[JamesL]

When I started here at head-fi.. I thought all these upgrades were going to be minute and subtle.. I was dead wrong.

I got my ah-d1000's ... everything was completely muddled up on my ipod.. it sounded horrible.

So when I used it on my PC, it sounded so much clearer.. 5x better.. but it lacked bass.. completely, to the point where I pondered whether my headphone was defective.. (plus, there was the crackles, noise, etc).. I was confused, because I heard that the d1000's were more colored, and on the bassy side...

I just got the Auzentech Prelude, and I finally got that deep satisfying bass(I didn't even know these phones had it in them!) It feels more, "right in front of you"... no noise, no crackles, and well, the thing is, it also feels really 'bloated and slow'...

I liked the airyness and speed of my onboard sound, but I still wanted that deep bass punch(the one that hits you in the stomach).

Do I have to change my headphones, or my source?

It seems like the biggest changes for me are apparent with different sources.. but then again, I've never tried any other headphones..
The LD MKIII and DT880 seems like a viable upgrade for me, but unfortunately, I can't get both without first getting a job(yes, I'm a student) to justify those spendings..

It would be great if I had a stock of neutral headphones and sources that I could use for reference, but unfortunately, I don't..
Suggestions would be really really appreciated

 

[Uncle Erik]

Do you have an amp? The Little Dot or any other desktop amp would make a large difference. It sounds like you don't have enough power pushing your headphones.

If funds are tight, you really should look at the Glass Jar Audio kits and other DIY projects. $25 of tools will get you started and don't be intimidated by them. Stuffing and soldering a PCB is easy and the DIY Forum will walk you through troubleshooting if you need it. Not to mention that rolling your own can be fun.

 

[JamesL]

Well, the Denons are entry level headphones, with an impedance of about 32ohms I think... So I thought I would settle for a decent soundcard, and get a dedicated amplifier once I had some higher-end headphones to pair them with.


Would a dedicated amplifier really help?
I could afford a Little dot, and maybe DIY a cheap alien dac or something.. but I can't tell if the prelude is actually just showing the true colors of my headphones, in which case.. I should be looking around at different headphones instead.

 

[crappyjones123]

howdy james, glad to hear you got the sound card (and are liking it

she is a nice card). as far as the sound goes, i played 555s, 595s, sr 60s, and 650s with the sound card. obviously the bass was lacking from when i took away little dot mk v amp and everything got grainier and dustier and there was a little hissing sound in some vocals but thats what the amp was getting rid off. either way, had i not had the amp, i wouldnt have noticed those differences but the sound would have been very acceptable to my ears.

before you discredit your headphones (or god forbid your sound card) try the phones with a buddy's ipod or computer. if possible plug the sound card into someone else computer and see if it sounds different. if you dont know anyone who might let you use their computer for this little experiment i can ask my friends at your school but they all live off campus (im not sure if that helps you at all or not). they arent audio buffs and will probably laugh at you if you tell them how much your toys cost but they are nice people

as far as the amp goes, diy is definitely a very rewarding hobby. i built computers and model rockets for the longest time (~7 years now) and the joy one receives from seeing that first computer turn on or that first rocket shoot off into oblivion (and never turn around and come screaming back at your dog and crash into your mothers prize rose bushes, i swear that never happened!) is unparalleled.

i dont have the time for diy audio stuff but diy is certainly fun and you tend to learn waaaaaaaaaaaay more by your own mistakes than any manual or board (not saying that headfi is bad) will teach you. having said that, you cant go wrong with a little dot amp, might wanna wait till summer though, they are coming out with a balanced amp. i dont know if that will affect the prices of their other amps. also, there are quite a few floating around in the sale/trade forums. troll there for a while, you might find a nice deal.

cheers and good luck,

crappy

ps. my 222nd post. im a third of the way to becoming a devil! RAWR

 

[JamesL]

Hey crappy!
Thanks for the prelude.. I swear, I almost thought you sent me a brand new package.. I can't believe how much peanut foam I had to dig through to get to the card lol..
I'm pretty impressed with the sound card; the difference from my sound card was tremendous..
Most of the change was for the good, but I find the sound much too.. "heavy/fat" if you can call it that.. I'm looking for something more light/airy and detailed though, which I can achieve for the most part by roughly setting a "U" or "\_/" shaped EQ curve.. which gives me reason to believe that both the headphones and soundcard have much more potential yet to be seen.
I have a half-built mini^3 back at home, and still need to order the rest of the parts.. though I'll probably end up purchasing a better amp though before I get back home.

 

[arteom]

i dont know about the d1000's, i have some d2000's which are @ 25ohms and they REALLY responded well to an amp (I got a zero DAC/amp). The little unit is 179 shipped from china, and works fairly well, also the opamps can be rolled, and this can further enhance the sound. For the price I am really quite happy, I do reccomend getting an amp atleast. Even if you decide that you dont like the d1000's afterwards, you can use the amp with whatever headphones you get, they are quite necessary.