I think their usage is very situational. They're not to be used by audiophiles who want the highest quality sound while sitting in a quiet room. They're for instances like riding a train or being on an airplane. I don't use ANC much either, but on an airplane it's a must.

It is, but it’s an amp only for $1500. It’s meant to be paired with the D16 DAC (also $1500). So it’s sort of in an entirely different price bracket :thinking:

Can I just say that the Bokeh sounds really great with classical music? I don't know if any of you listen to classical music regularly, but it's been my experience that really, you need an open-back headphone for proper classical music listening. Open-back headphones make the timbre of strings...

I like xDuoo's products, but I wish they were a bit more transparent about hardware updates and released regular firmware updates like Fiio. There's nothing on their website indicating anything about a revised version. If there is one, it seems to have been an entirely silent production update.

Just received my HD 620S today. Testing with the Zen DAC v3. Immediately loving the excellent isolation. I really don't understand this trend of creating closed-back headphones that don't isolate. What's the point, then? For me, the reason I buy closed backs is to block out background noise...

That's because "break-in" is psychological phenomenon :) (Yes, I know I'm setting myself up to be tarred-and-feathered). But "break-in" is just your brain adjusting to a new sound. If you go a long time without hearing it, or with using a different pair of headphones, you may need a bit to...

That's true, but my concern with streaming on a DAP is that DAP software doesn't tend to get updated regularly and I can't trust that streaming services will always function the way they're supposed to.

I think DAPs are interesting too, but if you primarily stream music, then a phone really is the best option for portable listening. In either case, there is supposed to be a battery pack released for the KA17 dongle, so I’d keep my eye on that as well.

Yeah, it's disappointing. :( But I guess people just want desktop amps or dongles. The "in-between" categories are less lucrative these days.

Yeah, I'll go all the way and say that I can't hear any difference. It was the same with the Q7 and other devices that have had the same filter options. Of all the things that make a difference in sound, there is a hierarchy: headphones > amplifier > DAC > filters (Not going to include cables...

Just placed my order. :) I've been really enjoying the HD 660S lately. I hope this can complete with it, just in closed-back form.

Disappointing about the "meh" isolation. The full-sized Focals have excellent isolation; the Celestee was best isolating headphone I've ever heard. It was almost like wearing ANC headphones. I know one critique of the Celestee was that the soundstage was narrow (I found it to be okay myself...

It looks like both can be used wired, but the signal has to pass through an ADC and DAC first.

Sonos' first entry into the Bluetooth headphone market is currently available for pre-order and will ship by June 5. https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/sonos-ace Is anyone else interested in these?

Most people who try and create hamburger headphones have trouble grappling with the pickle matrix. Professor Frink figured it out, though: