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muppetface said:

 
 
The whole point of getting a DX100 is that it's an all-in-one solution, hence it being the size of a brick. Why would you get an additional amp? The external one suffices. However even if you wanted an external amp, $800 for a portable amp is ridiculous. The Leckerton UHA-6S is $350 and you'd be hard pressed to see huge gains over its performance without sacrificing portability. You've also listed the most expensive CIEMs around. The UERM is still summit-fi grade and costs under a grand. The JH16 Pro Freq-Phase is around $1300. The FitEar TO GO! 334, one of the best universals ever made, is $1300. A reference 8 cable? Unnecessary. Stuff from BTG is much less and just as good I bet.
 
So here's my more reasonable take:
 
Sony F806 Player: $300
Leckerton UHA-6S: $350
FitEar TO GO! 334 or JH16Pro Freq-Phase + shipping and audiologist costs: $1300
 
Which comes out to under $2000 and is most definitely summit-fi.

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I was just making what could be the most expensive rig, not really logical. I would be pretty happy using the PP6 out of my phone or the PRM or the 335DW (which my only gripe against it is being sold only on Japan). In fact I decided to jump the around 1k step and go for the best cIEM available, but they make my wallet cry, lol. 

I keep eyeballing the Sony F players. I know my Studio *probably* sounds better, but hiss free sound combined with a UI that doesn't suck makes me drool.
 
EDIT: I would have bought one already if it had MicroSD support too.

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kevinwolf said:

I was just making what could be the most expensive rig, not really logical. I would be pretty happy using the PP6 out of my phone or the PRM or the 335DW (which my only gripe against it is being sold only on Japan). In fact I decided to jump the around 1k step and go for the best cIEM available, but they make my wallet cry, lol. 

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The point of this pointless exercise, in my mind, is to see how much you can spend on a plausible portable system. 
 
Attaching a third-party amp to a DX100 violates the spirit of it -- the DAP is already designed with high quality DAC and amp stages, so you're doing what amounts to chaining a headphone amp to a headphone amp...
 
So, given the discrete stages of a portable system (Source -> signal conversion* -> amplifier -> transducer), what are the highest price points you can get within the realm of currently-manufactured equipment -- which excludes out-of-production collectibles or saying that you'll just pay somebody $10,000 to build a one-off headphone amp).
 
Real-world considerations like synergy between components, usability and desirability can be thrown out the window. Strip the argument down to brands and dollar signs. Shop for an idiot who only wants to impress other idiots.
 
(*If you can make a good case for using a portable phonograph or reel-to-reel tape as the source, this would be a RIAA preamp, not a DAC!)

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muppetface said:

 
 
Apparently the cups aren't matte black as in JVC's renders, but rather a dark red wine color? They look lacquered. TH900 on the left, DX2000 on the right.

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I'm going to guess a black lacquer. Photoshop's eyedropper tool says that the cups are pretty much black -> dark grey, and color emphases are basically whatever's being reflected off nearby light sources (red to the left, blue-green from above (the flourescent or halogen lights), brown from below).

If I had an unlimited budget for a portable rig, well rigs:
 
 
Rig 1:
 
Heir Audio 8.A
Tera Player
 
Rig 2:
 
UEPRM
DX100
 
Rig 3:
 
UERM (for monitoring purposes)
RWAK100
 
 
yup, that would pretty much be it. And you know what? If I had any one of those three, I'd probably never come back here. A fantasy add would be a Hisound Studio with no hiss and a nice UI. THAT, ladies and gents, would make my day.

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eke2k6 said:

The bestest thing ever just happened to me. 
 
I was in a pawn shop trying to sell an old watch, when I spotted a lonely Beyer DT880 in a corner display. It was kinda dirty, and the pads were lifeless, but all it needed was a good cleaning.
 
An hour later, I have $225 in my pocket, plus a new pair of awesome headphones!

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Forgot to mention that  paid $45 for them.

ardgedee said:

The point of this pointless exercise, in my mind, is to see how much you can spend on a plausible portable system. 

Attaching a third-party amp to a DX100 violates the spirit of it -- the DAP is already designed with high quality DAC and amp stages, so you're doing what amounts to chaining a headphone amp to a headphone amp...

So, given the discrete stages of a portable system (Source -> signal conversion* -> amplifier -> transducer), what are the highest price points you can get within the realm of currently-manufactured equipment -- which excludes out-of-production collectibles or saying that you'll just pay somebody $10,000 to build a one-off headphone amp).

Real-world considerations like synergy between components, usability and desirability can be thrown out the window. Strip the argument down to brands and dollar signs. Shop for an idiot who only wants to impress other idiots.

(*If you can make a good case for using a portable phonograph or reel-to-reel tape as the source, this would be a RIAA preamp, not a DAC!)

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But what about impedance matching?

Eke, the DT880's are a nice set of 'phones. Good all-arounders.

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333jeffery said:

Eke, the DT880's are a nice set of 'phones. Good all-arounders.

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Yup! I just cleaned them, washed the pads, and now I'm listening to some of my favorite tunes. They're pretty damn good. Needless to say, I feel like I stole them. They almost look brand new.

My NAD M51 came in earlier, but I only got to listen to it for a few minutes before our new roommate arrived and I had to help him move stuff in.

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drez said:

But what about impedance matching?

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ardgedee said:

Real-world considerations like synergy between components, usability and desirability can be thrown out the window.

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So what about it? 

for some reason lacquer gives me the impression of some uber premium finish... think of liquor at the same time which also sounds expensive...

ardgedee said:

So what about it? 

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Output impedance can affect frequency response on multi driver iems with crossovers.

Just insure your amp is under 1 ohm and you should be fine .
 

If you're worried about technical performance you're going about it wrong. Think of expensive things to plug into each other and don't pay attention to how well they match.