[fyleow]

I really like the thought of the Etys, with complete isolation and it can be used as a portable (though I'm not sure if I would be comfortable carrying around a $300 headphone around school and I don't listen to music on the go alot). The main stopping point is the lack of physical bass. I don't want slamming bass but I think the effect that the 580s give is neat. For example in Warcraft 3 sometimes if you click on the guys you can actually feel the "breath" of the person when he says something. I listen to classical too and that might be a problem.

On the other hand my house is somewhat noisy and I find myself enjoying music more and more during late at night when it is completely silent so the isolation would be good.

Hmm still undecided....

 

[kelly]

fyleow
If you want visceral bass, I can confidently reassure you that the Stax were not for you.

 

[fyleow]

Well I don't listen to alot of rock or other bass heavy music so I don't think it would bother me that much. I am just concerned if it is totally devoid of bass, at all. I don't like boomy, I like tight bass. What confuses me is that if the Stax do not provide visceral bass at all how can it be rated below 20hz? Since from that point on it's more felt rather than heard, wouldn't it be impossible to get anything below 20hz?

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by fyleow Well I don't listen to alot of rock or other bass heavy music so I don't think it would bother me that much. I am just concerned if it is totally devoid of bass, at all. I don't like boomy, I like tight bass. What confuses me is that if the Stax do not provide visceral bass at all how can it be rated below 20hz? Since from that point on it's more felt rather than heard, wouldn't it be impossible to get anything below 20hz?

The measuring devices Stax used to achieve those results measured the presence of soundwaves of test tones, not the impact. The ER-4S is also rated to 20hz but most consider it to be lacking in visceral bass.

 

[fyleow]

Thanks for the input everyone. I think this is what I am going to do.

Sony DVP-NS500V > Art DI/O with voltage fix > Kevin Gilmore Dynamic Amp > Sennheiser HD 580 w/ Cardas replacement cables.

I think this would give the most bang for my buck.

 

[kelly]

Just to complicate things further...

You may want to consider modding the NS500V rather than buying the ART DI/O. This way you could put more into mods rather than spending money on the digital cable (yes, it matters, don't ask me why). A number of people have reported very good results from modding the NS500V.

If you buy the HD580, buy it used. They're somewhat plentiful on the used market due to the HD600 and you can get a good price on them. If you're going to buy new, go ahead and spring for the HD600 as it will retain more of that resale value for the same reason.

Good luck on the Gilmore amp. Post pics when you finish it.

 

[fyleow]

Hi Kelly,

I already own the HD 580s so I just need to get the player and make the amp

The player would have cost me $140 and the Art DI/O about $120. I suppose I could just get a better CD player for a higher price if I am not going to get the DAC. I am a bit worried about getting quality interconnects because of the weird connections the DI/O has and the out of the box sound (I know the Art DI/O sounds great but most people have theirs modded).

So I can either get the NS500V and mod it or get a better CD player. Any suggestions would be helpful

 

[kelly]

At $260 total, I say your best bet is still a DVD player (with or without external DAC) and the NS500V has gotten good reviews overall. My suggestion was only to spend the $120 + cables on modding the NS500V instead since that seems to be going well for people. This way would also benefit your SACD playback as a bonus.

I thought the ART DI/O was very good prior to modding it. It's of course even better now, but using it in conjunction with my DVD player before I got it modded was dramatically better than my DVD player's analog output. (My DVD player is from 1998, but was the best sounding one made in 1998.)

 

[fyleow]

I think that the NS500V with the Art DI/O would suite me better. I use my headphones with my computer and with the Art DI/O I can take advantage of the digital out that the sound card has.

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by fyleow I think that the NS500V with the Art DI/O would suite me better. I use my headphones with my computer and with the Art DI/O I can take advantage of the digital out that the sound card has.

Oh, right, good point then. That's how I use my ART DI/O also.