Depressed, I want more quality

[dshea_32665]

I am fairly new to all of this. I have been in ecstasy listening to my Ety 4P's for that last three weeks. I have been listening without an amp off of my iBook through the headphone jack. I have been thinking this was the best sound I have ever experienced. I was so happy! Well, I got home from travelling and thought I would try them on my 12 yeard old Nakamichi CD player on my home stereo just to see what it was like. I was blown away!! I want my laptop to sound like this and thus am depressed now!

If I get an amp and better sound card, will I be able to get the quality of a traditional stereo component? This CD player was only about $200 10 years ago so it wasn't so expensive.

Will a transit and Xin type amp or SR-71 give me this quality. Ugh my wallet. I really want quality though. Can a laptop compete?

dshea

 

[Edwood]

You have to upgrade everything. First, get a 4P to 4S adapter to turn your 4P into a 4S. That way you can have it both ways.

The SR-71 while pricey, just oozes quality. This amp will work well with a large range of headphones including the Ety's.

A for Laptop, your choices are more limited. Are you listening to MP3's, CD's, or lossless compression? I'd recommend going with lossless if you are listening to MP3's. That could account for a significant quality difference you are noticing.

-Ed

 

[dshea_32665]

I bought the cable for 4S so I am set there. I am definitely listening to higher quality formats (Apple Lossless). I guess I need the amp and a DAC. I guess I was just curious that if I upgrade these things I will get the quality of a regular component. I was thinking of the M Audio Transit for DAC and was thinking of a Xin amp or biting the bullet and getting the SR 71.

dshea

 

[lan]

I agree with getting a new source and amp.

What is your budget?

 

[go_vtec]

You will need a lossless or higher bit encoding as a starting point. You can get an external soundcard or DAC which will sound pretty descent.
I bought an external soundcard and reencoded all my CDs to higher bit (320kbps). Results is fairly good, but still no match for a really good stand alone player. However, I am relatively happy with my labtop setup (although I listen mostly through CD players).

 

[Mr.Radar]

I've heard that the Xin Superdual has excellent synergy with the ER-4P, and an M-Audio Transit should be a great upgrade over the onboard sound. Don't get the SR-71 unless you can also get the M-Audio Transit (or another, equal or better source).

 

[thomaspf]

If you don't want to walk around with multiple external boxes I would try out the Echo Indigo. I use that with the ER-4S on my laptop and are pretty happy with it.

It's not quite the same experience as my EMP with the HD600 but provides a very uncluttered mobile experience.

Cheers

Thomas

 

[Kuja]

Do you need an amp if the Etys can be driven to normal levels using the soundcard's amps alone?

I find that with my TAH/Audigy2, I can only get equal volumes across the amp/soundcard outs if I basically set the TAH to max gain. If I set it to anything less, the volume from the soundcard->TAH->etys is lower than that straight from the soundcard's outs, in which case the TAH is attenuating rather than amping, which doesn't sound right nor good for quality

 

[davvy]

Another option would be the Headroom Bithead or Total Bithead. I haven't heard them, but they seem to get reasonably good press and they are designed for someone in exactly your situation.