How do you handle connecting all the amps off the single DAC?
It looks life you have an issue similar to mine, where you have only 1-2 sources, but 3-5 amp+headphone pairings. This is the opposite of any preamp on the market.
How did you deal with this?
And by the way, nice gear. I’m a fellow LAu owner, but have been mostly turned off by the lack of solidarity or body in the electrostats I’ve tried, so my system doesn’t have any of those.
Some of the amps have loop output connections.
I also have a Decware Zen switch-box for SE connrctions. It has two inputs and four outputs.
And what are we looking at, because it sure looks pretty sweet.
its the ZMF Auteur, just a plain cheap ebay one
DAC: Theta DsPro Gen V(a) - its a vintage R2R DAC
AMPs: Fullsize KGSSHV (500v), Lake People RS08 and Little Dot MkIVse (with 6HM5 tubes)
Headphones: Stax Sr007Mk 1 and ZMF Auteur Blackwood
Beautiful setup Nazrin…
thanks man, after 10 years in the hobby I probably have dialed in the setup that is perfect for me, sound and price wise. I think I can rest now, Tony Stark style
I see, so you’ve got a multi-component approach. The loop out is a nice feature, but it does require the gear to be in the chain for no purpose. Haha, unless you like the added tweakability of it, which makes my head spin enough at synergizing 2-3 pieces of gear…
I’ve never heard of that Decware Switch-box before, but it sounds like for SE connections it’d do the trick.
When I started trying to solve this issue, I looked everywhere I could trying to find a fully balanced preamp that could do it all and via remote, but no luck. I ended up with a 1/2 DIY approach that I’m putting together right now. You looked to be in the same boat, so I thought I’d reach out.
The thing that irked me when searching, was that basically every vendor I contacted was surprised to hear my chain and had a lot of difficulty with “I only have 1-2 DACs that sound best and output balanced XLR, and then I have 3-5 amps”. But I’d been seeing that story in “head-fi ‘show us your current system’ pics” everyday for +10 years… And in the past 10 years, the high-end headphone market and digital music engagement market (Roon, Qobuz, etc.) have completely exploded! There are better options available and people own more high-end gear today than ever before, yet no preamps exist to support it… Still tough wrapping my head around that part.
Anyway, thanks for the info and happy listening.
OMG this iFi Nano iDSD sounds amazing! Trying it with the Grado Sr60’s i’ve had foe years. They never sounded this good. Could seriously get in to headphone listening. Unfortunately cant get my phone to work with it so using PC at the moment. Cant believe something so small can sound this good.
The loop passthroughs on the Cavalli LL2SS and HeadAmp BHSE are pretty clean. I heard no difference when I tested the amps directly connected tot eh DAC.
I am glad they are there as I did not want to add another switch to get eh balanced output of my DAC to the other components. The couple XLR “switchers” I fond were not something I wanted to use.
Hi @CrystalGipsy,
I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying your nano iDSD 
Open a ticket with us (following the link below) and we will be more than happy to help you get your nano iDSD working with your phone 
http://support.ifi-audio.com/
Kind regards,
Jake
Thanks for the support. I got it working I had to clear out a lot of crud from inside the usb c port on the phone. 
However I can’t get Roon to see the DAC attached to the phone. Does usb dac work for Android in Roon?
It works in Tidal app and USB Audio Pro. I can’t get MQA out of Tidal App though it’s sending out 48k. I can via USB Audio Pro now I purchased the add on.
@Jake_iFi Hmm I do seem to have a fault on teh iematch socket only outputs on one channel. Dropped a message to support.
Cross-posted from the “show your setup” thread. Beyer Dynamic DT880, Schiit Jotunheim, Raspberry Pi/Ropiee, iFi iPower, iFi iSilencer. Flirc Pi case.
I’m pretty happy with how this sounds, and its a big upgrade from the SB Touch w/ EDO i was using. However, for domestic harmony reasons, I need to invest in some closed back phones.
I don’t listen to headphones often enough, nor long enough, to merit spending a great deal; the Aeon Flow Closed would probably be the most i would spend. I’ve also been contemplating the Meze 99 Classics.
a complicating factor is comfort when wearing glasses (i wear thin, frameless specs). Someone recommended the NAD Viso HP70 for this reason, and they have the advantage of both passive, and active noise-cancelling modes, so I could travel with them.
I don’t usually listen to music on planes, but i was just gifted a Pono Player, so it might be time to start.
Cool setup on wheels. I can kind of guess some of the gear there but could you list all the gear there?
Nice! The Explorer2 driving MrSpeakers planars is great.
Is that a custom headphone cable there? I see a Neutrik connector?
I had an Explorer2 driving Aeon Closed and really enjoyed it. I think @oneofmany has that combo too?
In the first photo
Lumin d1, pathos aurium
Burson v2+, aires mini (for wifi connection)
in the second photo
Tp audio amp
Denon 7200
Beyer dt 1770 pro
senny hd600
