[anthemeral]

I started my audiophile journey with full sized speakers that i just dont get chance to use much(gf complains) so now, with limited funds i want to get some good headphones

the two ive been looking at are shure srh840
and senn hd650
the main attraction for me being that they have detachable cables

I have a laptop with onboard audio using foobar2k and asio and flac files

i realise the hd650 need an amp and that shures are complimented by an amp
so im wondering which i should go with

an ibasso d10 amp/dac and hd650s - cost is 500 pounds uk
ibasso d10 and shures cost is 440 pounds uk
or a cambridge audio dacmagic and shure srh840 cost is 370 pounds uk

what differences in sound quality would there be between these choices
and which is better suited to use with a pc

is there a better alternative

thanks if anyone can help

 

[Ninkul]

You know you're going to need an amp as well if you go down the DACMagic route? The D10 can't really drive the HD650s well, full-sized cans + portable amps = no in most cases. Some easy-to drive cans are okay with portables but HD650s are one of those hard to drive cans. Don't get me wrong, the D10 is a very good portable amp but.. for the price, you can do a lot better for an at-home system.

But you know.. if you get a DAC Magic you need an amp too?

I'm going to assume you have a receiver, you're keeping it and you're going to be using it near your computer since you have a speaker setup. You can use that as a DAC. Depending on what you have, they're fairly decent most of the time, better than a cheap DAC.

Get a USB -> Optical connector and get that going to your receiver then get take the line-out from your receiver and put it into a headamp.

 

[anthemeral]

i have a harmon kardon avreceiver, i had heard that the headphone outs usually are lacking but i had no idea about dacs

no i didnt realise that dacmagic needed an amp,(duh lol)

i didnt know usb to opticals existed lol, thought i would have to use the headphone to rca option

..so a usb optical from laptop to avr, then a headphone amp in the avr

that will give good results?

perhaps a graham slee novo with wither the shures or senns, what do you reckon...thanks

 

[anthemeral]

ive been looking around for a usb to optical converter and in the uk the only one available seems to be the behringer u-control at 32 pounds(then a optical cable needed)

it has its own dac, but the idea is to use the av receivers dac isn't it?

is this what i should get? or is there a better alternative
considering that i want good sound, not just a convenient way to connect to my avr
as i would only be using headphones for music and not the speakers in the avr

is there a good non portable dac amp out there that will just plug into the usb of my pc
?

all this confusion over flac

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Buy the 650s and plug them into the HK's headphone out. It will sound great. Listen for awhile. When you get the itch (or some extra) money, you may want to try out DACs and amps. Using your HK as a reference, only buy or order from companies with liberal return policies, AB/X the new gear against the HK and send it back if it doesn't pull its weight.

P

 

[PowerPaul86]

Quote:

Originally Posted by anthemeral /img/forum/go_quote.gif ive been looking around for a usb to optical converter and in the uk the only one available seems to be the behringer u-control at 32 pounds(then a optical cable needed) it has its own dac, but the idea is to use the av receivers dac isn't it? is this what i should get? or is there a better alternative considering that i want good sound, not just a convenient way to connect to my avr as i would only be using headphones for music and not the speakers in the avr

The Behringer u-control hast its own DAC, true, but you won't be using it, because you connect the Behringer via an optical cable to your receiver and thereby completely circumventing the Behringer DAC.

As for a good AMP/DAC all-in-one solution be sure to check out the Compass from audio-dg (around 300$) or the cheaper solution the Head-direct.com HiFiMan EF2 around 200$.

As for myself, I am waiting for my Compass to arrive, although I got told that when you are spending less than 400$ to drive the HD650s you should consider a headphone downgrade to a more easily (read cheaper) drivable headphone.

 

[Gbjerke]

HD 600
Ef2
Compass

 

[Ninkul]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phelonious Ponk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Buy the 650s and plug them into the HK's headphone out. It will sound great. Listen for awhile. When you get the itch (or some extra) money, you may want to try out DACs and amps. Using your HK as a reference, only buy or order from companies with liberal return policies, AB/X the new gear against the HK and send it back if it doesn't pull its weight. P

Yeah thats true too. You may find your receiver good enough

. You'll be spending a lot for potentially not much difference (to you) lol

 

[anthemeral]

i live in uk and havent been able to find anything other than cambridge audio dac and graham slee/ibasso amps

would connecting the laptop usb to behringer u control then optical to avr, and then using the hk avrs headphone out be a good idea until i have more funds to upgrade