Well, nowhere did I say that one had to spend lots of $$$ on gear to be an “audiophile”. I consider anyone who has a love of music an audiophile, regardless of what equipment they use. If a $200 DAP makes you happy, it’s certainly not my place to try to convince you that you shouldn’t be. But...

Not really. Each of those AIs spouted a lot of words that never sounded like anything an actual human would say, or connect with anything other than vague platitudes. At least none of them told us to put glue on our pizza.

Yeah +1 on Raphael with Xe6, I have it just now as part of a tour, strongly considering buying one. I hated the ergo of the Code23, but the Raphael is a huge improvement over that, very light and supple while still being very well made. I never hear anything like “day and night” improvements...

No, I don’t think there is any debate about it really. While I haven’t heard All The DAPs, those i have heard sound different to each other in some way. I happened to have the RS6, R6P2, and R8ii all at the same time and it was very easy to pick the differences between them. I’d be extremely...

I've so many great pairings, but this one is the more recent one so... @Tanalasta tells me OTL is an even better cable for Spartacus, I'll just have to slum it with Raph for now while I have it for a tour. I'm back at my desk with the Bf2/Jot2 as I write this, which gives Spartacus even...

I guess I'm fortunate, but I don't see this as an "either/or" kind of thing at all. And I actually *like* being at my desk when I'm working and/or when I'm not. To me, the primary advantage of an IEM is that it sounds good with my music no matter if I'm at my desk, on the train, out for a...

I guess it depends what sort of synergy you're after with your gear. If you want to double-down on the "lean and clean" approach, as you say the AK DAPs pair well with the 12t. The HiBy R8ii would also be a good choice, it is likewise relatively un-coloured, while still being musical. I am...

Did you get them second-hand? I reckon you're better off to let them go and order a CIEM direct from FiR, or a local retailer. If you already know you like what the Universal does, then the switch to Custom is an upgrade worth the difference in price from whatever you get for the second-hand...

All kinds of good mostly. Especially with less-sensitive IEMs and lower-impedance amps. I've been using desktop amps with IEMs since the beginning, and it's only been Andro2020 and VE Phonix that I've ever noticed much hiss, again depending on the amp itself. Desktop amps are just larger...

Sorry but yes you can use Peace on PC, SoundSource on Mac, and UAP Pro on Android to EQ Tidal while you are streaming it. Again, I don't do much of the latter, but I am right now using Peace on my PC with Tidal streaming, works perfect.

Yes there certainly was! I recall seeing Front 242 at the Riviera in 1991, and Ministry once or twice in Campaign. I need find an excuse to go back to Chicago to visit you guys 😉

Peace works great on PC, SoundSource even better on Mac. I don’t EQ much on any of my DAPs, but the newer “6” and “8” series HiBy ones have systemwide PEQ, MSEB, and heaps of other audio DSP plug-ins to let you go nuts shaping the sound however you like. Another option on your DAP could be USB...