Leaving portable hifi - it's too silly - Page 57

One thing that hasn't changed is Triad Audio and their fervent desire to sell a battery-powered amp that struggles to fit anyone's description of 'portable':

http://www.headfonia.com/the-amp-that-makes-me-feel-so-powerful-triad-audio-l3/

Looking at those photos, I'm not entirely convinced that it's any smaller than my EHP-02 : longer, sure, but definitely not as wide nor, I suspect, as high.

I bought a wooden-box one second-hand. I carry a bag of some sort whenever I go somewhere, so size isn't an issue. Regardless, I didn't intend it as a portable in the sense that my iPhone is (for which I'll just use IEMs).

Going back to Luminette's original post though, his rig was:

I did once try ED9s as (trans)portable headphones and I reckon nowadays for the price they were new, you could get a whole rig, headphones and all, that is better. Much of that is the elimination of the fancy (and arguably unnecessary) LODs and cables.

I'd be curious to compare something like his original rig with, say, the Foxtex HP-P1 and Beyer DT-1350s, both of which work fairly well together.  Much of the madness was pre-JH Audio and the custom IEM rage too.

It's not that silly, I have ipods and a CLAS plus a few cheap portable amps just to satisfy my tastes and several easy to drive headphones, all good!  And I can also use my CLAS for my speaker setups. :)

It's a shame the OP wasn't here to see the arrival of the DX100 or the incredible number of high-end IEMs now on offer. I wonder if it would have changed his mind - possibly not. I guess you could argue that there have been even more changes on the desktop. 

I too feel as if though portable Hi-Fi is silly. Get a good pair of customs (JH13's or even universal IEM's like a pair of W4's), add a small amp, and an good source like an iPhone or iPod with a good LOD and you're set. Heck, most universals sound great out of an iPhone (my GR10's). Now, when it comes to "transportable" Hi-Fi, I do not think that is silly. If I were to bring my HD650's or a pair of LCD-2's I think that a small amp wouldn't be very useful. I've used the iPod + CLAS + Continental combo and it sounded absolutely fantastic when compared to everything else.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austin Morrow 

>snip>

 

Now, when it comes to "transportable" Hi-Fi, I do not think that is silly.

 

<snip>

+1    for anything that fits into my computer case.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by upstateguy 

 

+1    for anything that fits into my computer case.....

Exactly. You need something if you're going somewhere to stay. On the bus, not so much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austin Morrow 

I too feel as if though portable Hi-Fi is silly. Get a good pair of customs (JH13's or even universal IEM's like a pair of W4's), add a small amp, and an good source like an iPhone or iPod with a good LOD and you're set. Heck, most universals sound great out of an iPhone (my GR10's). Now, when it comes to "transportable" Hi-Fi, I do not think that is silly. If I were to bring my HD650's or a pair of LCD-2's I think that a small amp wouldn't be very useful. I've used the iPod + CLAS + Continental combo and it sounded absolutely fantastic when compared to everything else.

As soon as you added the amp, you just built yourself a portable hifi rig. By adding a LOD and an amp, you are only a step away from buying something like the CLAS. Welcome to portable hifi - you've just spent ~3K. 

As for any iDevice being 'great' from the headphone out, I think you might need to acquaint yourself with more recent developments. There are DAPs out there now that obliterate the iPhone for sound quality. I agree that its better than the sound out of most phones, but thats hardly a tough baseline. I'd take the Clip over any iDevice I've heard, and my T51 over the Clip - horses for courses. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter 

As soon as you added the amp, you just built yourself a portable hifi rig. By adding a LOD and an amp, you are only a step away from buying something like the CLAS. Welcome to portable hifi - you've just spent ~3K. 

 

As for any iDevice being 'great' from the headphone out, I think you might need to acquaint yourself with more recent developments. There are DAPs out there now that obliterate the iPhone for sound quality. I agree that its better than the sound out of most phones, but thats hardly a tough baseline. I'd take the Clip over any iDevice I've heard, and my T51 over the Clip - horses for courses. 

 

I know this, I've used a lot that "obliterate" the iPhone. My point is that you really don't need (unless you really want to) Hi-Fi sound when going portable (as in riding the bus or walking outside, all you need is a good pair of IEM's). That's all subject top debate though, just adding my two IMHO cents.

You can always just have a dap and a custom :P 

I'm quite happy with my JH5 and itouch 3G. I know it gets better as I used to have better but if I want to get better I'll get something like a UERM or JH13 and I just don't want to spend that kind of money on portable anymore.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rawrster 

You can always just have a dap and a custom :P 

 

I'm quite happy with my JH5 and itouch 3G. I know it gets better as I used to have better but if I want to get better I'll get something like a UERM or JH13 and I just don't want to spend that kind of money on portable anymore.

Exactly, all the people I've talked to say that the performance for portable HiFi isn't worth it when it comes to the performance/price ratio. When it comes to transportable HiFi, now that is different.

I don't like the big amps, daps, lod cables, etc with portable. I got tired of it so ended up with just my phone and JH5 but to save some battery on my crappy phone a itouch and JH5. The battery is long enough that I don't care even if I bring my laptop or netbook with me out the house since I don't care about usb dac/amps anymore either.

However there is value for those with the rigs such as an imod, amps, and all that good stuff. It may sound amazing but at this point I'd rather spend my money on my headphone rig at home or at least I'm trying to spend my money :)

I raised a suggestion about 12 months ago that we need a new section titled 'Transportable Audio' and received the response that 'All Head-Fi is transportable !'. I'd like to see that wiseguy carry a fully maxxed out Woo amp from his living room to his bedside table each night ....

FWIW, I'm in the camp that uses IEMs straight from a DAP anywhere outside the house. I will use my uHA-4 DAC/amp from my laptop for movies at the airport etc, but thats it. I dont own the DX100, but I have every intention of buying its successor in the belief that iBasso know how to improve on a winning formula - the P4 was much better than the amps which went before it. 

For my money, the new iphone 4s has exceptional sound quality, but more over, it's smaller than anything else out there.  Why?  Because I have to have it with me at all times anyway, so even something 1/2 the size of the clip would be a lot more bulk. 

I own the pico slim amp for my JH13s, because it's the best amp I've heard for them, desktop OR portable, and I own the JH13s because they sound better than any closed cans I've heard AND they have the added benefit of being easily portable. 

But I agree with the point here, because often, despite having the pico slim, I don't even want to use it outside.  Why?  Not because it doesn't sound better.  Just because the amount better that it does sound is easily dwarfed by the sounds and feelings of the outside world.  When you're walking, your feet are going to be making a massive kinesthetic impact on your hearing, not to mention cars, other pedestrians, screaming kids, and so forth.  Finally, even the tiny Pico Slim and the smallest LOD already adds a lot of added bulk.  My iphone fits precisely in my pocket.  Connected to a pico slim, it does not. the cable of the LOD can always get caught on things, whereas the cable running to the JH13s does not.  

Maybe if I was going outside to some incredibly quiet place (is there one in NYC?) to listen to music, it might make sense, but for me, grabbing the Jh13s (since I already carry the iphone) is the utmost in simplicity, and for that, often takes the prize over an incremental boost in SQ.

There are a few IEMs where the isolation is good enough to drown out traffic, but that carries its own level of danger. Even the dreaded iBud, cranked up loud enough, is being blamed for accidents between bike-riders/pedestrians and vehicles. Its just not worth being permanently injured to be able to listen to Motley Crue while riding to work .......