[stephentaylor]

Hi All,
 
I recently won some Audio Technica ATH W1000x headphones in a competition and having failed to sell them (exchange rates made it impossible to get a decent amount for them), I have decided to keep them.
 
However, I have two issues now...
 
1. Does anyone know of any good cases for storing the headphones when not in use?
 
I'd like something better than the packaging they came in and Audio Technica don't seem to make anything specifically for them.
 
2. Would it be worthwhile investing in a headphone amp?
 
I only have a Denon DM37 Micro System which I know is probably not ideal for good headphones, plus I think it suffers from a buzz on the headphone socket which I think has been reported by quite a few others on various forums. I don't want to spend a fortune but at the same time I don't want to buy something that offers no improvement on the Denon itself. Also, I had wondered if it would be possible to get something that would also plug into a macbook for listening to itunes as well?
 
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks

 

[stephentaylor]

Any ideas?

 

[pekingduck]

For storage try the beyerdynamic headphone carrying case..
 
http://asia-pacific-india.beyerdynamic.com/shop/hah/accessories/dt-bag.html

 

[stephentaylor]

Thanks, I had a look at the link but I think the case might be a little small.
 
The only other thing I have seen suggested elsewhere is a Pelican case with the foam in where you then create the shape yourself...

 

[TheMiddleSky]

For storage, get the Hippocase Large at Jaben, I've seen that case is good for W1000x
 
For amp, I think tube amp will be nice, to tame the treble and adding body to midrange.

 

[stephentaylor]

Thanks, I just tryed googling Hippocase Large at Jaben - it came up with some sort of blog site? is that right?
 
Would I be able to plug a tube amp into a microsystem? are they expensive?
 
As you might have guessed I have no clue on these things...was thinking about something like the Project Headbox 2 - only because I saw it got a good review on the What Hifi website really and is reasonably cheap

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Quote:

Thanks, I just tryed googling Hippocase Large at Jaben - it came up with some sort of blog site? is that right?
 

 
This: http://jaben.net/shopping/product_info.php?products_id=65
 

 

[AppleheadMay]

For the price of the Project you could get a Little Dot Mk 3 or 4 I think, and these are definitely superior, I owned the Pro-Ject as well as the Little Dot 3 and found the former worth half it's price and the latter worth double to give you an idea of what to expect.

Your W1000X isn't that hard to drive, so you can consider a portable amp as well.
I have been using the W1000X with the iCube v1 and do still find it a great match.
There is also an iCube v2 with built in DAC if I remember correctly which could suit your needs even better.

Little Dot has separate DAC's which aren't too pricey. This could be an upgrade path for your system later on, your W1000X is a great can and certainly worth some decent gear. So yes, it's certainly worth investing in an amp, with a few exceptions headphone sockets from amps and receivers etc. are pretty much worthless SQ-wise. Both amp and/or DAC's can be used on both your Denon and Mac with the right cables, provided your Denon does have some kind of digital output, else the DAC wouldn't work with it.

 

[stephentaylor]

Thanks a lot for the link and the advice!
 
That Hippocase looks ideal - do you know if its one where you take the foam out yourself to fit the headphones or if the holes are pre-made?
 
Have been looking at the Little Dot Mk IV on the Little Dot website and also on ebay, am seriously tempted by that - I had never really considered a tube amp because I didn't know if you would need a really good cd player to make the most of them but if you think the Denon DM37 (which I have) is good enough then I will seriously considering purchasing one.

 

[AppleheadMay]

Well, your source is what it is and not much we can do to change that except for buying something new, which I don't consider a priority in your case.
I don't believe there is any reason why you would need a better source with a tube amp than with a solid state amp. That said, the better the source the better the sound will be of course, but that will be the same for tube amps as well as solid state amps. I don't think you have to worry with the LD amps, the worries for a better source would become real when going to real high end stuff that can be really revealing of both details and flaws.
I think your primary problem right now is the amp. You have a source that will do for now and you have great cans. It's the amp in the middle that you're missing. In my opinion and considering what I believe to be your budget I think the LD3 or 4 will amaze you. I can't speak about the SS LD amps though, never heard one so I have no idea about their quality. Besides, if you've never heard tubes you just might be in a for nice surprise.
Check out the second hand forums here on Head-Fi if you want to save some extra cash, they pop up regularly and you could always post a "want to buy". I myself would rather buy here than on eBay. If the new price is ok for you you can buy a new one as well of course.
 
I checked out the Denon DM37. It has an analog out so it will work with an amp. The USB connector is just an input though, so you can't connect it to an external DAC.
Your MacBook will work with a DAC of course. Why don't you just rip all your CD's to your Mac ansd play from there with an amp, with or without an external DAC? And connect your Denon to an Airport Express (if it's far away from your computer, else a cable will do fine) to stream music to it for listening with speakers? I don't think much will change SQ wise, ti might even improve. Just make sure you rip in Apple Lossless, AIFF or WAV. (or FLAC depending on the player you use on your computer)

 

[stephentaylor]

Thanks a lot for all the help AppleheadMay, its really kind of you to take the trouble to look at the outputs on the Denon for me - I was assuming that I just needed to connect the amp via the red and white audio cables as that is what the connections seemed to be on the back of the Little Dot Tube amplifiers, I think thats right?
 
I have all my cds already copied into itunes, in whatever the standard setting it - AAC I think? Is that compressed and therefore lower quality?
 
I was thinking of just plugging the amp into the denon if I get one and maybe worry about a DAC later as I have all my music on the original cds which I presume would be better or just as good as if I was to listen from my macbook in lossless format? (otherwise I am confused)
 
I didn't realise that I could connect my macbook to the denon either to be honest, thats certainly worth knowing. 
 
Thanks again for all the help and advise

 

[orkney]

First of all, congrats -- you've got one of the most musical cans around, not to mention the stunning looks and build Q. The W1000x is a quick, extended and detailed headphone with clear and slightly forward mids that benefits from a smooth amp, IMO, tube (transformer-coupled probably) or SS. PS Audio, Muscial Fidelity, Mapletree, HeadRoom, M^3, etc should all do well with them. A quick glance over the "appreciation" thread should suggest other options. Enjoy!
 
o

 

[AppleheadMay]

Hi Stephentaylor, you're welcome.
 
To sum up the connection options:
- Denon to headphone amp with RCA cable (red/white), which is what you said
- Mac to Denon with Mini-Jack to RCA cable (like a portable headphone plug to red/white)
- if the Denon is too far removed from the Mac you can send the music wirelessly from your Mac to an Airport Express and use that same cable to connect the Airport to the Denon
- Mac to headphone amp with a Mini-Jack to RCA cable
- Mac to DAC with an optical cable (your headphones out on the mac accepts both analog and optical digital cables) and then DAC to headphone amp with RCA cable
 
Concerning ripping:
Ripping lossless will give you CD quality.
AAC is a lossy format, the Apple equivalent of MP3. You can use more or less compression by altering the bitrate. The more compression you use the more info you lose and the worse the quality will be. 320kbps at 44.100 kHz is the maximum quality. Any idea what it is set to on your computer? You can see it in Preferences/General/Import Settings.
I use lossless. You have the choice of AIFF (Apple) or WAV which are both uncompressed and thus larger file sizes or Apple Losless which is the Apple version of FLAC, both losless compression methods which have the same quality as uncompressed but result in about half the file size. Apple Lossless is what I use for ripping CD's, AIFF I use for high resolution discs.
You can change the way iTunes rips in Preferences/General/Import Settings button. Just choose Apple Lossless there and all will be ripped that way from now on.
There is also third party software that is supposed to do a better job at ripping than iTunes. XLD is considered the best for the moment. You can find it here. If you want to use it you should rip with XLD and then import the files into iTunes. You still use iTunes for playback and organising your music.

 

[Ridleyguy]

Good advice AppleheadMay.  To the OP's statement about the price of the W1000X though, the Yen is very strong at the moment against the GBP, and so now would be a good time to sell them from an exchange rate perspective, i.e. there has been a roughly 10% rise in the value of the Yen in the past 120 days.  PriceJapan is a good site to track the pricing of the W1000X.

 

[MuppetFace]

My W1000x sounds pretty good coming out of the Asgard. You'd be hard pressed to find a better value for money in sub $500 amps.