[bassd00d]

Hi

I'm new to all of this, but I've been interested for a long time in getting good sound, but I could never really afford it. But I'm trying to get my foot in the door, so to speak. I bought the Grado SR80 early this year. I love their sound. They're so clear and detailed. I use them mainly on my computer with an SB Live 5.1. I didn't think the sound could get any better. But I keep reading how bad the SB cards are, so I bought a BitHead a couple of weeks ago.

Didn't notice THAT much of a difference....at first. After using the BitHead for a while, I tried going back to the SB Live....and it sounded TERRIBLE. It's so....muddy. It's like I'm not even using the Grado's anymore, just some super cheap headphones.

But anyways, here are my questions. I'm a bit of a basshead at times. I used to have the Koss Sportapros, which are pretty bass heavy. Even so, I would still raise the bass using the SB software, and I would also raise the bass on Winamp....tons of bass. Since getting the Grado's, I've tried to give up on that, to get more "natural" sound. I don't use EQ anymore, and I've been perfectly happy with that.

Since getting the headphone amp, however, I'm getting less bass, which surprised me. I thought I would get MORE with the amp, since I hear that it improves bass response. The bass does sound more defined, and not muddy or boomy, but it's also not as loud. Is that normal? I'm guessing that I just got used the muddiness and boominess of the SB Live card.

I borrowed some Sennheiser PX100's to compare with the Grado's. The PX100's sound pretty ugly to my ears, compared to the Grado's, but the Senn's do have more bass. Anyone with both these headphones notice the same thing?

Another question. I've been reading the forums here more, and I wonder if I made a good choice by getting the BitHead. I do love the sound, but I maybe I should have just gone with a better soundcard. I hear the Chaintek is really great, and it's very cheap. How does it compare to the sound quality of the
BitHead? And then there's the E-MU 0404 for only $100, or the 1212M for $200, same price as the BitHead. Would I be better off with these cards, and using the Grado SR80's?

A couple things though. If I were to upgrade just the soundcard, I would still need a headphone amp. I don't listen to portable audio much, but I'm taking
drum lessons right now. I have to play along with bass tracks and music on a CD, but my CDP doesn't really get loud enough, in comparison to the drums (which get REALLY LOUD). I also have to connect two headphones to the CDP when my teacher wants to listen to the bass tracks while I play. So the Bithead is great in this aspect. I can use it on my computer, and when necessary, use it as a headphone amp, and can connect two headphones to it. So what's the better choice: stay with the BitHead, or get a better sound card, and a cheap headphone amp for use when playing drums?

TIA for any suggestions

 

[lcachola]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassd00d Since getting the headphone amp, however, I'm getting less bass, which surprised me. I thought I would get MORE with the amp, since I hear that it improves bass response. The bass does sound more defined, and not muddy or boomy, but it's also not as loud. Is that normal? I'm guessing that I just got used the muddiness and boominess of the SB Live card.

Actually, the bass is still there, but the highs have been opened up. The 80s sound muddy (re: lots of bass) without the amp. It's just a trait of those particular headphones when paired with an amp.

 

[Mr.Radar]

You might want to try the flat pads from Todd The Vinyl Junkie.

 

[gsferrari]

You want bass - try a vintage Marantz receiver with bass and treble and balance controls. Crank up the bass and watch those Grados rock!

The best bass in headphones in my experience (SR-60 + Marantz)

Shocked me senseless...there was no limit...subwoofers could have been put to shame!!

 

[Imyourzero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassd00d Another question. I've been reading the forums here more, and I wonder if I made a good choice by getting the BitHead. I do love the sound, but I maybe I should have just gone with a better soundcard. I hear the Chaintek is really great, and it's very cheap. How does it compare to the sound quality of the BitHead? And then there's the E-MU 0404 for only $100, or the 1212M for $200, same price as the BitHead. Would I be better off with these cards, and using the Grado SR80's?

In my opinion, yes. As you'll find out soon if you hang around here, the SB Live & Audigy cards aren't touted for their high quality audio, especially when listening to music. Even the $24 Chaintech AV-710 is supposed to be a nice improvement, with the E-MU cards providing even larger increases in sound quality.

Like many people here say, garbage in = garbage out. When you use the Bithead with your SB Live, it's just amping the mediocre sound quality that's coming from the Live. If you move to a better sound card, you'll be amping better audio.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassd00d A couple things though. If I were to upgrade just the soundcard, I would still need a headphone amp. I don't listen to portable audio much, but I'm taking drum lessons right now. I have to play along with bass tracks and music on a CD, but my CDP doesn't really get loud enough, in comparison to the drums (which get REALLY LOUD). I also have to connect two headphones to the CDP when my teacher wants to listen to the bass tracks while I play. So the Bithead is great in this aspect. I can use it on my computer, and when necessary, use it as a headphone amp, and can connect two headphones to it. So what's the better choice: stay with the BitHead, or get a better sound card, and a cheap headphone amp for use when playing drums?

Sounds like the Bithead makes things pretty convenient as far as connecting 2 headphones, but if it were ME I'd probably sell it and go with different gear. Is keeping the Bithead and buying another sound card & amp an option? The Chaintech is less than $25 and you can get a decent portable amp for $40-$70. Or would you have to sell the BH? Heck, for the price of the Bithead you could get an E-MU 0404 which would be a huge step up from the Live, plus a very nice little amp. Maybe even one with 2 outputs, which would give you the same benefit as the Bithead.

BTW, the E-MU 0404 can be found for less than $100 even though that's what it retails for. You can get it for $85 from at least a couple of sources...

So if you're on a budget, I'd grab the Chaintech card and maybe a nice cheap little amp like a CMoy or a MINT. If you sell the BH and have around $200 to play with, get the E-MU 0404 and a nice META42 or PIMETA-based amp for $110-$120 that can be run off of either batteries or AC power. If your budget is a little less than get the 0404 and a decent portable amp like a Headsave Go-Vibe. The key factor though, is the sound card. You might not be able to tell a big difference between the amps, but you should definitely notice a difference when you go from the Live to an AV-710 or 0404. I wouldn't get the 1212M. It's twice the price of the 0404 and most here will agree it doesn't provide anywhere near twice the sound quality. Some people who have A/B'ed the 0404 and 1212M actually prefer the 0404 because it's more dynamic sounding whereas the 1212M is smoother and more refined. You get a bit more detail with the 1212M but I don't think it justifies the additional cost. Then again, the 0404 is 3x-4x the price of the AV-710 and I'm sure there are people that say it doesn't provide 3x-4x the sound quality.

Good luck with whatever you decide to go with. Keep us updated...

 

[bassd00d]

Thanks for the replies

Imyourzero:

Everything you said makes sense, however, I failed to mention this. The BitHead is not just a headphone amp, but doubles as a soundcard, which is why I got it. So I'm not really connecting it to the line out of the SB, but instead I'm connecting it to the computer using a USB connection, so I'm actually bypassing the SB completely, and using the BitHead as my soundcard. The BitHead sounds great like this, and makes the SB Live card sound absolutely terrible

So my question is: is there much of a difference between the quality of the BitHead, and the quality of the E-MU cards or the Chaintech card? If either of those sounds cards is significantly better than the BitHead, I can still return the BitHead, and get one of the sound cards and a cheaper headphone amp. But if there isn't much of a difference, I would stick with the BitHead. Not sure if anyone here has compared these options.

 

[raif]

flat pads

With my ps-1s I noticed more of a difference going from bowls to flats then I did going from benchmark->ps-1 to benchmark->mg-head otl 32->ps-1

 

[Mr.Radar]

The DAC in the BitHead isn't considered to be very good (Wodgy claims DAC in the iPod beats it). You'd probably notice a huge improvement with an EMU card + another amp.

 

[bassd00d]

I did some more searching on the forums, and it looks like there's already a thread comparing the BitHead with the E-MU cards and the Chaintech.

Looks like I'm going to return the BitHead, get the 0404, and possibly the Headsave Go-Vibe. I'll do a little more research on that amp though.

Oh, and I already ordered some flat pads for the Grados. Thanks the input everyone