[havox]

I would be buying all used preferably to save money btw

 

[jawang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ypoknons /img/forum/go_quote.gif Indeed. I was playing around with the options: Matrix Mini-i $330 Little Dot Mk. VII+ $400 Sennheiser HD600: $400 Cardas balanced cable: $300 So you'll need a better deal or used equipment to get this close to $1K. And in terms of sounding better, I have no idea how it'll sound relative to other rigs, all things considered.

emu 0404 $180
LD mkvii $400
akg k701 $250
XLR plug $5
soldering kit $20

cheapest decent balanced rig, afaik

 

[Currawong]

I'm with the Stax suggestion as well. Get a decent second-hand Lambda rig and use your Compass as a DAC for it. It wont quite bring out as much detail as a better DAC will with the rig initially, but will at least allow you to compare and see how you feel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DayoftheGreek /img/forum/go_quote.gif With that in mind, you could get the HE-5 EF5 combo from headroom for $900, then pick up a uDac for $100. I was very interested in this combo myself and I have heard many people refer to it as the best $1000 setup you can buy.

A single person, HeadphoneAddict, suggested it. I'm not sure about the uDAC as I haven't used one, but at least the HE-5s are a great buy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by havox /img/forum/go_quote.gif Stax are great in sure I just can get over the terrble looks lol, and I could spend a bit more but I may not be able to get it all right away. Also dumb question but what makes balanced headphones so good?

You'll forget all about the weird looks once you've listened with a Stax rig.

Balanced rigs amplify on the signal return as well, instead of it just going to ground, resulting in more power, lower distortion and when listening, a wider sound-stage. However, you need a balanced DAC as well with most balanced headphone amps for best results. AFAIK the only balanced rig under $1k is the LittleDot one, and whether that is worth getting over a single-ended rig is somewhat debatable. Might be worth checking the LDMKVII thread to see what comparisons have been done. The only one I've seen is with a somewhat more expensive balanced amp (which, not surprisingly, bested it).

 

[Xan7hos]

IMO i think the reason why Grados do quite well is because of their moderately sized soundstage, too much (i.e. K701) and rock music just sound bad.

I find my HE-5 has just a tad too much soundstage for most of my rock music.

My ideal "rock" setup would probably consist of a Grado HF-2 and a MAD Ear+ HD

 

[grawk]

a little over your budget, but amazing:

ipod touch $150
jh13s $1200

 

[havox]

Ok I will definetly check out at stax rig. Pain cause they dont pop up often but I can survive with my ad700s for now

I would prefer over ear headphones mainly even though im sure the iems are amazing
Edit: Which Stax phones should i be on the lookout for 404s? which lambdas?

 

[The Monkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grawk /img/forum/go_quote.gif a little over your budget, but amazing: ipod touch $150 jh13s $1200

Good call. I would recommend this as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by havox /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok I will definetly check out at stax rig. Pain cause they dont pop up often but I can survive with my ad700s for now I would prefer over ear headphones mainly even though im sure the iems are amazing Edit: Which Stax phones should i be on the lookout for 404s? which lambdas?

I would go for the Lambda Pros because they are generally the easiest to find used at decent prices.