1st post, be gentle :) Fuze + Total Bithead + ? / Introduction (come in say hi)

[Gkeuler]

First off, wow. Im angry with myself for never doing the proper research and feelin a bit cheated for just shopping at the box stores for so long.
Recently had my rig stolen from my car (apple lossless/80gb 5thgen ipod + shure se110) Once the anger had passed I realized that I finnally get to upgrade my 2 year old DAP, so its not all bad. After a little prying found the forum and after a couple days of lurking I'm gonna try to dive in. ( I post around [H]ocp/tomshardware, and don't want to come off like the first time posters there but sometimes theirs no way around it)


Im looking to make a semi-portable rig that takes advantage of a amp, but since Im such a noob with the likes of Impedance and mini2mini I was looking for a little advice. Im thinking of going with a Sansa Fuze + total bithead and was looking at the HD25-1 II or ATH-ES7 would either of those really benefit from the amp? Would love a little education or another recommendation in that price range ( 100-250$). Ill keep this short but would love to pm somebody with some more specific questions

-thanks alot

Standby rig till I get my new one, pity me

 

[LingLing1337]

First off, welcome, and sorry about your wallet!

Second, I too have a fuze, and if there's one thing I'd say about portables, it'd be "keep it simple!" We don't need amazing audio quality on the go, but very good audio quality is a bonus! That's why I bought the Head-Direct RE2 IEM's- they're reasonably priced and compliment the Fuze very well- and here's the kicker- they come with a FiiO E3, which improves bass greatly, with improvements in clarity, detail, and soundstage as well. I feel that, for $80, this is one of the best audio purchases I have ever made (besides my music of course!)

Good luck, and remember the age-old rule of KISS.

 

[Gkeuler]

thanks for the reply, I love the vibe on this forum.

I was looking at the fiio, those little things are cool, since when do ace upgrades for electronics come so frugal. I was thinking about the bithead because I figure I could use it on my next DAP aswell.

and as for keeping it simple! I wish I could, but the devil on my shoulder's tellin me otherwise

. I play poker for a good part of my income right now, so Im spending a good amount of time at the tables. My rig was my most valuable possession, I dont want to overboard in my first dive into the world of the audiophile, but Im thinkin 85 for the fuze, 99 for the amp which hopefully will last till my next DAP and then a nice open ear or closed ear set of cans for use at the tables and for my 360. the fuze is the only thing I probably dont intend to use for the next 2 years of so. (unless the quality blows me away, which is kinda what I want)

-thanks
-ps. can anyone post a link to a good set of articles to get educated on all of this

 

[Covenant]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gkeuler /img/forum/go_quote.gif -thanks -ps. can anyone post a link to a good set of articles to get educated on all of this

By 'all of this', you mean audiophile sound in general, or portable sound in specific?

Mostly, its about eliminating the weakest link in your chain. The first thing to look into is the quality of your music. Ripping everything to a lossless format, such as FLAC or Apple Lossless is the best bet. If your device doesnt support any lossless formats, then at least go for 320kbs LAME mp3's.

Next step is typically your headphones. Some people argue "source first" in terms of upgrades, but the biggest bang for buck you'll get early on (after ensuring your music is reripped properly) is a new pair of headphones. Grado SR60 and the Koss KSC-75 tend to be the hardest-hitters in the budget arena, and have a very high price/performance ratio, which make them good starter 'phones.

Then, you look at source and amp upgrades. The order that you upgrade them is really dependant on the headphones you're using/planning to use. Some require good amplification to sound their best - typically those with high impedance (a rating in Ohms, found on the tech spec sheets for most headphones. greater than 100ohms typically means an amp is reccomended). Very sensitive headphones, such as most IEMs would benefit more from a source upgrade.

Once you've got good music, good headphones, a good source and amp, the last thing you look at is cabling. Specifically the interconnect between your source and amp (and to a lesser degree, your headphone cable). Its always a topic of debate as to whether cable upgrades really make a difference - my stance is that they do, but it tends to be a marginal amount, that last 5% performance.

Welcome to head-fi, sorry about your wallet