General Headphone Chat

[Ehrmantraut]

I've listened to both Nirvana and Euterpe care of Hugo @Indiehifi. Auris make some very good tube amps. I fell in love with the Nirvana driving Verite Open and bought one on the spot. Happy ending? Not quite. Part of the deal was to trade back my Mogwai SE. Ok so far, Hugo even bought the extra tubes I got. Got it home, plugged in with the big LPSU. Warmed her up.........hmmm transformer or main noise. Couldn't isolate it. Hugo cam over and we spent the best part of 2 hours pulling everything apart to isolate the noise. Noise, I might add, that I've never experienced before. When we finally thought we had a solution, the fuse blew on the Auris. Cue, rush to Jaycar at 5pm on a Sat. Fuse replaced, unit still dead! Hugo was a legend had refunded me in full and returned the Mogwai asap. What a guy, no fuss. Now, 'm not casting nasturtiums(!) on Auris. I had listening Nirvana just not at my house! They are using a new black brick LPSU instead of the pretty wooden one. Maybe there's an issue or just a faulty unit. Can't wait to hear it again.

BTW - Mogwai is dynamic and detailed for a tube amp. With KT88s, the LCD-3s are singing. I quite like KT77s and some vintage EL34s from Telefunken add lovely warmth and musicality. So many amps and HPs, so little time!

[Niktech]

An ESS Sabre chip in the DAC of the Euterpe Tube amp seems an interesting combination - the warm sound of tubes with the cold and clinical sounding Sabre chips. 

 

[Odyssey]

Hmmm I can’t believe you had such an experience with Auris Nirvana especially at almost 10 grand price !

 

The fact that you were buying it on the spot after listening to it means you were very impressed and impressed enough to trade in your Mogwai Se. So in your opinion it must be better than the Mogwai to make you want to do the switch. 
 

The unit at Minidisc had the black LPSU and Wing told me it’s the same supplier as Chord in Australia. I also turn up the volume to max with no music playing and it was total silence.

 

Nirvana can only use EL34 though but the sound is drop dead gorgeous.

 

 

[Odyssey]

1 hour ago, Niktech said:

An ESS Sabre chip in the DAC of the Euterpe Tube amp seems an interesting combination - the warm sound of tubes with the cold and clinical sounding Sabre chips. 

 

It is a very interesting all in one. I thought it sounded great with fast transients and hard hitting notes. However coming directly from the lush and grand sounding Nirvana with the fame EL34 tone, it is quite a contrast.

[Odyssey]

2 hours ago, BlueOceanBoy said:

BTW - Mogwai is dynamic and detailed for a tube amp. With KT88s, the LCD-3s are singing. I quite like KT77s and some vintage EL34s from Telefunken add lovely warmth and musicality. So many amps and HPs, so little time!

Sound like my kind of tube amp for contrast with Oblivion. Vintage EL34, KT88, KT77 are all lovely but will cost. BTW Auris also has another amp above Nirvana that uses 2A3 tubes. I wonder how that sound as I'm considering the DNA Stratus which uses 2A3 tubes.

 

I first listen with LCD-4 on Nirvana. Control of bass was very good. Clean and deep. Mid range is so sweet and endearing. It's a perfect coupling to my ears. As soon as I switch to LCD-3f, I detect more bloom and a slight dip in details and instruments pick up. This is only evident when switching immediately from one Audeze to another, with the same dac and amp in place. That's why I place the LCD-4 as 20% better than LCD-3f. Now with LCD-X, which unfortunately I didn't try, that might not have deviated that much. However I still feel LCD-4 has more polish and refinement than LCD-X and that's not imagination or even considering the price.

[Odyssey]

This review verified my experience with LCD-4 and Auris Nirvana.

https://headphone.guru/auris-nirvana-tube-heaven-for-headphones/

 

Also said that Susvara is a great pairing with it.

 

And the accolades rolls in

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/auris-nirvana-el34-amp-in-the-house.887621/

 

Yet another favourable review

https://www.headfonia.com/review-auris-audio-nirvana/

 

@BlueOceanBoy don't discount it because of your sad encounter with it. I'm sure that's a once off.  Surprised Hugo didn't replace it with another unit instead of refunding. Amps at this level will back themselves up.  

[Bengineer]

I'd imagine it's a bit of a wait just to get one, probably refunded for now until another arrives.

 

Poor Mogwai SE, didn't last long on his shelf 

[Odyssey]

Nothing last long on the blue ocean floor or UntilThen.

[Bengineer]

Think that ocean is highly saline. Nothing seems to last long.

[Odyssey]

Thanks for sounding out the HE1000se @Bengineer but I know what I truly love now.

 

LCD-4 out of a good tube amp like Auris Nirvana is sweet sugarcane to my ears. Meaty, details, slam, seismic bass floor, tube tone at it’s best. It’s my cup of tea may not be everyone’s.

 

Paired with my Yggdrasil, I wouldn’t upgrade anymore. Or maybe one more Susvara hahaha.

[Odyssey]

2 minutes ago, Bengineer said:

Think that ocean is highly saline. Nothing seems to last long.

That ocean is teeming with sharks and Orcas. What do you expect?

[Ehrmantraut]

I would love to do an A-B with LCD3/4 and Mogwai vs Nirvana. Mogwai is the best tube amp I've heard until Nirvana. The Auris is just somehow more. More detail, more bass tightness, more together. I do like the way you can change the signature on Mogwai and that means you can run lots of different HPs on it and have a completely different experience. LF339 is just a fun amp - punchy, warm and liquid. 

I'm sure that was a one off with the Nirvana power. Does make me a bit nervous though. The back of my crappy selby is a snake pit of cables and LPSUs already. Maybe the sensitivity of the Auris is so much higher than my other gear as I haven't had anything like that noise floor before. 

I agree with Odyssey’s review of the Euterpe. Very good for the money and an excellent desktop solution.

[Odyssey]

7 minutes ago, BlueOceanBoy said:

I would love to do an A-B with LCD3/4 and Mogwai vs Nirvana. Mogwai is the best tube amp I've heard until Nirvana. The Auris is just somehow more. More detail, more bass tightness, more together. I do like the way you can change the signature on Mogwai and that means you can run lots of different HPs on it and have a completely different experience. LF339 is just a fun amp - punchy, warm and liquid. 

It's clear we (you and me) love the tone of tube amps. It's also clear that here we have varying degrees of lushness and warmth amongst these 3 tube amps. Take your time. No in fact enjoy Mogwai for a spell first. If you love something, you want to hang on to it for a while. That way you can savour it slowly at your own time. KT88 has an immediateness to the punch compared to the romantic EL34. If you can roll in KT77 or KT66, your tube rolling has just got to another level. That's not even considering amps that uses 2A3 and 300b tubes.

 

Being able to A-B with LCD3/4/X and Mogwai vs Nirvana is probably the best thing you can do. Sometimes it might take a much longer time before you can truly say that that is the amp + headphone combination that you will live with.... eternity. We know that's not going to happen as long as we remain in this hobby. 

 

I feel the same about LF339. Despite the cheap price, despite the rawness, despite the coarseness of the whole product, the warm and liquidness of the tone is beguiling. It is a fun amp indeed.

[Odyssey]

27 minutes ago, BlueOceanBoy said:

I'm sure that was a one off with the Nirvana power. Does make me a bit nervous though. The back of my crappy selby is a snake pit of cables and LPSUs already. Maybe the sensitivity of the Auris is so much higher than my other gear as I haven't had anything like that noise floor before. 

I agree with Odyssey’s review of the Euterpe. Very good for the money and an excellent desktop solution.

 

You know we are fortunate in that we have a lot of gear to switch at our command almost instantaneously but that's where it's also our woe because we turn it into a snake pit. 

 

If I didn't hear Nirvana first, I would have been more impressed with Euterpe but the latter is not as meaty as the former. I wouldn't even use the word meaty on Euterpe because it's not. Instead it's tight, it's more leading edge precision, it's fast in it's transients, it's snappy in it's attack. If you like this kind of tone, it's perfect. In fact it tightens up the LCD-3f where I felt that the LCD-3f felt a bit more bloomy on the Nirvana. Nothing's perfect when you analyse too much.

 

Strangely as I type this, I am very content listening with the LCD-X powered by Woo Audio WA22 that uses Ken Rad 6sn7gt black glass, Tung Sol 5998 and Cossor 53ku.

 

[Tarzan]

@Odyssey

 

Did you find much difference with the Cossor 53ku rectifier?

[Odyssey]

Hello Tarzan, next to the GEC U52, I find the Cossor 53ku warmer and I like both. Really good rectifiers but expensive now.

[Niktech]

Has anyone swapped out the standard ear pads on the Focal Clears for the Utopia leather ear pads? Is the sound signature still the same? I can see the standard microfiber pads on the Clears getting quite dirty and sweaty over the course of a hot Perth summer 

Edited December 21, 2020 by Niktech
Spelling

[deafenears]

18 minutes ago, Niktech said:

Has anyone swapped out the standard ear pads on the Focal Clears for the Utopia leather ear pads? Is the sound signature still the same? I can see the standard microfiber pads on the Clears getting quite dirty and sweaty over the course of a hot Perth summer 

Maybe this will help:

 

https://forum.headphones.com/t/focal-pad-rolling-experiments-measurements/2822/26?u=deafenears

 

Someone measured the frequency response of the Clears with different pads from the Focal line-up. I believe someone else also did the same with an aftermarket brand, Dekoni?

Edited December 21, 2020 by deafenears

[Bengineer]

Might interest someone:

 

Sale on Dan Clark Audio.

 

Of most interest is the Aeon 2 Closed Noir. About $1000 AUD.

 

Closed. Light. Comfy. Harman Tuning. Black. Carbon Fibre, Aluminium etc.

 

Pretty appealing.

 

https://www.danclarkaudio.com/aeon-2-noir.html

 

 

[Suopermanni]

I hope that Brisbane head-fi owners will have a meet again soon. Been trying to figure out what headphones to get next. LCD4's have left because I want something different. Have gone to Hugo's and tried the ZMF and Meze offerings.

[bruc3]

1 hour ago, Suopermanni said:

Have gone to Hugo's and tried the ZMF and Meze offerings.

I want to go to Brissy so I can audition some ZMF headphones, I am very curious about on the Aeolus at the moment and thinking it may be the next headphone I get but hesitant to drop $2k without listening first. Also want to try the Auteur.

[barbz127]

1 hour ago, Suopermanni said:

I hope that Brisbane head-fi owners will have a meet again soon. Been trying to figure out what headphones to get next. LCD4's have left because I want something different. Have gone to Hugo's and tried the ZMF and Meze offerings.

I'm curious to know your thoughts on how the meze differed to the ZMF headphones you auditioned. Would you mind sharing some feedback?

[Odyssey]

1 hour ago, bruc3 said:

I want to go to Brissy so I can audition some ZMF headphones, I am very curious about on the Aeolus at the moment and thinking it may be the next headphone I get but hesitant to drop $2k without listening first. Also want to try the Auteur.

We can go together but would be a challenge to bring my gear

 

Personally after having Verite Open for a year and in that time I love it a lot but somehow after a year, I start gravitating back to Audeze planars specifically LCD-3f and LCD-X. I would eventually want to replace those with lcd-4. Atm a hekse is on it way to me. For me hekse and LCD-4 would be complimentary and that should be sufficient for me. But there is always a but. May want to try the Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC at some point together with the complimentary Formula S + Power supply.

[bruc3]

13 minutes ago, Odyssey said:

We can go together but would be a challenge to bring my gear

 

 

Once QLD borders open to us we may make it happen

I think the Aeolus supposedly being a warm/euphoric high impedance headphone would be heavenly pair with the Figaro 339, I keep imagining the pairing in my mind.

 

I noticed ordering directly from ZMF that you can customise the order such as type of pads, termination type etc.

but ordering from indieHiFi does not seem to allow any customisation, is that right?

I have heard many people suggesting to get the Suede perforated pads which seem to boost the mids, so more to my liking. But I believe the Aeolus by default comes with the leather pads.

[Suopermanni]

9 minutes ago, bruc3 said:

 

Once QLD borders open to us we may make it happen

I think the Aeolus supposedly being a warm/euphoric high impedance headphone would be heavenly pair with the Figaro 339, I keep imagining the pairing in my mind.

 

I noticed ordering directly from ZMF that you can customise the order such as type of pads, termination type etc.

but ordering from indieHiFi does not seem to allow any customisation, is that right?

I have heard many people suggesting to get the Suede perforated pads which seem to boost the mids, so more to my liking. But I believe the Aeolus by default comes with the leather pads.

From what I can tell, you can order what wood and such from the drop down menus on the site. If not, you can always ask Hugo for a quote.

 

 

2 hours ago, barbz127 said:

I'm curious to know your thoughts on how the meze differed to the ZMF headphones you auditioned. Would you mind sharing some feedback?

 

Well, I didn't have too long with them unfortunately. I could tell that the Hugo2 + Mscaler sounds very different to my Topping D90 +  A90 stack. I actually preferred the Empy and Verite Open out of the Topping Stack as both seemed to sound more airy and open compared to the Hugo2. Bit unfair as the Topping A90 has balanced output.

Edited December 28, 2020 by Suopermanni