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What's the weak link in my system?

post #1 of 6
11/6/11 at 9:07am
Thread Starter 

I moved into a new house this week, and set up my headphone system after being without decent music for a few weeks. I've been happily listening to stuff, and enjoying how much better a proper headphone system sounds over an iPod all week. But, tonight I went to a concert. After coming home I listened to some of the tracks on my setup, and damn does it sound disappointing. Compared to live my headphones sound muddy, and making out individual instruments is difficult. How can I best upgrade my setup to get a bigger soundstage and better resolution?

 

I currently use:

 

320kps MP3 and AACs

-> Streamed to Apple Airport Express

-> Optical cable to Shrek d2 (simple NOS dac)

-> Firestone iCute amp (Burr-Brown op amps with discreet power amp stage)

-> Sennheiser HD600s with Meier cable

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post #2 of 6
11/6/11 at 9:12am

Get new headphones, and get a proper oversampling dac.

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post #3 of 6
11/6/11 at 10:02am

I'll let others chime in on what they think what the problem might be.  I have no experience with your dac or your headphone amp.  But I l really like Senn headphones in general and the 600 in particular so I doubt that is the problem.  If you're happy with them, don't change them.  People seriously disagree on whether dacs need to be oversampling or not so that may well not be the problem either.  You may need/want a better dac but I'm skeptical that the problem is as simple as oversampling versus nos. 

 

Have you tried listening to higher quality music files? Try ripping your music to redbook and see what you think?  The AE express limits you to redbook so you can't do hi res; frankly I like the SB Touch better than the AE express and it does 24/96. 

 

Try some simple experiments before buying more stuff (unless you have a serious case of upgraditis, in which case I totally understand wink_face.gif).  Try the higher bit rate music files and hook up the dac to run directly from your computer (if you can, you may not have an optical out).  Sometimes by simplifying the chain, you can pinpoint the weakest link.  Try out some other headphone amps as see whether that makes a difference. 

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post #4 of 6
11/6/11 at 10:10am

There is nothing wrong with the headphones. Your DAC, on the other hand, can happily be objectively beaten by most computers' onboard audio chips.

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post #5 of 6
11/6/11 at 10:13am

NOS is technically inferior to a oversampling dac, NOS has problems with treble 10khz+ it dips past -3db before 20khz which could contribute to a muddy sound.

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post #6 of 6
11/6/11 at 10:22am
Thread Starter 

I've found the DAC to be a big step up from the audio out on several laptops, but perhaps it is holding me back.

 

I'll try a few lossless rips, and think about upgrading the DAC.

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