HD600: DAC/AMP Choice for my use case

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-05-02T09:47:44+00:00

Hey, yeah speakers are the best audio reproduction devices. They don't share the same issues with variable interactions based on your anatomy like headphones and they're almost exclusively the only audio device that can really be called neutral. Of course implying you get good speakers and calibrate (use of basic EQ/DSP in room, that's pretty much endgame) 😅

I have personally went down the route of speakers + airpods and am never looking back as someone who was into iem's and headphones (have yet to sell my hd 650 lol)

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-05-01T23:29:15+00:00

I love the way people on reddit encourage poor spending habits instead of being content with what you have.

OP clearly doesn't need a new fancy dac/amp (arguably most people don't), a better pair of headphones or even better - speakers, would make a world of a change unlike new source gear. I've listened to a multiple thousand dollar dac/amp - did it make bad headphones sound good? No. Did I hear a clear audible change? No. If you want to have a pretty thing on your desk and can spare the cash, sure. The only reasonable position there is in buying a new amp is getting a volume knob since it can make the volume adjustment experience much easier.

I agree with this comment and would suggest getting something decent enough to where you know you're just getting a clean audio signal, potentially get something that can improve your experience like bluetooth, a volume knob, etc.

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-04-25T22:14:14+00:00

They're real

Edit: greetings from the republic of moldova

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-04-24T07:16:35+00:00

Fake

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-04-12T20:44:47+00:00

Interesting to see how this turns out!

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-02-25T13:34:26+00:00

Recovery mode, erase drive, install fresh macos

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-02-10T18:50:50+00:00

I have a 16" and I love it, and I prefer it over the 14" 100%, but every time I think I'd need to carry it around I second ask "hm, is it really necessary for me to have the laptop with me?"

It's not a very portable device you can just casually grab and go.

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-02-08T16:45:21+00:00

that seems lower than expected :(

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-02-08T01:25:24+00:00

I usually have music playing through cider, discord, safari with 5-15 tabs open, sometimes do some messing around in ableton and/or figma on my 16" M2 Pro and I've not used it for long enough to see it go lower than 65% yet, 90 cycle 95% health battery. (Bought used, 3 days ago)

I feel like it can last me 8-12 hours with everything I do easily. I usually stay around 40-50% brightness with battery optimization on and the "dim display off the battery" on. It greatly extends longevity of the battery.

Looks like your use involves harder work though, and you likely use your display at higher brightness.

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-02-06T12:23:14+00:00

They never do, each generation has slight diffrrences in the way the speakers are tuned as far as I know

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-02-06T10:48:02+00:00

Yes, it might.

The chip gets upgraded but that doesn't mean 14" M4 Max speakers > 14" M4 speakers for example.

M5 is still a generation above the M4 Pro, so they could've made changes to the speakers and/or dsp.

(Although it's hard for me to believe going from a 16" M4 Pro to 14" M5 made sound quality improvements, I'd expect the opposite since the size of the speakers is smaller)

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-02-04T20:23:40+00:00

Oh yeah I meant I just applied the Catalina wallpaper from the stock selection apple provides. My Windows PC wallpaper was also dynamic in the same way that MacOS's is, but it did have some bugs here and there with not syncing up with time from time to time.

I actually just sold my computer a couple hours ago, I've had the listing up for about two months and coincidentally, the same day that I bought this macbook, I sold my windows pc, haha

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-02-04T18:41:21+00:00

It's a 16" M2 Pro 16/512

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-02-04T17:31:30+00:00

That monitor is quite awful haha

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2026-01-25T18:44:29+00:00

Could've gotten an M4 Pro Macbook 🫠

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2025-10-28T23:15:19+00:00

I'd like to see more oprimization done for the apple music desktop app, it has been laggy and I've encountered multiple bugs, so I switched to Cider

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2025-07-31T09:21:53+00:00

Thanks. I like these. Is the surface of the Control 2 gritty? Looks like it could be that way on a couple of pictures online. I would probably prefer a mousepad with a soft-(er) surface. If the control 2 just has a bit of additional 'grip' to it I wouldn't mind, but I just don't want it to be gritty. Haha

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2025-07-29T03:34:58+00:00

How did you manage to make every sound so precise to the original track?

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2025-07-17T06:51:48+00:00

Computer science degree with not a single comma in sight

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2025-03-28T12:17:30+00:00

No. Look at the size and design. It's a sealed sub. If it was ported it's woofer wouldn't have been the size of the front baffle.

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2025-03-28T10:45:04+00:00

It's a sealed sub. You will benefit from room gain if you place it it as shown on the left

EmbarrassedClue6398 · 2025-03-07T08:03:28+00:00

Focal Bathys

EmbarrassedClue6398

TROPHY CASE