noob need help getting started, searched but still confused

Welcome to Head-Fi.

This question may be better suited for the Headphones or Amps forums but you should get some responses here as well but it does move slower.

Just a couple of questions so we can get a better feel for what you want. What kind of music do you listen to? Should they be portable? How do you like your sound (more/less/neutral bass, mids, and treble as well as detail and soundstage)? What budget are you looking at? It's fine if you don't have an answer for some of these questions (I know I didn't when I started out) but the more we know the more we can help.

I would look into a combined DAC/Amplifier unit and a nice pair of headphones.

The easiest way to approach it may be to set a budget, then read up on what is available within that budget.

First read this one:

Hopefully Helpful Headphone Buying Guide For Newbies By Boomana

Then move on to:

Headphones (full-size)

Headphone Amps (full-size)

Computer Audio

Search is your friend as well, if you have specific questions.

Welcome to Head-Fi!

Quote:

Originally Posted by customstevo 

while I have a good 2 channel stereo setup and starting to understand receivers and amps  I am looking to get into headphone, since alot of the time I will be listening to music my roomate will be asleep or it will be quite hours.

 

I want to get involved with a nice pre amp. and amplifier, and a nice set of headphones, but I don't even know where to start looking, most products seem to be either very cheap or very expensive.

 

Also almost everything will be play off the computer, I have a integrated sound card but I would be willing to upgrade.  Do i need a DAC, a pre amp? and an  amp?

 

Will you be using your headphones in the same place where you have your existing stereo system setup? Or are you starting from scratch at a new location? There might be components that can be used in both your headphones and speaker rigs. (Mainly the DAC. But some headphone amps are good as speaker pre amps as well.) For headphones alone, you will not need a pre amp.

I think the first thing you should do is decide what type of music you will be using the headphones with the most. When I started on head-fi I listened mostly to rock music, but I knew that I would be using the headphones the most at night when I listen to classical/orchestral music. I then went to the headphones (full-size) forums and got recommendations for headphones that were adept at playing classical music. I chose the Sennheiser HD600's to be my first set of headphones. Knowing my headphones allowed me to go to the amps forum and ask for recommendations for a good amp for my specific set of headphones and my type of music. Knowing my music preference, headphones, and amp made it much easier to decide on a dac/source etc,etc.

Master the use of the search engine, all the info on HF is overwhelming, but its also extremely helpful. Use the search bar wisely and you'll find 95% of what you need. It's surprising how often a solution/ answer to your question will be found in one of the first couple of threads/links you click on, even if your question seems absurdly obscure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by customstevo 

I listen to mostly hip - hop, so good bass would be a plus, I am not sure about the other sound stage components just good all around, I like some techno, but with good sound I hope to bring out all sorts of new music I am open too.

 

I'm not looking for portable.  I would be willing to spend several hundred dollars on each neccesary component.

 

Thanks for your help, I will continue to research the forums.

This is exactly the kind of info that will help you. Try searching using keywords like "bass hip hop headphones" or "recommend headphones good hip hop" and you'll find plenty of links, read as many of them as you can and you'll start to notice that the same models of headphones will get mentioned in the threads.  Once you narrow down your list of headphones you can move onto amps sources/dacs etc.

By the way, welcome to head-fi
 

Digital-to-Analog Converter.  Basically it translates a digital signal to analog, and the analog is what you get through your headphones or speakers or TV or whatever.

Whether you need a new soundcard or not is going to depend on a bunch of stuff.  Do you already have one?  If not, would you rather get an external desktop DAC?  It depends somewhat on how far you want to go with things, as with most hobbies things can quickly spin way out of orbit if you let it.

Is your computer going to be in the same room as your amp and stuff?

okay.

here's the primer:

the music on your hard drive is digital.  and, in order to become sound, needs to be converted to analog.  so, a digital-to-analog converter is needed.  DAC for short.

your sound card is a DAC.  but, most sound cards that come with consumer grade computers are not very good.

a separate, stand-alone dac will do a much better job.

what does a "much better job" mean?

well, it means that you'll hear more detail in the music.  the instruments will be separated out and clearly delineated.

the space between your ears and the perceived sound will become greater.

and so on.

now...  the dac will plug into your computer via usb or other means.

it will convert your music to analog, and typically will output a signal through RCA jacks.

then, you connect a headphone amplifier using RCA cables.  the headphone amplifier will take the signal from your DAC, and make output it through a headphone jack.

plug your headphones into that, and use the volume knob for adjustment.  voila.

sure, you can plug headphones into anything that has a headphone jack.

the whole purpose of an amp is really the same as putting an amp with your car stereo.  you get better sound.  and can drive the headphones to levels that approach live music.  (not that i recommend that)

if you're into amps, then you're gonna love this hobby.