Shure srh440 amp or soundcard?

actually the srh440 is a pretty efficient headphone, it means that you dont need an amp to drive it and getting a good sound and volume. consider buying an amp when you feel that the headphone lacks on something, which means you need to get use to the sound first by using it without amp, and if you feel like nothing is worth improving than you dont need an amp.

as for which one to go between amp or soundcard or dac, if you are using pc or laptop as your music source than get a dac and it would be good if it has internal amp so that you can control the volume in analog, not digitally. If you use DAP, then amp it is... I dont know a good soundcard for musical purposes, maybe someone else can help

cheers,

Fiio E10 is a very budget friendly DAC/Amp.

I use it wih ed8 and sounds very good

Well that's funny because right now i'm comparing the 440 and 840 and thinking if my CMoy with bass boost will cut it if they are really lacking in bass as people say.

E10 later down the road as you can take it from computer to computer.

DAC is Digital to Analogue Convertor, think of it as a sound card.

DAP is Digital Audio Player, e.g. iPod

Amp is amplifier.

Without getting too technical, a DAP always has a DAC and an amp. Without the DAC your music files can't be played, without the amp the music won't be loud enough to hear. 

Search a little, the topic has been covered multiple times on this forum.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hood17 
Yes I listen to music almost exclusively on my macbook pro and PCs.

You guys would recommend the Fiio E10?

BTW I'm a hundred percent an audio noob just looking for affordable, good sound quality. What's the difference between a DAC, DAP, and amp?  

Is your computer a windows 7 desktop?

I have no idea what a DAP is?

A DAC is a Digital to Analog Converter.

It takes a digital signal (zeros and ones) and changes it to an analog signal (wave).

A DAC input (digital) can be optical/coaxial or USB and the outputs (analog) can be mini (3.5mm) jack, 1/4 (6.35mm) jack, RCA (red/white) jacks

A DAC does not have to have a headphone output, but most talked about on Head-Fi do.

A headphone amplifier can have digital or analog inputs and will output an analog signal using a mini jack or 1/4 jack to headphones.

A headphone amplifier with a digital input uses a DAC (built inside it) to converter digital to analog.

So a headphone amplifier with only analog inputs would not use a DAC feature.

Hope this helps.

Forgot to add: I used to own a 440, listened to it straight out of my Macbook and iPod. It was fine. Unless there's some reason you have to order a DAC/Amp right now, it makes more sense to wait for the headphones and see if you need a DAC or amp.

If you listen mainly from your computer, then you can always benefit from a DAC, to bypass the soundcard.

Headphones, depending on the model is how much they benefit from an amplifier. I don't know how much SRH440 benefits from amping.

A DAC/Amp combo is a good idea to have both for use with laptops. People that use their headphones on the road usually get portable amps such as D-zero, fiio e11, P2V2, etc.

But if you don't want to spend a lot, IMHO, a Fiio E10 is a good option, some other ppl use iBasso D-Zero, and so on, too many options :P

I use Fiio E10 and love it (for the price), it also has a bass boost.

Maybe some other ppl have other recomendations :)

I use the Shure 440 with the Fiio E10.

When I tried the M-50 at Guitar Center (right out of the box w/o burn in) it sounded like you were sitting next to the bass guitar and drums onstage.

The 440 is more centered around mids. 

The later addition of the E10 to my newish Thinkpad with Conexant audio was at first a bit underwhelming.

However, the separation of instruments and black background of a soundstage is a step up.

Going back to the onboard, it's more bottlenecked and forward.

You have a mac, so it should be different, but this says it is an improvement with the Macbook Air:

http://www.headfonia.com/the-latest-must-have-the-fiio-e10-usb-dacamp/