Living in Switzerland, hifi kit is very expensive but in the next month I'll be travelling to both New York and London so will have plenty of opportunity to upgrade.

 

Q1, My home set-up is a marantz cd player and marantz surround amp that I listen to through an old pair of beyerdynamic dt231's. I definitely want to upgrade and having looked through the forum for a month, would like to audition some grado's (325i's), sennheiser 600, AKG 702, Beyerdynamic 880 or Ultrasone 2500. Should I look at anything else? And should I just plug my new cans into my cd player or amp of should I spend another few hundred on a dedicated headphone amp?

 

Q2, Currently I'm listening to an iphone through a pair of UE Super-fi 5 pros, with most of my music recorded at 200 to 300mbps. Would I get any benefit from one of the smaller line-out amps (small enough to fit in my jeans pocket with my phone) or is my bitrate too low/ IEM's not good enough to be worth spending money on an amp or DAC?

 

Q3, I listen to mainly electronic, dance, dubstep, classical and some rock and prefer the sound of my UE's over the Shure 425's (UE's seem more lively). I like an open midrange and a tight-detailed bass that doesn't overpower the treble, are there any other IEM's I should be thinking about or are my UE's good for me?

 

 

So in essence, with $500 to $1000, should I spend it all on a pair of cans, split it two ways between cans and amp or three ways; cans/ amp/ new IEM/ pocketamp?

 

(copied from wrong thread)

Welcome to Head-Fi and sorry about your wallet
 
If I were you I would buy a headphone and a desktop dac/amp for the money. First thing first, if you are going to buy a decent headphone you have to buy an amp to justify the purchase. If you don't buy an amp the headphones will sound decent, but not good, surtenly not worth the price.
 
I can definitely recommend the HD600, I seem to enjoy it more than the AKG K-701 (exactly the same as the K702, except for the colour and the K702 has a removable cable) but some people prefer the K701. Can't speak for the other phones you mentioned, but you can't really go wrong with either the HD600 or K701/702 and other people seem to agree on this.
 
Can't really help you in the sense of recommending an amp, since I haven't heard a lot. Hope somebody else can chip in.
 
For your IEM question. I would recommend you keeping it the way it is. You seem to be perfectly happy with your Super Fi 5, so why change? Of course there are better IEM's (Shure SE530, Westone3, Super Fi 10 etc.), but, keeping your budget in mind, the upgrade isn't worth the price. (Altough the description of the the sound you like matches the Ety ER-4P a lot.) A portable amp probably won't be worth it considering the price and extra bulk for the minimal upgrade in sound. Getting quality rips (320kb/s, FLAC, Lossless) will give a MUCH bigger improvement.  
 
Spend some time lurking and reading on the forums and a lot of your questions will be answered
 
PS. If you still have the SE425 you can sell them on the FS forum for some extra funds.

I think the last option is great, you can buy all four togther like full size AMPs Matrix M Stage($250), Portable AMPs/DAC like iBasso D4($200), fullsize headphones HD600, IEMs TF10Pro or FX700, SM3. UE TF10Pro carry the same soundsignature as SF5Pro but it improve on details, bass and soundstage. So i will recommend to sell your SF5Pro and buy the whole new desktop and portable setup.

If you really believe that amps costing $200+ actually sound better and better (I really don't) then buy some expensive amp and either a HD650/600,  HiFiman HE(whatever model number) etc...
 
If not I would try to get a LCD-2 around $800-900 along with a Fiio E7+E9 combo.

Thanks all. So I think I'll stick with my UE's for the moment (so I have something else to upgrade in the future...) So for now I just need to find a pair of headphones and a good matching amp. Final question; Should I just get a dedicated full-size amp that will never leave my hi-fi rack or something semi-portable (like some of the Ray Samuels amps) for when I'm travelling, to use with my iphone?
And I think the correct ratio is about 50:50 cost for amp and headphones?

Should I just get a dedicated full-size amp that will never leave my hi-fi rack or something semi-portable (like some of the Ray Samuels amps) for when I'm travelling, to use with my iphone?
 
This is totally up to you. If I were you I would consider this. How much time do you spend listening to music at home and on the go? If you travel a lot, a portable dac/amp might be right for you (but then you would also benefit from a better IEM).  Take a look at some of iBasso's offerings, they seem have a great price/quality ratio. 
 
I also had the same dilemma when I was in the market for my first amp. I decided to buy a stationary dac/amp, since I do my 'critical listening' at home. And on the go, I just need decent/good quality. And the iPod--> ER4P combo does its job.
 
And I think the correct ratio is about 50:50 cost for amp and headphones?
Maybe on the list price, but it is a lot easier to find a good deal on a headphone (HD600 was €220 new, K701 was €205 new) than on an amp.

I'm somehow lead to believe that an HD650 with a $500 amp will not beat an unamped LCD-2.
 
Although I haven't heard the LCD-2 yet, I would say blow your money on headphones. As long as you have enough current to drive them (LCD-2 drive easily, for example), they should still sound great. You can get a better DAC/amp over time and appreciate the refinement they bring.

Quote:

bisayaboi said:

If you really believe that amps costing $200+ actually sound better and better (I really don't) then buy some expensive amp and either a HD650/600,  HiFiman HE(whatever model number) etc...
 

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Agree....
The HD600's/650 are nice cans for the money, a nice desktop amp for them (within your budget) is the HA-160. 
If you want something portable, there are other options. 

At the very most, outside of sheer power deliver, I think amps bring subtle refinements. They will not completely change the sound of your headphones, however.
 
Seriously...blow all of your budget on headphones. As long as you have a moderately clean source, you should be fine.
 
edit: your Marantz probably has a headphone out, and I assume it should be plenty enough to drive a decent set of cans.

Quote:

jonnyt said:

...
And I think the correct ratio is about 50:50 cost for amp and headphones?

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I have been asking my self the same question.what would be a balanced budget between source, amp, and headphones?