Then I'd imagine next year would be very exciting for you; doing research on various equipment and shopping for parts. I heard many good things about the LCD-3, but I know very little about them (since they weren't available when I got my HD800 in 2010). Anyhow, good luck on your journey!

  9 ~ 12 months is actually not that long, if I were you, I'd start planning for that system. BTW, if you don't mind me asking, going from HD650 to LCD-3 (along with an amp & a DAC) is a pretty significant jump, are you very certain that LCD-3 is the one you want?

i7-3770k ASUS Maximus V Gene Vengeance LP 16GB DDR3-1600 (2 x 8GB) EVGA GTX 680 SC Signature Samsung 840 Pro 256GB + WD Scorpio Black 750 GB Corsair AX750 Silverstone FT03 Titanium   Might flip that 680 for an Maxwell next year, we'll see.

IMO, the best course of action is to get an external DAC and a dedicated headphone AMP. I sort of went through the same process a few years back, and I been happy with my decision. BTW, what equipment(s) are you using at the moment?

That depends on your budget, and your material source (lossless? lossy?)

  Quote:   You could get a Ducky Shine keyboard, budget permitting of course.

Looks like a Samsung to me, possibly the B2430H.

Quote:   That depends on your needs. If you're not a hardcore gamer, you could make your computer near-silent with a good case and a few good fans (ie. Noctua).

Mp3tag and TagScanner are both very good.

DJ Project - Mi-E Dor De Noi  

Do you need a headphone-only carrying case? Or would a messenger bag be okay?

  Quote:   Very nice setup, kudos to you.

Quote:     That's a lot of music... My music collection is only a modest 300 GB,

  Quote:   Heh, a lot of terms lose their meaning over time. You mentioned that you consider EMM, Zanden, dCS, & Esoteric to be highend and Bel Canto isn't. Well, that's what a 458 is like when it compares to a Bugatti Veyron.