[Joe Bloggs]

My current setup is a Sony D-E554 -> headphone jack -> Sony EX70 / AIWA HP-X225

I'm considering a complete renewal of the system to:
Sony D-EJ725 -> line out -> Porta Corda -> Senn HD580

Total cost est. $400-$450

My position on upgrades is that I should upgrade in leaps and bounds, only buying new components when you can afford something much better than before. (At least, that's my position *now*, when I'm planning to drop so much money

)

So I'm wondering how much of an upgrade this is over my existing system.

Rate my system as follows:
Give a score (0-100) for the line out quality of the D-EJ725, the Porta Corda and the Senn HD580 respectively, and finally an overall score for both my old system and new system. The only criterion for the scores is the sound.

Here's my rough idea of what various score ranges stand for:

0?
Quote:

This is obviously some idiotic troll attempting to spooge AudioReview. It should be illegal.. Punishable by death via 24 hour 120dB listening of a $5 Coby earbud. ---- YES, WITH NON-STOP BRITNEY SPEARS, NSTINK MUSIC, HAHAHAHAHA

remember this?

50: (sound quality of) average audio rig for the unwashed masses
80: average hot rod audio rig for the typical head-fi audiophile (if there is such a thing as a typical head-fi audiophile

) good bang for the buck but not the best.
90: (sound quality of) expensive high-end rigs that only rich bastards can afford
100: (sound quality of) The best system money can buy, and beyond--'I am the be-all and end-all of Head-Fi. I am Alpha and Omega. I am the Stax Omega II and the Big O and Marantz and Denon and Linn and the God of headphone amps and DACs rolled together.' Blech, I don't know what I'm saying

I'm assuming an element of diminishing returns here...

The reason I'm asking you to rank my system for me is because I don't know if I will be satisfied by the upgrade, and I may not even be able to audition the Senn HD580 before deciding whether to buy it!! Nor the Porta Corda, of course

I suppose people have their established opinion of how good the Senns are, while it will take a while for the score of the Porta Corda to firm up as people start testing them out...

Thanks in advance! But oh man I'm dying here...

 

[dgs]

I can rate two of three.

I have the D-EJ725. I own it solely for its optical line out. The headphone out on it is weak and nasty IMO. The line out is okay, but I don't use it much since I have other portable sources (and I want to keep the player with optical line out as safe as possible). But I will compare it here to the panasonic 470 on line out, using 580s, through a JMT CHA47 altoids amp. Both are with ANTISHOCK OFF.

I listened with mostly rock music with vocals (ie. Kravitz, Apple, J Brown, Lennon, Lovett, Dunnery) because that’s what I have with me right now.

470/JMT/580: Very nice. Way more open sounding than the 725 combo. Smooth. Rich bass (more deep bass than 725, but less midbass, and it’s tighter to my ears). The high treble is more pronounced on this unit, but also more delicate in the treble overall. The vocals are rich enough, with less overpowering of the rest of the music.

725/JMT/580: Nice too. More in your face than the panasonic. Slightly pushed mid to upper bass. Clearly more fatiguing. In some ways, vocals are richer (at least, more in your face), but this has two unfortunate consequences: (1) the low midrange sometimes becomes muddy, and (2) the vocals at times are SO in your face that it is almost irritating—other instruments are pushed into the background by the intensity of the vocals. All that said, this is a pretty nice combination. I could get used to it.

The 580s are sweet phones. I like them a lot. They are my primary open cans. I use the 470/JMT/580 set up, so I’m partial to the panasonic sound. I listen for long periods of time while working, and I find this combo very nonfatiguing over time. Have you considered ety’s? Might be out of your price range for now, but they are fantastic with a portable rig…At any rate, the 580s will BLOW your sony ex70s away in that combo. Having a more balanced sound coming into your ears (580 vs. ex70) will be enough to make it worth the upgrade IMO.

Personally, I like the 470 better than the 725. I find the 725 fatiguing and with too much push in the low midrange—makes things sound a little muddy at times. If you like Grados with that “in your face” presentation, you might like the Sony better. But if you like a more laidback (I will avoid the term neutral because I think neither of these units is neutral enough to justify that word here) and open sound, then you might like the panasonic better with the Senns. They seem to compliment better IMO.

Hope that helps.


Can’t rate the porta corda, although I’d like to own one so that I could…

Forgot to "rate" with numbers. I hate to rate with numbers. They don't mean anything. The rig you described is fine. It's a big step up IMO than the ex70s alone, but I'm not sure that the numbers reflect that increase. It's all relative. For example, if I was comparing your proposed rig to a high end reference, I might rate like this:

725: 70-75
470: 70-75
725/580 combo with amp: 75-80
470/580 combo with amp: 80-85

But compared to your current set up, I'd give both combos above a 90. The rig you propose is nice, at least the parts of it that I use, and the improvement over your current set up is likely to please you.

 

[pigmode]

Quote:

Originally posted by Joe Bloggs My current setup is a Sony D-E554 -> headphone jack -> Sony EX70 / AIWA HP-X225 I'm considering a complete renewal of the system to: Sony D-EJ725 -> line out -> Porta Corda -> Senn HD580 Total cost est. $400-$450

Just do it. How can you go wrong with the price? If you don't have anything to compare with, you need to start somewhere. Until you audition a headphone from each of the major manufacturers, you really don't know which might have the sound you'll like. Which HP you start with is an arbitrary and theoretical choice at best. With the sales action price, the 580s will at least have a great resale value, and you will probably end up keeping them anyway.

If your Sony pcdp is still serviceable, keep it for awhile, then when you upgrade you'll be able to identify any improvements if any. Unless it's a piece od crap, of course.

 

[dgs]

Pigmode:

I didn't realize that he was referring to the porta corda/580 sales action. I claim the "making-an-intellectual-mountain-out-of-a-molehill" award for today.

Joe Bloggs:

BUY BUY BUY! That said...buy.

Worry about the pcdp later.

 

[pigmode]

Not really. I thought your endorsement of the 580s with a portable amp was completely relevant.

 

[slindeman]

If you are willing to spend $400-450 I would throw in the extra $50 and get the HD600 + Full Corda and worry about a cd player later.

That's what I did (I had no good CD player at the time) earlier this year and I would do it all over again, even with the current sales action in force.

 

[domer2004]

WHAT?!?!?!? Where is the Corda + HD600 only 450? I thought it was 495? Not a big difference, but still...

Brett aka Cheap person

 

[Braver]

Jan slices the price some if you buy a package (something to do with shipping). dunno if he slices that much tho..

 

[Kubernetes]

I would suggest you spend an extra $100 and get a CAL gamma outboard DAC--since you have that optical out you might as well get some use out of it.

I did this a while ago and it really does make a nice improvement.

 

[slindeman]

He said his budget was $400-450. I said throw in an extra $50, which brings the total to $500. I just didn't write it very clearly I guess.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

The reason I have to change my pcdp is because my D-E554 skips for no reason at all whenever I plug anything into its line out--even on a solid table.

I may be able to get this fixed, but god knows how much Sony will charge for that

 

[Joe Bloggs]

And yeah, now that you mention it, I might as well save some money and get myself the CT470... I was thinking that it's been discontinued, but of course I can still buy it online... I'm just a bit uncomfortable about buying *everything* online--the pcdp was the only thing I could test out before buying, after getting my Porta Corda + HD580 rig, perhaps.

And I can't imagine reselling the HD580--I've bought too many audio lemons recently. (NEX II, Boostaroo

) If I end up having to resell $1600 headphones I'd be called a damn crazy fool by everyone in my family

Oh, and I didn't say my 'budget' was $400-450. I just said that I estimate the cost of the rig would be $400-450, and I'm really stretching myself here

 

[dngl]

that sounds like a good deal. Definitely a respectable portable system, and it will sound decent when you're at home... From the specs, I'd think the porta corda would not hold you back if you got a regular cdp.

 

[Russ Arcuri]

Joe,

Don't get the Panasonic 470. Get the 570. Trust me on this one.

With the 470, you either have the anti-shock on or off, and when it's on, the digital bitstream is compressed. So either you put up with inferior sound that doesn't skip, or you have nice-sounding music that skips. Yes, you WILL want skip protection at some point.

With the 570, you can set it to 10 second anti-skip mode, which does not compress the digital bitstream. Good sound and good enough skip protection for non-aerobic activity.

With the 470, you get a plastic lid. With the 570, you get a more durable aluminum lid.

With the 470, you get a 9 mW headphone amp, and a line-out. With the 570, you get a 9 mW headphone amp, and a line-out.

I've owned both. I returned the 470 to the store I bought it in after a few days of playing with them both.

And last I checked, onecall.com was selling the 570 for $88. Not bad.

If you're stretching your limits with your planned purchases, get the following combo:

Panasonic SL-CT 570, Altoids amp, and AKG K501. There was a guy named Thomas on headwize selling Altoids amps for $55 a few months ago. I don't know if he's still doing it, but you can check with him. See http://headwize.powerpill.org/ubb/sh...fnum=5&tid=693 Also, headphone.com is selling the AKG K501s for $149 right now. That would bring you in around $295 total.

Of course, if you take advantage of Meier Audio's package deal, you could get the HD580s and porta corda for $275. Plus $88 for the Panasonic 570 from onecall.com, and you come in at less than $370 after shipping. Also less than the $450 figure you were thinking of.

Good luck,
Russ "The Peripatetic Audiophile"

 

[dgs]

Quote:

Originally posted by Russ Arcuri Joe, Don't get the Panasonic 470. Get the 570. Trust me on this one.

Joe,

I agree that the 570 is also a nice unit. But alot of people have described it as a little overly-bright. (search here and headwize for reviews of 570 vs 470). The added brightness might be fine with your proposed amp/phone combination, but I don't know b/c I haven't heard the portacorda. But the general consensus in the past was that the 470 was a little more laid back sounding and less fatiguing over time.

Personally, my favorite cdp is the panasonic 460. It sounds better than both the 470 and 570 IMO. But they are hard to find on the net.

The difference b/n the 470 and 570 is really one of personal preference if we rate only by your criteria above of "sound." Yes, the 570 has an aluminum lid and the 470 is plastic, and yes, the 570 has that 10 second non-compressed skip protection, but that said, I like the sound of the 470 better. I find that if I'm at home listening, I don't use the skip control at all, and if I'm commuting, the slight sound degradation is not enough for me to notice on the go, even with my etymotics. Either way, you are likely to get alot of pleasure from either one.