they are not forgotten, just a legend of a different era of IEM.

Plus, you don't have to worry about the stock earpads soaking up oils and grime like a sponge, nor anymore of the "velour" layer flaking off anymore. :P

Have you paired the 250 ohm DTT70 with the btr5? I'd imagine it won't be enough so I might as well get the 80 ohm one

I did read about the comfort concerns so I'm probably going to order some Brainwavez replacement pads as it seems they're compatible. Hope it works out or maybe ill end with his pair hahah

I'm only using an iphone. Don't have any experience with these guys and macbooks.

We're all windows, too.

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Bone conducting headphones.

Is that just dealing with the single lightning port limitation on one of the Macbooks?

haha thanks!

Heh, don’t much care of internet points, but I do hope he likes it! Apparently comfort isn’t that great, but the ANC is alright and the sound is good.

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I'm not sure what the output power actually is on the KA3 single ended socket but, I would expect your dt770 to be a stretch for it depending on your preferred volume. I used a Fiio BTR5 for a while with an IEM that has unusually low sensitivity, for an IEM, it was loud enough for me at 50% volume from the SE socket. This IEM's impedance was only 14 ohm, your headphone will be quite a bit more demanding. You could get an amp and feed it from the KA3, this is likely to be cheaper than buying a new DAC/amp.

For mountain biking I use ear bud style wireless (like original airpods) due to allowing sound in and not having to deal with transparency mode. I’d recommend going that route as the convenience is worth the loss in audio quality IMO.

The dekoni added more bass but too clampy from the 25mm thickness

I've been using the Spiral Dots for a while with various IEMs and really like them, I usually avoid wider bore tips as they can reduce bass and sound a little bright, they don't have that effect in my ears.

they are very comfortable and nice to touch. the extra impact added to bass and snares is also welcome.

Yep, I had Arya V3s briefly so I've some idea what I'm getting into.

P.S. Happy cake day!

Yea unless you can get them both to demo, I would go for the used Arya's as a blind buy. Much safer bet as you said.

Used Arya V2s are asking €850 (hasn't had any offers in 3 weeks so might take between €700-800) and the 109 Pros are €800 new. None used near me. Just for context, new Arya V3s are about €1400-1450 new for me.

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Sorry for the quality of the image, I'm not good with photography

That's some nice Schiit you have there partner. Just got a Schiit Modi Multibit 2 in today and love it.

I have a Vali 2+ and it's very nice as you would expect from Schiit but in the end I ended up liking tubes that sound more more like a normal clean Solid State amp, lol. Schiit has come out with a newer version of the Vali 2 which is the Vali 2++, has a different pinout but is otherwise virtually identical to the Vali 2+, so make sure you get the right tubes if you get this model and not the ones for the old one, at least not without an adapter.

Vali 2 is not a bad way to get a taste for tubes but the ones I like tend to be more expensive and the amount of tubes I acquired over time I probably could have purchased a better amp or headphone honestly but oh well. Hard to know what you will like until you do and it was fun rolling different tubes to get varied changes in sound.

So far, if I had to choose all over again, I would probably go with the 109's and save myself $400. I can do a lot more with the extra $400. If it's down to a used pair of Arya's at roughly $850 vs these? That's a damn hard choice, probably the Arya's.

Imo the impact of tubes is so small that most things you read on here seem very overexaggerated. I can only speak about my Xduoo TA-26 which is very subtle, but I think I've seen the same things being said about the schiit tube amps so do your research before more or less wasting money. Also NOS tube hunting is a hot mess, so much money to waste with potentially little to gain, tubes break, some are bad from the start and you can never tell beforehand what you might get, how long that tube ran in another device and so on. Get a Tung-Sol or a JJ 6SN7 (really love mine, had to find an in stock replacement after my Tung-Sol decided to whistle like a tea kettle).

But imo, try before you buy, if you can. Also, if you really want to get a good opinion on tubes, try them in a blind A and B test. There might be a chance that you won't hear any difference because some tube amps today are just that clean.

That being said, tubes look amazing, feel kinda cool and it's just something else. But don't trust anyone on here. It's always hurr durr tubes on and whatnot. Stuff like "the 6XX on tubes is godlike" and similar sentences baited me into all of this and yet there doesn't seem to be a huge difference that justifies the price you pay for a proper tube amp.

I can't say things about more expensive amps, but I am more than sure that it will be similar (btw if anyone with a totl tube amp is reading this, feel free to tell me your experience, I'm very curious about all of this).

Have fun experimenting and have a good start into 2023 :)

Edit: fixed a typo

What tracks were you listing to?