Leaving portable hifi - it's too silly - Page 59

I think the thread title is silly and sounds hilariously pretentious. I only read the title--just too silly to read further... Just reading some comments for fun. I agree with IceClass. I enjoy walking on campus and/or snowboarding where there's tons of ambient noise. Ill just use the best i can and enjoy all the more. I'm sure I haven't heard the best of the best in audio, but that's fine with me...guess I'm just silly like that or not hifi enough.

EDIT: Haha, looks like I read the book by its cover..just read the original post and it makes a lot of sense in many ways. I've come upon some of these conclusions myself and have come to love my $25 purchase of my second hand hfi-550 the most pretty much, after starting off trying to find the most balanced headphones in my price range I'd say DT880....and the most neutral DAP (debatable)..iPod 5.5 gen, but found that I love a warmer coloured sound more.

Anyway, I guess I'm among the scores of newbie headfiers who've invaded this board. I think the OP is choosing to live in harsh reality when it comes to portable hifi, while I am choosing to live in ignorant non-hifi bliss.
Edited by hyogen - 5/26/12 at 1:50am

Glad I read this post. Thanks to the OP for sharing your insights. Most of what was said needed to be said. You gotta wonder how much is too much. I've fallen in love with a lot of my gear but I can't honestly say the return was worth what I've paid. I'm actually in the process of selling off everything I've acquired, after which I plan on reevaluating my needs. I won't say that I'm out of the game, but I think I'll be keeping it simple this time around. 1 IEM, 1 DAP and maaaaaaaybe 1 amp. Haven't made up my mind about that yet.

The question I've not found answered is whether an ipod w/amp is any worse than say a DX100.  I hate hiss, and use IEMs, so buying an RSA Shadow just to get rid of the ipod's hiss seems well worth it.  The logical upgrade to my Westone 3s would be a pair of customs, which would still benefit from the Shadow.  

 

I think OP is a little daft; it's a little like arguing that there's no point buying gaming laptops when you can build a great desktop rig for less.  While this is true, I don't have space for a big desktop machine and screen and everything - my gaming laptop (a Clevo P150HM) has been fantastic and all I've really needed.  Yes, it's a little slower and weighs a damn tonne when carrying it around.  But it's a far more practical solution for my needs.

 

Roll on my JH16s.

Your ipod hisses? Try a sound attenuator..or higher impedance phones. Of an ipod with an wolfson dac... Preferably 5th or 4th generation..

I can understand ambient sound spoiling subtleties as said in prior posts, but how about arriving at your destination? Don't many have work conditions that allow listening on the job?

Had the occasion to bring some music to a friend's house the other day....

 

Used an HP netbook, pico dac, O2 amp and '03 880s.... 

 

Not quite a completely portable rig, but everything ran off batteries.

 

I'd say this amp is a game changer in the portable-transportable world.

 

Here's something for y'all to try.... plug a rig like this into the AUX of a receiver and listen to it from some really good speakers.....  see what you think....
 

Used to carry Lisa III with some big-shot sources/phones. Now I'm using Marshall Major with Xperia P. Life is so good.

I periodically dig this thread up as fodder for discussion on the relative merits of spending money on transportable kit vs putting the money into a desktop rig, but it rarely lingers for more than a week or so before returning to oblivion, Not sure if some of the more recent additions to this thread realise how much has changed in the 4 years - that's four years this very month - since Luminette started the thread. I still think its horses for courses, but having a battery-powered rig for bedside use and auditioning other gear can never be all bad, IMO. End of the day, its only money.

 

October 2008 was a very different Head-Fi landscape to October 2012, but my money is on April, 2014, assuming we survive December 2012.  

Edited by estreeter - 10/18/12 at 5:41am

Funny. I was thinking the same thing when I was scanning this thread a couple days ago.

When the OP started this thread portable-fi was a different beast.

I would imagine that the portable add ons ie: amps/DACs are quite a bit more refined than ever before.

 

Without going into sound science territory, I disagree.

 

We're not talking about computers or cell phones here. How many meaningful technological improvements do you really think audio equipment endure over their lifetimes?

4 years ago there was no such thing as portable balanced amps or hires players /portable dacs nor anything like the Solo and other external iThing dacs

I completely agree with the OP. I had to drop my iphone+Fiio e17 with m-80 rig for the much more functional and portable Sansa Clip-Zip + Senn px100-II. The difference is audible but so negligible when out. Why would I need bulky mid-fi audio on my way to class? Exactly 
 

Obviously the OP hasn't heard my platinum LOD cable, the micro-detail retrieval is phenomenal and it only cost a $1K, well worth the price so I can hear the breathing of the drummer in the background, some people will just never understand.

When I discovered that my iModded iPod 5.5G sounded better with my FX700s straight out of the unaltered headphone port than it did out of the modded line out with silver LOD > Headstage Arrow, I knew it was only a matter of time before I sold it (the iMod). The Arrow is still useful for driving full-size headphones but I hardly ever do that with portable gear anymore. Many of the supra-aural headphones like the B&W P5 are as efficient as many of the more efficient IEMs anyways.

I hope that's sarcasm.