[bba1973]

What would be a good rechargeable 9V battery (I need a charger for it too) for the BSG cmoy? Throwing away 9V batteries after every 20 hours doesn't sound very economical, and I'm not always right next to an electrical outlet.

 

[tenzip]

I find the Rat Shack ones work fine. I imagine you can find some cheaper somewhere online, but it was convenient for me.

I bought 2 about 2 years ago, and then 2 more just a couple of months ago. I believe the new ones have a better mAh rating.

 

[bba1973]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tenzip /img/forum/go_quote.gif I find the Rat Shack ones work fine. I imagine you can find some cheaper somewhere online, but it was convenient for me. I bought 2 about 2 years ago, and then 2 more just a couple of months ago. I believe the new ones have a better mAh rating.

Thanks, but what would be a good charger for these? Would this be a good buy?

 

[Ronald Lee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bba1973 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Because I don't have $250 to spend on a slight sound improvement. It ain't easy bein' poor white trash like me. They don't take kindly to audiophiles in Alabama. All we gots in Mobile's just a Best Buy...

Chill dude, i did not know it cost so much at there

 

[bba1973]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronald Lee /img/forum/go_quote.gif Chill dude, i did not know it cost so much at there

Sorry. It's just I keep saying my budget is limited, but people keep suggesting stuff that's way out of my budget, and their suggestions will only make a slight improvement in my system from what it is now.

The amp finally got here! That's Saturday morning to Wednesday afternoon from being parts to arriving in my mailbox. Not bad at all. So far, it was definitely worth the $57. The volume control is a massive improvement over what it was unamped. Sound quality is definitely cleaner and I don't have the hard drive feedback I would hear unamped, but nothing majorly improved. It's like the amp takes the Zune's signal, cleans it up some, and spits it back out, and that's pretty much what I wanted and expected. There's also less static, but there wasn't much to begin with.

I've only got two issues so far: listening fatigue and figuring out how to attach it to my Zune for better portability. For the listening fatigue, it's pretty slight, and hopefully I'll get used to it, but I haven't experienced this since I got my 30 GB Zune in November 2007 (with 128 MP3's, btw). This fatigue isn't nearly as bad as the first time, but I didn't expect it. For the attachment, I'll probably end up using some kind of hand strap and hooking it up to my Zune case. I'll probably post some pics later.

Thanks guys for all the help. Between the $35 earbuds, the $57 amp, and the free WMA lossless conversion, I've got a huge improvement for only $92. I've still got less than $400 invested in my portable rig, and it's worth every cent. Oh yeah, no Bose tax or Apple tax either

.

 

[ljokerl]

Congrats on finding a setup that you like. Sometimes head-fi really doesn't break the bank

.

 

[bba1973]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljokerl /img/forum/go_quote.gif Congrats on finding a setup that you like. Sometimes head-fi really doesn't break the bank .

Ha! Not yet for me. I'll eventually need to upgrade my home rig's speakers, but I'll stick with my portable setup for now. Maybe I can convert some of my lo-fi buddies next. One of those guys rides iPods like he's a rodeo cowboy, and I can't wait to see his reaction when he tries out my Zune now.

 

[Ronald Lee]

so, what amp you got in the end?

 

[bba1973]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronald Lee /img/forum/go_quote.gif so, what amp you got in the end?

A cmoy off ebay made by biosciencegeek. It looked like the best one to suit my needs, and his build quality looked really good. I'm really happy with it so far, and it's going to be my Zune's best buddy for a while. I took an old camera bag strap and shortened it so it fits nicely on my Zune's case. Eventually, I'll probably get a Fiio E5, but it's not replacing my BSG cmoy.

 

[qusp]

I think people are recommending better headphones instead of an amp and interconnect, because that would show much more improvement. i'm not suggesting you buy them, but you are fooling yourself if you think that SF5 are just a tiny bit better than SF3. its a different league altogether. I make interconnects; thats my thing and I would recommend better headphones before selling someone a cable for SF3 plus amp. IMO they just arent capable of showing much improvement from amping; as they are fairly easy to drive and they are somewhat lacking in resolution, soundstage and bass extension/quality; which are the main improvements you would expect from using an amp with IEMs.

IMO the money would be better spent elsewhere at that level. all the same enjoy your rig. I just think amping for amping's sake (gadget lust) is a waste of time and money thats all. for a CMO¥ though; the BSG is a decent littleish amp

 

[blawhh]

Ask Mr. Wilson at Jaben.net he has a few rechargeable 9v's he should be able to point you somewhere

 

[bba1973]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think people are recommending better headphones instead of an amp and interconnect, because that would show much more improvement. i'm not suggesting you buy them, but you are fooling yourself if you think that SF5 are just a tiny bit better than SF3. its a different league altogether. I make interconnects; thats my thing and I would recommend better headphones before selling someone a cable for SF3 plus amp. IMO they just arent capable of showing much improvement from amping; as they are fairly easy to drive and they are somewhat lacking in resolution, soundstage and bass extension/quality; which are the main improvements you would expect from using an amp with IEMs.

How many times do I have to say I can't afford better headphones? I didn't mean that the SF5's would only be a tiny bit better than my UHP336's, but that I might not be able to tell much of a difference with my ears as they are right now. In any case, I won't have $250 just lying around for a while. There's that "law of diminishing return," and I'm sure it applies to audio as well. Sorry if I'm coming across the wrong way, but it's frustrating saying the same thing over and over again. If you think I could get as much sound improvement with a pair of sub $60 headphones as I could with my sub $60 amp, you must be smoking something. Right away, I noticed a big improvement with the amp, and I had to have something to give me better volume control. A better set of headphones wouldn't do that for me. An analog volume control was something that I absolutely needed to get the most out of my current setup, and it was worth every cent.

Again, I apologize if I'm being rude, but some of us are poor, broke college kids. I'm just trying to do the best I can, and I don't think there's anything wrong with enjoying my current setup. It could be much worse.

Quote:

IMO the money would be better spent elsewhere at that level. all the same enjoy your rig. I just think amping for amping's sake (gadget lust) is a waste of time and money thats all. for a CMO¥ though; the BSG is a decent littleish amp

It's not just amping to have a new gadget. I kept getting stuck with a volume level that was either too loud or too soft with no middle ground, and I just couldn't enjoy my music or my earbuds like that. What's the point of listening to music that way? The amp fixed that problem and it even improved my sound. $250 headphones wouldn'tve done that unless they had an integrated attuenuator.

Quote:

Ask Mr. Wilson at Jaben.net he has a few rechargeable 9v's he should be able to point you somewhere

I found some on ebay, but I won't have enough money to buy them until a week or two from now. Until then, I've got a few regular 9V's around the house.

 

[qusp]

LOL get a grip mate and lose the attitude. where did I actually recommend you buy them?? all I did was explain why the people who already had were doing it. in fact I specifically said I wasnt recommending them. you didnt listen either; the difference between those 2 is not small, a deaf bat could tell the difference IMO. The SF3 has very little in the way of bass or highs. SF5 has a treasonable amount and better resolution too. in trying to make the SF3 or similar produce something they dont you are IMO wasting your money; which I thought was what you are trying to avoid??

Spend more money on headphones before you start trying to tweak their performance, much more improvement that way, regardless of what you have convinced yourself of.. at the moment IMO you are about to hit a brick wall. Koss KCS75 (10-20 bucks) will show much more improvement from an amp and actually apart from the lack of isolation; PWN the SF3 IMO (havent heard the model you are talking about specifically)

also, man you get ripped off in canada!!!. 250(even CAN) is obscene for SF5 nice one. seeya... good luck squeezing blood out of a stone.

 

[bba1973]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif LOL get a grip mate and lose the attitude. where did I actually recommend you buy them?? all I did was explain why the people who already had were doing it. in fact I specifically said I wasnt recommending them. you didnt listen either; the difference between those 2 is not small, a deaf bat could tell the difference IMO. The SF3 has very little in the way of bass or highs. SF5 has a treasonable amount and better resolution too. in trying to make the SF3 or similar produce something they dont you are IMO wasting your money; which I thought was what you are trying to avoid??

Sorry, again. I need to read things more carefully and think before acting. You did say that my money would be better spent elsewhere, and with the way you and other people have been talking, my mind went straight to "buy new headphones." With the whole SF5 thing, I wasn't thinking when I posted. Just because they look similar doesn't mean they sound anything alike. There's no real audio dealer where I live, so I can't try them out to hear the difference. It's hard to hear the difference when I don't have access to the equipment, wouldn't you agree? Like I said before, all we have is a Best Buy. If there's any audiophile dealers here, they sure don't advertise.

With my need for an amp, I never said I was going to get it to add resolution or get more bass out of my UHP336's. I said I needed an amp for better volume control, and that's what I got with it. The amp also improved the sound quality a decent amount. Not so much with the sound stage (which it did improve), but it cleaned up the signal coming out of the Zune extremely well. For my purposes, the amp was well worth the money, and it made improvements I didn't think I was going to get. It is an essential component in my portable rig, and I'm not going anywhere without it. One of the best purchases I've made in a long time.

Quote:

Spend more money on headphones before you start trying to tweak their performance, much more improvement that way, regardless of what you have convinced yourself of.. at the moment IMO you are about to hit a brick wall. Koss KCS75 (10-20 bucks) will show much more improvement from an amp and actually apart from the lack of isolation; PWN the SF3 IMO (havent heard the model you are talking about specifically)

Now it comes out

.

I need to have IEMs for sound isolation and portability. The "inside your head" feeling I get from IEMs adds alot to my audio experience. The KCS75's would annoy the people around me too much, but I may pick some up eventually just to try them out. When I feel like I'm missing out on my system's full potential, I'll upgrade headphones (maybe Shures), and probably get a better amp (RSA has some cool stuff). Until then, I'll be happy with my modest system. It's still a huge improvement over the Sony MDR-EX55's I used to think sounded great.

 

[qusp]

ok cool, I know how it is when you are frustrated. I have heard the SF3, just not the rebranded model you have. I find it surprising you say a CMOY improved the signal from a zune, the ZUNE is very well regarded around here and the IEMs you mention are VERY efficient. but couldnt you just use an inline attenuator if all you needed was volume control??

I only mentioned the koss by means of an example; which I also thought was pretty clear. hey man the rig is not crap, but you asked for improveme1nt in the thread title, so thats what people recommended. I hope you enjoy your gear for a while to come yet; but upgrade Headphones->amp->cables is how I se it and is also the general feeling around here, so for sure the next upgrade should be them IMO.