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Help me with my Audio setup. - Page 2

post #16 of 24
4/26/06 at 4:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Coal
Have you even had a source better than an Ipod or a Revo 7.1? You can get more than a 1% increase for spending $100 or so on a better source (be it DAC or soundcard)... There would hardly be interest in hi-fidelity audio if this weren't the case.
I can see your logic here. On the other hand, there is a point where you are simply listening to different sounding headphones. The sound may not be better or worse, the headphones just sound different. The important thing is how you think the headphones sound; find a setup that matches your taste. I believe that's why there is so much interest in "hi-fidelity audio". People like to try out all the different headphones to see if one sounds better to them than another. Many people keep a number of pairs depending on what they're listening to. Of course, I'm not even going into amps, sound cards, etc...
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post #17 of 24
4/26/06 at 5:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jesusfr3ak4evr
On the other hand, there is a point where you are simply listening to different sounding headphones.
I agree, there is no doubt that there is a point in our hobby where you receive diminishing returns. But that point is most certainly not this low on the scale.
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post #18 of 24
4/26/06 at 6:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Coal
Have you even had a source better than an Ipod or a Revo 7.1? You can get more than a 1% increase for spending $100 or so on a better source (be it DAC or soundcard)... There would hardly be interest in hi-fidelity audio if this weren't the case.
Hi Steve,

I was thinking the same way you did before I actually made A/B comparisions. Mind you that I used the ROTEL preamp's headphone out for my K701 at that time, and that they were rather new as well.

I basically compared a Bel Canto DAC 2 source (1000€) to a rockboxed 4G IPod, and the difference was not HUGE! In fact, it was very very subtle, at times I couldn't hear any difference at all, except from a little more airiness, little details making themselves a tad more apparent, and a warmer sound that is one of the characteristics of the Bel Canto design DAC. This did throw me off a little, but when I first heard my DAC over the speakers I have, I noticed a huge improvement over the M-Audio Transit's line out and a ROTEL RCD redbook player. I did not compare those to each other though, placebo? I don't know.

I think the IPod is an excellent source with the AKG K701 btw, but now that I have the ARIA amp I feel as if I've reached a completely new level in sound, and yes, I will compare this to the IPod again, when my friend brings it over.
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post #19 of 24
4/26/06 at 6:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alu
Hi Steve,

I was thinking the same way you did before I actually made A/B comparisions. Mind you that I used the ROTEL preamp's headphone out for my K701 at that time, and that they were rather new as well.

I basically compared a Bel Canto DAC 2 source (1000€) to a rockboxed 4G IPod, and the difference was not HUGE! In fact, it was very very subtle, at times I couldn't hear any difference at all, except from a little more airiness, little details making themselves a tad more apparent, and a warmer sound that is one of the characteristics of the Bel Canto design DAC. This did throw me off a little, but when I first heard my DAC over the speakers I have, I noticed a huge improvement over the M-Audio Transit's line out and a ROTEL RCD redbook player. I did not compare those to each other though, placebo? I don't know.

I think the IPod is an excellent source with the AKG K701 btw, but now that I have the ARIA amp I feel as if I've reached a completely new level in sound, and yes, I will compare this to the IPod again, when my friend brings it over.
Thank you
I have done similar comparisons as well


Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Coal
Have you even had a source better than an Ipod or a Revo 7.1? You can get more than a 1% increase for spending $100 or so on a better source (be it DAC or soundcard)... There would hardly be interest in hi-fidelity audio if this weren't the case.
There's interest in million $ cables
Interest in thousand $ bottle of water
Interest in diamonds (which have no value/supports debeers/very flawed compared to the cheaper CZ)




Doesn't mean there arn't diminishing returns(or no returns) or even *gasp* paying more for an inferior product!
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post #20 of 24
4/27/06 at 5:24am
Thread Starter 
Ok, I'm still as confused as before :P Are you saying that the DACs on the ipod are better than those on sub-$200 cards like 0404 or 1212m?? And the HD580 wont sound better even if the source is improved? i.e. a HD580 on a 9632 won't be considerably better than a HD580 on a revo 7.1?
So what you're saying is that the law of diminishing returns kicks in at $100???
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post #21 of 24
4/27/06 at 6:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by zhopudey
Ok, I'm still as confused as before :P Are you saying that the DACs on the ipod are better than those on sub-$200 cards like 0404 or 1212m?? And the HD580 wont sound better even if the source is improved? i.e. a HD580 on a 9632 won't be considerably better than a HD580 on a revo 7.1?
So what you're saying is that the law of diminishing returns kicks in at $100???
::shrug:: I'm sorry about the conflicting opinions. Unlike those arguing against me I have not done blind A/B comparisons. So I think you should trust them more than me.
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post #22 of 24
4/27/06 at 8:40am
Thread Starter 
Nono steve, my questions were for PeeeMes.
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post #23 of 24
5/1/06 at 3:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by zhopudey
Nono steve, my questions were for PeeeMes.
The diminishing returns kicks in very hard above the iPod level source
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post #24 of 24
5/1/06 at 3:53am
Thread Starter 
But how did the ipod come in the picture? We were talking about sound cards. Will a 0404 or a 1212m or some other card < $200 be a substantial improvement over my revo?

BTW, my revo is modded with AD8620 Opamps on all channels.
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