Critique this setup please?

[Smeed]

ATH-AD900 and a Little-Dot MKII amp. I need something for music and gaming, 70/30 respectively. I listen to mostly classic and alternative rock. Ive got an Auzentech Prelude as a source. My budget is about $400.

The only "real" cans Ive got are the AD700s which I can wear for hours and Ive been very happy with, which is the sole reason Ive picked its bigger brother. Im fine with closed cans if there is better bang for the buck.

As for the amp, well I saw this one was recommended and thats really all I know about it. I think I might like the sound of a tube amp but in the end whatever compliments the cans is best.

Is there any other combination that would suit my needs better? Im open to used but Im quite eager to burn a hole in my pocket

If anyone can help me out that would be awesome. I cant describe how much I like my current cans and thats because everyone here knows their stuff so welll.

 

[feh1325]

soundcard? DAC?
maybe keep your A700 for gaming and get a nice open headphone for music

something like a grado, sennheiser, akg, or beyerdynamic

 

[dcpoor]

from reading, it doesn't seem like there's that much of an improvement from ad700 to ad900.

 

[Smeed]

Ive got an Auzentech Prelude for a soundcard. The AD700s are open

Edit* If there isnt much of an improvement, is there anything I could get with around 400 that would sound significantly better than my AD700s? That price would have to include an amp too.

 

[mapstec]

my favorite combination:

Mini Millet (aka Starving Student) with a set of AKG K240 Sextett (MP).



This combo handles everything I throw at it!

The phone can be replaced by:

HD580
ATH-950LTD

both of which I can recommend.

But for starters just get the amp and see how much more you like the ATHs properly driven.

 

[MaloS]

Whatever those red socks are - I dig em.

To the OP: While at first sight it seems that AD900 would be an upgrade - that actually is not really the case. An upgrade would be hopping all the way to AD2000, but that exceeds your budget (although if you want to stretch, go for it, you don't need an amp...or at least you can build one later on for cheap). Other recommendations here are pretty good though.

 

[troymadison]

seems just fine

 

[vvanrij]

Wow what kind of earpads are that on your sextett? Do they 'sweat' less?

 

[Smeed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaloS /img/forum/go_quote.gif Whatever those red socks are - I dig em. To the OP: While at first sight it seems that AD900 would be an upgrade - that actually is not really the case. An upgrade would be hopping all the way to AD2000, but that exceeds your budget (although if you want to stretch, go for it, you don't need an amp...or at least you can build one later on for cheap). Other recommendations here are pretty good though.

I was thinking almost the same thing. It should sound better than my AD700s and then I can get an amp later on. I might as well get something that I can be happy with for a long time instead of dropping a couple hundred in upgrades every year.