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Gear

Gear
Photo by Caught In Joy / Unsplash

Here's a list of all my gear that I use to listen to music: at home, at the office and on the go. Let's go!

Sources

I'm a digital boy, I have zero physical media lying around. No CDs, no vinyl records, no cassettes. Everything is either in the cloud, or on my disk drives. Let's go over them:

Spotify: this is the big one. I've been a subscriber to Spotify for as long as it's been available in Belgium. The quality isn't perfect (320kbps ogg) but the ease of use and ability to discover whatever you want for a pretty cheap price (I share a family plan) makes this the best subscription I've ever had.

Plex: back when I still had some CDs lying around, I ripped them all into flac files and have them stored on my server. I use Plex to manage my library this was and use plexamp on my phone to access it on the go. It's like having your own little Spotify, but with lossless audio and with your own collection. This collection includes some tracks and albums that aren't available on Spotify (small Indie bands I bought a CD from at a live show, game soundtracks that came as a digital download, soundcloud and bandcamp releases, ...) and a lot of ripped CDs.

Tidal/Qobuz: every once in a while I want to experience Hi-Res audio and I get myself a trial subscription or one month or so of one of these services, but I can't justify the price for a full subscription so I only use this sporadically.

DAC/DAP

So that about covers it for the digital source files, but now we need a way to play them back and transform those digital bits into analog signals our headphones understand: enter a DAC!

I've got a couple cheap ones lying around:

  • Samsung usb-c to 3.5mm: the official dac dongle from Samsung, it gets the job done, end of story
  • Apple usb-c to 3.5mm: it sounds a little better than the Samsung one, but on Android in Europe you're limited to 0.5V of output power which doesn't put out enough volume on most of my IEMs/headphones. When plugged into a Windows PC it can output more volume and it sounds great for the price
  • Fiio KA1: something with a little more power that's able to drive my more demanding headphones (looking at you DT770's 80 ohms, see below)

And I've got a little DAP that stores my lossless collection recently:

  • Snowsky Echo Mini: it's a 50 dollar device that plays (almost) everything you throw at it: mp3, flac up to insane resolutions, dsd, ... It sounds amazing, it has both 3.5 and balanced output, so it drives almost any headphone out there (including my DT770's 80ohms, yeey for that!), it is small, great design. It's excellent for the price! A great entry level DAP

In Ear Monitors

In Ear Monitors, or IEMs, are those things you plug way deep down into your ear. You can get crazy good quality these days for not a lot of money, especially when buying ChiFi (Chinese brands). I use these mostly when on the go, while walking and travelling, but also at the office as they provde some great passive noise cancellation and are comfortable to wear all day (no sweaty headphone earpads). My current collection, IEMs that I frequently use these days, looks like this:

  • Truthear Hexa: My first pair of IEMs that cost more than 20 dollars. Bought them as they're advertised of having a flat neutral sound (with a bit of treble) and having great technicalities (detail retrieval and soundstage) that punches well above its price. And I have to say: I agree with those advertisements.
  • Truthear x Crinacle ZERO: RED: I like crinacle, I like the harman target, I like Truthear (see above), why not buy an IEM that's tuned to crinacle's interpretation of what harman should sound like? Also: this one has a dedicated bass driver, making it ideal for EDM and other bass heave things. A little lacking in the detail retrieval/technicalities, but that's what I have my Hexa's for. I've got the next iteration coming soon, I'll update this post when I've had some time with them.
  • Truthear Gate: See a pattern arising here? I like Truthear, their last budget IEM: the Hola, was a legend but nowhere to be found. The Gate is the successor to the 20 dollar budget IEM that provides some great sound and it does deliver. It also comes with the best IEM cable ever, with a mic, for under 20 dollars. Whenever I just want to have some IEMs with me and might be handling them rough, I pick out these.
  • Truthear X Crinacle ZERO: Blue 2. These are a recent addition. An upgrade to the Original Zero and Zero Red (that last one I have, see above). It sports a Harman Target, and it's a lot more technical/detailed than the original Zero Reds. It's my current favorite set of fun IEMs. Not neutral and analytical, but oh so fun with the heavy bass and sparkly highs.
  • Moondrop CHU 2 DSP: The Moondrop Chu 2 is another legend in the 20 dollar IEM price range. I wanted an IEM that has a USB-C connection instead of a 3.5mm jack, so I don't need to carry a dac dongle with me at all times when I'm just out with my phone, and that's why I bought these. They're fun to listen to, but they keep falling out of my ears, my ears are too big...
  • Moondrop Space Travel: Technically a TWS (true wireless stereo) and not a wired IEM, but for 25 dollars, this bluetooth IEM sounds so good, and it even has active noise cancelling. Another pair I just toss in my backpack when I want to travel light and without cables.

Headphones

Except for the Bose, I only use these while working from home or when I am at home. The open backs leak sound because they're well 'open', and the DT770 also leaks too much for an office environment. Here's my current collection:

  • Samson SR850: They're ridiculously cheap, not comfortable, plastic-y, a blatant rip off from AKG headphones, but they have such a wide soundstage, a very fun sound signature. I call these my 'cult' headphones. Whenever I want a fun experience, I put them on, but then after half an hour, my ears hurt as they're not comfortable.
  • Sennheiser HD599 SE: A step up in price over the Samson SR850, but can be found cheap at Amazon sales. These are might comfortable, my go-to pick when working from home and listening to music. A little lacking in the bass department, but some EQ can fix that. Great soundstage as well, and lots of detail. Ideal for classical, jazz, ...
  • Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 Ohms: My best closed back headphones. These are very comfy as well due to the velour pads and have a very fun sound (but beware: the trebles are a bit harsh, but nothing a bit of EQ can't fix). Lot of bass due to the closed back nature, and very fun for genres like rock, pop, EDM, ...
  • Bose QuietComfort 25: No highs, no lows, must be Bose. They're not that great sound quality wise, but whenever I'm in a "leave me the f*** alone" mood (or taking a train/flight), the active noise cancelling on these cans are a dream.