Rob interviewed by The Setup

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yeah but what do you use to listen to things? Loudspeaks? Earplugs? Amplificators?

I mean, besides your cellulose-based tonal rectifiers.

I like Urbanears Zinken because they come in plain, solid colors, but sound pretty good. Simple-but-fun!

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Spiffy. I guess I can see you as an on-ears-closed kinda hoopy frood. I like the detachable cord design in those - imagine it helps with storage and longevity.

It took me several years to convince myself that a DAC was more than smoke and mirrors, but I confess it does reduce some of the hum from onboard audio and more importantly I dig having an actual analog volume nob dedicated to the headphones.

I often try to get into better audio, but so much of my music collection is basically crummy mp3s and itunes that I feel it’s not worth bothering upgrading past the $200-ish level for headphones and stuff. @jlw has me pretty much sold on good portable preamps tho, and that’ll be my first port of call.

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DAC/AMP :slight_smile:

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I feel ya. I’ve had $300 etymotics and $69 grados . Those grados are now like 7 years old, still love them.

The one I splurged on was the nuforce. ~$110, I was apprehensive, but I wouldn’t do without it now. I don’t take it on the road, though, I use it in conjunction with my desktop rig.

So. I am gonna get kicked around the thread like a doll but…

I love my $2000 Audeze LCD-3s. I bought them myself. After buying my set I fell in love with the company and volunteered as a consultant for a year while they were getting funding. I am now paid. A friend I treasure happens to be the CEO and I do consult for them. So, I may be deemed biased and evil.

I love them. Nothing sounds better. I use a RedWine DAC/AMP with them and a Schiit Lyr/BiFrost setup.

I put away my Sennheiser HD-580s after maybe 15-20 years of heavy use. I tried many others. Audeze is the first group that got me to put them down. I was gonna go with LCD-2s but the 3 just came out and I was convinced (it was my 40th bday present to me as well.)

I listen to them nearly every day. They occupy the most valuable real estate in my home. Rob, Pesco, Mark, Xeni have all tried them. I guess @beschizza felt they aren’t worth it :slight_smile:

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Not by me.

I think a lot of it depends on budget. Until I have the budget for a vintage Gibson or Fender guitar then I also won’t have the budget for something in the class of those Audeze. We all have different priorities and different means, even when our tastes and our ears may be more similar.

But, to drag it back to the original topic, I do find it remarkable that Rob, who’s posts and personal creativity tend to be on the musical side (viz., game deaths), employs a very accessible audio set-up.

Some of the reviews on that complain about them being too tight. I’m guessing your head isn’t like a Talosian.

I have a 63cm head, which means basically no unfitted hat is large enough for it. I’ve gotten used to things being tight!

It would probably help if I didn’t insist on wearing glasses, causing the headphones to squeeze my ears against the arms.

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