[G8torbyte]

Now, if ZMF decided to do the things casinos do for heavy gamblers ("whales"), I'd be all for that:

• Serve drinks which I would foolishly drink (one after the other) while losing my retirement at the blackjack table
• Comping rooms
• Armed escorts helping me stagger back to my car with my solid gold Bokeh or whatever the not new thing was

(just thinking out loud here...)

I told Bevin I'd like to do a factory tour later when I'm traveling out their way in the future. If they serve drinks while I'm there then I better save up cause I'm already bad enough doing late night Internet ordering after a few drinks...I think it would be fun if some Watercooler/ZMF enthusiast members met up at the facility and did a group tour!

 

[goldwerger]

I think it would be fun if some Watercooler/ZMF enthusiast members met up at the facility and did a group tour!

Interesting idea, perhaps combined with a meetup. Idea sounds famialir…

@zach915m

 

[bigbeans]

Rediscovering Headphones and Desktop Audio

Alright folks! It's official, the WA33 Standard Edition (stock tubes) is on its way to me. Wow, very excited and thank you @timeslip for making this happen. My portable audio journey is now suspended and I can't wait to experience the desktop headfi world once again, it's been 3 years and much has occurred in this space. My current HP collection consists of MDR Z7, MDR Z7MK2, MDR Z1R, PhilPhone. I use these headphones with my treasure, the DMP Z1. I've owned Susvara before with Bakoon AMP 13R.

As I begin my headphone journey again, I polled some excellent headfi communities and groups I'm a part of. Various suggestions were given from the venerable Utopia 2022, Abyss 1266 TC, Susvara and even the Valkyria. After much thought, I've picked the first headphone to go with the WA33 Standard, the Abyss 1266 TC. Thanks @HiFiHawaii808 for the nudge in this direction. @GoldenSound WA33 YouTube review clinched it as he spoke of the complementary nature of both gears. I've never tried the 1266 before, but I loved the Diana TC from my 10 minute demo at CanJam. However, as I browsed the 1266 HeadFi thread, there are some rumblings of the 1266 successor being launched in time for CanJam Shanghai. I quickly emailed Abyss regarding my concern of purchasing a 1266 for it to only be outdated a few weeks later. After all, Abyss gear is not cheap! Take this with a mine full of salt, as I'm sure the Abyss Team have the printed definition of 'Osborne Effect' taped to their desks.

"We currently have no plans to update the AB1266. We will be bringing AB1266 ear pad production in-house with added options on materials."- ABYSS TEAM

Given this information, I will likely move forward with the 1266 TC purchase soon. Now, the question remains. After my headphone is delivered, my hobby fund will be mostly depleted. Even so, I am curious on the future direction of upgrades. Which one of these paths should I look for next? Any advice is appreciated!

• Upgrade Tubes (from stock)
• Upgrade HP Cable (from stock)
• Upgrade DAC (current is Hugo 2)
• Buy another HP (eg Utopia 2022)

 

[ThanatosVI]

Rediscovering Headphones and Desktop Audio



Alright folks! It's official, the WA33 Standard Edition (stock tubes) is on its way to me. Wow, very excited and thank you @timeslip for making this happen. My portable audio journey is now suspended and I can't wait to experience the desktop headfi world once again, it's been 3 years and much has occurred in this space. My current HP collection consists of MDR Z7, MDR Z7MK2, MDR Z1R, PhilPhone. I use these headphones with my treasure, the DMP Z1. I've owned Susvara before with Bakoon AMP 13R.

As I begin my headphone journey again, I polled some excellent headfi communities and groups I'm a part of. Various suggestions were given from the venerable Utopia 2022, Abyss 1266 TC, Susvara and even the Valkyria. After much thought, I've picked the first headphone to go with the WA33 Standard, the Abyss 1266 TC. Thanks @HiFiHawaii808 for the nudge in this direction. @GoldenSound WA33 YouTube review clinched it as he spoke of the complementary nature of both gears. I've never tried the 1266 before, but I loved the Diana TC from my 10 minute demo at CanJam. However, as I browsed the 1266 HeadFi thread, there are some rumblings of the 1266 successor being launched in time for CanJam Shanghai. I quickly emailed Abyss regarding my concern of purchasing a 1266 for it to only be outdated a few weeks later. After all, Abyss gear is not cheap! Take this with a mine full of salt, as I'm sure the Abyss Team have the printed definition of 'Osborne Effect' taped to their desks.

"We currently have no plans to update the AB1266. We will be bringing AB1266 ear pad production in-house with added options on materials."- ABYSS TEAM

Given this information, I will likely move forward with the 1266 TC purchase soon. Now, the question remains. After my headphone is delivered, my hobby fund will be mostly depleted. Even so, I am curious on the future direction of upgrades. Which one of these paths should I look for next? Any advice is appreciated!

• Upgrade Tubes (from stock)
• Upgrade HP Cable (from stock)
• Upgrade DAC (current is Hugo 2)
• Buy another HP (eg Utopia 2022)

Go in this order
- Upgrade DAC
- Upgrade Tubes
- Buy a complementary headphone
- Upgrade stock cable

Wa33 + Abyss 1266 TC seems like a great combo to rediscover headphones.

 

[Frankie D]

Rediscovering Headphones and Desktop Audio



Alright folks! It's official, the WA33 Standard Edition (stock tubes) is on its way to me. Wow, very excited and thank you @timeslip for making this happen. My portable audio journey is now suspended and I can't wait to experience the desktop headfi world once again, it's been 3 years and much has occurred in this space. My current HP collection consists of MDR Z7, MDR Z7MK2, MDR Z1R, PhilPhone. I use these headphones with my treasure, the DMP Z1. I've owned Susvara before with Bakoon AMP 13R.

As I begin my headphone journey again, I polled some excellent headfi communities and groups I'm a part of. Various suggestions were given from the venerable Utopia 2022, Abyss 1266 TC, Susvara and even the Valkyria. After much thought, I've picked the first headphone to go with the WA33 Standard, the Abyss 1266 TC. Thanks @HiFiHawaii808 for the nudge in this direction. @GoldenSound WA33 YouTube review clinched it as he spoke of the complementary nature of both gears. I've never tried the 1266 before, but I loved the Diana TC from my 10 minute demo at CanJam. However, as I browsed the 1266 HeadFi thread, there are some rumblings of the 1266 successor being launched in time for CanJam Shanghai. I quickly emailed Abyss regarding my concern of purchasing a 1266 for it to only be outdated a few weeks later. After all, Abyss gear is not cheap! Take this with a mine full of salt, as I'm sure the Abyss Team have the printed definition of 'Osborne Effect' taped to their desks.

"We currently have no plans to update the AB1266. We will be bringing AB1266 ear pad production in-house with added options on materials."- ABYSS TEAM

Given this information, I will likely move forward with the 1266 TC purchase soon. Now, the question remains. After my headphone is delivered, my hobby fund will be mostly depleted. Even so, I am curious on the future direction of upgrades. Which one of these paths should I look for next? Any advice is appreciated!

• Upgrade Tubes (from stock)
• Upgrade HP Cable (from stock)
• Upgrade DAC (current is Hugo 2)
• Buy another HP (eg Utopia 2022)

My 2 cents would be to definitely get the upgraded JPS cable for the 1266 if it does not come with it. Anytime I have heard the 1266 without that cable in it while attached to the WA33 I was not as wowed by them. Good luck, this will be a great system.

 

[kumar402]

Rediscovering Headphones and Desktop Audio



Alright folks! It's official, the WA33 Standard Edition (stock tubes) is on its way to me. Wow, very excited and thank you @timeslip for making this happen. My portable audio journey is now suspended and I can't wait to experience the desktop headfi world once again, it's been 3 years and much has occurred in this space. My current HP collection consists of MDR Z7, MDR Z7MK2, MDR Z1R, PhilPhone. I use these headphones with my treasure, the DMP Z1. I've owned Susvara before with Bakoon AMP 13R.

As I begin my headphone journey again, I polled some excellent headfi communities and groups I'm a part of. Various suggestions were given from the venerable Utopia 2022, Abyss 1266 TC, Susvara and even the Valkyria. After much thought, I've picked the first headphone to go with the WA33 Standard, the Abyss 1266 TC. Thanks @HiFiHawaii808 for the nudge in this direction. @GoldenSound WA33 YouTube review clinched it as he spoke of the complementary nature of both gears. I've never tried the 1266 before, but I loved the Diana TC from my 10 minute demo at CanJam. However, as I browsed the 1266 HeadFi thread, there are some rumblings of the 1266 successor being launched in time for CanJam Shanghai. I quickly emailed Abyss regarding my concern of purchasing a 1266 for it to only be outdated a few weeks later. After all, Abyss gear is not cheap! Take this with a mine full of salt, as I'm sure the Abyss Team have the printed definition of 'Osborne Effect' taped to their desks.

"We currently have no plans to update the AB1266. We will be bringing AB1266 ear pad production in-house with added options on materials."- ABYSS TEAM

Given this information, I will likely move forward with the 1266 TC purchase soon. Now, the question remains. After my headphone is delivered, my hobby fund will be mostly depleted. Even so, I am curious on the future direction of upgrades. Which one of these paths should I look for next? Any advice is appreciated!

• Upgrade Tubes (from stock)
• Upgrade HP Cable (from stock)
• Upgrade DAC (current is Hugo 2)
• Buy another HP (eg Utopia 2022)

DAC, no question about it

 

[briantrinh86]

Hi all. Thought I would ask here.

On the 1266 thread I saw what looked like Abyss getting ready to produce a successor to the 1266. Does anyone have any info or know if true?

i heard they will release new design earpad for 1266, not sure about new ab1266 hp

 

[briantrinh86]

Rediscovering Headphones and Desktop Audio



Alright folks! It's official, the WA33 Standard Edition (stock tubes) is on its way to me. Wow, very excited and thank you @timeslip for making this happen. My portable audio journey is now suspended and I can't wait to experience the desktop headfi world once again, it's been 3 years and much has occurred in this space. My current HP collection consists of MDR Z7, MDR Z7MK2, MDR Z1R, PhilPhone. I use these headphones with my treasure, the DMP Z1. I've owned Susvara before with Bakoon AMP 13R.

As I begin my headphone journey again, I polled some excellent headfi communities and groups I'm a part of. Various suggestions were given from the venerable Utopia 2022, Abyss 1266 TC, Susvara and even the Valkyria. After much thought, I've picked the first headphone to go with the WA33 Standard, the Abyss 1266 TC. Thanks @HiFiHawaii808 for the nudge in this direction. @GoldenSound WA33 YouTube review clinched it as he spoke of the complementary nature of both gears. I've never tried the 1266 before, but I loved the Diana TC from my 10 minute demo at CanJam. However, as I browsed the 1266 HeadFi thread, there are some rumblings of the 1266 successor being launched in time for CanJam Shanghai. I quickly emailed Abyss regarding my concern of purchasing a 1266 for it to only be outdated a few weeks later. After all, Abyss gear is not cheap! Take this with a mine full of salt, as I'm sure the Abyss Team have the printed definition of 'Osborne Effect' taped to their desks.

"We currently have no plans to update the AB1266. We will be bringing AB1266 ear pad production in-house with added options on materials."- ABYSS TEAM

Given this information, I will likely move forward with the 1266 TC purchase soon. Now, the question remains. After my headphone is delivered, my hobby fund will be mostly depleted. Even so, I am curious on the future direction of upgrades. Which one of these paths should I look for next? Any advice is appreciated!

• Upgrade Tubes (from stock)
• Upgrade HP Cable (from stock)
• Upgrade DAC (current is Hugo 2)
• Buy another HP (eg Utopia 2022)

New dac and superconductor cable would be my choice to upgrade first. If u like chord's sound house u can get tt2/m scaler combo . IT's noticeble better than hugo 2 by large margin, superconductor cable will enhance the bass and mid performance for 1266 a lot.

 

[goldwerger]

Go in this order
- Upgrade DAC
- Upgrade Tubes
- Buy a complementary headphone
- Upgrade stock cable

Wa33 + Abyss 1266 TC seems like a great combo to rediscover headphones.

I haven’t owned this amp and headphones, but from my demo experiences, the WA33 is one of the more neutral sounding tube amps (not the typical warm “tuby” sound) and Chord DACs definitely lean to the analytical end; perhaps, synergy wise, a warmer leaning DAC may offer an interesting synergy (I love my Bricasti M3, which is touch textured while keeping neutral; used ones are pretty great value; many many more options here).

But given you are returning to headphones after 3 years, perhaps get another set of full size headphones that are notably than the 1266 first, just so you can quickly discover what presentation you enjoy most (choice of headphone drivers will make the biggest sonic difference). Then, optimize around whichever headphones you like best…

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Been travelling so much that I haven't had time to post. Just got home very late last night from Orlando with family. Home for 3 days, then going to Tahiti for 2 weeks for a family reunion. This is too much travel for me this year. Going to stay home in June. Anyway, I got this new cable for use with Susvara. It is a Chimera adapter for speaker taps. Got luck it is the same color as my Chimera. Really looking forward to hearing it today to see if I can hear a difference with my Riviera AIC-10 from XLR port or speaker taps to drive Susvara.

Finally got a chance to spend a few hours a/b testing Susvara on the headphone jack vs. the speaker taps. I have heard so much about how much better the speaker taps are in general that I had to test it for myself. I finally did it.

Here is the Chain that I tested. It turns out that this is my favorite.

Susvara > DHC Chimera > Riviera AIC-10 > Holo May > Bluesound Node 2i > Tidal > iPhone as controller.

I did some initial volume matching and then listened for several hours across my entire library of music.

Within seconds, I noticed a much richer and denser presentation of mids. Moving to the speaker taps really fill out the sound nicely across the entire frequency response. I loved it right away. But, I wanted to make sure I captured in my mind's eye what was going on.

The AIC on the headphone jack is still extremely pleasant. In fact, I would characterize it as a more smoothed over sound. Very pleasant to my ear.

When switching to the speaker taps, the resolution and density of sound is significantly increased. It's a much more realistic sound. The AIC takes about 30 minutes to warm up. Once warmed up, the imaging is outside of the head with a pretty intimate stage but not small by any means. Really great layering where I could see the Jazz artists with my eyes closed playing in front of and around me.

Even though the density of the mids has increased, it does not take away from the mid bass punch and nice subbass rumble.

I really love this combination and will keep it permanently attached to the speaker taps on my AIC-10. I have no hesitation in recommending this configuration.

 

[AnyDave]

Interesting idea, perhaps combined with a meetup. Idea sounds famialir…

@zach915m

Last I heard, the plan was to host occasional meetings at the new facility once everything is fully transitioned. Right now would be a rough time to host anything as there's a lot in flux.

 

[mattiastomas]

Last I heard, the plan was to host occasional meetings at the new facility once everything is fully transitioned. Right now would be a rough time to host anything as there's a lot in flux.

That would be dope! I would be so down to have a facility tour / meet once the transition is done

 

[AnyDave]

That would be dope! I would be so down to have a facility tour / meet once the transition is done

For selfish reasons, I'm looking forward to it as I want to meet some of you in person.

 

[Doug2507]

Finally got a chance to spend a few hours a/b testing Susvara on the headphone jack vs. the speaker taps. I have heard so much about how much better the speaker taps are in general that I had to test it for myself. I finally did it.

Here is the Chain that I tested. It turns out that this is my favorite.

Susvara > DHC Chimera > Riviera AIC-10 > Holo May > Bluesound Node 2i > Tidal > iPhone as controller.

I did some initial volume matching and then listened for several hours across my entire library of music.

Within seconds, I noticed a much richer and denser presentation of mids. Moving to the speaker taps really fill out the sound nicely across the entire frequency response. I loved it right away. But, I wanted to make sure I captured in my mind's eye what was going on.

The AIC on the headphone jack is still extremely pleasant. In fact, I would characterize it as a more smoothed over sound. Very pleasant to my ear.

When switching to the speaker taps, the resolution and density of sound is significantly increased. It's a much more realistic sound. The AIC takes about 30 minutes to warm up. Once warmed up, the imaging is outside of the head with a pretty intimate stage but not small by any means. Really great layering where I could see the Jazz artists with my eyes closed playing in front of and around me.

Even though the density of the mids has increased, it does not take away from the mid bass punch and nice subbass rumble.

I really love this combination and will keep it permanently attached to the speaker taps on my AIC-10. I have no hesitation in recommending this configuration.

Do you know if this is in general for Sus Jim or particular to AIC-10? I'll have Sus on demo soon and may get a cable made prior for some experimenting!

 

[Doug2507]

I haven’t owned this amp and headphones, but from my demo experiences, the WA33 is one of the more neutral sounding tube amps (not the typical warm “tuby” sound) and Chord DACs definitely lean to the analytical end; perhaps, synergy wise, a warmer leaning DAC may offer an interesting synergy (I love my Bricasti M3, which is touch textured while keeping neutral; used ones are pretty great value; many many more options here).

But given you are returning to headphones after 3 years, perhaps get another set of full size headphones that are notably than the 1266 first, just so you can quickly discover what presentation you enjoy most (choice of headphone drivers will make the biggest sonic difference). Then, optimize around whichever headphones you like best…

Can confirm, M3 is massive bang for buck in the used market (IMO) and such an easy listen.