Oh, you bought them? Oops. Well, they'll work out of your phone for now, but I'm not sure about the hiss levels and stuff from the phone. (Speaking of phones, what the heck? It doubled one of my posts)
 
I'd get an amp if money isn't too much of a concern, since I'm sure they could use some extra control, given the work the crossovers have to do, but I really think megabuck amps aren't needed until you can hear a definite upgrade in sound. (As I'm reading about the Stepdance for my transportable rig...) Something even as simple as a CMoy (if you can solder) in an Altoids case would be a good gauge if you can tell the difference.
 
Ah, excellent. Let's all give LegendaryLv11 a group hug!
  No, I don't browse deviantart, it was the first one I saw.
 
Admittedly, the overall sound quality difference between a phone and a Cowon J3 or Sony is rather slight. You can definitely tell the difference, even with background noise drowning out minute details, but honestly, the main difference between say an iPod Touch and a Cowon J3 is mainly the sound signature of both. iPods and Cowons are generally neutral to cold sounding, discounting BBE effects on the Cowon, and Sony's are generally warm sounding.

The line out signals are much cleaner than HP jack and no volume control, you have to turn up the volume on AMPs. The sound quality willbe much more improve with quality AMPs and offers like bigger soundstage(if use 18AWG Cryo cable), better instrument separation, more details in mids and highs with better detailed, deeper, punchier bass. So overall sound willbe more cohesive, tighter, detailed, crisp, clear with wider soundstage. Even the ipod classic lineout+ALO 18AWG Cryo Dock cable+Mustang P51 offers big difference in sound quality than it's HP jack.

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ishcabible said:

A) I'd get an amp if money isn't too much of a concern, since I'm sure they could use some extra control, given the work the crossovers have to do, but I really think megabuck amps aren't needed until you can hear a definite upgrade in sound. (As I'm reading about the Stepdance for my transportable rig...) Something even as simple as a CMoy (if you can solder) in an Altoids case would be a good gauge if you can tell the difference.
 
B) Admittedly, the overall sound quality difference between a phone and a Cowon J3 or Sony is rather slight. You can definitely tell the difference, even with background noise drowning out minute details, but honestly, the main difference between say an iPod Touch and a Cowon J3 is mainly the sound signature of both. iPods and Cowons are generally neutral to cold sounding, discounting BBE effects on the Cowon, and Sony's are generally warm sounding.

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A) I have no soldering experience at all - what do you think of TTVJ slim portable for a new guy? Should I wait, save up, and get a better one, or should I start with that?
B) What do you mean by warm/cold sounding?
 
 

I don't have any experience with that--ask the UE18 guys if it synergizes with it. It seems like a good amp though. I'd get a new source before an amp because I've always heard a bigger difference from upgrading source than with an amp.
 
Read this: http://www.head-fi.org/wiki/describing-sound-a-glossary It should answer all your questions about our technical terms. But basically, cold is treble-ey without excessive bass or lower midrange. Warm is some extra bass and lower midrange added, basically the opposite. 

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justintraub said:

A) I have no soldering experience at all - what do you think of TTVJ slim portable for a new guy? Should I wait, save up, and get a better one, or should I start with that?
B) What do you mean by warm/cold sounding?
 
 

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For B, you may want to look at this: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/220770/describing-sound-a-glossary  It's useful if you don't understand the lingo around here.  They are all ways to describe sound.  Also, replace cold with cool when you look it up.
 
EDIT: Darn, I've been ninja'd!

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tinyman392 said:

 
For B, you may want to look at this: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/220770/describing-sound-a-glossary  It's useful if you don't understand the lingo around here.  They are all ways to describe sound.  Also, replace cold with cool when you look it up.
 
EDIT: Darn, I've been ninja'd!

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 I had a bit of trouble finding the link though.
 

haha thank you guys so much, really. I don't think this much help has been given to me anywhere else

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ishcabible said:

 I had a bit of trouble finding the link though.
 

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LOL, same here, I had to Google it
 

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justintraub said:

haha thank you guys so much, really. I don't think this much help has been given to me anywhere else

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Glad to help! Enjoy your new stuff! I wish I could justify getting some top-tier customs...

 
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"Glad to help! Enjoy your new stuff! I wish I could justify getting some top-tier customs..."
 

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In the search for quality sound - anything is Justifiable

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legendarylvl1 said:

 
 
In the search for quality sound - anything is Justifiable

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It's more the fact that I'm under 18 and apparently (or not? I talked to someone that said otherwise) my ear canals will shift, so I'd have to send them in for refits every 6 months-year, and I can't deal with the agony of waiting for a reshell. 

Quote:

ishcabible said:

 
It's more the fact that I'm under 18 and apparently (or not? I talked to someone that said otherwise) my ear canals will shift, so I'd have to send them in for refits every 6 months-year, and I can't deal with the agony of waiting for a reshell. 

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Yeah, your ear canal shape changes over time, particularly in the pubescent stages (early teens to late twenties). Im currently 20 YOA, but I don't think my ears are going to be changing anytime soon : D
 
 

Quote:

legendarylvl1 said:

Yeah, your ear canal shape changes over time, particularly in the pubescent stages (early teens to late twenties). Im currently 20 YOA, but I don't think my ears are going to be changing anytime soon : D
 
 

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Well, that's enough to sway me to just stay buying a crapton of different universals and fullsized IEM's to suit my different tastes rather than get one superheadphone/IEM. Hope you enjoy your Miracles though!

Quote:

legendarylvl1 said:

Yeah, your ear canal shape changes over time, particularly in the pubescent stages (early teens to late twenties). Im currently 20 YOA, but I don't think my ears are going to be changing anytime soon : D
 
 

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That worries me, as I'm only 15.. oh boy. Well, I saved up for too long, so I was way too excited, so I guess I didn't research as much as I should have.. ....heh..
 
 

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justintraub said:

That worries me, as I'm only 15.. oh boy. Well, I saved up for too long, so I was way too excited, so I guess I didn't research as much as I should have.. ....heh..
 
 

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Oh wow, you saved $1500 up? Is there any way to like...cancel it? Or have you sent impressions in and all that jazz?