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Need help, Amp/DAC for Grado 125i?

post #1 of 4
11/26/10 at 6:10am
Thread Starter 

Hi all, I just got a pair of Grado 125i prestiege headphones (up from Sennheiser 280pro, too heavy and uncomfortable) and my problem is there is almost no difference? I notice the treble and mids are slightly better on the Grado but i'm guessing it's because I don't have a headphone amp/DAC?

 

I've done my research and went for the Grado as i've read they're great for metal/progressive (I listen to things like Opeth, Graveworm, Be'lakor etc) but i'm struggling to justify keeping them unless getting an amp/DAC will greatley improve them?

 

I listen to music on my PC - I have a soundcard (X-fi 'xtreme gamer', comes with 'entertainment mode' for music though) but i'm not sure if that's anywhere near enough to compensate for an external DAC/amp.

 

Can anyone give me some advice? i'm a noob when it comes to headphone amps and the like, and just want to get the best sound possible for my music (not going overboard on price though!)

 

Thanks for reading

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post #2 of 4
11/26/10 at 7:09am

Hi,

 

Welcome to Head-Fi. If you're playing mp3 music try using a lossless format. That will give you a nice sonic improvement. The uDac is a good upgrade to your soundcard. The Grado 125i is a great headphone and once you have hi rez music and a nice amp/DAC you'll tap into their potential. Listen to Tool's Third Eye and you'll really make them sing.

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post #3 of 4
11/26/10 at 8:46pm

Something like the uDAC2 is a great recommendation but I would also recommend a bit of break-in for the 125's.  I have them, too, and I found that they needed about 30 hours or so to start coming into their own.  Before that, they seemed a little peaky and uneven.  YMMV but that's what I found. 

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post #4 of 4
11/27/10 at 6:41pm

uDac2

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