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thoughts on a new rig: ipod classic 160gb>cryo dock> iBasso T2>klipsch custom 3

post #1 of 11
3/24/08 at 12:24am
Thread Starter 
Hey everyone,
I recently discovered the world of portable amps and high end IEMs. ive been using an ipod classic 160gb since it came out basically, and it hasnt given me any problems yet. Im looking to take my listening to the next level, and have been looking into purchasing an iBasso, with a cryo dock. for headphones i will be using recently purchased Klipsch Custom 3s. I would greatly appreciate any advice/recommendations that you could offer. My spending range is about 300 in total for both an amp and a connector.
thanks all
matt
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post #2 of 11
3/24/08 at 12:28am
Are you buying the iBasso for it's small size? If not, you can beat it in terms of sound quality within your price range.

Keep in mind that the cable isn't going to change your sound, so that isn't where you should sink money. For $300 you could snag, for example, a used Tomahawk for the amp and have enough left over for a solid LOD, such as one from TURBO or stevenkelby.
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post #3 of 11
3/24/08 at 12:38am
Thread Starter 
my initial thoughts were to lean towards the ibasso for its size but i would consider picking up a used tomahawk if it will provide me with much better sound. any thoughts on where i can find one?
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post #4 of 11
3/24/08 at 12:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdecicco1 View Post
my initial thoughts were to lean towards the ibasso for its size but i would consider picking up a used tomahawk if it will provide me with much better sound. any thoughts on where i can find one?
The sales forums here. I'm not sure if there are any up for sale right now, but there are every so often. Another choice would be a used Meier Headsix or XXS, which are again slightly larger but still fairly small (and cheaper than a Tomahawk).
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post #5 of 11
3/24/08 at 12:58am
What is your audio encoded in? If its in the lower range (128~192 MP3) I wouldn't bother with it, unless you have lossless or good quality 320 MP3s.
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post #6 of 11
3/24/08 at 1:09am
Thread Starter 
most of my audio is encoded in the lower range. is an amp pointless?
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post #7 of 11
3/24/08 at 1:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdecicco1 View Post
most of my audio is encoded in the lower range. is an amp pointless?
Pointless? No. You'll still hear an improvement. Any improvement you do hear (regardless of the quality of your files) will be small though. You should probably keep that in mind.

I'd probably try to up the music to around 256 or V0. You may hear a difference, and if nothing else it's good to have for your piece of mind. I like my music lossless basically for that purpose (and laziness, since I'm not prepared to keep music files in both lossless and mp3).

The variable I'm not sure about here is the earphones. I don't really know how good those Klipsch Custom 3s are. Generally, the best way to spend money in the audio chain is improving the earphones.
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post #8 of 11
3/24/08 at 1:50am
It depends on how well you can listen to imperfections. The lower quality ones will sound as lossy as they were encoded, so you will probably hear pops and scratching sounds. Think of headphones are magnifying glasses. If you own an old album, you might flip through it and not seen much problems in it. If you had a magnifying glass for every picture, you would find stuff that bothered you, such as scratches, dust, distortion, etc.

I personally think its pointless, because I don't think you know what the next level is. If you don't notice the difference between say, lossless audio and a 128kb/s MP3 file, I wouldn't buy an amp until you started to notice and say "Hey this song sounds sorta crappy, why don't I download a higher bitrate version of it?" Thats my opinion, but if you want an amp, I would suggest you think about giving one a try first, or maybe think about building your own, such as the CMoy. Good luck on whatever you decide.

An amp is about giving drive to a set of headphones. The headphones you described have 32 ohms, which could use a bit more of a drive.
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post #9 of 11
3/24/08 at 2:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chimpanZ View Post
An amp is about giving drive to a set of headphones. The headphones you described have 32 ohms, which could use a bit more of a drive.
On an iPod, unless you're using much harder to drive headphones, it's more about getting a cleaner signal. The headphones I use with my iPods (SF5Ps, UM2s) certainly don't need help being driven, but also certainly sound noticeably better at the same volume levels amped from the lineout versus from the headphone out. The difference is subtle, but it's certainly there and desireable when it comes to certain kinds of music.

As for bitrate, if you have stuff as low as 128kbps, you should most certainly upgrade. The thought that you could have files that bad didn't even occur to me earlier, actually. Once you get above 192kbps or LAME V0, you're getting into territory where you're not going to be able to discern improvements all the time. The difference between lossless and 320kbps or V0 is certainly going to almost never be discernable (very demanding recordings being the exceptions).
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post #10 of 11
3/24/08 at 10:39am
If I am you, I will get some good quality music first. If you are still not happy with the sound of them, then think about getting an amp or upgrading your earphone. I am not sure how good your earphones are, you have to make sure there is great potential to improve other wise go for a new IEM. If you decide to get an amp, a tomahawk or a headsix will be good choice for that price, even a cc xo. Unless your rig has been to some high standard, you dont need to spend a lot on the cable.
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post #11 of 11
3/24/08 at 7:53pm
For your price range and equipment you will be using, you can't got wrong with the Tomahawk/ALO Bling Bling dock combo. I used this for my first amp/lineout combo and it was awesome, havent upgraded all that much since.
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