I'm getting a pair of headphones for my dad for his birthday. This is something he is going to use with his ipod, and he doesn't like the in ear phones. I'd like to spend less than 50$. What are some good picks? Thanks.

I feel like such a noob asking this generic question, but what's a good amp for around 300-400 dollars? How do I separate the good from the bad ones, or are they all good? Thanks. Also, I have a pair of Grado 225's if that makes a difference.

Running 0404 from Laptop with Grado 225's. The laptop has a gig of ram and AMD Turon 64 1.8 ghz cpu. Anyways, while listening to music, I occasionally get a little hint of static in the song, like a slight stutter. It's not clipping as it never happens in the same spot of the song. I usually...

Just bought the 30th Anniversary Edition... The background vocals on the track "Diamond Dogs" are muddy as hell...is this the way the song's supposed to sound? I tried a couple setups and I get the same thing. It sounds awful.

I keep hearing people talking about Patchmix...I've been searching forums and websites...I've looked through my three installation CD's...I still have not found it. Where do I get it? I D/L it from here, http://www.emu.com/support/files/dow...761&Platform=1 but when I try to install it says...

I've heard Lame gives you better mp3 rips, than say, musicmatch jukebox would give you. What I wan't to know is, why? I've done some research and can't find a whole lot of info about it, except for hearing "it's better." My only guess would be that lame offers you the VBR, ABR, and CBR modes. Is...

Sike. Nobody take that personally, I've been sifting through the forums a lot and seen a lot of posts like that. While I can't tell the difference, I will say that I bet I could with a higher quality, more expensive setup. But I don't have that. So I've been spending the last few hours and...

This is probably a stupid question but I'll ask it anyways. In EAC, when you select "use external compressor", and use something such as wavpack...what does that do? I'm guessing it just compresses the file after you extract it, and doesn't affect the audio quality at all. Is that right?

EMU 0404 or Total Bithead If I got the 0404 I think somewhere down the line I would add an Airhead to it. *EDIT* Sorry more info. I'll be looking to get best sound quality for Grado 225's while plugged into my laptop.

Unless I'm missing something the main difference between these two seem to be a little more power in the 0404...that, along with the price. I don't mind spending more on the 0404, even if it's only a little better, but does someone with experience with these two have anything to say about them...

I'm trying to figure out all the differences between soundcards but there's so many different things I don't understand (Signal to nose ratio, frequency response, dynamic range, etc..) Does anyone know of a website or guide that can explain all this to me? Thanks

I'm currently running an Audigy 2 NX. For around 100, maybe a little more, is there a significant upgrade I can make? Also, I want to run a pair of Grado 225s through this without an amp. Would my Audigy or another card get sufficient use out of the Grados? Thanks.

It's about 20 years old. I know nothing about amps and just wondering how this one stacks up to current amps. Couldn't find much online about it, but here's what it says on the front of the amp: Fisher CA 857 100 Watt TS-Per-Channel Minimum RMS power into 8 ohms, 20hz-20khz, with no more...

I'm looking to buy my first pair of real headphones. Up till now I've been using my ipod with the ipod phones. I've been pleased with it, so I'm sure any improvement is good. I was originally gonna drop 350 on the Bose QC3, but decided to look at what else is out there. After reading here it...