Help deciding best approach for amp+source

[swiego]

Hi! First-time poster here. Yes, I am sorry about my wallet too.

I need some help determining what to buy. I hope I am posting in the right place. I have a HD650 and am looking for an amp and source, and ideally the amp would have some portability as I'd like to get quality Etys or other more portable headphones in the future.

My source currently is a PC with on-board audio (875P chipset). Listening habits - music (almost every genre) and occasional movies downmixed from 5.1 to stereo when I don't want to disturb anyone with the HT. My budget is fairly broad, depending on what value I can get. $300-$800. So far I've been watching the Headroom offerings (on the amp side) because their site and product line is conveniently stratified by price, but I'm really open to anything.

Options I have in mind:

1. Buy a good Universal Player as a source, and the cheapest amp I can get while still staying within budget. Maybe a Denon 2910 + base Airhead for ~ $800?
- It would be an opportunity to try SACD, HDCD, DVD-A, etc. which I can't do now
- HDMI DVD player could be a useful thing to have for when I buy a projector this spring
- Are the analog outs on such a player worthy of something like a HD650?
- Exactly how limiting a factor would the cheap amp be?
- How do I balance the cost of the player vs. cost of the headphone amp given a total budget of $800?

2. Get a Total Bithead. Almost all of my content right now is PC-driven. PC is the source. Digital connection to amp. $250.
- Cheap, reasonable solution.
- I should be able to get excellent digital 16-bit/44.1kHz sound, right? Better than analog-out of any sound card on the market, in theory?
- Is the Total Bithead's amp befitting of the HD650?
- This would eliminate DVD-A, SACD, etc. as options.

3. Upgrade the PC sound card & get a higher quality headphone amp. I.e. E-Mu 040 + a "Little More Power" type $400-500 amp. PC is the source, analog interconnects. $600, give or take.
- Will I get better effective quality than the Total Bithead?
- On the one hand, my amp is now receiving its inputs from the computer over analog (rather than USB digital) - a negative.
- On the other hand, I have a higher quality sound card and a higher quality amp. And, I could have the option of feeding 24/96 and 24/192 sources over analog to that higher quality amp provided I have the right sound card & software, right?
- I have been looking for a sound card with high quality 24/96 recording abilities for some archival projects. This would solve that problem.

4. Get an outboard DAC/Amp. I read something about a 902m. It was some $1600 (and doesn't even come with a remote) so it's way out of my price range. BUT, are there alternatives that might fit within my budget?
- Basically I'm thinking "supercharged Bithead" type devices.
- Are they portable?
- Do they have digital inputs like TOSlink or digital coax?

5. Get a base Airhead and wait until after CES, or a few months, to see what products become available. Sell Airhead when the time is right.

6. Do nothing, use the 650s with my receiver (Onkyo 601) or PC, and wait a few months to see what products become available.

I'm sure there are other options. I really don't know what to do. A part of me is leaning toward the first option--a quality universal player with the best possible analog outputs I can get for my budget, and a simple, basic amp to match, until I'm in a position to upgrade the amp to something better.

Thoughts? Has anyone else been this daunted? Any advice? I am lost. Am I overthinking all this?

 

[GoRedwings19]

You could try the older grace amp. The 901 if used is quite good amp and dac. While not class leading I think it would be sufficient for your needs. It has all the connections you need and is dual output. I use one for my playstation 2 and I did use it in my system while waiting for my other amps to arrive.

 

[dwin902]

If this helps: I was thinking about "upgrading" my A2 ZS to a total Bithead not long ago, only to be told by Headroom's sales guy that the Audigy "does a pretty good job" delivering audio. Basically, the Bithead won't give you anything you can't get from a good consumer-level card (at least, that's the impression I got).

 

[IstariAsuka]

Quote:

- On the one hand, my amp is now receiving its inputs from the computer over analog (rather than USB digital) - a negative.

Probably not a negative. This is because the signal has to be converted to analog by a DAC at some point in the chain, and the conversion on the 0404 should be significantly higher quality than on the bithead. Also, a seperate dedicated amp mated with the soundcard would do a better job at amping the signal than the bithead.

So, while you lose convenience and portablility, you could do it for roughly the same price as the bithead, and would be significantly better sounding.

E-Mu 0404 - $100
Amp - $300 (Gilmore Light?) to $600 (PPA/Corda HA-2?)

This route would also leave you enough leftover money to allow you buy a universal play and experiment with SACD, assuming you didn't go all out on the amp.

If you are able to justify saving up and spending about $200 more, you could get the Benchmark DAC1, which essentially is a "bithead on steroids." You'd have to probably get a different soundcard for use with it, as Audigy2 does mean resampling, but an AV710 would work, and it's like $15. It's supposed to be a very excellent source, a step up from any soundcard, and most standalone players, and also includes a fairly repectable headphone amp.