Getting a dac is not absolutely necessary.  It's just that many people find that a dac improves the sound, most likely due the better chipset used in the dac compared to the stock sound card. It just depends on how much you want to improve the sound.

I figure that a lot of people were buying Sol Republic headphones only because Michal Phelps used them.  In one of the later races, they had to cover the logo on the headphones probably because of restrictions on wearing company logos in the Olympics.  Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if Phelps was...

Have any of you gone through odd situations to get gear (audio or otherwise)?  A few years ago, I wanted to get a Shure srh 440.  I knew that I could get one online, but I wanted to get it faster.  I had seen one at an Inmotion store at the airport, where you can rent movies for a flight along...

Quote: You may want to try the Little dot mk VII+.  With this amp, the bass seems to just go down forever, although the bass does get a bit too abundant at times.  I'm currently getting the balanced cable for the lcd2 in hopes that it will tighten up the bass and bring the sound a bit...

I've had the LCD-2 rev.2 for about a week and my impressions are positive, with some reservations.  I can say that they are definitely warm sounding, with great pace and energy.  They work the best with rock and electonica.  They also have the best "drop bass" that I have heard on any...

It seems like no one else has responded, do I'll put in my .02. As far as closed studio monitors go, the Shure srh440 and the srh840 are pretty good. Both headphones tend to lean towards the warm side, although the 440 is the balanced of the two. I have the 440 and I use it in portable...

I really can't see any problems with having a tube amp, which run not much hotter than some incandescent lamps. There could be problems if you have a large amp that uses a cluster of tubes. Just as a precaution, I would just keep anything really flammable (gasoline, vodka) away from the amp.

I've been looking at the Little Dot mk VII, seeing as it's the cheapest balanced amp I've seen so far. There's a slight problem. It has a single-ended 4-pin xlr for the balanced out. I have a Senn hd650 and the only balanced cables I've seen for them are double-ended 3 pin. Is there someplace...

I've been stopped for some of my audio equipment before, namely my portable amps. All they really did was run a swab on the equipment and tested it for possible explosive or chemical residue. It didn't take more than a minute.

Out of curiosity, I tried using my ue-3 with the Little Dot mk III. Considering that the mk III was meant for high-impedance headphones, I used the attenuator that came with the ue3. I was quite impressed with the results. There is a adequate amount of bass, although not as much as a full-sized...

I did some googling around, and it appears that most of the effect filters are for music production on the computer. As far as I can tell, there isn't a device that you add between your cd player and your amp.

1.Akg K701 (If paired with a beefy amp) 2.Senn 650 3. Sony mdr700

Had mt first honest drink of alcohol at 22. I was at a Japanese restaurant and thought, "Hey, why not have some sake with my udon?". It was a small serving, maybe 8 oz. but I definitely got a little tipsy. Now I drink maybe once or twice a week and developed a liking for Guinness stout

Some of us know that some in th anime fandom also have a thing for headphones, as in the collection of girls wearing various kinds of headphones. Now I have my own first confirmed sighting of a pair of AKG K701 in an anime. This is in an anime called "Ghost Hound", ep. 15 at 15:31. Although...

Right now, I have about six anime that I watch on a regular basis, but each one has something other than moe piled upon moe, so that keeps me from burning out. There will be other times where I'm watching something completely different, like catching up with Top Gear or Heros.