[b-sides]

i orignially made this in another thread, but it really didn't belong there, so here it is.

this is gonna seem like a dumb question, but i just have to ask.

i will be leaving for college in about 10 months, so i'm kinda thinking about my future dorm rig atm. i will be using my ipod as a source. what would be better, an sr60 with a decent portable amp or an unamped hf-1?

also, is it worth spending money on an expensive non-portable amp if my source is an ipod? will i really get full potential out of it? most of my CD collection is ripped at VBR or at least 192kbps. i don't plan on bringing many CDs with me.

at this point, i am seriously confused about upgrading. i started out thinking about E2Cs, but my lust for headphones made me turn to the dark side.

 

[Veniogenesis]

Are you going to have a computer in your college dorm? As you probably do, I would suggest getting a good soundcard for it. (If you aren't building your own custom computer, get the cheapest option given to you. Then upgrade the soundcard. Stock soundcards are sure to be worse then EMUs even if they cost more, for example.)

Personally, I don't think the SR-60 benefits very much from amplification. Sure, if you're going to use the iPod as a source, you'll want a line out and then an amplifier to control the volume. I have doubts that a good amp will be much better than a decent, inexpensive amp for the SR-60.

 

[b-sides]

what about the HF-1 though? i'm sure it could use some amping, but is the difference enough to justify the price of a $100+ amp?

 

[1967cutlass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by b-sides what about the HF-1 though? i'm sure it could use some amping, but is the difference enough to justify the price of a $100+ amp?

HF-1's would be a pretty bad way to spend your money. Get a chaintech av-710 soundcard and spend around 100$ on an amp. This gives you whatever is leftover to buy headphones (pick whatever, you could get akg k240s's for example for 80$ new) , that when amped, will be better than whatever you had before unamped from the ipod by a good margin.

 

[b-sides]

well currently i'm using a senn 497 unamped, but i dont really think it's worth the extra money to amp it. with the money i have, after purchasing a new sound card and amp, i will only have enough to purchase something similar to the 497. also, i probably will be bringing a laptop to school, so i don't think upgrading the soundcard is really an option.

 

[1967cutlass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by b-sides well currently i'm using a senn 497 unamped, but i dont really think it's worth the extra money to amp it. with the money i have, after purchasing a new sound card and amp, i will only have enough to purchase something similar to the 497. also, i probably will be bringing a laptop to school, so i don't think upgrading the soundcard is really an option.

well in that case, get whatever works best for you- find the cans you like best under 80 ohms or so and you can get by without an amp.

 

[Claus1100xx]

I think you'd be able to live with the HF-1 unamped. You're going to lose some detail but they will nevertheless still sound fantastic. Any Grado will sound great unamped, so if you don't want to spend as much as an HF-1 costs, you could easilyl live with an SR60 or 80 too.

For $200 you could get a great rig:
Refurbished EMU 0404 ~ $79
New SR60~$69
Little Dot Micro or Cmoy~$50
Some cheapo interconnects~$2-10

Plus this rig would still be portable. So you could go to the library and study (don't blast it because the grados are open) or take it home when you go back for breaks.

And everyone would be impressed at how good all of this sounds.

If you're just going to use it with your IPOD the SR60 will be the better choice than the HF-1. It is terminated in a 1/8' plug, which means no fiddeling around with adaptors (cost an extra $15 from grado) and the SR60 sound great out of any portable without amping.

 

[K2Grey]

First of all, you need to consider whether you'll want to use open cans in dorm room. I'm in one and I was concerned about HD580 leaking and replies were to the effect that they leaked and let in sounds amazingly, and that the Grados were even worse. So it may not be desirable to get such headphones unless you want to hear the air conditioning, sounds in hallway, advertise your music to your roommate, etc. Having said this I am still on the fence over whether to get an open can or not.

Anyway, if you are using a laptop that cuts down on your options alot. You should still get some kind of USB soundcard IMHO. The cheap rig I'm using is Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro + HD201 which feels nice to me, although obviously you can go much higher if you want to.

If you're set on using iPod as source, then get the line-out option one way or another, amp it, and then some headphones with whatever money you have left. But if you are dissatisfied with your headphone or amp choice given your current budget, then save up so you don't have to upgrade. You have 10 months before going to college; that is enough time to purchase some rig you will be satisfied with.

 

[jpr703]

I'd buy a higher end Grado without an amp rather than a lower end one with an amp. I don't have the HF-1, but I do own the 225 which is very similiar. Grado's don't draw a lot of juice, so although they do improve with an amp, you can still get great sound from them without one. Save the amp for for a future upgrade.

As much as I love the Grado sound, someone else had a very valid point when they asked whether or not you would really want open phones in a dorm. If there's a lot of ambient noise (and most dorms will have quite a bit) you might be better off with a set of closed phones.

 

[b-sides]

i was also thinking about getting a pair of super.fi 5s for on the go use... i guess these would work as noise-blockers in a pinch. the thing is, i dont really know how they sound or how they feel in comparison to large closed headphones (eg. A900s). i would imagine that larger phones are much more comfortable for long sittings.