[Horsty]

Hey everybody!
This is my first attempt to enter this community, so please be gentle.
I lurked a lot here and I feel ready to make my first post:
 
I mostly listen to Post-Rock,Shoegaze and other well recorded music in high quality, but from what I have learned here, I'll only be able to here the difference in quality and the magic of private listening if I have a decent pair of headphones.
Regarding my preferences and studies I came to the conclucion that the Sehnnheiser HD 598 would fit my needs and my budget.
Currently I have a pair of Koss Porta Pros because I wanted a simple entry in the audiophile world and I just can't stop to listen to music through them since I got them in the middle of december.
 
So now I want to take the next step and build a rig:
I'm looking at the Asgard/bifrost combo and the recommended soundcard in the toplist. So my will be around a thousand euros.
 
Thank you for reading and especially for replying

 

[Traum]

So now I want to take the next step and build a rig:
I'm looking at the Asgard/bifrost combo and the recommended soundcard in the toplist. So my will be around a thousand euros.

Not sure if I am reading you right here -- are you saying you are looking at the Schiit Asgard+Bifrost combo and a sound card?

With the Bifrost DAC, your PC is going to bypass the soundcard altogether. You'd be feeding the Bifrost either throught the coaxial SPDIF, optical SPDIF, or USB. And then the Bifrost connects to the Asgard amp, and you plug your cans into the Asgard.

 

[Horsty]

Quote:

Not sure if I am reading you right here -- are you saying you are looking at the Schiit Asgard+Bifrost combo and a sound card?

With the Bifrost DAC, your PC is going to bypass the soundcard altogether. You'd be feeding the Bifrost either throught the coaxial SPDIF, optical SPDIF, or USB. And then the Bifrost connects to the Asgard amp, and you plug your cans into the Asgard.

First of all, thank you for this fast response.
 
Yes, I misunderstood that. So I only get the combo and forget the soundcard.
But will they drive the headphones good enough or should I consider different items?

 

[alwaysec]

is "meier audio concerto" removed from the market? i cant see it is sold anywhere. 
 
not even on their website. 

 

[hexagonsun]

Hello all,
 
So about a month ago I broke my headphones (Audio Technica ATH-A700X) and I'm now looking for a replacement. I'm a rookie when it comes to headphone knoweldge (these were my first pair of decent ones) so I am hoping someone here can point me in the right direction!
 
The new pair will be used exclusively for home use, so a closed back is not required. I listen to pretty much every genre of music, but electronic (stuff like Actress, Four Tet, Burial, Ricardo Villalobos, Aphex Twin) and hip-hop, and to a lesser extent indie/rock/alternative are probably what I listen to the most. I don't really listen to too much 'bass-heavy' music these days, but I do enjoy a little punch on the low end.
 
My budget is approximately $300, though this is flexible.
 
And I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I listen mainly to mp3s through an integrated sound card, and occasionally vinyl.
 
Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[KG Jag]

Quote:

Quote:

So now I want to take the next step and build a rig:
I'm looking at the Asgard/bifrost combo and the recommended soundcard in the toplist. So my will be around a thousand euros.

Not sure if I am reading you right here -- are you saying you are looking at the Schiit Asgard+Bifrost combo and a sound card?

With the Bifrost DAC, your PC is going to bypass the soundcard altogether. You'd be feeding the Bifrost either throught the coaxial SPDIF, optical SPDIF, or USB. And then the Bifrost connects to the Asgard amp, and you plug your cans into the Asgard.

Come on folks--this is more OT discussions for which there are proper places on the forum to post questions about sound cards, DACs and amps.  It's certainly understandabble when someone is seeking a new headphone and equipment combo.  However, this was never intended to be an open request thread.  Please read the opening post, which says in relevant part:
 
"This is the Headphones (full-size) area. Please direct more specific enquiries about iems, portable cans, dac/amp recommendations etc to the relevant subforum. Doing so will likely get your questions answered sooner by someone experienced with said gear."

 

[alwaysec]

Quote:

First of all, thank you for this fast response.
 
Yes, I misunderstood that. So I only get the combo and forget the soundcard.
But will they drive the headphones good enough or should I consider different items?

my understanding is the DAC will process the music file not the sound card in your case. if you use a DAC linking to your computer via usb or spdif, the sound card will simply be bypassed. 
 
hd598 is awesome! they dont even need an amp. they sound great out of box. sure, dac+amp will make them sound even better.

 

[KG Jag]

Quote:

Hello all,
 
So about a month ago I broke my headphones (Audio Technica ATH-A700X) and I'm now looking for a replacement. I'm a rookie when it comes to headphone knoweldge (these were my first pair of decent ones) so I am hoping someone here can point me in the right direction!
 
The new pair will be used exclusively for home use, so a closed back is not required. I listen to pretty much every genre of music, but electronic (stuff like Actress, Four Tet, Burial, Ricardo Villalobos, Aphex Twin) and hip-hop, and to a lesser extent indie/rock/alternative are probably what I listen to the most. I don't really listen to too much 'bass-heavy' music these days, but I do enjoy a little punch on the low end.
 
My budget is approximately $300, though this is flexible.
 
And I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I listen mainly to mp3s through an integrated sound card, and occasionally vinyl.
 
Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I suggest that upgrade you files and equipment before spending $300 on a quality can.  You won't get the benefit of your can investment without upgrading your music source and sound card/music player first.

 

[hexagonsun]

Thanks for the response!
 
Most of my mp3s are 320kbps which, as I understand, is not all that different quality-wise from lossless files.
 
And is a dedicated sound card really so important?

 

[eucariote]

Quote:

Edit 2: Also, since I'm planning to buy the stuff second-handed as many of these products are not easily available for my country if you are not ready to pay a crazy amount of money, an all round solution has its advantages in that aspect too.

 
You will be able to get a better rig for the price, good move.
 
Quote:

And in that price category what headphone should I look at?

 
From the op I thought you were ready to spend over $800, and would have recommended HE500 over the HD650 and a used/inexpensive dac/amp (e.g. zero, etc).  Seeing that your budget is less, HD650 are a great value.

 

[KG Jag]

Quote:

Thanks for the response!
 
Most of my mp3s are 320kbps which, as I understand, is not all that different quality-wise from lossless files.
 
And is a dedicated sound card really so important?

In most cases--yes.  Generally speaking, on-board sound is not so good; generally better with a Mac.  You can also get a quality external DAC/Amp (desktop or portable) instead.
 
Your 320 MP3's are OK.  Higher quality file formats or CD's with well recorded tracks are even better.

 

[hexagonsun]

Quote:

In most cases--yes.  Generally speaking, on-board sound is not so good; generally better with a Mac.  You can also get a quality external DAC/Amp (desktop or portable) instead.
 
Your 320 MP3's are OK.  Higher quality file formats or CD's with well recorded tracks are even better.

Thanks for the input!
 
Hmm, interesting. Perhaps I'll just send my old headphones in for repair (they need a new cable) and buy an amp, and hold off on getting new cans for the time being.

 

[eucariote]

Quote:

Hello all,
 
So about a month ago I broke my headphones (Audio Technica ATH-A700X) and I'm now looking for a replacement. I'm a rookie when it comes to headphone knoweldge (these were my first pair of decent ones) so I am hoping someone here can point me in the right direction!
 
The new pair will be used exclusively for home use, so a closed back is not required. I listen to pretty much every genre of music, but electronic (stuff like Actress, Four Tet, Burial, Ricardo Villalobos, Aphex Twin) and hip-hop, and to a lesser extent indie/rock/alternative are probably what I listen to the most. I don't really listen to too much 'bass-heavy' music these days, but I do enjoy a little punch on the low end.
 
My budget is approximately $300, though this is flexible.
 
And I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I listen mainly to mp3s through an integrated sound card, and occasionally vinyl.
 
Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 
There are used DT880, DT990 and SR225 in the fs forum that can be had for around $200.  If you can stretch your budget a little HD600 are extremely good for the price.  They are all great, read up on which signature you might prefer.  That would leave you $100 for a dac and some sort of amplifier (SR225 would do fine with a 5v usb amp, like the udac, the Beyers & Senns would benefit from more amplification).  Don't go overboard, and you can even save up and buy something later, but anything is better than a stock pc dac.

 

[3ternal]

Hello head-fi. I'm not much of an audiophile--I currently own a Sennheiser HD280 Pro which I use with my desktop PC (already have a dedicated sound card). I'm looking to either upgrade this pair or get something new for outdoor use, preferably something lightweight and not too bulky to make carrying it easy. The HD280s are a bit too big to wear around my neck, and the noise cancelling, while useful on a plane, is a bit too effective for when I'm out but don't necessarily want to shut the world out.
 
I'm looking at the $100-200 price range, but that's flexible. I'm mainly wondering if I should look into an open ear pair for outdoor use or if the sound leakage will be worse than whatever benefit I gain from the extra comfort. I mostly listen to electronic music, if that helps. I also might want to pick up a budget portable DAC because I usually listen to music straight from my phone, so any recommendations with regards to that would be appreciated too.

 

[miceblue]

Looking for a good closed classical phone for ~$300 for my dad. I was thinking the Sony MDR-1R or the Mad Dogs(I would give him my FiiO E11((not sure if he's fine with carrying the amp around though)) ) Any other recommendations from other people?

Is this to be used unamped from something like an iPod?

iPad.

Have not heard the Sony, but from what I have read they are too bassy and colored to mesh well with classical music.  I have only briefly heard the Mag Dogs, so can offer no helpful opinion about them.

No amp knocks out some excellent options, like the Shure SRH 940.

That lead us to mostly portable cans like the Senn Amperior (or little brother the HD25-1 II) and Audio Technica ATHESW9A Portable Wooden Headphones. 

If you can still find it, the Sony MDR-V900HD is also a good choice and should be quite a bit below budget.

I own the SRH940 and although they benefit from an amp, they sounds just fine straight out of an iPhone 4S. A free EQ app from Golden Ears, Accudio can really really help if unamped. It applies a special EQ based on Golden Ear's measurements to make the SRH940 sound neutral (it's special EQ has a 5/5 rating meaning the sound output is very clean-sounding I believe).