[testrichard]

Hi, i m a newbie ~ just bought my TF10 and that its actually my 2nd earphone (by that i mean really research of,others were came packaged with gadgets)

i also bought a cheap Cmoy Amp from ebay.

lately i read articles about HagUsb and i m starting to get confuse...

whats UAB or DAC ? i intend to play my music with my laptop/pc + TF10 + the cmoy Amp. so do i still need UAB or DAC ?

my laptop has 3.5m S/PDIF output, USB and 1394 HDMI etc(also a fake Coaxial i think, bought the laptop in china while traveling there)

with DAC , cant i just play my music files from my pc/laptop/mp3/PDA with loss less format such as WMA/FLAC/APE ??

i m starting to get confuse the more i m into audio, to be honest i only start 2 weeks ago and i really read alot but i can only absorb so much ~ my 1st pair of earphone is panasonic in ear and it only cost U$60 and it was 6 years ago when i only start to know frequency, ohm etc etc... i guess i m happy go lucky person who never know HiFi is so much fun !!

my dream purchase next would be HD800,JH13 Pro, m902, V8P

i know my path is really jumpy and strange....

any way, help me understand UAB/DAC thing, thanks !

also.. would bluetooth in the future be able to save us expensive Cable $$ ??

 

[Dominat0r]

you sure it didnt read USB DAC?

USB, well you know what that is i hope =)

DAC = Digital to Analog converter. Basically takes a digital source and converts it to analog to be played through a amp.

You use a USB DAC if you using a PC as a transport. This will let you use a program like Foobar to play your lossless music via the USB DAC. This will bypass your sound card you have in your machine, which most arent really good for music anyway.

I dont think bluetooth is going to replace cables....ever...

 

[testrichard]

Thanks HighLife ~

"You use a USB DAC if you using a PC as a transport. This will let you use a program like Foobar to play your lossless music via the USB DAC. This will bypass your sound card you have in your machine, which most arent really good for music anyway."

i c ~ but thats the part i start to get confuse... like my PDA got TCPMP and it might be able to play loss-less music format from the headphone output... so is that analog or digital then? arent S/PDIF and optical output the digital ? and normal 3.5 headphone output already analog ? ( i guess by now u could tell how mess up i am now... the it all blend together now ) and my laptop got S/PDIF and 1394 ... so arent they already digital ? and which is better quality.... digital or analog ??

ok so, lets say i aim for HagUAB .... is it a sound card ? its cheap so may be my laptop Realtek already better than it ?

during my research i also came across such as M902,RME 9632 ,ESI Juli@, ESI 192X , EMU 1212M , etc etc ....

basically i just wanna really enjoy my TF10 , i m still waiting for it to arrive in Australia and u could imagine i m so excited and could only imagine if it will blow my mind or not ... and i dont think i will step into speak world , at most may be try HD800 or JH 13 pro .... cables , tubes etc etc are just all too far to me at this stage ... is my set up enough to cover my needs ? i mean TF10, DAP , portable AMP thats all ? thanks again...

 

[sochee]

Yes, your PDA can play analog from the headphone output, if you want it to sound terrible. It will be using an internal DAC to convert the digital signal to analog, and output as analog. SPDIF/optical out is digital, but it must be converted to analog in order for your amp/headphones to use the signal. Thus you can't compare digital to analog SQ (in this application, anyway) because they are two different things.

That said, it depends on how much money you can spend, and what kind of sound quality you are looking for. You can buy portable DAC/headphone amp combos that go for (relatively) cheap prices.

 

[Currawong]

Hi Testrichard,

Stop for a minute and lets take a look at what you're getting. The TF10s are designed to be plugged into an iPod, for which they sound great. They don't require any kind of power to sound good, so that's one issue you wont have to worry about. This means you can plug them directly into your laptop or PDA with no problems.

The downside to using them directly with a laptop is the part where it converts the digital music data on your computer to analogue, ie: sound. This is what a DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter) does. DACs vary in quality, from the cheap ones in laptops up to $60,000 hi-fi components. There is a huge and complex science behind this, but what it boils down to is the aim to get as perfect conversion as possible. Once you've heard better, it becomes addictive and expensive.

For you, the TF10s are very good IEMs (In Ear Monitors), so people are worried that you wont get the best out of them just with the crappy quality of the DAC in your laptop. To this end, they are suggesting something better. The simplest option would be one of the portable amps available which has a built-in DAC which connects using a USB cable. The portable DAC/AMP combinations are designed to give you better sound quality, so you'll get the most out of your TF10s. If you weren't already aware, a USB cable is what you use to connect most things to your computer, such as a printer, camera, keyboard, mouse etc. However, these portable amps can get expensive, with popular ones around $500. The most reasonably priced ones I've had experience with are the Meier Audio Corda Move series.

 

[testrichard]

thanks sochee and currawong !

and kudo to currawong~ as you really read my mind! like you said that i m just worry if i m not getting the true potential of my tf10.

i think im making the classical mistake like all the newbie, and in my case even worst as this is only my 2nd pair of earphone and i have no comparison what so ever with others and what their sound would like! i can only imagine and the more i read the post hear the more i got hooked and start to get paranoid

so now one chasing another, i bought portable AMP and even planning on getting a MD just so i can have better source of DAP (while i already have 3 PDAs and sony w950i)

what i truly want i guess is just to have a system match on PAR with my tf10 and with less noise from the source/background (which ironically only imagination as i m still waiting for my TF10 to arrive in Australia)

i dont want endless chasing or upgrade to break my bank~ may be in the future if i do indeed getting myself a HD800

so u think Corda is on par to match my tf10 ? any thing cheaper or better value ? sorry for being cheap as i know people here think Corda is bargain and some senior have hi fi system cost thousands and thousands! but i can assure you that your opinion is valued !



P.S: i guess you already answer it "most reasonably priced ones I've had experience" but any thing other choice close to and cheaper ? i will start with corda now for research

 

[testrichard]

How every one , me again !

how about i compromise and pick up a Hi-MD instead as my DAP source instead ?

would it be better since i heard MD plays really good quality music ?? any noise etc ?

how much would you pay for NH600 ??? i found the only issue with it is that it's USB 1.1 ..... and hell i know how slow it is when i tried to transfer files to my old Dell inspiron 8100 !!! are all Hi-MD with USB 1.1 ? any faster way to transfer files ??

god i cant believe that in 2 weeks time this new AUDIO hobby just keep drain my wallet ~~

 

[Currawong]

Noting that this is my subjective opinion, I've numerous times gone out of my house with my TF10s and iPod Classic and been quite happy. In addition to the TF10s, I bought an aftermarket cable from Null Audio for them, which cleans up the sound a bit. This, subjectively, was good for me, as I'm used to listening at home with a system costing thousands of dollars.

If you're new to this kind of thing, just enjoy your TF10s. There's a factor called The Law of Diminishing Returns. It works such that the higher you go in price, the lower the improvement. Unless you're like me and, for example, are VERY picky about, say, how natural pianos and violins sound when listening to high quality classical recordings, you'll probably be quite happy with the TF10s as they are. In the future though, you might consider a system for listening at home with some nice full-size headphones, amp and DAC. However, be prepared for a lot of musical chairs to get things the way you want them. It's fun though, if expensive, albeit less so if you trade second hand gear only.

 

[testrichard]

Thanks Currawong , u r making my direction clearer and clearer ~ by the way, nice "light" u got there, clean, neat and finished powerfully !! its rare these days to be able to write a beautiful word, if i could or found some nice words i will frame them myself and hang on the wall~

well, luckily i m not really picky but i can be paranoid~ i want to make it worthy or make it on par, i knew the audio is big black hole hence i never really into it and settle with regular(to me,not to people here lol) headphone.. but this place is too addictive and fun ~ early this year i was into vintage watch and cost me around 4k and realize it just way too hard since i been tricked twice and over pay for it , its hard for watch unless you really knowledged ~ then after you bought them, u worry to bump it/scratch it and also u have to send back for maintenance regularly !! luckily the passion die down as i know its not some thing i have time and energy to deal with ......

wish i didnt spent that 4k , rather if i put it here then i should have a mid range system now

with in - ear of course

so u recon change cable would help the TF10 better ? its true my main concern is the background noise, u dont need HD800, L3000 or R10 to know what noise is like , even on cheap earphone could drive you crazy and wanna smash your earphone or the source ~

i will listen to my TF10 1st as i havent even hear it yet ...

with the 2nd hand thing.... i often worry if the seller might drop the headphone, pop the earphone with loud volume etc etc.... but i guess one should be able to tell if the seller is experienced or not by chatting and physical condition i guess.... .after all , i bet its rare you found one owns expensive headphone while knew nothing about it ..... ( oh no, i m talking about myself ) lol