lmm
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2003
- Posts
- 90
- Likes
- 15
Current Situation
IBM T series Laptop -> Airhead -> Beyer 250-80s (and sometimes SR225s)
Problem
Too much base noise with signal - I want silence when there's no music playing. And I'm looking for an amp upgrade too.
My Ideas
-Amped external sound card (Echo Indigo, Total Bithead)?
or
-USB sound card (Xitel Hi-Fi, M Audio Transit) to portable amp (Airhead or something better)
I'm leaning towards a USB sound card like the transit because I'm not convinced of the quality of the Echo Indigo and Bithead as amps, and getting a cheap external DAC would let me spend some money upgrading my portable amp (which I could then use away from my computer). But I'm worried that the transit wouldn't give me the completely clean signal I want (as I've heard the Echo Indigo would) and that the extra link in the system (card -> amp) would introduce new noise.
Any ideas on the best solution for this situation? Maybe better suggestions for the external DAC device? I don't want to spend a ton on that, as this laptop setup isn't a long term one.
IBM T series Laptop -> Airhead -> Beyer 250-80s (and sometimes SR225s)
Problem
Too much base noise with signal - I want silence when there's no music playing. And I'm looking for an amp upgrade too.
My Ideas
-Amped external sound card (Echo Indigo, Total Bithead)?
or
-USB sound card (Xitel Hi-Fi, M Audio Transit) to portable amp (Airhead or something better)
I'm leaning towards a USB sound card like the transit because I'm not convinced of the quality of the Echo Indigo and Bithead as amps, and getting a cheap external DAC would let me spend some money upgrading my portable amp (which I could then use away from my computer). But I'm worried that the transit wouldn't give me the completely clean signal I want (as I've heard the Echo Indigo would) and that the extra link in the system (card -> amp) would introduce new noise.
Any ideas on the best solution for this situation? Maybe better suggestions for the external DAC device? I don't want to spend a ton on that, as this laptop setup isn't a long term one.