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What DAP for JH-13 Pro/Pico Slim?

post #1 of 37
12/20/09 at 1:05am
Thread Starter 
My JH-13 Pros arrived this week and I signed up for the Pico Slim pre-order. All of my music was purchased through iTunes (256 AAC).

I would prefer something size wise comparable to the iPod Nano (using a LOD cable). Would an iMod or some other DAP offer significant sonic improvement based on the format of my music and headphone/amp combination?
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post #2 of 37
12/20/09 at 2:29am
How about spending the money on upgrading your music library to lossless first?
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post #3 of 37
12/20/09 at 2:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lil' Knight View Post
How about spending the money on upgrading your music library to lossless first?
I agree,music matters first.

Rubbish in equals rubbish out.Pico can't help you
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post #4 of 37
12/20/09 at 6:38am
Like the others I say that you should use your money to upgrade your music library to lossless. Probably involving buying the CDs and ripping them to ALAC, FLAC, or like.
As for player, I would probably go iMod or HiFiMAN HM-801.
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post #5 of 37
12/20/09 at 2:20pm
Thread Starter 
I have no interest in buying a couple thousand cd's and ripping them to lossless, so back to the original question.
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post #6 of 37
12/20/09 at 2:34pm
I've got to tell you that your JH13s are going to reveal the flaws in your downloads, so if you don't like what you hear, don't blame the JH13s. I have a few mp3 downloads on my computer, and I find them pretty much unlistenable with the JH13s, though they do well with other headphones. That said, I've been fortunate enough to spend a few hours with the pico slim and my jh13s, with both a 2g nano and a classic 160g. Size-wise, the nano fits with the slim much better, but I use lossless files, and love the 160g so I'm not having to constantly change out my music selections. The HifiMan or an imod probably improves the sq, but I'm fine with what I have for now.
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post #7 of 37
12/20/09 at 2:50pm
Unless I'm totally wrong here since all of your music is purchased through iTunes you must stick with and Apple DAP as your source. The latest iPod Touch or iPhone 3GS would be my top choices. Like others have stated the original download should be in better quality to make high end amps and headphones justifiable. Think of it as playing a VHS tape on a $10K HD TV and trying to find a better TV to make your videos look better. It aint gonna happen unless you use a better source. However, if your happy don't let anybody steer ya wrong. Enjoy the music!

Do!
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post #8 of 37
12/20/09 at 3:37pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Do View Post
Unless I'm totally wrong here since all of your music is purchased through iTunes you must stick with and Apple DAP as your source. The latest iPod Touch or iPhone 3GS would be my top choices. Like others have stated the original download should be in better quality to make high end amps and headphones justifiable. Think of it as playing a VHS tape on a $10K HD TV and trying to find a better TV to make your videos look better. It aint gonna happen unless you use a better source. However, if your happy don't let anybody steer ya wrong. Enjoy the music!

Do!

You're wrong, it is all DRM free so it will play on any player that plays AAC files.

Comparing a VHS and 256 AAC tracks is ridiculous. These aren't 64 bit MP3s, the difference between 256 AAC and FLAC isn't as big as some of you are making it out to be.
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post #9 of 37
12/20/09 at 8:52pm
I stand corrected. What service are you using then since iTunes only syncs with apple hense the ongoing struggle with the Palm Pre syncing issues. I guess I'm used to Mac so I'm not familiar how iTunes works on a PC.

Do!
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post #10 of 37
12/20/09 at 8:54pm
Actualy I was trying to compare VHS to DVD and mp3 to lossless. My bad - bad analogy.
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post #11 of 37
12/20/09 at 9:18pm
I have the same setup coming down the pipe,complete with Whiplash TWag cable.

Now,what has me intrigued is this(about the same size as an iPhone):

Stats:

Full Review:
Sony PCM-M10 Mobile Recorder ($399)

I ripped most of my Hi-Rez collection in.WAV @ 24-bit 96 kHz and it was always a pain to downsample for the Sansa Fuze...so this unit would take away the pain!
I also have over 30 GB of ACC stuff for the iTouch,oh what to do?
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post #12 of 37
12/20/09 at 10:15pm
Thread Starter 
I am not interested in a hifiman. I don't know what it is about the headphone community, but the differences between equipment/material often seem to be extremely exaggerated.

People talk about the difference between lossy and lossless files in this thread like it is night and day on IEMs. No IEM is good enough to exploit the flaws of a format like a high end speaker would. I just ripped a Bruce Springsteen CD in 256 AAC and ALAC, and through my computer, mp3 player and $10,000 home processor could barely tell the difference on my JH 13 pros.

Speaking of which, while they are better than my Shure SE530's, the sound is nowhere near 4x as good (which is basically what they cost). I could easily tell the difference between my JM Lab $5k speakers and Wilson Watt Puppies, the difference between headphones is subtle at best. Even on speakers like that, good cabling is nearly impossible to tell apart, but different LOD cables on an iPod can offer night/day differences according to some reviews on this site.
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post #13 of 37
12/20/09 at 10:30pm
Well since you already have a good portable amp and great IEMs, a good DAP is important. I own the Walkman X1060 and iPod touch 3rd gen 32GB. I say you really have 4 choices. In no particular order.

1. Walkman X1060
2. iPod touch 3rd gen (32gb or 64GB)
3. 2009 iPod Classic 160gb
4. iMod

I prefer the Walkman X1060 when I go out and about because of the playback buttons on the top and it's better sounding than the iPod touch with my Westone UM3X. I use the iPod touch at home with a pure copper LOD to P-51 Mustang amp. You should really get some lossless songs. I don't know why people would buy anything less than .wav or FLAC. They should all be free, even from the iTunes store. MP3's are terrible and AAC are alright.
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post #14 of 37
12/20/09 at 10:41pm
It's all about what you like, not what others tell you to like and I would buy the next round for you...

Shared beliefs:
"One has to understand that the ear is not a mic and the cortex is not a hard drive.
There is no "bit perfect" in any of the human senses.
Many audiophiles understand this; many not.
We cannot hear all we can measure, and we cannot measure all we can hear."

How about that Sony M10?
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post #15 of 37
12/21/09 at 12:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stang View Post
MP3's are terrible and AAC are alright.


This is a ridiculous statement. Some of the newer codecs perform exceptionally well at low bitrates, but over all the difference is minimal at best at high bitrates between AAC and MP3. A quality MP3 encode sounds great, the primary advantage with AAC is that it is more efficient and you can attain a higher fidelity at the same bitrate. There difference is really fairly minimal. And given the amount of storage available on (most) modern DAPs, using a slightly higher bitrate with MP3s to make up the gap is a non-issue.

The lossless fetish here is absurd. Sure, lossless formats retain every last bit of detail, and yeah maybe some (surely less than make the claim) can tell the difference between a lossless file and 320kbs(or even 256kbs) mp3 in a back to back test, but in the real world where you're actually listening to the music and not your equipment you won't be missing out on anything.

EDIT: I somehow managed to post just the eye rolling smiley with out any actual content.

OP: The peanut gallery here doesn't really seem to have much to say on the topic on "synergy" with your equipment, so you might as well read the respective threads for the players that interest you and take a gamble on one of them. Ultimately I think they will all sound fine.
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