Leaving portable hifi - it's too silly

[-=Germania=-]

Why do I have so much invested in a portable rig?

Well, I am constantly on the move with classes, meetings, etc. and it makes sense for me.
Then again, mine is meant to be small-ish and I wouldn't really put much more in than what it is already.

iPod Touch > Really nice LOD > Pico > FreQShow

Small, nice sounding, and reasonable enough for me.
Although I would say that the setup gives the same amount of detail as my Stax and Dynamic Rigs, just not the same musical qualities or ambiance. My home equipment sound like near field speakers and my portable rig sounds like headphones.

Now, I do not understand these people with multiple UE11/10's + Ed9 and it is all portable equipment that is used at home. :facepalm:

Different Strokes for different folks.

[manaox2]

I still do not think portable hi-fi is "stupid" for all, but I will say that calling it "hi-fi" at all is typically a LARGE stretch. Headphones were originally made to be smaller and more private then speakers and their capability for being portable makes them really the only option along with earphones. They excel in that field. I never wish to stop hearing about great affordable truly portable sources and new headphones/earphones designed for portable use.

Though this is an attempt at a wake-up call to those who truly believe they are audiophiles, yet only dabble with portables instead of opening up to greater exploration.

However much I have been a victim to curiosity (much like Luminette has been), the portables when combined with their price ratios have a dead end when it comes quality. If you can shine your curiosity to finding the best in pure sound quality instead of limiting yourself to finding out just how far can you can climb above competition in a limited field (the portable arena), your curiosity is everything but guaranteed a greater award of astonishment in the end.

PS. I still am nothing close to an audiophile. Germania, I have admired your bright and very economic decisions in audio. However, knowing of your business endeavor, your opinions are not held in the same light and I do hope that you get your member of trade tag soon.

[thatwunguy]

like the op, I have also lost much interest in portable hifi, though luckily, it was before any huge purchase.

I had planned to buy some sort of a portable amp and a LOD, but I am completely happy with my ipod touch 2g and sansa clip. Right now, the ue SUper.fi 5 pro are really doing it for me. However, in the future I plan to upgrae to the westome um2.

My next headphone upgrade, and probably last for quite some time, will be the denon ah-d2000. I'm loving my d1001 and I can justify the jump to the d2000. The d2000 are still easy enough to drive that my computer, ipod, clip, and stereo equipment can power them without the use of any amp beyond a fiio.

Rather than spend my money on portable equipment, I'm saving for a pro-ject debut III and a mid-grade denon receiver.

At this point in my life (i'm a sophmore in college), I'm ok with settling for the spot between mid-fi and hi-fi.

I call my ideal gear bargain-fi in that it is priced moderately yet performs incredibly.

[mirumu]

Portable audio has it's place and likely always will, but I do think Luminette is correct. In my experience there's always been a significant gap between lightweight portable systems and the less constrained full size setups (and on to speakers as well obviously). Those limited to a portable experience are often lacking the frame of reference to really make the wider comparisons and this in turn leads to unrealistic expectations from those even less experienced. I'm not trying to beat-up on anyone here, if anything this situation is to be expected in the relatively recent portable climate of today.

I wouldn't be without my comparatively modest portable setup, and I use it far more than my home system, but I think it's good for us all to have reasonable expectations. I have no doubt if I threw a lot of money around I could make my portable system sound better, but I do know I could get better bang for the buck elsewhere.

[dadozen]

I understand Luminette's point, but thing is: do you want a portable system or not?

I do agree that a home system is way better than a portable system, even the best one, sometimes for the same money. But, do I want to keep it at home? No. I want to hear it on-the-go. I don't spend much time at home to be able to enjoy all that money spent on speakers and digital sources.

So, I want to improve my portable rig. LODs, amps, headphones. I do know that sources and headphones make the biggest changes in SQ, but I went for the iPod because of its capacity. I wish there was a better DAP with a similar capacity.

Although, I do agree that some gears may be overpriced. That's why I went for Corda amps. The ones that deliver equivalent sound quality for much less money. Not counting that I'm very far from the original places of manufacturers.

Nothing against who spend more money on amps than me. It's nothing but a personal choice, and my budget wasn't that high anyways

EDIT: I wish I can have both portable rig and home system someday.

[Sherwood]

Glad to hear you're farther along the road to audio nirvana, Jackson.

I have no desire to assert my opinions and preferences as somehow more advanced or evolved than others, but I too have scaled the portable peaks and come back to base camp wanting. I am, as always, delighted to find that others whose opinions I respect and value are in agreement with me.

My portable rig is my iphone into either A) k81DJ or B) Er4p. If I want a portable reference, I bring the 1g shuffle instead. Better gear sounded better, but not nearly as good as that same money can sound when burned as the fuel for a home engine.

Here's hoping you consolidate your gear into some nice home kit for the next CO mini meet.

Just you wait until you discover speakers...

[jinp6301]

ipod + px100 =

[HeadphoneAddict]

I have to disagree with your "It all sounds really lame" and "Portable amps do not sound good." comment. Several portable amps can approach the detail, clarity and tonality of full size amps, but often lack the power to drive more difficult headphones - this is not an issue with the right headphones. Basically, I have heard some pretty stunning sounding portable rigs, and I think that for you to say what you did is an unfair generalization.

The sound can be great, but is it worth the cost - that is a better argument.

Things I agree with:

1) Practicality: It is not often practical to carry an iMod/Vcaps/Amp around with high end headphones. I use mine as a "transportable" for listening in places where it is not practical to have my home rig with me, like when spending the weekend at my mother-in-law's house or on a short vacation for a few days. The rest of the time I use a Nano velcro'd to a Predator with Punnisher low profile dock and Livewires (or KSC35 in a headband) - or my iPhone 3G with IEM and no amp. These come close enough to the iMod that I don't miss it for casual listening.

2) Cost Effectiveness: A home rig for the same price as the high-end portable rig can leave the portable rig behind and unable to catch up, so on a "bang for the buck scale" the home rig wins. The iMod with a big caps dock sounds great, and when feeding a full size desktop amp it can be mistaken for a nice home source. But I paid $1,000 for iPod, RWA mods, Vcaps and IC's and I agree that is way out of line when a CA 840c can be had for $1200. Lately I have been a champion of "don't use a portable rig for your home rig if you don't have to" philosophy. I recently recommended a Grahm Slee NOVO with inexpensive DAC over a Predator for a home rig, getting more bang for the same amount of bucks. But as above, there are definitely times when a portable rig is useful and can sound very close to a home rig if you choose the components wisely. But some people can't afford both.

3) Industry: DAP need to become higher end with better DAC and amps built into one box. Until I got my iPhone 3G I have not owned an Apple iPod that could do justice to my HD600, and I needed the better sound quality from the line out dock and an amp to enjoy the older iPods as much as I enjoy listening at home. I use iTunes to archive my Music, and I have movies and TV shows that I like to have with me, so my superior sounding but larger iRiver 140 hasn't been an option. I was thrilled to discover how much better the iPhone 3G sounds, and hope this becomes a consistent trend with Apple and other manufacturers.

[wayfarer]

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[Nick H.]

Such a sad thread! Guys, don't give up - spend MORE, MUCH MORE, seriously. My rig cost a fortune: RudiStor NKK01se + ACS T2 + iRiver X5 = don't add it up. $2500? I really don't want to know.

But it's well worth it because it gives me as much pleasure (and as much detail from the music) as my old home system which had to go when I decided to downshift and give up my stressful job and nice house. I had a Mark Levinson CD player and ATC 100 active speakers - better than a lot of studio gear, even the studio where my engineer friend works, which has the perfectionist Brian May as a client. It cost $30,000 and sounded much better than some systems for $50 - $60,000 that I auditioned. The only thing I ever heard that was any better was a top range Mark Levinson which was out of my price range ($60,000 just for a CD player!)

Yes, portables can and do put out proper hi-fi but you'll never appreciate just how good unless you try the best. It's really sad to hear people discussing iPods with cheap amps as if they are some sort of ultimate. I did a group audition of some good equipment before I chose mine, and iPods are just average. The stuff I chose, especially the amp and IEMs, is just far, far better than I ever imagined it could be. It's clunky to carry around, especially the 750g amp, but I love the sound so much I never begrudge the weight. If I leave the amp at home I always think "dammit, I'm not hearing all the music. This is a wasted listening experience."

[Sherwood]

The OP isn't talking about ipods and cheap amps, he's talking about imods with vcap docks and the whole range of the best amps anyone has to offer, out of some of the best headphones. His rig runs about $2500, too.

[Nick H.]

Really? I'm surprised. Can you give me a price breakdown? I'm in London so there will be quite a few price differences.

[synaesthetic]

When it comes to miniaturization you lose a lot.

I, too, went on the portable hi-fi journey, caught up in the hype around these parts. I am winding up returning to a simple setup of the relative cheapophile--Sony A728 and Etymotic ER-6i. The second pair of Super.fi 5 LS that I bought went to a friend, who totally loves them far more than I ever did.

I don't really know why I went so bonkers on the portable nonsense. I was perfectly content with a first-gen iPod Mini and a pair of ER-6i for four years.

Oh, that's right. I hadn't yet found this place!

Damn you head-fi! Damn youuuuu!

Edit: I still want AD2000s though. >.> I blame Rednamalas1.

[sbulack]

Originally Posted by jamato8

I remember years ago when I had a Sony Sports portable cassette player and the yellow headset that came with it. Damn that was fine and I had some of the most enjoyable music I have ever had accompany me.....

I still have mine, and I use it to convert sides of cassette tapes into .wav files, and then cut them apart into songs using a .wav editor. Whenever I listen to one of my favorite old tapes using it, it is always a very enjoyable listening experience. Listening to my tapes through that particular unit, compared to listening to CD's from my Pioneer portable CD player is what originally convinced me back in 2003 that I would really enjoy what a headphone amp would add, seeing that the tape player, being more of a vintage unit, had a better headphone out circuit than the PCDP. Even compared to the standards of audio to which the rigs in my sig have made me accustomed, that SONY Sportsman PCP is STILL a fine listen, although today I use Yuin PK1's or stock SR225's with it in place of the original yellow headset.

If I were restarting today, and having to scrimp and save again for each piece of gear that I could add, I would very likely restart with one of the vintage SONY Portable CD Players being sold by ALO. As my "Home Rig", I'd use it with a pair of stock SR225's, and as my "Portable Rig", with a pair of Yuin PK1's. For its low price, I'd likely add a FiiO E3 for the Yuins and a PA2V2 for the Grados. I'd use Cardas HPI mini-to-mini IC's from HeadRoom for about $20. Sigh! I'd likely end up again where I am today, but it would take me another five years, likely more, to do it.

[fhuang]

Originally Posted by Nick H.

Yes, portables can and do put out proper hi-fi but you'll never appreciate just how good unless you try the best. It's really sad to hear people discussing iPods with cheap amps as if they are some sort of ultimate. I did a group audition of some good equipment before I chose mine, and iPods are just average. The stuff I chose, especially the amp and IEMs, is just far, far better than I ever imagined it could be. It's clunky to carry around, especially the 750g amp, but I love the sound so much I never begrudge the weight. If I leave the amp at home I always think "dammit, I'm not hearing all the music. This is a wasted listening experience."

i thought the poster tried the sr71a. it's not D best portable amp around but certainly ain't cheap, i guess