2]

millet minimax :D very, good for the price... actually I don't think it can be beat.

I have a fully maxed out Max. (toroid power transformer, MOSFET output stage, OptiVol attenuator, Blackgates bypassed by vit-q's, Silver wire in the signal path, copper power wire, Cardas RCA jacks.) I actually sold my SinglePower MPX3 SLAM because the max was almost as good at a fraction of the price and the SP just didn't get as much use.

[Jethro]

Hopefully this isn't considered a thread jack... but what would be the best pair of cans a guy could get for $100 that would mate well with the new x-head. Used, refurb, new, doesn't matter.

[django1]

millet minimax :D very, good for the price... actually I don't think it can be beat.

I have a fully maxed out Max. (toroid power transformer, MOSFET output stage, OptiVol attenuator, Blackgates bypassed by vit-q's, Silver wire in the signal path, copper power wire, Cardas RCA jacks.) I actually sold my SinglePower MPX3 SLAM because the max was almost as good at a fraction of the price and the SP just didn't get as much use.

Thanks for the answer. Care to explain it to me? :o

I was rather thinking of new headphones though. I might use the Grados someplace else, like on something with a USB dac to use with my computer ... any suggestions there? Something like this Zhaolu D2.5C DAC & Headphone Amp http://www.obadimports.com/catalog/i...55/4344428.htm

[soloz2]

I see.

I'd skip on the zhaolu (it's pretty good for the price I have to admit) and go with a cheap USB DAC like the Bantam and the miniMax. much better for your dollar IMHO.

for can at $100, my pick would probably be HD555

[django1]

I see.

I'd skip on the zhaolu (it's pretty good for the price I have to admit) and go with a cheap USB DAC like the Bantam and the miniMax. much better for your dollar IMHO.

for can at $100, my pick would probably be HD555

Thanks. Do you have a link for those two items( Bantam and miniMax)? Google is letting me down...

[soloz2]

http://www.diyforums.org/