Help a newbie - music lover and producer - Page 2

Well, I haven't tried the HFI 780, but from my understanding they could probably do the job for you. The HD25 is probably too bass light for you.

Some people like to recommend the HFI 580 as well, due to their bass emphasis. Personally, I liked the M50 more than the HFI 580, so I'd probably go for the HFI 780 rather than 580 - however, the 580 are cheaper and more bass emphasized. Also, the Ultrasones have the S-logic which is supposed to help soundstage, but only seems weird and unnatural to some.

Don't forget the Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 ohm. While some would say they are technically inferior to the HFI 780, others seem to really like them.

Well, the E6 is not a DAC if that's what you're planning. It only amplifies the signal put out by your soundcard, so if it's bad already it's going to still be bad - only louder and more powerful. ;)

What I first wanted to suggest is the FiiO E10 or Alpen (depending on your budget, the Alpen is more expensive). However, those DAC/Amp-combos cannot put out 5.1 sound signals. It's "only" stereo, so you wouldn't get to you use your 5.1-system. However, there are soundcards able to run 5.1 configurations (don't ask me which ones to look at, I'm not knowledgable about them). So all in all:

1) No, sorry, to my knowledge the affordable ones are not 5.1. There might be some DAC that I have overlooked (logic says there has to be one) that is able to put out 5.1 but I don't know about it, so, can't help you there.

2) The E6 is a good portable amp (but not a dac). The bigger brother to it would be E11. But I don't think any of those headphones you've been looking at need an E11. Go with the E6 if you want an affordable portable amp to connect to your laptop and mp3 player.

3) Yes. Most laptop soundcards are not that great in my experience, in that they're not able to drive headphones fully. The E6 would help in that aspect. As for your logitech sound system, probably not - I don't know what it could do for your system just by amplifying the signal. I doubt your logitech system needs (additional) amplification of the signal between your laptop and the onboard amp on the speakers.

I hope I've helped a bit.

What headphones did you come to the conclusion would help you in your quest for audio nirvana?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magicwithin 

Hey again, thanks so much!

What is the difference between the E11 and E10? Is it worth upgrading?

They're not the same thing.  The E11 is just an amp (like the E6's big brother) while the E10 is an amp/DAC.  However, the E10 can't be used with your smartphone since it only accepts USB input.  If you want an amp/DAC combo that can be used with both your laptop and your smartphone, the E7 is the Fiio product you want.  It has USB input as well as line-in.  Alternatively, there's the Nuforce Icon Mobile or the iBasso D-Zero in a similar price range.

I also vote for the Ultrasone's :) the PRO series are a bit out of ur range since u should use an amp.

The Pro 750's from what i hear are very close to the Pro 900's.

I recommend the 

HFI 580 with an FiiO E11 amp...or an E17 if you need an amp and DAC. if you don't know what a DAC is and don't know what is in ur computer or whatever u use as a source or whatever. Then the E17 is looking even better at this moment. not out yet. but the HFI 580 @ $118 on BH audio and the $150 E17 would work wonders in ur range. i have the HFI 580's and am buying an E17 asap

• The E10 is a DAC/Amp combo. It will decode the digital signal from your computer to audio signal, and amplify it at the same time. Meaning, you'd not only get a good headphone amp - you'd also get a better sound quality due to a better Digital to Analog converter. The E10 is run through your USB port on your computer which will not only send digital signal to convert to the E10, but also power it. This one won't work without USB.
• The E11 is straight up just an amplifier. It will *only* amplify the audio signal already converted to analog. You should consider this one to be the bigger brother of E6. The bad part about the E11 is that you can't charge it and run it at the same time.

As for the recommendation about volume percentages. I'd interpret this way: you could start thinking about upgrading if you need to turn your volume up in your last segment of the chain up to more than 60% of the total volume to get it to listenable proportions. Having the volume at 100% on the laptop is not harmful for anything other than the speakers and/or headphones, and you of course, if it is loud enough to be harmful. In fact, I encourage you to have the volume on your laptop at 100% and then use the speakers amplifier, or a headphone amplifier to adjust the volume. Let's say for example that you would get the E10 (the DAC/Amp combination) which has a volume knob, you should have the laptop at 100% and the volume knob on the E10 at your preferred volume.

As for the cracked headphones and speakers - you might just have had bad luck or had bad gear to begin with. You can't rely on those $10 earbuds to hold up forever. You can't rely on $1000 headphones to hold up forever, but they should be significantly better suited for every day use than the $10 ones.

Headphones: yeah, the Ultrasone Pro 900's are indeed very good and capable headphones. They are my go-to headphones for all things electronic. I paid somewhere around $500 for them, due to prices in my country (whole EU is pretty much the same) and I can't say I regret it. But you don't need them to be satisfied, besides, some say they have a little harshness to them - and they are more bright than warm. So I'm not even sure if they are what you would be looking for, at all - despite the massive bass response (but boy is it good).

You know, in your price segment there are other competitors I think you may have overlooked:

• Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 ohm.
• Sony XB700
• Ultrasone HFI-580
• M-audio Q40
• Panasonic HTF-600

I won't lie, I haven't heard any of them (except the Ultrasones, but it was a long time ago now and it's time to forget my initial impressions with them since I didn't like S-Logic then and do now... things change in preferences) so I won't recommend any of them to you - but I can suggest you to check them out. You really should.

Great past by Coq De combat. but again. Iw ould like to add the E17 to the list as it is a (more or less) combo of the E11 and E10. Not as powerful as the E11, but better soundstage and tighter(bass isn't as punch but is tigher) and is better than the E10 in all area's. as a producer. you should have a good DAC with you and a good amp while ur out.. this is portable so you can bring it anywhere :) 

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowei006 

Great past by Coq De combat. but again. Iw ould like to add the E17 to the list as it is a (more or less) combo of the E11 and E10. Not as powerful as the E11, but better soundstage and tighter(bass isn't as punch but is tigher) and is better than the E10 in all area's. as a producer. you should have a good DAC with you and a good amp while ur out.. this is portable so you can bring it anywhere :) 

True, the Alpen really seems to be a good amp/dac combo. If TS can afford it, he should look at it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coq de Combat 

True, the Alpen really seems to be a good amp/dac combo. If TS can afford it, he should look at it.

yes. any producer should use a good DAC. and it also has the amping he needs and has been reviewed to be fantastic. it works over SPDIF, USB, or AUX so can be used with ipod when out. At a studio somehwere else he can plug into his laptop again by grabbing an optical or coaxil or USB cable from his laptop bag. plug it in and voila. a portable work station.