Headphones: Buyer's Guide 2015

quote by audiodessey

This is my last comment you get from me till the end of your life.

oh please oh please, you promise?

. As I have said, stop wasting your time by asking me

so what you're saying is it's a waste of time conversing with you? At least we agree on something.

quote by EtherealVoiceI assume you listened to all the gear you mentioned. How could you, if you're broke? M-DAC 2 is not yet released and it won't be available to the general public, so how could you know it's worse?
And yes, M-DAC 2 will feature dedicated ADC, I know it straight from the developer.

That is the most stupid comment I've read from you.
These companies I'm talking about are known in this field since early 2000's.
Especially, DAC1 from Benchmark is still considered one of the best DACs ever invented. It's the DAC that made DAC popular.
Numerous radio broadcasters, music producers have used and praised DAC1. DAC2 is an advanced version. In my opinion, M-DAC can't beat any one of the devices I have mentioned.
Antelope Audio is already very popular with their other music electronics. Their new Zodiac Platinum features 32bit 382kHz PCM and DSD256 support with quad DAC chips, external atomic clock. Their Zodiac Plus was used by a former producer of U2, Michael Jackson, etc. I've tested Zodiac Plus a few times as well. It's mind-blowing indeed.

Hilo was made to match the quality of Benchmark DAC1 with more features for making it an audio interface. M-DAC 2 won't be any better than iDSD Pro by iFi Audio which will come out this June. iDSD Micro is already more popular than M-DAC will ever be. iDSD Micro was the best-selling DAC in Japan last year and the most favorably reviewed DAC in the states.
Forget about M-DAC no matter who told you about it. Look up Hilo by Lynx Audio. I've been searching DACs for a while. No one ever recommended me M-DAC other than you. iDSD Micro, Benchmark DAC1, Grace Design M920 are way more popular. I'm not telling you that I just like them. The famous producers, mastering engineers actually use them (besides iDSD) for making music.

If you're looking for just listening experience, get Oppo's HA-1. It came out in 2014. It costs 1100 dollars and much better than M-DAC 2 will ever be. At this point, HA-1 is considered the most economic package for the price. It offers everything a DAC should have.

https://www.oppodigital.com/headphone-amplifier-ha-1/

It already has all the necessary features and hardware (class-A amp, touchscreen LCD, sabre DAC, 32bit 382kHz DXD support) so even the company which made it will not be able to make a better unit within the next five years or so.

quote by EtherealVoice

That is the most stupid comment I've read from you.

Thanks for your feedback, though could you be more specific as to in which aspects it's stupid? I never insulted you or anyone let alone knowingly.

iDSD Micro is already more popular than M-DAC will ever be.

M-DAC dev never meant his products for popularity. Yes, Audiolab is one-man company and he personally assembles his units. That's why they're in limited quantities.
32bit 384kHz PCM is default sample rate and bit depth for Sabre ES9018 and ES9018K2M.
Hifime 9018D has 384/32 and that's $120.

But after all, I often ask, do you listen to sound or to the music? Many audiophiles are interested only in sound and not in music, that's why they spend thousands of dollars on equipment but never spend a minute trying to learn about harmony and how music works.

This is another comment made without researching.
Sabre chips support 32bit 382kHz but majority of DACs using Sabre chip don't support full 32bit 382kHz resolution. I say 70% of them support 24bit 192kHz at max.
Even Apogee's Quartet supports max 24bit 192kHz.
Also, the 70% of them don't support the entire music file formats available like HA-1 does.

I'm keep telling you. M-DAC and Hifime are absolutely nothing compared to Benchmark, Grace Design, Zodiac Platinum, etc. These are names that music producers and engineers actually use in their studio. The HA-1 is much better than M-DAC or Hifime.

If you can't believe any one of the companies I've mentioned, try to go to an audio gear shop and arrange demos. Your understanding of DAC will change for the rest of your life.

I'm not just an audiophile. As I have said, many popular producers and engineers have used these DACs I have mentioned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le_aT9-WTSQ

""The original Benchmark DAC1 has been used to master many Grammy-winning and chart-topping records. It is hard to imagine that even better performance has been squeezed out of that box, but the DAC2 HGC does that." - Garrett Haines, Tape Op"

Once you check those devices, you will find why they're using it and why I'm telling you to forget M-DAC and Hifime. There's absolutely no reason to spend time with developers of such company. If they e-mail once again to buy their upcoming DAC-2, tell them to buy Benchmark and Zodiac Platinum for better listening experience.

very useful, thank you for share

Finally my new balanced headphone amp based on JDSLabs Objective2 is done.
Sound is really exquisite

Apart from the Audio technica 50, this author has NO STUDIO headphone on his list of 50 Headphones. It's a bit too hifi really. But well meant. There is for instance not ONE AKG headphone mentioned although in EVERY studio I come in Germany and the Netherlands they have AKG's. so.. Even the expensive Beyers and others are more HIFI then studio monitoring which I would expect to be useful here on this board. But anyway.