Did you get a chance to compare Tungsten vs Susvara? I wanted to try the Tungsten but the waiting time seems long.

I think it is more fair to compare it to the Venus or even the Terminator to see if it punches above its weight.

Cant wait to get these in September. Im a little tired of all the expensive gear. You just pay too much for what you get. Great review by the way 😀👍

Thank you so much.❤

hdmi connection completes this device.

I am wearing the Stax X9000 and I put the Audeze LCD ear pads on them. Since the ES-1a is also 90mm the Audeze pads should fit it. Just something to think about

I don't believe all the morons who are flippantly saying to just get an EF1000 for great performance. That's a $15,000 amplifier.

Great lookin piece of kit, probably sounds even better than it looks

Please please compare the Tungsten with Caldera.

So cool that you got this combo

Just heard you on Armchair. Thanks for all the things you are doing!

The Tungsten look almost ostentatiously well made.

Mr Craft, did you prefer the Stax 009 or 009S as this wasnt stated in your 009S review. Which version had the better technical performance?

definitely a cool idea but I don't think I can trust an Android based device from a company like FiiO on my home network

Great review ,I found the R7 to be a fantastic streamer but best results were from the USB C connection to the DAC using the external power supply. Compared to my Zen stream it had richer,fuller sound with deeper soundstage and better sense of pace and timing for not much more money-best value roon endpoint out there.

Thank you so much for the good review.😊

cool doohickey

FYI - in the Chord naming scheme, TT stands for "Table Top". So in this case, part of the name is less whimsical and actually descriptive.

Are you getting the Caldera closed in for review?

The hifiman ananda cost now in Germany 399€ and for that beast its so unbelievable:)

Did you try 6N23P-EB? Where would you place him, close to 6N23P silver?

Hi Sine Craft Audio, here is Liz, the promoter of Ultimea, we really wanna collab with you, if you are interested pls tell me you email, we can talk about the details.

Always interesting listening to people talk cables. Had another review (British Audiophile) who said the exact opposite for Mogami and Belden. He said Belden for added warmth and Mogami to use for added energy. Gotta love it haha. Placebo effect and the mind are amazing

How is the build quality? From the photos it kind of looks subpar, even at the same price of under $300, cheap chrome plastic and imo tacky lettering on the inside of the headband. I've also heard HiFiMAN has had systemic quality control issues. I am debating between these and the HD 6xx as my one 'audiophole grade' headphone to last a long time.

i just got these for 400 open box on the hifiman store, and an ef400 for half price too

Has anyone compared recent Manley products vs arc ? Just curious for a tube pre or more affordable monos how they compare ? This review was more about design and inputs not really about sq and performance. 🤷‍♂️

With blind testing you could not tell any difference between these.

This is not the greatest headphone in the world, this is just a tribute.

I want these 😝

Lots of unanswered questions. Price is $6500😮 No look inside? Coupling capacitors? Volume control architecture? For 9x less I'm playing with a Musical Paradise MP 701mk2. It actually allows for "modding" with a plethora of rectifier&signal tube choices: 1. 6.3V filament rectifier tubes: 6Z5P, 6X5. 2. 5V filament rectifier tubes: 5R4, 5U4G, 5AR4, GZ33, GZ34, 274B, 5Y3, 5Z3P. 3. 6.3V signal tubes: 6N11, 6N1P, E88CC, E188CC, CCA, 6922, 6H23, 6H6, 6H30, 6CG7, (6SN7 with 6SN7 to 6922 adapter). 4. 12.6V signal tubes: 12AU7, 12BH7, E80CC, (12SN7 with 6SN7 to 6922 adapter). Coupling capacitors can easily be rolled , as can bypass caps... Coincidentally, I've settled on big 5u4g rectifier, a Sylvania 6sn7 and two Jan Phillips 6922 for now with 2.2uf V-cap coupling capacitors (or Mundorf SGO EVO supremes) and HVL bypass caps.....For now😅 A different preamp every month for $1k?😮 Ok, so it's not balanced. I added a DENAFRIPS Hestia12th for that luxury, which leaves $4k to spend on the rest of the system and room treatments. Sold to the Budget Audiophile tweaker in the front row! 🎵🎶😊👌🎶🎵

Cables are not a parametric EQ or tone control. If you buy some quality cable eg. Belden and terminate it with Neutrik or Amphenol connectors you are finished with cabling. This costs about $10-$20 and 5 minutes of your time...

Descriptions are great but it would have been nice to hear something.

Did you prefer the Calderas over the Susvara? I'm in the market for one of these but I cant choose.

You got a weird sound anomaly in your video, sort of like either a winding or grinding noise or a rainforest background noises.

This is an interesting speaker and headphone amp proposition. Reminds me of the LTA Z10e which also adds electrostats. How would you compare the two for speakers (like Devores which you own) and headphones? Much appreciated!

There are other reclockers you could use. More than a year ago, I had bought the Singxer Su-2, a so-called "USB bridge". The other day I purchased a new USB cable, an Oyaide Neo Class A which did sound nicer than stock USB cables. Then, as audiophiles are wont to do I had try every configuration of my system using what I had lyinig about, with the new USB cable. And voila, I was very surprised to find out that with the new Oyaide and my Singxer Su-2 in the signal path, the sound was much improved. Sorry to have to say that but it was true. So you don't strictly need to shell out for the Denafrips reclocker. Actually I just spotted a pre-owned Su-2 currently for sale at Usaudiomart, for only $350. My wisdom on this is that probably the "blame" is to be laid at the feet of the streamer (or transport). A truly good streamer or transport would eliminate the need for a reclocker such as the Iris or the Singxer!

Having owned the V2's for several years, no matter amp/chain you drive them on I still consider their signature as "Neutral/Bright" regardless of genre! I drive mine (only listen to my 3000+ CD collection) with an Oppo BDP 5D universal player (which has relatively decently regarded Sabre Dacs built in) fed by XLR cables into a Violectric V281 which feeds the HiFimans also via a 3 meter xlr cable by Fog City cables w/22awg Mogami wire. It sounds sweet on almost all music genres (except hip-hop or EDM, which I'm not a big listener of)......and frankly; still "bass-lite!"

I’ve been looking at the orangutan series for a while. What do you think of these and placement away from wall? I love the o’96 looks personally but my wife would lose it if they were out like 3+ feet away from the walls haha

Adding warmth or spaciousness...............hahahaha........truth is inverting facts when in reality some newer audiophile high end technologies loose warmth and spaciousness..........Marketting and audiophile beliefs are stronger than facts........ Balanced inputs/outputs ...OK............what about the circuit SE or symmetrical ? No two active devices are perfectly identical........the circuit may be silent but it will always eat away or change some finite ( or more) parts of the signal.. Pro use justified and still does use balanced connections ( for good reasons)............inside the circuit was SE for a reason ... Tube circuits well designed ( and using quality valves ) are very silent......tubes are more linear ( less distortion ) than SS , they are subject to thermal induced modulation and thermal distortion........there are too many bad tube designs today made by people who don't have the knowledge of the past....but think they can do better than the older school engineers. We saw what happened when the new gen engineers designed and modified the Boeing MAX...when computers are in control instead of the experience of the elderly... Hopefully MR got it right with then new pre this time ........bringing musoic alive instead of audiophile clean and lean nu impressive audiophile performance but far away from natural sound and music.............looking at the details of a flower but not seeing the beauty of the composition of the bouquet . Nice rectifier ..........but what tubes do you use ......or did you change to nos ? Presume the volume pot is propably a motorized ALPS......( standard in most preamps/amplifiers ), there are better pots but they are not motorized . I don't see a switch to protect and extend the lifetime of precious ( nos) tubes but that is neglected in most gear, pity for the tubes ......the warm up timelaps in some amps does not protect the tubes , only delays the switching of in/outputs .... Have a nice day

♥

Who stole your other foot? Supposed to have 4!

Thanks for sharing the LOVE! 🥰🥰🥰🥰

el-84's.?

Do you know if your super grill work on he400i 2020 edition as well? Thanks

Fantastic audio gears,thanks 👍🎶🤚…..

That adapter you used to adjust Caldera to a 3.5, what is it? That'd check a lot of boxes for me.

Thank you for this, please don’t apologise for what you enjoy. You have a great setup, happy listening

Really love the Caldera (and also enjoy it best with the suede pads) - very cool to see it end up in your 'endgame' system.

Curious what other headphones you have in your collection?

If meaty, impactful sound is your thing, I'm wondering what makes the Caldera a better choice for you over the Utopia?