Ironically, if Apple purchased a quality headphone company, a lot more people would purchase those phones and learn just how much better sound can be. Apple has been a great force behind quality and good design. That is why a Beats deal would be so awful. IMHO, of course.

I wonder if the price being mentioned isn't just a teensy weensie bit high for all the talent and products at Beat put together. That whooshing noise is the sound of the average IQ of Apple's target customer plummeting. There might be enough bass in the sound that you might be able to hear it on...

As a serious Apple user, and long time shareholder, I am so distressed by this acquisition that I was motivated to post after having been inactive on Head-Fi for about 6 years. Hi Friends, I'm back.   Apple is paying too much for too little. Apple has made money with style, but it was almost...

Quote: Originally Posted by event I'm looking to purchase a DAC to go from my Macbook Pro's optical out. Will I notice an increase in audio quality? The headphones will be Grado SR-80s I notice a difference going through a DAC with almost any decent phones. I run from that out...

The optical out on the MacBook Pro is the same jack as the headphone out. IF you use a toslink cable with a mini jack on one end (or buy a regular toslink to mini toslink converter at the apple store, or many audio supply sources) then the macbook outputs optical digital instead of analog audio...

I purchased this amp along with my Omega 2s. It has inputs for both Balanced XLR and single ended RCA plugs (as well as RCA passthrough outs). There is a switch on the back plate to switch between balanced and RCA. Problem: the manual says don't connect XLR and RCA cables at the same time...

Quote: Originally Posted by tomb P.S. I agree with Ruppin up there about a couple of these posts. However, it was interesting enough to mention it at the time 47st was in business. The explanation was always forthcoming when you tried to find out why they wouldn't answer the phone on...

B&H is excellent to deal with. I buy almost all of my photo equipment there. My headphone purchases there were just a drop in the bucket dollarwise, but they were handled flawlessly. They deal with a number of professionals. I don't know if they have a "satisfaction guaranteed" for 30 day...

I have been breaking in a new pair of O2s with a STAX 727 SS amp. My experience with the E-1 is limited, but very positive, but the price of the Singlepower is much greater. So far, I'm very happy with the 727. My only gripe is source selection between balanced and unbalanced imputs (must...

OK, good luck. If you are going portable, though, why not the shure E-500. With the mic pick up, they're convenient, portable, and sound wonderful. Last suggestion.

Actually, I figure that 555s are no problem unamped for either an iPod or a MacBook. Still, Grado 60s are fine, as are any IEC. Any portable amp from Ray Samuals or HeadRoom will do the job just fine. But, if you want great, use uncompressed music, buy a micro DAC from HeadRoom, and the...

Quote: Originally Posted by saint.panda I don't have one at home for comparisons but I should be able to find one at the shops. Do yo think the HF1 would be a good choice as well? Hard for me to answer this, because your tastes seem to be happy where I think "not enough power"...

I asked this question as post number 60 something on another thread. I figured that I might have a better chance of getting an answer in a new thread. Question. If I were to buy an Esoteric SA-60, would I still want to run through an external DAC to play Redbood CDs, or at some level, will...

I use macs, including a macbook pro. I have tried a number of configurations, but believe that the following are fair statements: 1) Unamped, a macbook pro is no better/worse/different than an iPod. IEMs are fine. Grado 60s, Senn HD555 will be OK. I'm sure that there are other headphones that...

Question. If I were to buy an Esoteric SA-60, would I still want to run through an external DAC to play Redbood CDs, or at some level, will the DAC on a high end multi format player be excellent (say as good as a Benchmark DAC1 or a BelCanto DAC-3)? How would the SA-60 stack up against a...