While I was looking up Sennheiser headphones on Amazon, I stumbled across this -
Can’t speak for this particular unit, but it seems to have all the right pieces.
The THX AAA design is the latest compact amp technology.
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I’ve heard good things about Topping in general and the D90 in particular. Not familiar with the A90 so thanks for the heads-up.
Focal Clear? Too rich for my blood, that’s a wad o’ cash. But I’ve also read several reports that, though absolutely stellar performers, they can be bright with the wrong content/amplification. This make me a little shy - I’m allergic to bright.
I’m not all about the latest and greatest - sometimes the tried and true older models are better and generally have more value. What is it about the non-s version that works better for you?
Trying before I buy will be difficult. I’m an hour away from the nearest city, which is no big deal, but the city has roughly nothing in higher end audio available. Physical comfort is another thing I will insist on. I can’t deal with on-ear headphones, can’t stand pressure on my ears. Also prefer, I think, an open design. I have no noise to block out or need to prevent sound leakage outwards.
Cheers,
Robert
I’ll check it out, thanks!
Cheers,
Robert
One last thing. Focal Clears are cheaper than the Sennheiser.
Have fun.
Oh yeah, one other thing.
Upscale Audio, in California, leaves the responsibility of paying state taxes to the buyer. Don’t know what state you’re in, but there it is. No problem with returns.
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Ah, see, told you I was a geezer - I’ve confused them in my mind with both the elear (cheaper) and the Utopia ($$$).
I guess I should fill out a profile here. I’m in the middle of the Canadian prairies.
Cheers,
Robert
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There are other ways of trying before buying and it depends on your cheek. When I purchased my last pair of phones I ordered three pairs from Amazon, Shure 1540s (I generally like Shure but these were awful to my ears), Sennheiser 650 and the 660S. My intention was to send two back. I then found a set of HD700s on sale at a silly price elsewhere and ordered them as well. I sent all three pairs back to Amazon after a sleepless nights testing and kept the HD700s.
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Hey, just out of curiosity, has anyone used or looked into the Teac NT-505? Seems like it ticks a ton of boxes.
Cheers,
Robert
It does seem a little cheeky to us older school guys, but to be honest it’s all part and parcel of the new online merchant economy, so I actually think this a valid and expected behavior. Sucking up a salespersons time in a brick and mortar to try before buying online cheaper is bad form and I wouldn’t do that if we even had decent audio stores locally.
Amazon can suck up some restocking wages on their way to owning the world.
Cheers,
Robert
There’s quite a lot of people with them on here, generally liked I think.
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Am no spring chicken myself but as you say Amazon’s hardly a hardship case and I’ve been a Prime subscriber a while so.
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If I remember the 800 was seen as shouty at the top end and having a little less bass. I like a bright sound and the bass gets a little DSP uplift courtesy of roon so all good.
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You are requiring WiFi access, so you would need to add a RPi or something, as “Connecting to your home network via a LAN cable, the NT-505 allows you to access Hi-Res music libraries.”
I’ve said this in other places, but I’ll warn again.
If you do that too much, Amazon will permanently ban you from their site.
Also, there are a few companies that specialize in tracking people’s return habits and notifying stores, that use the company’s tracking services, about customers’ potential for misuse.
Just a warning, not acting as an Amazon enabler. 
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Another thing to try is to see if there are roon users who are in to headphones within visiting range. Most hifi people are (nutters) lovely people who are always keen to share (show off) their kit.
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This thread got me thinking about headphone listening so that’s what I’ve been doing today. I have several different options, but I have to say, streaming Roon through my iPhone 11 Pro Max via bluetooth to Sony WH1000Xm3’s sounds about as good as anything to my 72 year old drummer’s ears.
Edit: I guess it probably does sound a little better using the Dragonfly instead of bluetooth, but it’s hard to tell much difference if any.
PS: Hate to admit it, but I’m starting to really like Taylor Swift.
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All good points and not anything I was aware of. TBF it was more one off than usual practice and I’d intended to buy from Amazon. We buy plenty from Amazon and I suspect they’re ahead 
It’s nigh on encouraged in the UK’s online fashion market BTW.
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If you don’t want to spring for a Brooklyn Bridge - which I highly recommend for versatility and sound quality - I would try the Mojo/Poly. Extremely convenient; depending on your library, you can load up a MicroSD card and skip the WiFi entirely. If you do go with the Chord, try to get an easy-to-drive headphone. In my opinion, the Focal Clear is about the best sounding entry level phone going. But as you are seeing here, the options are virtually endless. Good luck and enjoy!
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Though you need a “lucky” wireless signal with the combo, see many threads.
At the risk of sounding over-anxious, I have tentatively narrowed down the field of devices to a short list. It’s not in stone, and I’m not in a panic to purchase, but I do tend to drill into intense research in order to narrow the field - then wait out the ideal opportunity/price. Given the discussion so far, it might be a surprise that the list is composed of Roon ready all-in-ones, with one exception. I can buy a dedicated headphone amp for my main system later, if I decide I also want to listen to headphones in that room.
Gold Note DC-10
Matrix Element M
Teac NT-505
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge
RME ADI-2 DAC FS (no Roon)
Cheers,
Robert