[notmuchcash]

Don't think that because the Beats aren't well regarded on head-fi that they sound awful. Try to find a way to enjoy those phones. I would think that you're not going to notice an improvement over your $400 Beats by going to a <$200 headphone. They aren't bad headphones. Just not what head-fi would buy for $400
 
My suggestion would be to get yourself a nice amp. You already like the sound that Beats are giving you. I don't know how much better they would sound with an amp, but a friend has a pair and I think I can see how I like them with my Practical Devices XM4. To my ears, my iPod was just not giving them enough juice when the bass really hit on a few songs. It may improve significantly with more power. 
 
I was much like you at your age. Bought a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 Pros because I wanted a bass heavy phone. I still think they are great phones, but I learned that other sound signatures are really cool too. Over the past few years I have developed a taste for Grados, which are quite the opposite in terms of bass quantity. 
 
 
TL;DR: Don't buy new headphones, you have a good pair. Take time to appreciate them. 

 

[Prakhar]

Don't think that because the Beats aren't well regarded on head-fi that they sound awful. Try to find a way to enjoy those phones. I would think that you're not going to notice an improvement over your $400 Beats by going to a <$200 headphone. They aren't bad headphones. Just not what head-fi would buy for $400

My suggestion would be to get yourself a nice amp. You already like the sound that Beats are giving you. I don't know how much better they would sound with an amp, but a friend has a pair and I think I can see how I like them with my Practical Devices XM4. To my ears, my iPod was just not giving them enough juice when the bass really hit on a few songs. It may improve significantly with more power. 

I was much like you at your age. Bought a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 Pros because I wanted a bass heavy phone. I still think they are great phones, but I learned that other sound signatures are really cool too. Over the past few years I have developed a taste for Grados, which are quite the opposite in terms of bass quantity. 


TL;DR: Don't buy new headphones, you have a good pair. Take time to appreciate them. 

This

 

[cyberalpha11]

Quote:

Don't think that because the Beats aren't well regarded on head-fi that they sound awful. Try to find a way to enjoy those phones. I would think that you're not going to notice an improvement over your $400 Beats by going to a <$200 headphone. They aren't bad headphones. Just not what head-fi would buy for $400
 
My suggestion would be to get yourself a nice amp. You already like the sound that Beats are giving you. I don't know how much better they would sound with an amp, but a friend has a pair and I think I can see how I like them with my Practical Devices XM4. To my ears, my iPod was just not giving them enough juice when the bass really hit on a few songs. It may improve significantly with more power. 
 
I was much like you at your age. Bought a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 Pros because I wanted a bass heavy phone. I still think they are great phones, but I learned that other sound signatures are really cool too. Over the past few years I have developed a taste for Grados, which are quite the opposite in terms of bass quantity. 
 
 
TL;DR: Don't buy new headphones, you have a good pair. Take time to appreciate them. 

In general, iPod does not have a good built-in DAC. If you really want to squeeze the juice out from you iPod, try to pair with extrenl DAC such as CLAS or Fostex. I guess another important for enjoying the good sound is your source. Anything below 320kbs or Lossless would degrade the sound no matter how good is your headphone.

 

[Prakhar]

The ipod dac is actually not that bad IMO, but the amp is pretty bad.

 

[Schonen]

You can EQ the bass up a fair bit but an amp will do next to nothing for the M50s. Yes, I did own M50s at one time.

 

[sneaglebob]

Ok. Can anyone suggest a good portable external DAC? 

 

[Prakhar]

Portable dacs are probably not something you want. They are very, very expensive.

 

[CashNotCredit]

Quote:

Ok. Can anyone suggest a good portable external DAC? 

To use with your phone? Your phone doesn't support USB Audio, so a DAC won't work with it. A DAC will work with your computer, and some FiiO ones work with iPods to my knowledge (if I'm wrong, please tell me.)

Really, *puts on flamesuit and grabs fire extinguisher*, the differences in DACs is extremely overstated. An informal study compared a $1000 DAC to a $27 DAC and found this.

"Nearly half the people couldn’t hear any differences at all."

So, if the headphone out on your devices are giving you audible issues, like static or distortion, then that's bad. Otherwise, the internal DACs in many devices are actually quite good. The only reason I even have my DAC is because it supports a different kind of driver that is good for recording and making music, which is something I do as a hobby. 

Having said that, the M50s really don't need an amp. I use mine out of my tablet, and the volume and sound quality is satisfactory. If you want an amp, get one with low distortion that works well with low-impedance headphones. (Probably a FiiO, but other people can help you out better.)

 

[reddragon]

Grab yourself a pair of fiio e17 and for using with iPod you can connect it via aux with a line out cable. I use the fiio L9 cable. For using with iPod it can only bypass the iPod internal amp and let you use the amp in the e17 but you are still using the iPod internal dac which is either wolfson or cirrus logic depending on which generation iPod you have. The older ones use wolfson and the newer ones use cirrus logic. The dac on e17 will be available to use via USB Cox and opt

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

Woo woooooooo wooooooo Just stick with an amp. Getting a portable DAC for beats pros is ridiculous.
 
Fiio E11, E17
iBasso
JDS Labs

 

[notmuchcash]

Quote:

Woo woooooooo wooooooo Just stick with an amp. Getting a portable DAC for beats pros is ridiculous.
 
Fiio E11, E17
iBasso
JDS Labs

QFT. 
 
I don't know if they sound much better with an amp, but my guess is yes. I'll have to get my friend to let me audition them again soon. Will let you know. 
 
However, I'm big on portable dac/amps for value. Most everyone now does at least some listening over a computer. Some computers are really dirty sounding. That will probably be my next purchase. 

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

Yeah I mean I think the Fiio E17 would be good for him, and he could use the dac on his comp, but they were talking like algo labs solo/Fostex HP/P1 IMO that would be a waste, they cost as much as the headphones.

 

[sneaglebob]

but I just want to know, would using an e6 distort the sound quality at all and just make it louder or will it do something different like bass boost it (which I don't want)

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

but I just want to know, would using an e6 distort the sound quality at all and just make it louder or will it do something different like bass boost it (which I don't want)

An E6 has either two selectable EQ settings or a flat setting. The flat setting doesn't seem to color the sound at all, just adds some power. That's how i use mine.

 

[reddragon]

I have heard e6 is more of a volume booster than an amp, is that true?