[ajzepp]

It seems a little north of strictly neutral in the highs to me, but nowhere near the K701 or the Beyer T90's I've listened to. Ain't spending $1.5K for cans anyhoo, so unless the Prize Patrol shows up...

You mean you're not going to bite on these babies?

[dB Cooper]

Naaaaahhhh…..

[parr3n1]

Only 5k+ and with the right amp and dac there from another planet

[dB Cooper]

Lesson learned: The recording is the key, and any DSP can address only certain recordings - trying to change DSP's on a recording-by-recording basis would be a nightmare.

Absolutely, a crappy recording is not going to be 'saved' by crossfeed or any other kind of DSP. Garbage in, garbage out. But a good recording can sometimes sound more natural  (to my ears). What ajzepp said about subtlety- I use both Canz3D through audio Hijack Pro, and the cross feed add on for Fidelia. AHP has a 'wet/dry' mixer that allows the user to set how strong they want the effect to be. I almost never have it very high up; I just adjust the slider to where that particular recording sounds best- to me. If the effect is obvious, you probably need to dial it back, like when an image is sharpened too much in Photoshop.

[ajzepp]

Have you guys ever heard any of the Mapleshade Records recordings?

Check out this info about their recording techniques if it's of any interest...I own a few of their CDs and find them to sound remarkable.

http://mapleshaderecords.com/main/aboutus.php

Our recording technology is equally radical. We design and build, or custom-modify, all of our electronics from microphones to tape recorders to wires. All must meet standards well beyond commercial state-of-the-art. We record live to two-track analog, transfer to digital at a rate 100 times faster than the CD standard, and use no add-on EQ, reverb or noise reduction electronics. Our recordings are made with only 2 to 4 microphones and no cables longer than 20 feet. The resulting sound has startling, "in-the-room" clarity, brilliance, spaciousness and dynamics. People with $150 boomboxes, as well as audiophiles with $100,000 systems, tell us our CDs convey far more of the music's excitement than any commercial studio recordings.

[dB Cooper]

No, can't say that I have. Recommendations?

[ajzepp]

No, can't say that I have. Recommendations?

Well, most of their stuff is Jazz, which is one of the few genres that I have no knowledge of or interest in, unfortunately. They do have a sampler, though, which was the first album I ever bought from them...and there is also a recording of the ARC choir from NYC, which is fantastic. I'm not an expert in recording techniques by any means, but their process sure seems to work...at least that's what my ears tell me   I think they even offer return periods on their  music, IIRC...

[ajzepp]

http://shop.mapleshadestore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=08132

[FullRangeMan]

I had the HD800 for 3 years, and while it sounds "great", the larger consensus among audiophiles is that it's a bit too bright. That varies with the amp of course, but my experience mirrors Innerfidelity, as well as David Mahler of headphones dot com who did the renowned 50-headphone review on headfi.

The seeming HD800 strong treble can be easily moded, but enlarge a small sound stage is rather more difficult.

[FullRangeMan]

Mapleshade recordings are very good quality, but with most of the tracks I sampled, the musicians sounded as though they were sitting on my lap. Really close up.

The same on my desktop speakers.

[FullRangeMan]

Absolutely, a crappy recording is not going to be 'saved' by crossfeed or any other kind of DSP. Garbage in, garbage out.

A nice EL34 amp can do it;

[FullRangeMan]

FWIW Decware use the Mellow Saxophone recording from Mapleshade:
http://www.decware.com/newsite/zenfest2013.html
To demo speakers, scroll down to the MG944 video;

[ajzepp]

Decware is a fascinating company to me...I was very close to picking up a pair of Steve's monitors last year but went in another direction when the build time was so long. One of these days I'll become a customer.

[milford3]

Here is my Zen Head.  Just love it.  Now the question, does an amplifier effect soundstage?

[Rclark]

The Emotiva Xda2 headphone amp/dac/pre has excellent sound stage, much better than I anticipated. Never get the impression of left and right, but it's a fully immersive soundstage with no gaps, and spatial cues have appropriate depth or distance.

[ajzepp]

I always knew you guys were a couple of Zen Heads....

[dB Cooper]

Here is my Zen Head.  Just love it.  Now the question, does an amplifier effect soundstage?

Ask ten audiophiles, get eleven answers...

[parr3n1]

This has been an interesting thread to read. Since switching to headphones this year
I have been amazed at the detail they provide. I don't know is this has an effect on
sound stage but with my system I notice detail even when the sound stage is limited
as with mono jazz recordings and other recordings that are recorded inside the box.

[G Georgopoulos]

but with my system I notice detail even when the sound stage is limited
as with mono jazz recordings and other recordings that are recorded inside the box.

Actually you only get soundstage with mono...

stereo with headphones has no sound stage...

[parr3n1]

What do you call the stereo presentation? It could be argued that the instruments and voice
on a stereo recording is a representation of where the instruments are in a live performance.