Hey there,
I've been lurking this website some months ago and I finally came back to register and make my first post/thread. As in the thread title - I own the Sennheiser HD595 over-the-ear headphones. I must admit that they do indeed crack pretty fast, as someone on this website had stated. Anyway, I've been using them with the Sony NAS-E35 (no amplifier) and... my phone (obviously the sound was crap). I also have a separate headset for gaming (Stealseries 5HV2), but that's beside the point.
So. I've been planning to buy a portable CD player for some time now (over two years), but due to time constraints I had to postpone it until now (first two years of university, very busy - I'm sure most people know what I mean). I don't know much about sound reproduction - this is where you come in.
What exactly do I need? I assume that stationary listening and portable listening require different equipment (hence different sections on Head-Fi).
Let's focus on portability for now. What would be a good portable amp to buy? What about the CD player? I do not intend to losten to MP3 files (maybe FLAC, if anything) - I'd rather listen to CDs. I've read that older players do a better job at reproducing sound than the newer ones. Sony D303 and Sony D555, for example. Is that really true? The volume does not have to be high as I will be listening to music only in quiet places - even outdoors (mostly libraries - for obvious reasons).
What about the stereo? It needs an amplifier, right? I take it that a headphone amplifier does not cut it as far as amplifying loudspeakers goes, right? Is Sony NAS-E35 any good anyway? Loudspeakers will need a pre-amp and an amp, right? Can the headphone amp work as the pre-amp for the loudspeakers?
I will be listening to classical (baroque and romantic - to be precise), jazz, jazz-fusion, funk, tango and (prog-)rock/metal, if that helps/makes any difference.
That would be all for now.
Thanks.
