The DAC I have is the Denafrips Iris. I thought about getting the Hermes so I could connect my CD player to it, but the player is sounding great going through the Pontus into the headphone amp.

I don't have the Deluxe Edition, but I have that CD. I bought it for Little Fluffy Clouds. Still playing that song. Anyway, I know all too well the joy of owning a favorite that has great meaning in your life. Enjoy :L3000:

It honestly did come across that way, but ok. Have you owned, or ever used the Excalibur USB cable? Anyway, I had the AudioQuest Jitterbug, and didn't find it all that effective, and why I no longer use them. Instead, now I just run an Excalibur USB cable from PC to my Denafrips Iris DDC...

If you're talking about modifying the internals of an amp, then that's above my heard. I don't mod equipment, nor am I an electronics expert. Perhaps the link you post have the answers you seek? I'm simply saying, again, sound quality is not solely dependent on whether an amp is balanced or...

I've had that Incognito CD sitting in my Amazon box for 2 years now, and still haven't gotten it. Perhaps because I've got enough of their CDs already....

Acoustic Alchemy... Having not listened to any Alchemy since basically getting them, last week while cruising my library, I stopped at Radio Contact see if I was missing anything. What I came away with was "What a beautiful album". After listening to both Early Alchemy, and The New Edge, I now...

That's funny, because in your feelings of the 660S2, you pretty much described mine (short of best cans I've ever heard) in the HD800S. But my setup works well with them. Anyway, I definitely get it when your gear evokes such joy. You're not alone :smile: Nice review :thumbsup:

I get it :relaxed:

The Isley Brothers The Heat is On (1975). Japanese Paper Sleeved version (2010). A classic here...

You're not going to turn an unbalanced amp into a balanced amp by cable hacks. That's not how it works. It's all in the design of the amp itself. As I said in my post above (post #22) balanced is not necessarily better than single ended. It's more of how the amp/DAC itself is designed to run...

On a headphone right out the box without any break in? Wonder how you'll feel when the sound changes as they break-in? Not saying things will get worse, but that a change will happen; subtle, but still.

The instructions are clear - use only one output - either XLR or RCA. As said, the outputs are shared, and probably will result in a lower sound output. That said, there's nothing from stopping you from trying it, and learning for yourself. I have a Pontus and thought the same - XLR outs to...

Not sure what you're looking at but it's no more compact than the Marantz. Overall dimensions are 444 (W) × 111 (H) × 333 (D) mm. It also weighs a ton (24.5 LBS / 11.1kgs). And it's obviously bigger than the other components shown in the posted image 😯 Anyway, I only stream from my NAS. I...

I bought this 2023 two-disc deluxe CD edition of ...Little Broken Hearts by Norah Jones because I wanted to see if the added material was worth it. Lucky I basically got this for free as I see nothing worthy of it, if you already have the original 2012 release. Disc one is the original 12...

Got it. That clarifies things now. Yeah, I use a Supra HDMI cable from the Iris to the Pontus via I2S as well. Also have the Supra Excalibur USB cable from PC to Iris. LOL - I bought into the whole Supra line-up as shown > here :relaxed: That said, I have what I have now, so I won't go...