[omegaman]

Hi Everybody. I am pretty new to all this so if its a stupid question I apologise.

Im not to happy with the sound direct from my laptop using i-tunes. Am I better getting a soundcard or a headphone amp ?

I have been looking at the total bithead would that be a good choice to improve my set up ?

Don't get me wrong I love the sound from the grados but when I move from my Stereo to my laptop the sound is not as good.

Thanks

 

[EnOYiN]

This is not a stupid question at all. Most soundcards in laptops are awfull indeed and you will indeed get better quality using a USB-DAC or a better soundcard. The impedance of the 225 is 32 so you can listen to it quite well without an amp. This, however, depends on the quality of your soundcard.

The Total Bithead is just one of your options. There are a lot of other amps out there. I am enjoying the sound of my porta corda at this very moment.

In my opinion the best way to select one is to just listen to all of them. The problem with this strategy is that most people are not able to do this.

A thread about portable amps:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=216903

You can start looking into a few devices I am going to list here other than headroom. ( note that these are not all your options - just a few I can remember right now)

Meier Audio:
http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/

EMU:
http://www.emu.com/

M-Audio:
http://www.m-audio.com/

Cmoy:
http://search.ebay.com/cmoy_W0QQfkrZ...tsearchZSearch

Creative:
http://uk.europe.creative.com/

Turtle Beach:
http://www.turtlebeach.com/site/

Well, thats a list. There are loads of these thing. All better than the soundcard in your laptop most likely. It's completely up to you how much you want to spend.

Welcome to Head-Fi.

 

[77Pat]

Two more threads to look into if you want dac+amp
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=221967
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...ght=headphonia

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnOYiN /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is not a stupid question at all

in fact it's the question that brought most of us down this path..



















........of doooooooooooooom.............

 

[uzziah]

go for the bithead, or if you feel like upping the ante, there's the micro line; but yeah, grab a bithead

 

[uzziah]

headroom.com

 

[Iceroid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uzziah /img/forum/go_quote.gif headroom.com

Go to that website. I dare you.

www.headphone.com <--- Correct URL.

 

[omegaman]

Thanks for the help guys, Plenty of info to get me started.

I will let you know how I get on !!!!!!!!!

As I have seen quoted on here many times " Goodbye Wallet "

 

[uraflit]

if you are on a tight budget, go look for those cheap usb sound cards instead. like the turtle beach afnkjfnjekf. its referred to as the "TBAAM" on this site. alos, there's a $10 chinese usb stick avilable too. those should be able to drive your sr225 ok. if that wont satisfy you, i'd say follow everyone else and get the bithead

 

[EnOYiN]

I wouldn't advice the chinese usb thingemabob to you. Since only half of them work well. The other half doesn't. And like I said before: There are other things than the TBH. My porta corda really works well. If you have the opportunity to listen to more of them you can see what you like.

Edit: Here is a thread about the $10 chinese thing: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=199506

 

[Distroyed]

The TBAA is a fantastic value. Unless you're jaded, you won't need an amp unless you have a very Ohm-hungry can.

 

[omegaman]

Its a bit tricky for me to test anything over here in Spain. So I have to " buy it to try it " I have seen the reviews of the chinese usb and I am not convinced. I think the bithead maybe a good choice as it will also work with my Ipod.

 

[EnOYiN]

Not being able to try things is a problem for a lot of people I think.

I don't like the chinese thing either but that is mainly a money issue. If you've got a bit more money to spend you would most likely get the TBAAM. And if you've got even more money to spend you most probably will be looking at the smaller amps. The TBH is a good one in that category in my opinion.

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iceroid /img/forum/go_quote.gif Go to that website. I dare you. www.headphone.com <--- Correct URL.

hah! good one


i have allmighty firefox so i just type "headroom" in and i'm transported magically to the right place

 

[DarkJC]

More like the power of built in google "I'm Feeling Lucky".