[aamefford]

Quote:

 
...Have you considered jumping on the ortho bandwagon? 

 
Yes, in fact I have.  I haven't made the jump due to my amp being a Pico Slim, efficiency, impedance, cost(?) lack of knowledge.  With the Duet 2 (Yeah, it's for sale, but Currawong had it posted for a couple months, I think, and I'm not in a big hurry at the moment) I might consider jumping in.
 
Any recommendations for something non-vintage (to me, vintage always means not as good as current, and more likely to break and become a project), representative of the ortho sound, great with vocals and acoustic, good with classical and at least decent with rock, and about $200 +/- $50 new or used?

 

[Armaegis]

The only non-vintage ones that don't break the bank are the Fostex models.
 
There are a couple modded options available somewhat commercially, such as the MrSpeakers MadDog, LFF Paradox, Smeggy Thunderpants, Martin Custom Audio, KODA... and there's probably another couple that I can't remember. Of those, I think the MadDog might be the only one within your price range. If you want something more portable, you could also poke around and see if someone would be willing to do a transplant into a more suitable frame. It's not *that* hard to do (I've done a few myself), but with a new frame comes the unknown of how it'll sound and then relying on the modder's experience. 
 
All orthos are generally quite inefficient though. I have my own modded T50rp's and they generally sound best from a receiver, though my FiiO e10 does a pretty good job actually. A PicoSlim really wouldn't be enough to drive an ortho however. 
 
Some of the vintage stuff sounds really good. I actually have a super rare Fostex T10 which is portable and can be driven reasonably well from my Sansa Fuze and sounds excellent (better than the stock  modern T50rp in my opinion). If I didn't already have it pending trade to someone else, I'd offer it to you. 

 

[aamefford]

Great, now I want a pair of $299 Mad Dogs, because I really just don't want to mod my own...  Luckily, He's closed until September 4, so I'll talk myself out of needing a pair.  Or not.  Anybody want to buy my DT1350's?

 

[Armaegis]

I'll trade you my modded pair of T50rp's

 

[aamefford]

Quote:

I'll trade you my modded pair of T50rp's

Hmmmmmmmm....  Switch to PM's for the rest of this conversation

 

[aamefford]

Well, my foray into orthos will be another day.  I have a pair of DT770 Premium 600 ohm phones on the way.  I will update here when they arrive and I get a little time with them.  In theory, they should do nicely for me.
 
If I like them will enough, I'll probably move the DT1350's along to help pay for some of my goodies.  An Apogee Duet 2, Sony PCM-M10 digital stereo recorder, 2 sets of Church Audio mics + preamp, the DT770's.  I need to start recovering my fun fund a bit!

 

[aamefford]

Apogee Duet 2 and a pair of DT 770 600's - this part of my rig is barely portable...

 

[Armaegis]

Time to start investing in an appropriate man-bag (I prefer the term "satchel" myself) to sling your gear around. 
 
About a year ago I had this ridiculous idea to build an M3 into a suitcase and power it off an Energizer XP18000. I've got the parts for the amp actually, as well as an unfinished b22 sitting on the workbench. I suppose the idea can work with any desktop amp that takes a DC supply within working range of the Energizer.
 
Laptop, external battery, usb dac, powerful amp, headphones, all nestled neatly into a suitcase. Hmmm, now I'm thinking about it again... 

 

[aamefford]

Quote:

Time to start investing in an appropriate man-bag (I prefer the term "satchel" myself) to sling your gear around. 
 
About a year ago I had this ridiculous idea to build an M3 into a suitcase and power it off an Energizer XP18000. I've got the parts for the amp actually, as well as an unfinished b22 sitting on the workbench. I suppose the idea can work with any desktop amp that takes a DC supply within working range of the Energizer.
 
Laptop, external battery, usb dac, powerful amp, headphones, all nestled neatly into a suitcase. Hmmm, now I'm thinking about it again... 

 
Now that is plain outrageous!  I'm not sure whether to be concerned, proud of you, or envious of the idea...
 
Man-bag - I have one of these - bought it used on eBay when I had my 15" macbook pro.  I've downsized to an 11" macbook air, and upsized all the stuff I carry around - power adapter, DT1350, ipod touch and pico slim, 1964 ears quads, Apogee Duet 2, sony PCM-M10, mics and preamp.  I never touch the stuff - I just seem to carry it around in hopes I'll get a quick break at work that will let me play with one of my toys...

 

[Armaegis]

You call that a man-bag? This is a man-bag... 

edit: or this
 
In my bag I've got... laptop and power brick, Pioneer HDJ-2000, V-Sonic GR07, Nuforce NE-770X, Sansa Fuze, NI Traktor 2 (a proaudio interface with 4 channel output), Nuforce Cube (dac, amp, and speaker), and I used to carry the iBasso D10 as well though I never used it. And seriously, when I'm on the go I pretty much just use an iem with my Fuze. If I'm sitting in my lab I used to break out whatever usb dac/amp I had with me and plugged in my Pioneers, but nowadays I cart around the Cube since it's sort of an all-in-one that does a pretty good job. 
 
In the Stepdance thread there's a guy with a big bag carrying around a Sony M10 (or maybe a different model), I forget the dac he uses, the Stepdance, hooked into the XP8000 with a 15V regulator, and I think it's the LCD-2. Crazy!

 

[aamefford]

Nice bag - mine's bigger, though yours looks great!

And looking at what we carry, I think perhaps we just ain't quite right. Not as bad as that other guy though. HE'S got a problem...

Personally, I could quit any time. I just don't want to...

 

[Armaegis]

Oh I wish I had a bag like that (though leather is so heavy). 
 
I've been intrigued by that Dragonfly dac/amp that seems to be generating a lot of buzz (not pun intended) lately. Seems like a mighty fine portable solution. 

 

[aamefford]

The Saddlebag stuff is nice!  Pricey, though.

 

[lee730]

Enjoying my MDR-7550s . Thought I banned Sony (EX1000 nightmare). Guess I let them back in lol.
 

 

[aamefford]

The DT 770 / 600's arrived today, I got a couple hours with them at work.  My impressions so far:
 
Comfortable!
 
Nice bass extension, but not boomy.  Airy but a bit dry highs, mids much more up front than my D7000's.  Lacks a bit of refinement compared to the D7000, and sounds a bit well, more closed in, yet the sound stage seems a bit better.  So far, I am enjoying them.  I'll need a bit of time to decide if they are keepers.  They might be, just for the comfort, and the fact that they sound really quite good.
 
I listened to them out of the Apogee Duet2, and it was really a nice pairing.  The Duet2 is better than the Duet firewire, and really deserves to reclaim it's cult status around head-fi.  It is quite good.  That said, it is also kinda big and heavy, so it may not stay with me.
 
Surprise, surprise!  The DT 770 / 600's have a mini plug, with screw on 1/4" adapter.  Curiosity got the best of me, and I plugged it into my iPod Touch / Pico Slim combo, wondering if it would even get to a moderate volume.  It actually got more than loud enough around 1 to 2 o'clock, and would go to well past my comfort range easily.  It didn't sound as solid as the Duet2 did, but it was surprisingly not bad at all.  Good enough, in fact, that my DT1350's will go up for sale a bit more aggressively as soon as I get some photos of them for the FS post.
 
Who'd a thunk it?  DT 770 / 600's and a Pico Slim are nicely listenable!  The little Pico Slim never ceases to amaze me.  It is getting to where it may be the only piece of kit I don't sell off in exchange for a new flavor.