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Need Some Advice

post #1 of 11
1/10/12 at 1:11pm
Thread Starter 

I was wondering what would i be able to do for a good audio setup for my headphones.

 

I grew up a soundman's son so i do appreciate high quality equipment as i have ran many multi million dollar live setups, but i have very little knowledge for say computer hifi audio equipment.

 

currently i have a presonus firestudio mobile running KRK VXT8's with a 10s sub and i have my akg 240mk2's.

 

I have been looking around this site for a while and i still can't really figure out what would be better than what i currently have to power my cans, i have been looking at some schiit stuff and other brands to, but i am wondering would it really be worth the money?

 

Also i am a big computer hardware guy so i have some pretty decent builds and don't have to worry about any computer performance problems....

 

Thanks in advance for any advice

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post #2 of 11
1/10/12 at 3:50pm

What are you looking for exactly?  An amp, DAC, new headphones, or new everything?

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post #3 of 11
1/10/12 at 6:08pm
Thread Starter 

Well prolly everything, and like can you get an amp/dac in one unit kinda like my firestudio mobile or is seperate better, also i kinda am looking at some akg 701's or do you have experience with anything better?

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post #4 of 11
1/11/12 at 11:44am

I suppose the next question is your budget.

 

I can't find many useful specs for your Firestudio's head amp but those sorts of pro interfaces usually have issues with their head amps.  It also looks like the balanced out to your KRKs is its only other out so you'll probably need another DAC too.

 

As for the headphones, if you don't need isolation you could get get and upgrade on your K240's sound from one of AKG's fully open models like the K701 or K601 or if you want a different sound signature you could switch to another brand instead.

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post #5 of 11
1/11/12 at 2:53pm
If your computer has coaxal/optical output then desktop DAC/AMPs are highly recommended for highquality sound experience. The mid budget DAC/AMPs like Yulong D100, Matrix Quattro DAC, Nuforce HDP or even Fiio E17+E9, iBasso D7 are recommended. AKG K701 are very detailed and need AMPs help to sound realy good, BTW other headphones like Grado RS1i, Denon D5000, ATH_AD1000, Sony SA5000, Ultraspne Pro2900 are also very detailed headphones and they improve greatly with AMPs help.
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post #6 of 11
1/12/12 at 1:31am
Thread Starter 

Thanks Zarim, helped a lot with the list. Uh another question i have is would it be worth to go tube head amp or is it not worth it, i do know that any tube amp i have ever used are beautiful sounding. That yulong d100 looks pretty good and the reviews on it are pretty good. Uh for spending on this setup i dunno maybe a little over 1500 would be the limit if that helps a bit and if i knew that adding say another 500 to that would make a world of difference i would do it, i'm a sucker for high quality audio equipment....

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post #7 of 11
1/12/12 at 11:20am

Its usually better to allocate most of your budget towards the headphones since they hit the wall of diminishing returns much later than amps and DACs.  If you could go as high 2K then a used HD800 (which despite being a Sennheiser is actually a great extension on the AKG house sound) and a DAC and amp with solid specs like the DAC Mini CX and get some seriously high ends sound.

 

You mention thinking about tube amps.  Is there a particular reason?  I certainly think they look cool and some people like a little bit of tube color in there sound but if you're after a clean sound instead then tube amps that achieve it are much more expensive then their solid state counterparts.

 

I guess what I should ask at this stage is what sort of sound are you looking for?  That will influence all your choices here.

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post #8 of 11
1/12/12 at 9:12pm
Thread Starter 

I'm looking for just a rich and clean as possible sound.

 

I was looking at the yulong d100 simply because i could use the xlr out's on the dac to send signal to my krk's becasue they are a powered reference monitor and don't need the amp and then use the amp to power my headphones.

 

I have no special reason to get a tube amp, was just wondering if it would be in the budget or not and worth the extra money....

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post #9 of 11
1/12/12 at 10:34pm

Hmm...A rich sound.  That would probably rule out the HD800 unless you wanted to get a serious tube amp and go crazy trying out different tubes.

 

The Audeze LCD-2  is a good bet for that.  It has solid bass and a rich midrange with detailed but subdued treble.  I've read that the HiFiMan HE-500 fits the bill as well but I haven't heard it myself.

 

I don't know much about the Yulong I'm not sure what to recommend for a DAC with XLR outputs off the top of my head.

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post #10 of 11
1/15/12 at 2:36am
Thread Starter 

Thanks for the input maverick, this has give me a good starting point.

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post #11 of 11
1/15/12 at 10:59am

Glad to help.  One more thing.

 

If you decide you want to go with a high end 'phone like the HD800 or LCD-2 you might want to look and see if there are any meets close enough for you can attend so you can hear something before you buy it.  If you can't do that you'll probably want to try and buy used or from a place with a generous return policy so you don't lose much beyond shipping fees if you end up not liking them.

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