[pancakeplease]

Just picked Shure SRH840 today after trying to decide between cheapos in the $50-70 range like the m30s m40s, or going out around $100-200 for the m50s, SRH750DJ, M-Audio Q40.. and finally decided on the Shure SRH840 cause I got a killer deal on them for $90. 
 
 
I'm trying to get into the world of audiophiles and want to know where I can start to get the most out of my music. I'm not in music production or anything, I just listen and play. So far, I use it to listen to iTunes library on my computer. I don't have a sound card that's legit, I just use the onboard sound card that's on my Z68 motherboard. I also have Logitech x-540 speakers which has a headphone jack but I'm not sure if it's amplified or what. I'm not even really sure what a headphone amp does other than make things louder.
 
 
Are there any softwares I can download to tweak stuff or any suggestions on getting the most out of these expensive ass headphones while keeping it on a budget? I'm not looking to spend hundreds on a professional computer sound card or anything. 

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
Your biggest start is to get high quality source music, lossless, high quality mastered stuff (not all lossless is well recorded to begin with, some albums are just rubbishly recorded and that's that).
 
Your next step is a clean, good, DAC, and to get off the onboard/soundcard.
 
The SRH840 doesn't need an amp, so I wouldn't make it a priority right now. It can benefit, slightly, from one. But let's just say the above are far more revealing to unlock good audio on this set of headphones.
 
Budget?
 
Very best,

 

[pancakeplease]

Wow thanks, I didnt know what lossless music was but it really makes a big difference. I'll have to try and find more. 

 

[NinjaSquirt]

As far as software goes, consider using foobar2000 as a music player and downloading the WASAPI component. It's fairly easy to set up (Google it, it takes all of 5 minutes to download and set up). It'll bypass the Windows mixing and give you a sound that's closer to the actual recording. For this the difference is subtle but still existent.
 
DAC is your most important thing. Onboard sound card is the biggest no-no you can do as an audiophile.
 
Lossless music is important but depending on what bands/groups you listen to, the production may be terrible either way.

 

[pancakeplease]

Quote:Originally Posted by NinjaSquirt /img/forum/go_quote.gif

As far as software goes, consider using foobar2000 as a music player and downloading the WASAPI component. It's fairly easy to set up (Google it, it takes all of 5 minutes to download and set up). It'll bypass the Windows mixing and give you a sound that's closer to the actual recording. For this the difference is subtle but still existent.
 
DAC is your most important thing. Onboard sound card is the biggest no-no you can do as an audiophile.
 
Lossless music is important but depending on what bands/groups you listen to, the production may be terrible either way.
 
 
 
Thanks but unfortunately I have a Mac. I did find this thread this http://www.head-fi.org/t/539740/mac-os-x-music-players-alternatives-to-itunes
The problem is, I have really no idea what they're talking about. There's a list of programs but the details and limitations of what they do really don't make any sense to me at this point lol. 
 
What is the purpose of a DAC? If i get a portable small one for the sake budget to use with my computer, would that be worth it or is that just a waste of money? 



 

 

[kiteki]

 
A DAC is basically a sound-card, they are both digital to analogue converters.
 
A high-quality DAC will improve the sound of your music, since you seem focused on computer audio you will need a USB DAC preferably one with a built in amplifier and volume control.
 
The Hifiman HM-101 is pretty cheap and good, you will hear the difference.
 
If you prefer a more chill analog sound you could try this one, Muse TDA1543
 
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Just picked Shure SRH840 today after trying to decide between cheapos in the $50-70 range like the m30s m40s, or going out around $100-200 for the m50s, SRH750DJ, M-Audio Q40.. and finally decided on the Shure SRH840 cause I got a killer deal on them for $90. 
I'm trying to get into the world of audiophiles and want to know where I can start to get the most out of my music. I'm not in music production or anything, I just listen and play. So far, I use it to listen to iTunes library on my computer. I don't have a sound card that's legit, I just use the onboard sound card that's on my Z68 motherboard. I also have Logitech x-540 speakers which has a headphone jack but I'm not sure if it's amplified or what. I'm not even really sure what a headphone amp does other than make things louder.
Are there any softwares I can download to tweak stuff or any suggestions on getting the most out of these expensive ass headphones while keeping it on a budget? I'm not looking to spend hundreds on a professional computer sound card or anything. 

The Shure SRH840 is only 44-Ohms, easy to drive.
 
The headphone jack on the X-540 I would guess is going to be about the same as the built in sound card.
Also it is outside the computer case, so less interference from noise?
Fiio headphone amplifiers/DAC, E7, E9, E10 or E11 might improve the SRH840 sound.
I would guess the E9 is the best headphone amplifier out of those 4.
 
Asus Xonar DG, $27.50 and has a $10 mail in rebate.
Has a half way decent headphone amplifier rated up to 150-Ohms, how much improvement for SRH840s, unknown.
Comes with Dolby Digital 5.1, so you will get surround sound for games and DVD movies (headphones and speakers).
 
Single tube headphone amplifier on eBay, prices start at $45, better quality start at $70.
Tubes add "warmth" and "soul" to sound.

 
 
 

 

[jackwess]

I'd consider the E7 (Dac) get the E9 later. 

 

[pancakeplease]

Thanks all, starting to love this forum. People are real friendly and not PMSing all the time like you find on some other boards. 
I got lots to research, I'll definitely look into this and see what I need. 
 
BTW, I'm shocked. I thought my SRH840's were good but realized that the plug wasn't pushed in all the way and when I did that, BOOM. Full eargasm.

 

[bcasey25raptor]

I second the recommendation for a fiio e7. I own the shure srh840. They are great headphones and $90 is a steal.

 

[pancakeplease]

If I get a good soundcard would that be a replacement for a portable DAC? Are some sound cards good enough to do the digital to analog conversion? 
 
I'm wondering whether I need to get a good internal soundcard or just get a good external portable DAC like Fiio e7-e11 suggested above. Portable would obviously be better but depending on the price, I may prefer to get a soundcard. 
 
I should probably clarify the question. Is a soundcard and DAC the same thing? Or can it be? The sound card processes the audio and then sends it out to the DAC which then goes to the headphones/speakers right? So a crap soundcard with a DAC or a great soundcard without an external DAC? Or both?

 

[elixile]

No. Usually an external DAC would be the best way to go. I might suggest you save up slowly and go mid-fi straight away. Get a respectable 200+ DAC/Amp like the Matrix Cube or HRT Music Streamer II for instance, or if not I guarantee you'll only be satisfied for only a few weeks with a low end setup, then you'd be wanting to upgrade to something better since it's only $100 more. However when you're at the mid-fi point upgrading to a hi-fi setup requires a huge jump in cost for a relatively smaller improvement when comparing lo-fi to mid-fi. Therefore, that $200-300 would be a safe checkpoint in my opinion.

 

[pancakeplease]

Quote:

No. Usually an external DAC would be the best way to go. I might suggest you save up slowly and go mid-fi straight away. Get a respectable 200+ DAC/Amp like the Matrix Cube or HRT Music Streamer II for instance, or if not I guarantee you'll only be satisfied for only a few weeks with a low end setup, then you'd be wanting to upgrade to something better since it's only $100 more. However when you're at the mid-fi point upgrading to a hi-fi setup requires a huge jump in cost for a relatively smaller improvement when comparing lo-fi to mid-fi. Therefore, that $200-300 would be a safe checkpoint in my opinion.

Hmm good point. 
But I'm still wondering. Maybe I should start from the basics. What does a sound card do? I understand the DAC based on what I've read, it converts digital to analog. A soundcard, from what I know, is just the audio processor for all things, including music. I'm wondering if it'll be a better option for me to get a bomb soundcard (maybe one with a built in DAC if there is such a thing) or if I should just deal with the onboard and focus purely on music and get a quality DAC. I'm not sure I have money for both. 
 
And how does a DAC handle sound that's not music, like gaming and stuff? Or movies. Not that it's a big concern but it seems anything outside the music is the soundcard issue. 

 

[ostewart]

fiio E11 is not a DAC, its a portable headphone amp. The E7 is portable headphone amp and USB DAC, the E10 is a USB DAC and headphone amp with no built in battery, so its not for portable use with an iPod or such, it just runs off USB power. I would get the E10 if your just using it on your mac, it is superior to the E7. A DAC will handle all sound, but some soundcards will give you dolby surround audio.

 

[elixile]

Quote:

Hmm good point. 
But I'm still wondering. Maybe I should start from the basics. What does a sound card do? I understand the DAC based on what I've read, it converts digital to analog. A soundcard, from what I know, is just the audio processor for all things, including music. I'm wondering if it'll be a better option for me to get a bomb soundcard (maybe one with a built in DAC if there is such a thing) or if I should just deal with the onboard and focus purely on music and get a quality DAC. I'm not sure I have money for both. 
 
And how does a DAC handle sound that's not music, like gaming and stuff? Or movies. Not that it's a big concern but it seems anything outside the music is the soundcard issue. 

 
To put it simply without jargon, a sound card is essentially a DAC only engineered for computers. Both sound cards and DACs handle all audio; be it music, gaming audio even the OS notification sounds. The reason external DACs are favoured is essentially because they are engineered with audiophile sound quality as first priority, and the results are generally the case. Other than that, they do nothing else. External DACs just act as an alternative "better" source to convert your digital audio data. External sound cards like the Creative X-Fi series while they do sound better than onboard sound, they don't measure up to external DACs and they're loaded up with fake sound enhancements and gimmicks like 5.1 and 7.1 enhancements which generally do not sound good at all. Thus, if you were to connect an external DAC and select it as a source, you'll only hear sounds coming from that external DAC and nothing else interfering be it a sound card.