If it’s not as good as an ittok, why bother? Anything less than an ittok isn’t good enough.

Ronald

What happened to the arm which out performs an Ekos SE?

PS. Your highlights are blown out.

Ha ha. Thanks for the brilliant write up ThomasOK. Obviously one to avoid!

I have a couple of cheap Chinese DACs but they are not really in the same class. Ok for background music but otherwise uninteresting. Both Gigaports can be proud of having the same DAC chip inside as Källa. But I suppose the chip is much better implemented in Källa and gives superior performance. M...

…….. it seems most here preferred B and 16. So what to make of that? I would say that this highlights just how easy it is to be seduced by the most impressive sound. My personal solution to this is comparing as many tracks as necessary until a clear preference emerges. PS. I’m not immune to being s...

Ok: the reveal. I have found myself repeatedly switching between these two DACs and getting a bit lost between them. The HD+ you heard in 'HD+', 'A' and '16'. The EX you heard in 'EX', 'B', and '32'. I think I find the HD+ easier to listen to over the longer term, but find myself switching in the E...

springwood64 wrote: ↑2021-07-27 19:27 My parrot brought us both a nice chilled glass of white.

Ha ha! Cheers!

It's my wife chopping veg in the kitchen, two rooms away. I don't know why it records so loud. What a “let-down” coming from Guinness opened by a parrot! :-) Off-topic; just beakause... http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1134/8110/products/Guinness_Toucan_grande.jpg Ha ha! Brilliant! I’d forgotten ab...

lindsayt wrote: ↑2021-07-27 17:16 Keep an open mind. Try a few speakers of the genres I've suggested - if you ever get the chance. And trust what your ears tell you, using tunedem. Never trust reputations. Nor what other people have told you - including me.

This is great advice lindsayt!

I prefer 16 this time

However, the biggest difference is that there are some unintelligible background noises on clip B which are clearly identified on A as a tin of Guinness being opened by a parrot 🦜 I think you just called my wife a parrot ! It's a good thing she never haunts this forum ... :D Ha ha. Please apologise...

Here: https://willys-hifi.com/collections/accuton-drive-units/products/accuton-c173-6-090-sapphire-midrange The manufacturer describes this midrange as a 120mm cone in a 170mm basket. I don’t think listening to speakers will tell me anything about the performance of the individual drive units. Kans ...

Easily an A for me. B struggles to play bass properly and each note comes as a surprise rather than being predictable as in clip A. Also the guitar follows JA’s voice in clip A whereas this is not so noticeable in clip B. However, the biggest difference is that there are some unintelligible backgrou...

I prefer before too. It’s very pleasant and reminds me of an old cuddly, musical radiogram (that’s a good thing in my book!) After sounds more modern and impressive sounding, but it’s lost the musicality of “before”.

Thanks for the videos SW64 👍 Before I comment, would you mind making another recording using music which isn’t so heavily processed? When the fundamental musical elements are over processed, there’s a tendency to pick the most impressive sound, which can lead to preference errors.

The Kef B110 used in the Kan’s (very tuneful) and LS3/5a’s (not particularly tuneful) has a 10.5g moving mass. The £850 Accuton midrange driver is 1/3 heavier at 14g. Just sayin!

I found both 'listening exercises' easier than most that we've heard here ;) For me vinyl > CD, and older > newer :) TL;DR As to the whys & wherefores of the LP sounding musically much better than the CD - it's not close, even after all the tweaks you've made to your CD player - or the older CD sim...

I agree Spannko. There are no clear rules to follow. I am interested in the the difference and the change in sound from the “older” to the “newer” cd. It tells something about what can happen when (here I am guessing) multible digital processes are use to get to the end result. Unfortunately, I thi...

I think it’s fair to say that most remasters are worse than the original versions, but some remasters can be ok and some can be pretty good. Paul Simon’s original Graceland CD was awful. In the mid 90’s it was remastered quite successfully, then destroyed again with the 25th anniversary edition! Ult...

The 125e’s are pretty well run in now and they sound pretty good. I find them particularly good for watching videos or the TV on my iPad. They’re reasonably clean, clear, musical, tuneful’ish, with an uncoloured bass and they never really draw attention to themselves. Well produced material can be v...

beck wrote: ↑2021-07-16 23:18 Getting digital “right” is a bit like this search:

https://youtu.be/A0TalLrtZ24

:-)

OMG!!! No wonder you stay away from all this digital malarkey charlie1! The analogue world is far safer😂

Eli7, First off, thanks a million for undertaking this series of tests 👍 They’ve been excellent. I’ve only had time to listen to the last pair once, but I think I preferred No.1 by quite a big margin, which surprised me. I’m being hassled to mow the lawns for the weekend, so I’ll listen again later ...

Eli7 wrote: ↑2021-07-14 17:51 So let's move on to Melco/Sbooster vs Melco/Sbooster/Adot (Linear power supply).

1) https://www.dropbox.com/s/gxpmqu5lbqvgx ... 9.m4a?dl=0
2) https://www.dropbox.com/s/45yrgresdx1ma ... 9.m4a?dl=0

Number 1 for me please.

beck wrote: ↑2021-07-15 16:50 Do not take too much notice of me Spannko. I like to be the odd one out! :-)

😉 😁

H for me, and very nice it is too! I agree. After downloading the clips onto my ipad I find them really close! There is a quality to the sound from T I really like and the music is not bad either. I think I am going to change my mind though I find choosing a winner difficult. I am really warming to...