A Geek Goes Flying

HE400se Picked up “ B-stock ” HiFiMan HE400se headphones (stealth magnets, planar magnetic ). First impression: Whoa. I’m hearing detail I never noticed before, in an album I’ve spun a thousand times (Tori Amos, Under the Pink ). The immediate response by the drivers to things like the sharp attack of Tori’s piano keys is crisp and controlled in a way I’ve never heard before. Driving them with the Schiit Hel 2 DAC/Amp . They’re 25Ω (or 32Ω? The site says one thing, the box another), but have a sensitivity of only 91 db, so they’re somewhat hard to drive . The Hel seems up to the task, though (though I do have it switched to high gain). I also have a balanced cable coming that might make them usable with the ES100 or AP80 Pro or Surfans F28 or ...? Meanwhile, Apple Music’s EQ doesn’t quite line up with the 10-band oratory1990 provides , so I kinda approximated it. I’m sure I have tweaking to do and I lack the instrumentation to confirm how close to (or nowhere near) the Harman Curv...

Baby Wharfedale behind a Schiit DAC/Amp next to PC38X headset My current setup at the office is a Mac Mini running macOS Monterey, connected via 3.5 mm / RCA to a  PreSonus Eris Sub8 and through that, to Wharfedale DS-2 speakers , and now via a Schiit Fulla E to a Sennheiser PC38X headset. Now, the PC38X is aimed at the gaming market, I use ’em for interminable Zoom and Microsoft Teams remote appearances, depositions, etc. The mic works great and flipping it up is a zero-ambiguity way of quickly muting my audio, which I really appreciate. They’re not half-bad to listen to, either; Josh Valour compares them relatively favorably against the Sennheiser HD560S and HD58X (which I have at home ). Anyway, I played Tori Amos’ Cornflake Girl for my law partner through the PC38X / Fulla E combo and he was blown away. Had never heard anything “so clear and detailed.” I decided to spin that track for myself, it had been a while since I’ve listened to Tori, and I’m not sure I’ve ever reall...