[Karlos]

Hi guys

I want to introduce myself and to ask you guys a couple of questions please.

I am a 45 year old git new to this audiophile lark who finds most of the posts here completely bewildering.

I have no idea what a portable amp is for, or if I need one anyway, never mind which one to buy or where to get one even if I did.

I guess what i need is someone to advise me what I need, if you get my drift.

I have a really old Creative Zen Touch mp3 player that has hundreds of tracks on it that I don't want to replace unless you lot tell me I have too

(The thought of transferring all those tracks over makes my bum squeak

)

I have a cheap pair of Senheiser 595s that I use with my Panasonic midi system in the bedroom, but I want a pair of better headphones for the separates system in the music room, and I want a pair of decent in ear buds for when I am working away from home.

So please help me with simple advice that a complete numpty can understand and tell me

What earbuds for the mobile source budget £80

If I need a portable amp which one budget £75

Which headphones for the hifi budget £100

Thanks for your help in advance guys

Karlos

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Welcome to head-fi Karlos, sorry about your wallet.

With low-impedance earbuds (like all IEMs), the benefits of adding an amplifier is a subject under debate but the general feeling is that your money will be better spent on upgrading the IEMs until you've reached about the $200~$300 level. In your case, you will certainly get better sound quality with a £150 IEM rather than spreading the budget between an IEM and an amp.

The HD595 are quite adequate headphones, I would keep it if you like the character of its sound, you can also trade it for something like a HD600 which many people consider a superior headphone for bedroom duty. I would spend your £100 budget on getting a quality headphone amp like the Little Dot MkIII, larger headphones like the HD595 really benefits from more power and the Little Dot amps are one of the best values currently in amplification.

 

[zipdisk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karlos /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...The thought of transferring all those tracks over makes my bum squeak...

I think the answers to much of what you want to know is in the final analysis subjective, though many here can give you different perspectives. You may want to see if there is a headphone community in Manchester, and whether they will be having a meet sometime soon. It's a great way to hear a broad range of equipment. BTW, I hadn't heard that expression before. Very funny, thanks!

 

[Jaw007]

Welcome to head-fi

 

[Karlos]

Thanks guys.

So the advice would be forget the portable amp, get some great in ears and save up for some Orpheus cans

I like the reviews of the Grados sr80s, how do they compare with the 60s and other similar priced headphones?

 

[LoweArt]

The Grado SR80's are the pick at that end of the spectrum in my honest opinion and they are easy to drive. I've owned a pair of them for a while and once during a mad upgrade frenzy I sold them much to my detriment, but it didn't take long before I sold the pair that upgraded to so that I could purchase the SR80 back ! All was then right with the world again.

They are light, easy to wear and drive with or without additional amp and
sound great for the money !

P.S. Welcome to head-fi Karlos, sorry about your wallet.