Bitzie + Lautus USB

UPDATE: Humboldt, I connected the mp3 player directly to my active speakers using Lautus interconnects and the sonic results were quite disappointing...  The audio lacked dynamics and was very dull and uninvolving. The output needs more power and some GSP "analogue magic"©2013. I played the audio information from the player through my laptop and Bitzie to the speakers and it sounded so much better!! The difference was very significant. Much more involving and spatial.

Brian,

I'm glad you asked, Bob -- me too!  It was the Rattle/CBSO (coupled with Belshazzar).  But I also have an old one with Previn and the LSO (a terrific performance), and Haitink with the Philharmonia (a long time since I played it and from memory I think I found it a bit too measured and staid, but I'll give it another outing with the Bitzie -- it might jazz it up no end!).
Cheers
Brian

I've been using my Lautus USB and Bitzie all day today and I have finally come to the realisation that headphones ultimately pale in comparison to speakers... My beloved HD250II does not match the spacious performance of monitor speakers. I reverted to listening through the HD250II after a day of speaker listening and suddenly the HD250II sounded terrible!!      It felt like two-dimensional audio due to the missing depth and the midrange seemed to have gone AWOL. The sound just seemed restricted and cramped in comparison...   At first, I thought that I was just suffering from severe listening fatigue but no, headphones just don't beat speakers, for me, not even the HD250... I guess I have been in denial a little bit.

The Bitzie and Lautus are fantastic and the HD250II offers fantastic performance as well, but only for a headphone. Monitor speakers will reveal just how incredible the Lautus and Bitzie really are!! The HD250II only conveys limited information in comparison. However, even though I like the speaker presentation more, my monitors aren't flawless either. My Equator D5s exhibit some amplifier hiss noise at the woofer cones and I feel this detracts from the openness and purity of the audio. Put simply, they are holding my Bitzie and Lautus back so these monitors will eventually be sold. At least the HD250II doesn't have such hiss problems. I'm also getting the impression that the HD250II excels with vinyl more than it does with digital although I'm not sure of this so please don't take this or anything else I've said as too much of an assertion. All my equipment does sound very good though despite me scrutinizing the living hell out of it. As soon as I receive my HD540 reference, I will be doing some more tests then after that, I'm just going to mainly use speakers.

Bring on the LS3/5A and especially the Proprius and Spatia. This is where the Bitzie and Lautus will excel as well. The Bitzie is excellent for speaker audio!