Well gave in to a littel temptation and to try something new out. Just ordered in a SMSL SU9 Dac for the bedside rig. Felt I warranted a desktop DAC to the current portable Ifi I have been using. Getting great write ups and price is not extortianate. so look forward to trying it out. Also PSU is in the unit so much neater than having walwarts.
I stongly recommend the RME the inbult headstage is very good but being a balanced dac it does give you options to go fully balanced by adding a seperate amp. To me its a very special dac and one deserved of all its praise.
I had to wait months for the Heresy to come back into stock been a massive shortage since Covid. Maybe more people buying them for the work at home desktop. I wouldnt bother witht their dacs though there are much better ones out there for similar money.
My bedside unit is a pair of Sennheiser HD650s driven by a USB Audioquest Cobalt DAC/Amp. I can power it by ipad etc this way… and can access Roon as well to tweak EQ. Works well. Yes not any where near my main Hi-Fi headphone system, but entertaining all the same
decided to tread tentatively into this, so not spending £££ straight away. After lots of reading, have ordered Topping DX3 Pro headphone amp/DAC, to be powered by a Raspberry Pi I have hanging around, into some Meze 99 Classics (and ordered some Grado SR325e’s too, to compare). Plan is to send one set back but secretly suspect Meze’s will stay in bedroom and Gardo’s will migrate to office.
Then, if I find I use them a lot, will get another headphone amp to attach to the Rossini -Violectric or gsx mini, and better office setup (smsl 200 + su-9, or matrix audio element I or mini id3 pro)…
easier if could have tried them (and appreciate all the advice that I should, which I do agree with, in principle) but travelling tricky at present cos of C-19, so home demo courtesy Amazon is the easiest…
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Good choice with the Meze 99’s good all rounder and won’t feel out of place with more expensive and resolving gear and well suited if you need isolation I found the Grados I have tried a little bright for my tastes and the fit is not great there build quality is a little rubbish, pads always came of mine.
Am not a fan of overly bright, but they come well recommended online from a variety of sources, and will be the first open-backed pair I will have tried. But they can always go back if not ideal.
Well your coverng both closed and open I like bothr but closed get used more as in the bedroom open not good for the other half. Good thing about the Meze is like hifi components you can change things to tweak and improve performance. I upgraded the cable and changed pads and very happy with the results. Never believed cables made much difference in my main system but in headrigs small things really seem to count and affects things more. Pads can really change the sound for better or worse very quickly.
I’ll let you know how my SMSL SU9 pans out when it arrives and given it s good test run.
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SMSL SU9 arrived today only 4 days to get it. My ProAcs took longer from the UK :). Not had chance to play with it yet though.
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Well have to say I am rather impressed with the SU-9 compared to the Ifi combined with the Heresy it’s a nice combo not disappointed at all lots of detail very balanced, nice imaging and very neutral. Its not quite as good as the RME on its own but at a 3rd of the price it gives it a run for the money but not going to grumble it’s perfect for the bedroom and I have and can listen for hours without any sign of fatigue. Only downside is can’t turn of the LCD display when playing back but it can be dimmed.
you seem to mostly agree with this recent review then, except perhaps around neutrality…
I think it depends on the amp and phones. It does have some slam I will admit to that it’s a high output DAC. I have had to roll back my pads on the Mezes to stock. Found them a tad bright and looser bass on the Ifi so used Brainwaves pads to sort that out but these roll off too much mid and treble for using the SMSL as when I first listened it was too bass heavy. So I have changed them over to their default ones and much more balanced.
It also changed a little from day one so does need a little settle in time. Since putting the SMSL I have also redone cabling to the rig added a better power block and changed the usb cable to an Audioquest Cinnamon today and that’s helped make the bass tighter again not that it was flabby. Not found a usb cable to have an effect on the RME but does here a little but not night and day.
So after playing with the DX3 Pro a bit am considering a RME quite quickly - the Topping is ok sounding, but not exceptional in any way. So need something better, though the Toppinhg may stay for duties in another room,
It’s either this or the Nov release of the Violelectric v380 but will probably wait for reviews on that then decide. Or try not to spend money at all…
Not surprised you want better than the dx3 I think it offers good vfm but not much else there is not much you can do at that low price. Would be good to get your view on the RME it offers a very compelling all in one package and doesn’t take up much room or draw much power.
The Violectrics are huge things. If you need to have more oomph for the headphones you have perhaps adding one would be sensible but one can be added to the RME afterwards,but I guess you would run it of your main Naim rig?
Which cans you preferred so far our of the Grado and Meze?
The SU9/Heresy/ Meze combo sounding quite lovely this morning. So either the Audioquest cable has done it’s trick or its getting better with burn in. Very musical overall tapping my toes a lot more than previous setup which is always a good sign. Offering a good substantial upgrade and good value.
RME arrived just now - first impressions (30 mins) - wider, clearer sound than the DX3 Pro, but not night and day difference. Clean sound, no noise, DX3 is slightly cooler than the RME but think the RME is more exact, and more musical.
I had hoped I could use it just as a headphone amp too, but it appears not - the analogue inputs get A-D converted then processed then D-A’d, so using it on the back of my Rossini is mostly pointless.
And one of the things that makes the RME so flexible is all the eq and other dip settings, but I am unlikely to use that and if I did am more likely to do it in Roon - so I wonder if Im paying for a chink of functionality I’ll never use. But it still sounds sweet…
Which leaves me with a slight quandary: I now have the DX3 Pro for bedroom listening, RME for desktop/more serious listening, but nothing for hifi listening - so do I return the RME and go for the Violectric V281 or V380, which will do both hi-fi and office, or do I return the DX3 Pro, keep the RME, and get a Violectric if I need to later? Or return both for the Violectric and move it about?
For £120-odd it seems worth hanging on to the DX3 Pro - for £700 isa the RME is excellent value but is it the right product? But it is half the price of the Violectric. Decisions, decisions…
Meze. Grado are nice but slightly sterile. Running them in a bit more. Earpads in foam seem cheap and don’t feel great on the ears. Got some Sennheiser HD 650’s coming for a trial too - Grado or Senn’s will go back.
You got the ADI 2 Pro then as the regular ADI 2 does not have analogue ins it’s just a pure DAC. Its not designed to use those as a straight analogue pass through its an ADC for getting stuff in the digital domain for processing into a DAW. If you got that for £700 then it’s a real bargain as that’s cheaper than the standard DAC only one.
A week more in with the SMSL and I am very happy it’s very good partner for the Schiit and Mezes. Next change will be some different closed headphones but that’s some time off. For now this bedroom setup is done and dusted.
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