[ok computer]

Ok, let me start off by saying that I'm 14 years old and don't have much experience with high end audio. I could be called an audiophile in training, but I just really love music. I will be building a new system over the summer for listening in my room with my hand-me-down laptop. I would like to spend as little as possible, but will probably have around 1000$ max. Portablility is not a big concern but It certainly doesn't hurt either. I don't have any place where I can go and try out high end headphones, but I do have some er6i's which I like and had some hd-25-1 IIs which I just sold If that tells you anything. The 1000$ will be for everything, headphones, amp, dac, IC's, and power cables?. I listen to a wide range of music so instead of telling you what I listen to I tell you what I don't listen to. I don't listen to anything on mtv, country, metal, hard rock, screamo, hardcore, emo, or punk.
Since I don't really know what brands I like I'll try and describe as best I can the sound I'm after. I want something with good sounstage and imaging. Something that sounds open and has good depth. I want an out of the head experience, so I can close my eyes and the headphones disapear. It needs to be a good all-rounder, not something that just sounds good with one genre. The whole system needs to have good synergy and take whats on the recording and reproduce it for what it is. I want something that is non fatiguing, that I can enjoy for hours, but still be deatailed and revealing.
I really hope that incoherent mess of a paragraph helps. Some of the gear I've been considering are hd580, cheap stax of some sort, ergo 2s, markl modded d5000, the keces dac's, little tube 3 and 4, and pico. I just want something that will provide my first eargasm, and countless hours of aural pleasure...............thanks!


**I value everyones opinion but I would appreciate feedback from more eperienced users, that have tried lots of gear, and different setups.**

 

[ccfoodog]

Well, I'm no expert, but I would get an AMP/DAC combo that had both USB and optical in and a digital source that has optical out.

The iBasso D1 AMP/DAC and iRiver H120 or H140 HDD players come to mind.

My guess is if you play your cards right, you should be able to get a decent AMP/DAC + digital source for about $500 or less, leaving you about $500 to get either some decent full size, or IEMs.

-john

 

[feh1325]

make sure you files are at a high bitrate

DAC/amp: emu0404 usb 2.0

headphones: sennheiser hd580/600/650, akg k501/701
heck, even try a grado...some like the sr60 or alessandro ms1 just to see if you like em


but perhaps i love that setup because its what i'ved used for the past 9 months and probably through college. i don't see how i can upgrade other than getting different headphones, which would be more of a lateral movement, i guess.

 

[Fungi]

For headphones I'd say definitely the HD580. You need a capable amp to power them, and I have heard great reports on the Pico driving them (and many others) well. If I was in your shoes that's what I'd be getting.

 

[jh4db536]

Tangent PPAv2 Maxed + STEPs (~$350???), Opus USB DAC w/ Metro ($275), HD650(check out the FS forum), Signal cable or BJ IC's

Software (free):
EAC > flac > ASIO4ALL > Foobar2k
Audacious (Linux)

That would be really good bang for the buck.

Or if you want to pursue a fully balanced system:
benchmark DAC1 + HD600

 

[omegaman]

Whatever you decide on I recommend using the FS section, Your cash will go a lot further and most of the gear on there as been well looked after and in EX+ condition.

I love my darkvoice 332 + Senn 650's.Read the 140+ page thread in the amp section !!!!!!!

 

[Kilane]

I've heard good things from the Great March I've got in the DAC department.

It really comes down to your phone choices though on the amp/phones choices... If you opt to go with Grado you can swing with complementary choices in amps. Alternatively you could grab an amp and buy a bunch of different phone to experiment with. A grand will take you pretty far considering you can get some pretty reasonable DACs and Amps for at or around 300$ each.

Either way I'm fully behind omegaman, used equipment, sell what you don't like and used gear doesn't depreciate nearly as quickly either in that regard.

I'd also recommend starting low and working up rather than blowing your load all at once. It makes you feel like those incremental increases are all the more amazing.

 

[hanalei mike]

Quote:

Originally Posted by omegaman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Whatever you decide on I recommend using the FS section, Your cash will go a lot further and most of the gear on there as been well looked after and in EX+ condition.

I agree, and if I lost everything, and had to start over with 1000.00
I would buy a Benchmark DAC 1 and some Senn hd 650's. Excellent dac, excellent phones, adequate amplifier, many options and room to grow.

good luck.

 

[ccfoodog]

Isn't the Benchmark around a grand all by itself?

-john

 

[hanalei mike]

700-750 used
650's 250 used

 

[Uncle Erik]

One of my favorite all-around headphones is the Sennheiser HD-600. You can find these used for about $200 - possibly the best deal in high-end audio. These are wonderful headphones and they get nearly universal acclaim. Go research and read threads on the HD-600 and you'll see how many agree.

For an amp, go look in the For Sale Forum. If you can find a SinglePower for $500-$600, that's a pretty good deal. Used is your best option and your dollar will get you a lot farther. Usually, the used amps go for 50% of retail.

Source? I'm not up no DACs right now, but there should be one for $200-$300. What will fit in that range is the Sony SCD-CE595 CD player. I owned one until I upgraded to the Marantz, and it's a pretty good deck. You can find them under $100. You might also want to poke around thrift stores, junk shops, garage sales, and hit up your older relatives for a turntable. You can find them cheap, then add a cheap phono stage and a Grado Black cartridge. You'll get great performace from that.

 

[ok computer]

Thanks guys for all the replies. Yes all of the files will be flac-->foobar2k. The dac1 only has digital and coxial in so I will need some sort of pcmia sound card with digital outs, which will make the dac1 more expensive. Also isn't the hd 580 with mods equivalent to the hd 600?

Thaks guys, keep it coming!

 

[aaron313]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ok computer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks guys for all the replies. Yes all of the files will be flac-->foobar2k. The dac1 only has digital and coxial in so I will need some sort of pcmia sound card with digital outs, which will make the dac1 more expensive. Also isn't the hd 580 with mods equivalent to the hd 600? Thaks guys, keep it coming!

Same driver, so should be similar. For the record, the HD650 sounds decent out of my laptop, and I highly recommend it. If you read the DV332 thread, you'll come across numerous posts alleging that it mates well with the 650. You should probably at least do a search on that thread to get the juicy details. I personally think that if possible you should research HeadRoom products. Among the most reputable companies around, and their amps are highly regarded. I really like my HR amp, so maybe you could look into one of the "lower end" packages.

 

[Matteman]

Man, spending $1000 on headphones at the age of 14?

You have the potential of becoming a headphone guru at 20

 

[wharfrat1]

Couple of different options:

With laptop for music files:

Predator: $475 + HD595 $230

Getting a CDP for the source(little more expensive)

Marantz CD5001 $300 + Headroom Micro Amp $399 + HD 595 $230