[khaos974]

Fortunately, 99% of the time, I don't listen to music to evaluate my gear but simply for the pleasure of the music. But back to the subject.
 
Quote:

Thanks for the responses!
 
Putting the Headphones to 75 and the amp to 10 means that 400$ headphones can easly be driven by a 50$ amp. This doesn't make much sense to me cause I have heard that people tend to buy the same price headphones/amps.
 
What's the ratio of the prices of your headphones/amplifier ?

 
Audiophilia is not a hobby where people make rational decision, this can be easily seen when you consider the small number of people who take the time to learn about acoustics and properly treat their listening room in speaker configuration, 30% of the sound that arrives to you ear comes directly from the speakers, another 70% is reflected back to you from your room, and yet very few audiophiles treat their rooms beyond very small tweak when this is always the weak link of the system.
 
Besides perception is easily biased by our history, our experiences, the looks of a shiny faceplate, the knowledge of the fact that each resistor in a particular amp cost $5... My experience is that people buy amps that match the degree of finish and shininess of their headphones and that price is determined but the amount a customer is willing to pay and not by the production costs (that's economy 101, I'm not singling out anyone). That's how you end up with $1000 or $2000 amps.

 

[Uncle Erik]

The mastering is huge.  You want a good recording.  I don't like to assign percentages.
 
Aside from that, get a good pair of IEMs that don't need an external amp.  Plug those directly into an iPod (or your DAP of choice) and listen to good recordings.
 
That's all you need.
 
Though to throw a curveball, mastering isn't the only factor in good music.  I'll take the infamously bad recording of Errol Garner's "Concert by the Sea" over an exceptionally mastered bad act any day.  

 

[Riddle]

Guys please care to explain what exactly do you mean by "mastering". I really can't get it. :-/

 

[liamstrain]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_mastering

 

[Riddle]

Well in this case doesn't the audio quality I mentioned above include the mastering? As far as I got it from wikipedia audio audio mastering is the processing of the recorded sound and making it into a some kind of format - mp3, flac etc
 
 

 

[liamstrain]

That's part of it. But there is also the initial mixing and mastering done by the recording engineers, etc. to provide the final sound we hear. The job they do is very important to the end quality of the sound - and is highly variable. Some mastering is just better than others, and some can even be practically unlistenable. 

 

[Edoardo]

Don't know. There are headphones who don't need an amplifier. A 300-dollar headphone alone can sound better then a 1000-dollar one, even if the 1000-dollar headphone would beat it when coupled with a 1000-dollar amp. So a 300-dollar rig can sound better than a 1000 one, and in the first case the core of the rig are the headphones, whereas in the second the amplifier is.
How do you deal with that? 

 
Another paradox... if we put an output tube stage on a DAC inside a very neutral system, the DAC will affect sound more than the amp! 

 
 
 
So... Well... Considering an ideal situation...
 
DAC output stage 48
DAC chip 16
Media Player HW/SW configuration 29
interconnects 7 - they just need not to be crap
 
total...  48+16+29+7=100
 
if we add the amp, divide everything by 2 and add 50 for the amp,
 
if we add the headphones or speakers... divide everything by 2 and add 50 for the speakers
 
if we put the speakers in a room, divide everything by 2 and add 50 for the room
 

 

[Riddle]

 
Quote:

Well in this case doesn't the audio quality I mentioned above include the mastering?

 
So after all the file is the most important component?

 

[khaos974]

Quote:

Quote:

Well in this case doesn't the audio quality I mentioned above include the mastering?

So after all the file is the most important component?

Not exactly, the mastering step aims at making a piece of music sound good on may systems, several things are set during this stage:
- the loudness and dynamics of the music, for some types of music (pop/rock essentially), the aim to to reduce the dynamic range (see Loudness War)
- the general tonality, if the it's supposed to be warm, cold
- editing out overtones, possible background hums, noise...
- setting the soundstage, how wet or dry the piece sounds
- enhancing the presence of certain instruments, reducing that of the others
 
These are the major steps that come to my mind, the step when you convert your high definition master to a CD or to an MP3 is rather trivial and has much, much less impact than any of the other steps above. LFF (whose job is mastering audio) is also present in this thread, he should be able to give you a more precise and accurate answer than mine, PM him if you want.
 
 

 

[lee730]

Quote:

 
 
So after all the file is the most important component?

You would think so. Its the thing you are listening to. If its a piece of crap then you'll get a shiny piece of ****. I'd say File/Headphones/DAC/Amp. And of course synergy is key and will make or break a rig (PITA).

 

[Edoardo]

Well I've always took for granted that one does not invest much money on a playback system to playback crappy tracks...

 

[khaos974]

What about tracks with a crappy quality but with excellent music?
 
I'm thinking Django Reinhardt or the 1942 Furtwangler Beethoven 9th for example, those are the most extreme examples but there is a lot of excellent modern music that was mastered rather badly.

 

[Edoardo]

Quote:

What about tracks with a crappy quality but with excellent music?
 
I'm thinking Django Reinhardt or the 1942 Furtwangler Beethoven 9th for example, those are the most extreme examples but there is a lot of excellent modern music that was mastered rather badly.

Toscanini's, Furtwangler's, or Big Bill Broonzy's, Louis Armstrong's, Django Reinhardt's and many old crappy recordings are absolutely a must, for what they contain...
 
But... Personally, when I'm listening to Toscanini or Big Bill Broonzy or any old milestone recording I am on "let's study this" mode.
When I am in "real enjoyment" mode, for the same music I'd switch to Thielemann's Beethoven or Eric Clapton's Big Bill Broonzy on DVD and 24/48+ audio... Am I the only one with such an attitude? 

 

 

[khaos974]

That depends on the music, it's often possible with classical or older recordings with remasterings, but there's a lot of music that only exist in one single badly mastered version.

 

[Edoardo]

You've got a point!