Ian6301
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2010
- Posts
- 1
- Likes
- 0
Hello!
Although I have been lurking and researching on Head-Fi for a few months now, I have decided to break cover, introduce myself and throw myself upon the collective mercy of the Head-Fi community in asking for your advice.
NB: I have done my best to try to follow the protocol and to post in what I hope is the wrong place, but if I transgress, please forgive my Newbie error and point me back along the righteous path!
I have always felt that my fairly basic audio setups have been somewhat lacking in depth and definition. This has recently been confirmed by my having listened to a friend's well set up, well thought out and above all, well researched HiFi. A recent occupational hearing check also confirms that my hearing remains pretty awesome, despite years of shooting, loud rock music and sitting in Land Rovers.
So, what to do?
Well, having identified that a decent set of speakers are not going to be feasible in my setup (money, neighbours, toddler, wife, awkward design of rooms, etc...), I started to lurk this august institution some 3 months or so ago. Since then, I have trawled through the reams and reams of discussion, review, opinion and rant that lurk in the archives and have concluded the following:
You guys really do know one heck of a lot about this stuff and are not afraid to share!
One man's dream setup is another man's nightmare (even for a given musical taste).
Everything is relative.
But on the "where to start my obsession" front, I think I'm starting to form some opinions based on your posts and on the (somewhat limited) listening experiments that I've been doing in every HiFi store that I fail to pass on my travels. These are:
I like the way that classic rock (my preferred genre) sounds when played from a good quality source, via a tube amp, through good quality headphones. This based on:
1. I prefer over-the-ear to on-the-ear and am ready to ditch my old in-the-ears numbers in favour of something more accurate (not sure if "accurate" is the right word, but it's a start).
2. Even from a relatively poor quality audio source (laptop line out), I can hear a vast difference between my Skull Candy Smokin' Buds and the Grado Sr60s that I tried out.
3. I can hear a similarly vast improvement when using an off-board DAC and a headamp, versus the line out.
4. I can (with a good source and phones) hear the difference between a digital amp and a valve amp.
Now, a lot of this came as no surprise, as it falls in line with the conventional wisdom. What did come as a surprise was the extra detail and clarity that was apparent in some of my favourite recordings (Floyd's Dark Side).
SO, the big question is: How, within a tight budget of £500 ($800 ish), can I achieve the optimum balance of good sound and easy path to upgrade at a later date?
I have been looking at the following:
FUBAR II DAC £117.50
Little Dot III Head Amp £177
Grado SR80i Headphones £107.95
Total: 402
Am I barking up the wrong tree here, or is this a fairly good value starting point?
I would value your thoughts.
Although I am an engineer and can just about follow the technical aspects, it's probably worth pointing out that I am more of a mechanical engineer and was asleep during most of the electronic lectures. So go slowly and explain in small steps!
Many Thanks
Ian
Although I have been lurking and researching on Head-Fi for a few months now, I have decided to break cover, introduce myself and throw myself upon the collective mercy of the Head-Fi community in asking for your advice.
NB: I have done my best to try to follow the protocol and to post in what I hope is the wrong place, but if I transgress, please forgive my Newbie error and point me back along the righteous path!
I have always felt that my fairly basic audio setups have been somewhat lacking in depth and definition. This has recently been confirmed by my having listened to a friend's well set up, well thought out and above all, well researched HiFi. A recent occupational hearing check also confirms that my hearing remains pretty awesome, despite years of shooting, loud rock music and sitting in Land Rovers.
So, what to do?
Well, having identified that a decent set of speakers are not going to be feasible in my setup (money, neighbours, toddler, wife, awkward design of rooms, etc...), I started to lurk this august institution some 3 months or so ago. Since then, I have trawled through the reams and reams of discussion, review, opinion and rant that lurk in the archives and have concluded the following:
You guys really do know one heck of a lot about this stuff and are not afraid to share!
One man's dream setup is another man's nightmare (even for a given musical taste).
Everything is relative.
But on the "where to start my obsession" front, I think I'm starting to form some opinions based on your posts and on the (somewhat limited) listening experiments that I've been doing in every HiFi store that I fail to pass on my travels. These are:
I like the way that classic rock (my preferred genre) sounds when played from a good quality source, via a tube amp, through good quality headphones. This based on:
1. I prefer over-the-ear to on-the-ear and am ready to ditch my old in-the-ears numbers in favour of something more accurate (not sure if "accurate" is the right word, but it's a start).
2. Even from a relatively poor quality audio source (laptop line out), I can hear a vast difference between my Skull Candy Smokin' Buds and the Grado Sr60s that I tried out.
3. I can hear a similarly vast improvement when using an off-board DAC and a headamp, versus the line out.
4. I can (with a good source and phones) hear the difference between a digital amp and a valve amp.
Now, a lot of this came as no surprise, as it falls in line with the conventional wisdom. What did come as a surprise was the extra detail and clarity that was apparent in some of my favourite recordings (Floyd's Dark Side).
SO, the big question is: How, within a tight budget of £500 ($800 ish), can I achieve the optimum balance of good sound and easy path to upgrade at a later date?
I have been looking at the following:
FUBAR II DAC £117.50
Little Dot III Head Amp £177
Grado SR80i Headphones £107.95
Total: 402
Am I barking up the wrong tree here, or is this a fairly good value starting point?
I would value your thoughts.
Although I am an engineer and can just about follow the technical aspects, it's probably worth pointing out that I am more of a mechanical engineer and was asleep during most of the electronic lectures. So go slowly and explain in small steps!
Many Thanks
Ian
