Cheesebaron

Nah, they don't do anything destructive to the IEM's

I went to my local audiologist, you know the place where they make hearing aids and stuff like that. They will make a mold of your ears. Remember to bring some IEMs which they can model the entry for the nozzle (I used J33i's).

I have the AudioEngine A5 (not +) and you won't need an amp for those. A DAC could maybe do, but if you have a decent sound card in your PC, which you most likely have you won't hear the difference anyways. The A5 have RCA outputs, just like @kuchuck says, for the a Subwoofer, so it is very easy to set that up. If you plan on putting the speakers on a table, and the table itself is not super heavy. I recommend some foam stands for the speakers. I have some cheap Sinn7 audio foam stands which absorb most of the vibrations. You'll probably be able to find something similar at a very low price. In order to get more bass out of the A5, you can play around positioning them close or far away from the wall, as they have bass ports in the back, the closer they get to the wall the more reflections, which can make a rumbly sound if you like that, position them farther away and the bass will be more precise but not as full. Also these are monitors, so make sure they are in an angle that plays towards your ears and at a height that will target your ears.

Yeah because you will have enough power to drive the HE-6 with an O2... NOT! You will need around 6 Watt to drive those, which the O2 definitely does not supply, not even at high gain... STAX SR009 are electrostatic, which means you will need an amp specific for that, with unlimited funds, and I would choose those I would probably go with something like the Blue Hawaii amplifier for those. That thing is a beast. I would love to listen to the Sennheiser Orpheus some day, but if I had all the money in the world I would probably have multiple set ups for each their own use. Some headphone excel at some genres that others don't. Then there is the whole deal with synergy between the headphone and the amplifier, and most likely there would be an end to the madness. Don't get me started on speaker setups, I would probably spend more money on room treatment or actually building the perfect listening room rather than on the sound equipment itself.

Are you deaf? All good headphones, have had the HD650 and HE-400 from those and I find the HE-400 in another league than the HD650, both very good headphones though, and they excel in their own manners. However, if you opt for the HD650, I would really recommend you to try out the HiFiMAN HE-300 as they sound very similar to the HD650, with some nuances in the bass, otherwise they are veeery similar sounding. I actually prefer the HE-300 over the HD650, but that is my opinion of course. I've listened to the HE-500, great headphones, but I found them too dark sounding. Although sounding a bit dark, you get a lot of audio for your money with those. The O2+ODAC is a very solid combo, and at a budget you might not find something that matches it at its price, at least it would be hard. Maybe the Schiit Modi + Magni stack comes close. But my last recommendation is that you actually go out and listen to some headphones, find some stores that demos them, maybe not all of them, but at least two different contenders, note down what you like and do not like about them and find the ones with less negatives than positives.

The best thing I have done is to get a pair of custom silicone sleeves for my IEM's, I had them made so they fit most IEM's with the 4.5mm nozzle. Right now I am using them with a pair of JVC FX700, but I have used them with JVC J33i, Brainwavz S1, Some random Sony's, cheap ass HiSound Audio ones and many more. What is special about these... they fit my ears perfectly, I get a better seal and deep insertion every time. Also they are super comfortable, more comfortable than any other IEM I have tried. They look like this: So if you go IEM route, this is one of the things that will make things a lot more comfortable. Otherwise, between the Momentum and the V-Moda, I think it is a matter of preference. Basically go out and see if you can listen to them both somewhere. Preferably A/B test them to see what floats your boat more. You are the one going to listen to them, not us.

What does the specification say on the AC adapter that came with it?

This also seems pretty nice: http://www.akasa.com.tw/search.php?seed=AK-FN076

I have a Synology DS1511+ NAS and the internal CPU fan is rattling, so I want to change it for another one. I just swapped the two rear fans for Noctua R8 fans, but they are too thick to fit between the heatsink and the mount where the original fan sits. So I need something that is approximately half the thickness of an R8 fan, which is 25mm. So something like a 15mm or 10mm thick fan would do. Any recommendations on what to get? Usually I'd just get a Noctua, but they don't make other fans than the R8 for their 80mm series.

Trust your ears, if you like the sound, go for it. If you didn't already at the first visit, bring some of your own music and listen to that. See how that fares, and ignore the salesman for a brief. Think about what you like and what you dislike about the sound. If possible A/B test the headphones and see which ones you like the most.

So you trust reviews from 12 year olds who have no idea what they are doing?

I found the HE-400 really great for Rock. I also have a pair of Grado SR325i which are also really great for that, however they can be quite a bit fatiguing after an hour or two of listening. My opinion is that both the HE-400 and the HD600 are very good allaround types of headphones, and not only for classical and jazz. Sure they sound really good with that type of music, but the play other genres really good as well. In the end, it is you who are going to pick the headphone you want, and it will be your subjective opinion, which will decide whether you like the sound with a specific genre or not.

You should go for the HyperX Cloud/Takstar Pro80, sure they are 9 bucks more, but they are really at the sweet point of where you get the most bang for the buck.

Ehhm, nope. The balance should be the same before and after the burn-in. Another problem you might have is, if you are using an amplifier of some sort, then there can be inbalance in the volume control, so sometimes you need to turn it up to past a certain point, i.e. 12 o'clock, on the dial to get the balance right. However that should not matter if you have a digital volume control of some sort.

As said check balance settings, but also make sure they are plugged in all the way, if that is the case, try to fiddle around with the cable to see if there is a loose or bad connection somewhere. If it is neither of those, it is probably a faulty driver and it is up for repair/replacement.

The new B&O H6 are supposed to sound pretty decent, haven't heard them myself, but from other people over at the Danish Head-fi forum, the verdict is they are pretty good. I can't tell my personal opinion about them other than they look pretty good. If people are out for some bassy headphones check out this head-fi thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/716711/the-best-bass-headphones-are-the-extreme-bass-club

They are terminated into a mini-jack, so no not on these Not planning to do that either as they get borrowed a lot from friends.

It does open up for potential upgrades

With some minor mods the Superlux HD681 can sound very good. I have a pair of heavily modded ones myself: Since the picture was taken, I added a leather headband, otherwise they look pretty much the same. If you get a pair of these, do not peel of the sticker behind the cushions, that will make the highs even more piercing.

I'd say, go for the external combo if you want use it with other computers from time to time. Such as a laptop. Otherwise go for the STX. The choice is yours.

O2 & ODAC combo is also in that price range? The Schiit combo isn't really a sound card though nor is the O2 & ODAC combo. I'd say, if you need all the cool stuff you get with the STX, such as Dolby Headphone go for it. Otherwise I would go for something like the O2 & ODAC or the Schiit combo you mentioned. Especially with the Schiit combo, you could upgrade the equipment gradually, i.e. swapping the DAC for something better, then after a while saving some money swap the Amp for something better. You could probably do with something even cheaper. What will the main use be?

I find these spot on. I like the JVC house sound a lot I think. My JVC FX700 IEM's sound a lot like these, though smaller sound stage and more recessed mids. I find these spot on, at least until I hear a better headphone

Hyper X Cloud is a slightly differently tuned Takstar Pro80 as far as I know. The Takstar themselves are a very good price/performance headphone, you really get a lot of good sound for your money. However, I find the Takstar Pro80 a bit small for my head, I don't know how the HyperX Cloud fare, but I am a bit beastly and have a huge head. So just keep in mind, if you head is huge, you might have a problem with the fit.

So I was lucky enough to pick up a pair of near mint JVC HA-DX1000 yesterday, for a pretty fair price. I have been looking for these for a long time, I once had a chance to buy some from the UK, but they had some flaws and the seller was hesitant to ship them overseas, so that didn't go too well. Meanwhile I opted for a pair of HiFiMAN HE-400, then also got a pair of Grado SR325i, all very nice headphones, but nothing compared to the DX1000. At least in my opinion. I had listened to these at some head-fi meets here in Denmark, where every time I listened to them, I just thought: "Hey, at some point I really need to buy these". And yesterday I had the chance! Here is a snap of the box: Here is what is inside: And how they look on my mug: So far my impressions about the sound coming from these is, that they are pretty warm and luscious sounding. They have a very big sound stage, loads of resolution and detail, though. Very detailed and airy treble, no harshness, no sharp "S" sounds. Engaged, but warm middles, not dominating but they get the message across. Bass is plump, but precise, very luscious. Even though they are on the warm side, they still pack loads of detail, a very big sound stage for a closed headphone, most likely the biggest I have heard from a closed headphone. So far whatever I have played with them, they have reproduced the music brilliantly. I use them with a Audio-gd 10.32 DAC/AMP, which drives them with ease, haven't tried them with my Fiio X3 yet. Any other DX1000 users on this forum?

Thanks to Darrin Lynch for joining us today