[UmustBKidn]

Greetings everyone.
 
I've been lurking around the forums for a little while, and decided to dive into the discussion. I have looked around a bit to find a discussion that suited what I wanted to say, but couldn't quite find one. So I thought I'd be brave and start one. This is also my first post to this site. Please forgive any noobishness you may observe. I promise to improve.
 
It has been a long time since I've been able to spend any money on good audio gear (marriage, and especially divorce, has that effect). The last time I had good audio equipment was before we had the Internet, before I got married, and way, way before I had to think about someone else before I spent money.
 
My latest adventure with audio began at work. I'd been using an ipod and some cheezy headphones while I'm working for years. They come in handy especially in the lab, surrounded by computers with many fans. I managed to break a set of headphones I've had for the last 5-odd years, so I started looking for a new pair.
 
Through the miracle of the Internet, I started finding all of this wonderful gear. Things have changed. There are more headphones and amps to look at than donuts in a Krispy Kreme store. I became lost in a forest of circumaural, supra-aural, IEM, class A, class AB, solid state, tube type equipment, that has frankly made my bald head spin.
 
I recovered from this state of confusion by remembering that what I was looking for, was something I could use at work. Something that might get stolen. I don't want to truck my gear to work and home again every day. I want something I can leave there. So, it must be inexpensive, in case some evil troll decides to steal my stuff.
 
I'm also talking about an ipod nano as the source. Yes, I know this audio source leaves something to be desired. Perhaps a lot to be desired. But if someone steals it, it won't hurt too badly.
 
So I replaced the headphones first, with an Audio Technica ATH-M40FS. Yes, they are cheap, less than $50 bucks. But, they were comfortable, and seemed clean sounding. And if someone walks off with them, it won't hurt much. They were a huge improvement over what I had. But now, the weakness of the ipod was really showing up. I could hear it, but it was weak. Wimpy. It needed help.
 
Next I went to Amazon and promptly searched for headphone amp. Being a cheap old guy, I picked one of the cheapest amps I could find. A Fiio e6. It had 300+ reviews and 4 stars, how could I go wrong? Right? LOL. What I heard when I plugged it in was a joke. I had to pull it in and out of line a few times to make sure it was doing anything. It had barely any gain over a plain ipod, and the EQ was a joke.
 
No more fooling around. I wanted a nice little amp. After 5 years of listening to a bare ipod, I wanted more. It needs help. After much reading of this website and many others, my choices narrowed to 2: Schiit Magni, or Bravo Audio v2. Both are in the $100 or less category, which is what I was shooting for. I really really liked the looks of the Magni (especially the American made aspect), but I succumbed to the lure of the tube. And it was only $75 bucks, including shipping.
 
This past week, I got to plug that Bravo amp into the M40's. And my world got better. Oh my. I heard stuff from the music I had not heard before. It was like the old days, when I could pour cubic dollars into Good Audio Gear, and visit the mystical land of Beautiful Sound. At 50% on both the ipod and the amp, it sounds nice. Bump the ipod up to around 70% and I'm rockin my cube so bad, people are visiting me to find out what all the tapping on the desktop is for. LOL.
 
I realize that this setup is what most of you would term a starter rig, at best. I'm sure it's lacking. But, it's cheap, sounds pretty nice to me, and if someone steals it, I won't be out a ton of money.
 
Which brings me to my next dilemma. I have opened Pandora's box again, and she is calling to me. I want more. I want a nice setup at home now. Something better than the ipod, the Bravo, and the cheap AT's.
 
1) I want tubes. That much I am sure of. Schiit Valhalla is what I currently have my eyes set on. That may change, but $350-$400 is about what I want to spend on an amp.
 
2) I want a nice headset. Sennheiser or Beyerdynamic. Something in the approx. $400 range. I am not sure which yet.
 
3) The source is the biggest question. I have this crapton of ipod music. Yes, I know its lossy. I have discovered that I can upgrade the quality of some of it by subscribing to that Apple cloud service, but I don't know if that gets me to lossless. I haven't been able to figure that out. I may have to go buy new music. Fortunately I still have some older stuff on CD's, so I can rip those to lossless. But I am really confused about what to do for a music source at home. Do I get a CD player? Or do I use the computer? Is one better than the other? I see that I will need a DAC if I use the computer. I do not know what sort of budget I need. I have plenty of computers. I am lost.
 
I humbly solicit your recommendations. Thank you kindly for taking part of your day to read this.

 

[cucera]

Nice story. First of all, invest in a decent headphone. The standard recommandation and the best for their price are Sennheiser HD650/600 and Beyerdynamic DT880, read more about them. Then it would be a good idea to upgrade your library to 256 AAC or etven better ALAC. Your source and Amp is OK for this pricerange.

 

[adamlr]

i definitely think that upgrading your files is the top priority. yes, you can rip cds to lossless. whether or not you should is debatable. the differences between lossless and lossy are very much measurable, the question is if theyre audible. if you ask me, 320 kbps mp3 will more than suffice. i see no need to load up your digital space with extra large flac files, but many will disagree with me. if you search the forums youll be able to find endless debates about this subject. read up on the subject, do a couple of tests and decide for yourself. one thing is certain, and ill quote whoever it was that i saw say this the first time: "garbage in, garbage out". you can poor a million dollers into your setup, but no gear in the world will make bad quality files sound any good. infact, the better the gear, the more revealing it will be (well not always, but mostly), so better gear can actually make your music sound WORSE if your playing bad files.
it also has alot to do with the original recording. some recordings are just done wrong, and some recordings are superb. you naturally have no control over this, but keep it in mind.
 
as for your source and the budget youll need, that depends on alot of things. i for example, use a laptop that has a very bad soundcard/amp/both, i dont know which is the bad component, all i know is that the audio jack is VERY hissy. so i got an external dac, and naturally an external amp as well. external dacs can be had for as little as 45$ like this one and up to the tens of thousands. external amps are the same. cant help you with the tubes, i have no experience there.
if your using a desktop, you can get very good soundcards which i think come mostly with a pretty decent amp. things like this for ~30$ and things like this for ~150$. im confused as to whether or not you still intend for them to be cheap as a stay at work setup or if your expanding to home use aswell?
cd players arent my thing, all my library is digital, so cant help you there either. id imagine youll want to invest in a good cd player with a good onboard dac, or get a cheap one that offers a digital line out to be connected to an external dac of your choice, but thats just guesswork. cd vs. digital is also very debatable, my opinion is that its irrelevant, but again, many will disagree. as i said earlyer, read up on the subject, try it out for yourself, and make up your mind.
 
as for headphones, youll have to give more details. many many options are available in the 400$ price range. give some more details:
what music do you listen to, what signature (neutral, bassy, trebly, v shaped, etc.) are you looking for? depending on the amp you get, the range of relevant headphones will also change. do you need the headphones to be portable? will open back be alright or must they be closed back? on ear/ over ear/ in ear?
btw, many headphones are durable and portable, and can be carried around from home to work and back again with ease. many of them even come with a carrying case.
 
best advice i can offer to you is to take everything you read here with a healthy grain of salt. theres alot of misconceptions and misinformation running about. this forum is an excellent source of information, but it holds just as much nonsense too.
im not sure if this thread is in the right section btw...
 
hope i was helpful, good luck
 
cheers! 

 

[UmustBKidn]

cucera: Thanks for replying. The Beyerdynamics give a choice of 32, 250, or 600 ohm. Shall I presume the 600 ohm to be the best choice for audio quality? The Valhalla webpage says it can drive 600 ohm cans.
 

 

[UmustBKidn]

adam: Thanks for your detailed reply, I appreciate it! I agree, this post may be in the wrong spot, but I'm not sure where to put it.
 
This discussion is for a home setup, yet to be created. I've already created the work setup. The idea for the work setup was to get into the best budget setup I could get, just in case someone decided to walk off with something. I have not had a problem with thieves (yet), but I didn't want to tempt anyone by leaving expensive toys on my desk. The Bravo Audio V2 and the AT M40's beat the pants off what I had before. Fear of theft keeps me from investing more.
 
The only stuff I have yet for my home setup is a bunch of iTunes music, some old CD's, and computers. I have a set of gaming headphones (Razer Carcharias), but they're for gaming. I don't think of them as audiophile material. I haven't had a CD player in years, I just use my computers (both laptop and desktop, all reasonably new). The ipod nano is the most expensive piece; none of my other audio gear cost more than $50 each, hence my desire for something nice. That tube amp at work got me going! Now I want more.
 
I do not envision using an ipod at home for source material; I will use the computer (or buy a CD player). Perhaps both. My iTunes collection is about a thousand songs, I doubt I'm going to re-purchase that music. I'm hoping I can up-convert the quality somehow. Fortunately, I'm the kind of guy who can't listen to the same thing forever. Even though I'm in my mid 50s, I need new music from time to time. So, with better gear, I will buy new music here and there, and go lossless.
 
I primarily listen to "Rock" music, but I must qualify that: I enjoy darn near any group with at least two guitars and a drumset, and many types of additional instruments. That's a pretty wide range, lol. Aerosmith to Weezer, and everything in between. But I also have Dean Martin, Jonathan and Charlotte, Dan Gibson, Blue Man Group, Donald Fagen, Epica, Opeth, ELP, Genesis, Haggard, Imogen Heap, Joe Satriani, Korn, Oingo Boingo, Soundgarden, to give you an idea. Heck, I've worn out more albums than I can remember. I'm old enough to have purchased some of my music 3 times over: vinyl, CD, and digital. So yeah, I'll probably buy something over again.
 
I do see the need for a DAC, when using the computer. What quality DAC is a good question. To give an example I'm familiar with, consider the Schiit Modi ($100) or a Schiit Bifrost ($349). With my current music collection, if I don't upgrade the Apple music format, it appears I don't need anything more than a Modi. However, if I start ripping CDs to lossless and don't use the CD player, then I see the need for the Bifrost. But if I'm not mistaken, I think I could also just buy a nice CD player (instead of the Bifrost) and skip the computer entirely, for that source. So all I need is a switch to change my music source from computer to CD player.
 
Lastly for the headphone type, I'm not dead set on any particular brand. Given $400 bucks or so, what is going to make my type of music sound good on a Valhalla amp? It may be more relevant to consider that I'm in my mid 50's, so my upper end hearing range is not what it used to be. So something that boosts high end and midrange is probably a good idea. On the other hand, I could tell the quality difference on a cheap set of AT headphones and a $75 dollar tube amp, lol. So my hearing isn't quite shot yet. But I want a nice setup at home, before my hearing degrades to the point where it no longer matters.
 
Again, thank you all very much for your time and suggestions.

 

[adamlr]

Quote:

adam: Thanks for your detailed reply, I appreciate it! I agree, this post may be in the wrong spot, but I'm not sure where to put it.
 
This discussion is for a home setup, yet to be created. I've already created the work setup. The idea for the work setup was to get into the best budget setup I could get, just in case someone decided to walk off with something. I have not had a problem with thieves (yet), but I didn't want to tempt anyone by leaving expensive toys on my desk. The Bravo Audio V2 and the AT M40's beat the pants off what I had before. Fear of theft keeps me from investing more.
 
The only stuff I have yet for my home setup is a bunch of iTunes music, some old CD's, and computers. I have a set of gaming headphones (Razer Carcharias), but they're for gaming. I don't think of them as audiophile material. I haven't had a CD player in years, I just use my computers (both laptop and desktop, all reasonably new). The ipod nano is the most expensive piece; none of my other audio gear cost more than $50 each, hence my desire for something nice. That tube amp at work got me going! Now I want more.
 
I do not envision using an ipod at home for source material; I will use the computer (or buy a CD player). Perhaps both. My iTunes collection is about a thousand songs, I doubt I'm going to re-purchase that music. I'm hoping I can up-convert the quality somehow. Fortunately, I'm the kind of guy who can't listen to the same thing forever. Even though I'm in my mid 50s, I need new music from time to time. So, with better gear, I will buy new music here and there, and go lossless.
 
I primarily listen to "Rock" music, but I must qualify that: I enjoy darn near any group with at least two guitars and a drumset, and many types of additional instruments. That's a pretty wide range, lol. Aerosmith to Weezer, and everything in between. But I also have Dean Martin, Jonathan and Charlotte, Dan Gibson, Blue Man Group, Donald Fagen, Epica, Opeth, ELP, Genesis, Haggard, Imogen Heap, Joe Satriani, Korn, Oingo Boingo, Soundgarden, to give you an idea. Heck, I've worn out more albums than I can remember. I'm old enough to have purchased some of my music 3 times over: vinyl, CD, and digital. So yeah, I'll probably buy something over again.
 
I do see the need for a DAC, when using the computer. What quality DAC is a good question. To give an example I'm familiar with, consider the Schiit Modi ($100) or a Schiit Bifrost ($349). With my current music collection, if I don't upgrade the Apple music format, it appears I don't need anything more than a Modi. However, if I start ripping CDs to lossless and don't use the CD player, then I see the need for the Bifrost. But if I'm not mistaken, I think I could also just buy a nice CD player (instead of the Bifrost) and skip the computer entirely, for that source. So all I need is a switch to change my music source from computer to CD player.
 
Lastly for the headphone type, I'm not dead set on any particular brand. Given $400 bucks or so, what is going to make my type of music sound good on a Valhalla amp? It may be more relevant to consider that I'm in my mid 50's, so my upper end hearing range is not what it used to be. So something that boosts high end and midrange is probably a good idea. On the other hand, I could tell the quality difference on a cheap set of AT headphones and a $75 dollar tube amp, lol. So my hearing isn't quite shot yet. But I want a nice setup at home, before my hearing degrades to the point where it no longer matters.
 
Again, thank you all very much for your time and suggestions.

im writing from the computer at work, so sorry for any speling mistakes i may have.
 
id like to stress once more the importance of high quality (not necessarily lossless) files. that is the most important part of your audio chain imho. investing in that would yeild the highest return possible i think.
 
im afraid the world of cds is foreign to me, but im sure there are cd players with good onboard dacs. either way. i must admit that adding a dac to my setup was hardly a night and day difference. i think the differences that a dac introduces are highly over rated on this forum. coming from my onboard dac (on a laptop, so probably not the best of quality) to an Odac, the differences were subtle at best. i think investing in a good amp and a good pair of headphones are of higher importance - high quality files are paramount, and the dac should be your last concern. and i think many people would agree with me on this btw.
 
anyway, i listen to electronical music, so im not the best guy to give you headphone recommendations. try out the recommendation thread, im sure they will be able to help you. fwiw, the hifiman he-400 look interesting to me, and the mr.speakers mad dogs too. but thats worthless coming from me - i havent heard either.
 
im afraid ill have to cut this reply short, ive been called for ill write a little more when i get home. browsing head-fi at work is a bad habbit!
 
anyway. back to the subject of dacs, ill qualify what i say too, and mention that i only own one dac - the Odac. so im not in the best position to give out advice on the subject much more than i have already given further up on my post. 
as for loss of hearing range, lets just say that i personally cant hear alot past 17.5 kHz, and im half your age. the very high frequencies arent AS important as youd think imo. anyway, i dont believe in sound adjusting hardware, for all coloration i use an equalizer. boost or cut any frequencies you like - for free, and you can make different settings for different gear, or even different songs. get the sound just the way you like it every time - very much recommended.
 
on the subject of tubes, again, i have never even heard a tube amp. but i do know the sound that they (or atleast alot of them) produce tends to be rather colored, adding frequency boosts/cuts and a fair amount of harmonic distortion. this isnt to say its bad - that depends on your preferences, but to say that theres a "quality difference", just depends on what you consider quality. god knows im hardly into "neutral" sound (which is what most would consider "high quality"). i eq the bass waaaay up. however, personally, i do want my hardware to be as neutral as possible, so that all the coloration is under my control, and not "forced" upon me by my gear. its up to you of course. 
 
cheers

 

[gopanthersgo1]

The HE400 was my favorite headphone out of the Senn HD650, Mr. Speakers Mad Dogs, and the HE400... I've owned all 3, but am now moving towards speakers.

 

[cucera]

I would say they are on par, with HE400 beeing the most fun sounding and the HD650 as neutral king in this price range. I would like to hear the mad dogs someday but they are extremly rare here in Germany.

 

[UmustBKidn]

Adam,
 
Your point about quality is well taken. I've finally uploaded a bunch of Apple Lossless files to my iPod, and am going to test them on my work setup tomorrow.
 
Today, I was listening to a remastered Genesis album (Trick of the Tail) on my work setup, and I could distinctly tell what had been done in the remastering job. Phil Collins has clearly replaced his singing on all the songs I listened to, with new recordings. He left his background vocals intact, but the lead vocal track has clearly been replaced with new material.
 
Now, I've been listening to the original version of this album for many years, on vinyl, CD, and now digital. What struck me was how easily I was able to hear this replacement. And it actually disturbed me, because it was so clearly out of place, compared to the original tracks. And I was listening to Apple AAC lossy files.
 
I have had this album for some time, though I was listening to it with obviously inferior equipment. Even that cheap little $70 dollar tube amp was able to expose flaws in a recording that I had previously considered just a little brighter than the original. Wow.

 

[adamlr]

Quote:

Adam,
 
Your point about quality is well taken. I've finally uploaded a bunch of Apple Lossless files to my iPod, and am going to test them on my work setup tomorrow.
 
Today, I was listening to a remastered Genesis album (Trick of the Tail) on my work setup, and I could distinctly tell what had been done in the remastering job. Phil Collins has clearly replaced his singing on all the songs I listened to, with new recordings. He left his background vocals intact, but the lead vocal track has clearly been replaced with new material.
 
Now, I've been listening to the original version of this album for many years, on vinyl, CD, and now digital. What struck me was how easily I was able to hear this replacement. And it actually disturbed me, because it was so clearly out of place, compared to the original tracks. And I was listening to Apple AAC lossy files.
 
I have had this album for some time, though I was listening to it with obviously inferior equipment. Even that cheap little $70 dollar tube amp was able to expose flaws in a recording that I had previously considered just a little brighter than the original. Wow.

price doesnt enter in to it. quality is based on design =]
 
anyhoo, im not entirely sure i understood you. are you saying that "even" with lossy formats, you could detect differences, and so agree with me that lossy files can still be transparent? if so, im afraid that that doesnt really prove the point. remasters are obviously different. most especially because you already know that they are different, and so are biased. not to mention that the slightest difference in volume can also alter ones perception. the only way to really know is to take an abx test. which im not suppose to talk about on any forum other than the sound science forum. theres an on going discussion there named "320 kbps mps vs. flac". i suggest you take a look. you can also find out more about abx tests over there. your more than welcome to send me a pm about it too, but keep in mind im going away for the weekend and wont necessary be available till sunday or monday.
 
btw, though i have only listened to vinyls here and there, and in no way critically, i believe that its not considered a transparent media. if im not mistaken, i remember reading somewhere i trusted that it does "color" the sound somewhat.

 

[UmustBKidn]

Hi Adam,
 
Again, thanks for your reply. Just a few quick remarks:
 
>> anyhoo, im not entirely sure i understood you. are you saying that "even" with lossy formats, you could
>> detect differences, and so agree with me that lossy files can still be transparent? if so, im afraid that that doesnt really prove the point.
 
Hmm. I'm not sure I understand the issue. All I was trying to say was that my new work setup is good enough to expose flaws in a recording that I was previously unable to hear, with my old headset. I guess that's more of a compliment to the quality of the equipment. I'm also kind of happy my old ears can hear stuff like that

 
>> remasters are obviously different. most especially because you already know that they are different, and so are biased.
>> not to mention that the slightest difference in volume can also alter ones perception.
 
Well yes, I knew it was different. But with my old cheapie headset, the only difference I could distinguish between the original and the remaster was, the remaster sounded like it had a lot of boost in the treble/high range. It sounded "bright", almost harsh to me. Because of that, I had come to prefer the original album over the remaster. With the new equipment, I could clearly distinguish the replacement of the vocal track, and I believe some of the drum tracks, with new recordings from Collins. It was a rather dramatic revelation to me.
 
>> the only way to really know is to take an abx test. which im not suppose to talk about on any forum other than the
>> sound science forum. theres an on going discussion there named "320 kbps mps vs. flac". i suggest you take a look.
 
I shall have a look. My apologies if all of this is out of place. I promise to improve on where and when to post

 
Thanks!

 

[adamlr]

Quote:

Hi Adam,
 
Again, thanks for your reply. Just a few quick remarks:
 
>> anyhoo, im not entirely sure i understood you. are you saying that "even" with lossy formats, you could
>> detect differences, and so agree with me that lossy files can still be transparent? if so, im afraid that that doesnt really prove the point.
 
Hmm. I'm not sure I understand the issue. All I was trying to say was that my new work setup is good enough to expose flaws in a recording that I was previously unable to hear, with my old headset. I guess that's more of a compliment to the quality of the equipment. I'm also kind of happy my old ears can hear stuff like that

 
>> remasters are obviously different. most especially because you already know that they are different, and so are biased.
>> not to mention that the slightest difference in volume can also alter ones perception.
 
Well yes, I knew it was different. But with my old cheapie headset, the only difference I could distinguish between the original and the remaster was, the remaster sounded like it had a lot of boost in the treble/high range. It sounded "bright", almost harsh to me. Because of that, I had come to prefer the original album over the remaster. With the new equipment, I could clearly distinguish the replacement of the vocal track, and I believe some of the drum tracks, with new recordings from Collins. It was a rather dramatic revelation to me.
 
>> the only way to really know is to take an abx test. which im not suppose to talk about on any forum other than the
>> sound science forum. theres an on going discussion there named "320 kbps mps vs. flac". i suggest you take a look.
 
I shall have a look. My apologies if all of this is out of place. I promise to improve on where and when to post

 
Thanks!

nothing you said was out of place. talking about abx tests is prohibited outside the sound science forum. its not such a big deal i dont think...
 
anyway, im happy to hear (read) that you like your gear. now just sit back and enjoy the music - thats the most important bit

 

[UmustBKidn]

Been looking in that forum ... like many others on this site, I tend to get lost in the details ... can you link me a particular thread? Thank you sir!

 

[adamlr]

flac vs mp3 (the thread got locked recently) - http://www.head-fi.org/t/570621/flac-vs-320-mp3
 
abx testing - http://www.head-fi.org/t/655879/setting-up-an-abx-test-simple-guide-to-ripping-tagging-transcoding
 
and some extra reading if youre interested:
testing audiophile claims and myths - http://www.head-fi.org/t/486598/testing-audiophile-claims-and-myths
 
16 bit vs 24 bit - http://www.head-fi.org/t/415361/24bit-vs-16bit-the-myth-exploded

 

[UmustBKidn]

Hi Adam,
 
Well, I got through some of that. I have spent over 20 years of my life testing professionally ... I'd rather not say what (other than to say, not audio gear), but let's just say I am quite familiar with the in's and out's of testing things. Hardware and software alike. So I can truly appreciate all the work and energy those folks put into testing things, to see if there was any difference. That is all very valuable information, thank you.
 
There are some salient points I have gained from the reading material you suggested. In pretty much every case, I have observed the law of diminishing returns: It's worth spending some money on "decent" equipment, but not a ton of money. Clearly, some equipment is so cheap as to be totally avoided in the first place (like my experience with the Fiio e6). The $15 dollar Logitech headphones from Target also fall into this category! But there are some surprisingly good pieces of cheap equipment. How far one needs to go to get good, enjoyable gear, without spending a fortune, is the secret.
 
1) It's not worth spending a ton of money for special 24-bit audio recordings. However, it is probably worth the money to buy regular CD's and rip to lossless formats for my audio sources. Which lossless format doesn't really seem to matter. There are also some good lossy formats. I don't have the gear yet to hear the difference. It remains to be seen whether I'll be able to tell the difference with better gear, but I can guarantee you I won't spend a fortune to find out.
 
2) To a certain point, it is worthwhile investing in good speakers (whether those are headphones or regular room type speakers). But it is very clear that it is prudent to limit one's expenditures, because again, there is a law of diminishing returns. Personally, I can see myself spending $200 to $500 on headphones. But I don't see myself buying $1500 dollar headphones. I doubt I'd hear a difference. I'm just too old, and my ears aren't that good any more.
 
3) To a certain point, it is worthwhile spending money on amplification. My own experience in this thread demonstrates that. Once again, there is the law of diminishing returns; I just don't quite know where it is for me yet. I expect I may find out when I purchase new gear, but I guarantee you it won't be amplifiers costing in the thousands of dollars! (Good grief, I don't know how people can spend 5 figures on amplifiers anyhow).
 
For my own purposes, that leads me to conclude the following:
 
i) I must say, when it comes to buying one song from an album that I would not drop $12.99 to buy, I will opt for buying the lossy format from the iTunes store, before I'll drop 13 bucks for one song, just so I can have a lossless format. This is probably why Apple refuses to sell lossless format songs.
 
ii) I have $50 dollar headphones now. I'll probably get the Beyer DT770's next, probably the 250 ohm version. No clue if I'll go further yet or not.
 
iii) I am currently tempted to buy a Magni/Modi combo from Schiit. That will probably be my next amp and first DAC. I will pair that up with the Beyers, and also test the work setup while I'm at it. I am curious to see what sort of difference I can hear, if any. The work setup will use an iPod, the Magni/Modi setup will use a laptop and iTunes (unless someone can convince me there's something better to use).
 
Thank you again kindly, for your help.