[Black Mamba]

Hello All,

I have recently upgraded from cheap earbuds to a pair of Ultimate Ears Super fi. 5 pro's to listen to my 320kbps mp3's and Lossles audio files (it's all i can afford at the moment) As i jumped deeper into the headphone community, i began to hear about really, really high quality headphones like the Shure SE530 and the Custom UE series. I know i can't drop 400-500+ bucks on nice headphones at the moment, but i plan to save for a while. In the future, I plan on uprgrading to something like Westone 3's or Shure SE 530's or Sennheiser IE8's. As a beginner to all this high fidelity audio stuff, I have read that one generally uses a headphone amp to properly drive expensive headphones like the SE530's and Westones, etc... and take adavantage of their true potential. However, i have seen amps as cheap as 100 bucks and some that go for something ridiculous like 1,500 plus dollars. This is where my head began to explode. Why is there such a discrepancy in the prices? Is there a significant difference between the $99 amp, a $350 dollar amp, and a $1000+ headphone amp? What is a good amp for the headphones i mentioned above? I plan on doing all of my music listening through my iPod.

Wait.... One more thing, this is all new to me
What are those DAC's that come with some of the HeadRoom amps? Should I even be worried about that right now?

 

[Permagrin]

Welcome to Head-Fi!

I am new to this myself but have perused these boards quite extensively in my newfound hobby. As I see no one has responded yet I might assume that's because this is a topic of some opinion in discussions. As I myself have only experienced one "audiophile" quality setup I cannot recommend anything (although I do recommend my setup personally but it's a pretty penny

).

One thing though as posted in other similar threads is try to get out to some meets or meet up with people locally and listen to various setups for free before you take the plunge on an amp.

(The opinionated part

)
There seems to be a love/hate relationship here on the topic of the SE 530s. There are people whom love them and praise them wherever they go and then there are those who prefer other IEMs and sometimes make disparaging comments about them. Technically they are excellent, although somewhat dated now, with a fault (rolled highs) that is actually wanted by most. If you can get them for around $250 probably a great deal (I paid $320 with shipping) although if you can hear them in person first and A/B with other IEMs the better.

I was going to write more but I didn't want to overstep my personal experience.

 

[DHHZ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Permagrin /img/forum/go_quote.gif One thing though as posted in other similar threads is try to get out to some meets or meet up with people locally and listen to various setups for free before you take the plunge on an amp.

+1

To answer your question about what a DAC is, it is a Digital-Analog Converter. In other words, it takes the digital signal from a computer or CD player, and converts it into an analog signal. The reason for needing one is that although almost all equipment contains a built-in DAC, it is usually of low quality, so a dedicated DAC will supposedly improve the sound.
Daniel

 

[silverskull]

so then would be be ideal to grab a DAC/AMP combo as well?im very confused about the DAC and AMP as well.i plan to grab a DAC/AMP combo as i normally only use it to improve my X-Fi prelude's SQ and occasionally i might bring it out to use with my nano 1g as well.but my question is,would that be a good setup?my eyes are currently eyeing the iBasso P3 heron or the D2 Boa.please enlighten me senior headfiers.

i plan to get an SE530 soon cuz im getting a good deal over here,so i might get the P3 or D2 soon enuf if its advisable.

 

[silverskull]

my E5 was terrible...got it off a hong kong ebay dealer....it makes crackling noises when im listening to my piano songs,but i got it for like 9.99 aud..so im wondering if they are real or not :S

 

[hvu]

Welcome to head-fi and sorry for you wallet

Three of the most useful links I found for portable amp are:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/s...ess-up-338443/
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f105/r...mpared-214588/
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f105/u...ce-xm5-306883/

From what I got from a lot of reading was that each headphone amp has is own style and power that help boost the quality and performance of headphones in their own unique way.
My best suggestion is to figure out up preference in listening style and what you need out of your amp.
For me the iBasso D10 met my need as in portability, optional inputs, and opamp rolling ability.

 

[silverskull]

thanks for the site.VERY useful site for beginners like me.a lot of information! thumbsup hvu!

 

[zeroibis]

Be sure to try to read the entire thread as later pages often contain updated information and modifications that can effect the sound. For example later pages may contain a list of cheep, free or easy upgrades that can have an effect on your purchase.

Also for reference there is a large difference between the quality of desktop and portable amps and when comparing high end portable amps to desktop amps of same price range the desktops blow them out of the water. Think of it like the difference between a supercomputer and an iphone.

 

[silverskull]

thanks loads...been reading and reading.probably i dun think i need an amp...even if i do..that would be after i get an imod ^^

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeroibis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Be sure to try to read the entire thread as later pages often contain updated information and modifications that can effect the sound. For example later pages may contain a list of cheep, free or easy upgrades that can have an effect on your purchase. Also for reference there is a large difference between the quality of desktop and portable amps and when comparing high end portable amps to desktop amps of same price range the desktops blow them out of the water. Think of it like the difference between a supercomputer and an iphone.

well I think that is overstating the matter just a tad. and TBH and IMO, its only when trying to drive harder to drive/high impedance headphones that the margin becomes that large at all. when driving portable headphones or easier to drive fullsize cans like most denons, I think you would find it actually fairly hard to find a home unit to outdo the D10 for a dac/amp combo with line, usb, optical and coax inputs

 

[Black Mamba]

thanks for all info guys

 

[hvu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverskull /img/forum/go_quote.gif thanks loads...been reading and reading.probably i dun think i need an amp...even if i do..that would be after i get an imod ^^

All headphone quality and preference is based on the user so if your happy with your setup right, enjoy it. For me I had my HD650 for 2yrs before I got a amp for it.

PS on a side I just got my ATH-M50 loving the isolation it has

 

[silverskull]

thanks for the info.
yea i will probably get an amp IF i really need it or sth.