Yes it is very intrusive.

Too bad we cannot put the itemized list inside our profile like Head-Fi. There you can put your owned, owning, and want to own items as well as other information.

Cavalli Liquid Gold?

Yeah the lifetime warranty is useful for people who plug in two headphones at the same time.
Kinda not a good design when your amp self destructs if you use two jacks at the same time.

Before buying extra thing, try subscribing Tidal HiFi trial and listen to "Master" quality tracks.
Previously I was ok with Spotify but once I started to notice how bad it is compared to Tidal or my hi res files and CDs, I can't un-notice it again.

This post has been edited by penmarker: Dec 7 2017, 04:17 PM

I heard some tracks with stringed instruments and sibilant vocals there's a pronounced distortion, sort of a "frrrrrrr"sound. At first I thought my Aune T1 when I was using had kaput tube, but then I tried Tidal and set it to Master and output device as my DAC and it sounds clean.
Other than that its the usual improved SQ people use those buzzwords like large soundstage, cleaner, black background, etc. For me it just sounds cleaner and clear.

You can just try the trial period first, all functionalities as the full version but for like a month I think. Plenty of time to think about it. It still costs less than a CD per month. If you buy one CD a month, you'll only have 12 a year. But if you sub to Tidal (or any other) you can listen to any songs you want for a fee.

This post has been edited by penmarker: Dec 7 2017, 05:48 PM

Sometimes yeah the drawback with headphones is your ears will hear but not the rest of your body. When you turn on speakers your whole body will feel the vibrations and the positioning will determine your sound stage.

I think what you'll need to get is a DAC+amp that has both headphone out and preamp out so you can connect both headphones and speakers to the same unit. On the unit itself you can choose to switch between headphone output or preamp output.

For all intents and purposes, the Audioengine D1 can work well for your setup. The RCA out at the back can be used for your speakers, and if you plug in your headphones in the front it will automatically mute the RCA out at the back. The JDS Labs The Element seem to have good reviews too but I've had no experience with them.

The FiiO E10 is an ok ok unit. I don't think it is a big improvement over on board sound.

Your gears can only dream of listening to, let alone own

You guys probably shouldn't do it while the devices are under warranty. Components are rated at high temperatures, they may be uncomfortable for us but they can run perfectly fine warm. Some Class A devices regularly go up to 60-70 degrees C for years fine, resistors are regularly rated up to 100-120 degrees C.

Get the HD650, you can always upgrade your source and amp down the years.

If you don't mind spending a bit more can try the iFi Zen DAC. They retail at RM699 but you can search around for cheaper prices.
But before buying anything just try them out straight from your computer. Sometimes people are ok with how they sound like that.

If your office is open and you sit near to each other, the HD650 might annoy your colleagues because they're open.
Also check if your computer has a 1/4" audio jack. If not, you need one of these converters because the HD650 comes with the large headphone connector.

You can try the Aune X7 as a budget XLR output headphone amp.
Regarding the Sundara, I suggest you listen to them first before buying.

Ooop, just found this in the sales section. Makes great value at RM1,400
https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4987992

Yes you can. The switch is in front.

What difference did you hear between force volume enabled/disabled?

I see, did you mean Loudness Normalisation? Force Volume would just override its own volume control so you adjust the volume with your own devices.

Add a bit more and get the Stoner Acoustic UD130. For the price hard to beat.

If wireless, there wouldn't be any improvements. But some ANC headphones can be used straight with cable (no ANC or DSP) so those has potential to be improved with DACs/Amps.

Stoner Acoustics still makes and sells amp/dacs.

S9 or S90?

See if their website provide any driver for download. On tidal, change settings to these.



Ignore the MQA setting because the Hidizs it’s not an MQA decoding dac.