Go Vibe V5+DAC or Total Bithead

[77Pat]

I have searched through these forums and the source forums and have narrowed down some of my choices, but I am not totally sure what would be good for me. This will be my first amp/dac.

Right now I have a Dell D610 with a SigmaTel C Major Audio card, but I use an external creative soundblaster live 24 bit card. If I get a dac or the bithead it will replace the creative. I am running foobar with kernel streaming, for some reason using ASIO produces a hiss from my speakers(Logitech Z-2300), and ogg vorbis 192 or mp3 lame 256.

I am going to buy a Cown a2or A3, when it comes out, to use as my portable device. My headphones are going to be the AKG K81DJ. Some people have said an amp helps, while others said their pa2v2 did not help that much. So this is why I think it is worth the extra money to go for the go vibe. For the DAC I would buy the Entech that is being sold on amazon.com for $50+shipping. My other option would be getting the Total Bithead, but it is more expensive and I wouldn't be able to upgrade a little at a time. I would also buy quality cables to use. I would like to stay under $200, although most say that is not enough to make a major difference. The main reason I don't want to spend over $200 is that I am in college and I know how easily things can break and not having that much money.

I will probably never buy headphones over $200, but I will probably upgrade later. I am already interested in the Grado sr225, beyer dt770/80, or Senn HD600. So out of the 2 source/amp choices, which would be the better choice for sound quality and being able to provide a good signal to the headphones mentioned above? Or any other recommendations would be welcome.

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 77Pat I will probably never buy headphones over $200

famous last words............

sorry about your wallet, self-esteem, marriage, dignity and IRA

peace out and let me know when my prediction comes true..

 

[Asr]

Get the Go-Vibe. IMO there's no point to replace your external SB Live.

 

[Nine']

Quote:

Originally Posted by 77Pat My headphones are going to be the AKG K81DJ. Some people have said an amp helps, while others said their pa2v2 did not help that much.

First off, k81djs are pretty easy cans to drive. And I'll agree, the pa2v2 didn't make much of a difference with mine. But the go-vibe v5 certainly does make a difference...though I'd look at getting a nicer pair of cans first. The V5 is a pretty modest upgrade to k81djs, not sure if you would want to pay 80-120$ for a modest benefit to 70$ cans.

And seriously...good luck sticking to a 200$ budget, that's what I thought going into college, and here I am with 200$ headphones, an 80$ dac, and 120$ of amplification...and I can only see it getting worse.

 

[77Pat]

I will probably go over $200 eventually, but for right now money is tight and I can't see it getting better while I am still in college. I think I will buy the go vibe eventually because it will help in the future when I decide to get more expensive headphones. And are you suggesting to not get the Entech?

 

[Nine']

I've never heard the Entech so I can't say, but my dac is an alien usb going out of my laptop. Unless your source is terrible, I'd say nicer amplification will help more than a dac, so get that first. And I'd highly recommend the go-vibe over the pa2v2 if you're ever going to get nicer headphones, they're just a bit of overkill if you're always going to use the k81djs. They sure make my HD580s nice though.

And unless you're very careless or klutzy, I wouldn't worry about things breaking...the AKGs have a 3 year warranty I believe. Plus they'll repair just about anything for free.