Hi All

 

Just hoping to get advice on an app with crossfeed to try this function and see if its for me? I mainly use Tidal and Apple Music so would need to be compatible with these services.
Not a headphone user in general but late night listening has meant out of necessity I need to switch to headphones for listening at night.

Just for context I have practically no experience with headphones other than the basics, I’m a total noob. Apple Max which I cant use due to discomfort of the headband so ditched. Sony XM5 which I dislike all aspects of their sound so also no longer use and Sennheiser Momentum 4 which overheat my ears if using for an hour or so but I use for travel and mowing lawns etc. The best compromise of the 3 for me is the Momentums, the best sound ( to me ) was easily the Apples.

So just ordered HD600 to see if open back is more “ speaker like “ for me and like the idea of imitating speakers further with crossfeed though never tried either.
I’m starting off using products I already have which will be an iPad into USB input of a retired from duty Oppo BDP 105 and use it’s internal DAC , disc playing capabilities and headphones output, iPad for the streaming services.

If crossfeed is my thing and I end up down the whole headphone rabbit hole I could then look at upgrading later.

Any suggestions to enable me to experience crossfeed would be much appreciated as can’t seem to find much info in my searches.

cheers 

Edited April 24, 2025Apr 24 by Ken Oath

I would be looking at this as a Dac which has crossfeed incorporated into it via hardware rather than trying to find an application which most likely doesn’t exist. In reality it’s a small outlay for a quality piece of gear and you can still use your iPad as a transport if you wish. The setup that you described will be a mediocre at best, personally I don’t use crossfeed in any of my setups and just focus on the best quality gear with my headphones. Best experience ever. 
Neo

https://chordelectronics.co.uk/product/mojo-2

Edited April 24, 2025Apr 24 by Neo

If you have something you could use as a Roon server on your home network, ie a laptop or other computer, you could trial Roon and have a play with all of the settings available for headphones. These include crossfeed and the ability to try different eq settings for different headphones. Roon would see your iPad as a Roon endpoint and stream to it via wifi, the server can be physically anywhere as long as they are both on the same network. You can use your existing Tidal account with Roon, but not your Apple Music account.
The Roon option will allow you to easily compare crossfeed to no crossfeed, as it just a slider in the Roon remote app on your iPad to change between the two. 
I don’t know much about Apple Music but I know you can set it to stream lossless audio and I think that there are some eq options. 

1 minute ago, Godot said:

If you have something you could use as a Roon server on your home network, ie a laptop or other computer, you could trial Roon and have a play with all of the settings available for headphones. These include crossfeed and the ability to try different eq settings for different headphones. Roon would see your iPad as a Roon endpoint and stream to it via wifi, the server can be physically anywhere as long as they are both on the same network. You can use your existing Tidal account with Roon, but not your Apple Music account.
The Roon option will allow you to easily compare crossfeed to no crossfeed, as it just a slider in the Roon remote app on your iPad to change between the two. 
I don’t know much about Apple Music but I know you can set it to stream lossless audio and I think that there are some eq options. 

Roon Arc will have on the go all the features like that but you need Roon Core. 
Neo

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/anyone-into-crossfeed.961533/

 

there are a few forums where people who know much more about this topic than I do might have some insights that would be helpful. 
 

 

4 hours ago, Godot said:

If you have something you could use as a Roon server on your home network, ie a laptop or other computer, you could trial Roon and have a play with all of the settings available for headphones. These include crossfeed and the ability to try different eq settings for different headphones. Roon would see your iPad as a Roon endpoint and stream to it via wifi, the server can be physically anywhere as long as they are both on the same network. You can use your existing Tidal account with Roon, but not your Apple Music account.
The Roon option will allow you to easily compare crossfeed to no crossfeed, as it just a slider in the Roon remote app on your iPad to change between the two. 
I don’t know much about Apple Music but I know you can set it to stream lossless audio and I think that there are some eq options. 

Excellent thanks. This sounds like the best option to see if this feature is for me. Much appreciated. If I like it then I’ll look at hardware that features it, looks like the SPL brand is big on crossfeed. Cheers

Roon requires a Roon Core like Roon nucleus and then a yearly subscription to the services 

Neo

4 hours ago, Neo said:

The setup that you described will be a mediocre at best

 Just dipping my toes and of course it won’t be anything state of the art but I’m not spending state of the art money either so we’ll see. Thanks for the feedback. Cheers

Get an audition of the cord mojo 2 once you get the headphones and just bring your iPad, you will have a quality Dac, headphone amplifier that can be used at home in desktop mode and on the go. You will have all the features that you are after. 
Neo

Edited April 25, 2025Apr 25 by Neo

49 minutes ago, Neo said:

an audition of the cord mojo 2

If you are patient and keep an eye on the classifieds they are offered for sale every now and then. Low risk trial, you can try it and if you don’t like sell it on for very little to no loss. 
I like this style of portable headphone amp/dac, the ability to have something small connected to your iPad and some headphones means I can sit anywhere inside or outside my house, perfect for the retired gentleman who needs to not be in the way. 

Thanks heaps for the input gents.  I’ve been looking into Roon since my last post. I have a Roon ready streamer  as well in my main system ( Lyngdorf ) just never looked into what Roon is so could be an option for both set ups?

I do like the sound of the Mojo, great suggestion as it has the crossfeed feature.

Another hardware option could be SPL ? I don’t need the portability so this could be another option to compare to Mojo?

More research needed from my end now that you guys have given me some excellent suggestions, much appreciated I feel a bit more confident about what to look into now.  
Go the software route or go straight to hardware, I think I’m leaning toward hardware atm.

Haven’t even got the headphones yet and upgraditis has already kicked in !

 

cheers

Edited April 25, 2025Apr 25 by Ken Oath

Just thought I’d update if it was of interest to what I ended up doing.

Ditched the idea of using the Oppo as a DAC, it didn't play well with my iPad. I’m a bit “ analogue “ so bought an SPL Phonitor One to try crossfeed over Roon and Hugo and yep, definitely works for me ! Crossfeed is awesome for someone like me who's a reluctant headphone user.Need eq for those HD600 to get some bass happening so ended up with a Wiim pro streamer to cover eq and streaming bases in one hit.

Headphones like speakers are a very personal thing, one persons Sennheiser is anothers Focal I guess so decided I like the HD600 so stick with Sennheiser or the rabbit hole will engulf me. Just ordered a lightly used Phonitor 2 and a pair of HD-800s as a natural progression from the P One and 600’s, hopefully that will be me……until I upgrade the streamer….and change the earpads…and buy a new cable….and try different headphones…....yet another rabbit hole open. 

Edited May 27, 2025May 27 by Ken Oath