[Mizou]

All right.. Time for my wallet to be sorry very, very soon. I received a pair of DT770-80s for Christmas (thanks, Santa!), and have been enjoying/burning them in since. The sound out of my rig is great, but I'm left wondering if there's more, or if something's holding me back.

Unfortunately, I never get that moment of shock, or awe in how great something sounds. Maybe I've been over-hyped by people's reactions here, and have been expecting too much.. or maybe I've just been accustomed to good sound for a long time (even as a kid, I listened to mostly Koss cans/IEMs, since they sounded good, and weren't muddy like most other cheap brands)... but I've never really experienced that moment that makes you go "Wow."

Take a look at my rig(s), and see if there's anything that you think is holding the sound back. Or suggest something that may provide better synergy. I personally think my Go-Vibe, as wonderful as it's been to me, may be the weak link. For my iPod, I'm also missing a LOD, which I plan to get in the near future. But I'm really thinking that another amp may have better synergy with the Beyers or Grados, and I'm missing out. I'd prefer something somewhat-portable, and SS or tube doesn't matter to me. Whatever will sound best with my setup.

Portable rig:
KSC 75, CD Player or iPod 5.5

Home:
CD Player -> Go-Vibe 5-> DT770s or SR 225s

 

[BrookR1]

Aside from different headphones, I thought that my E-MU 0404 DAC/Amp made the biggest, most enjoyable change to my sound. It really just smoothed things out and gave the music more of a liquid (or analog) feel to my music. You can still hook up a regular headphone amp to it for double the pleasure. I believe there are portable DACs out there that are really good too.

 

[number1sixerfan]

Source first. I would look at getting a quality dac as the previous post suggested. Look into the emu soundcards, oritek zhaolu, beresford tc-7510. Good Luck!

 

[Mizou]

Forgive my ignorance.. But I was under the impression that a DAC was only needed if you were running off of an Optical Out or something similar? How would I incorporate something like the E-MU into my rig? CDP-> Lineout-> E-MU-> Cans?

 

[Uncle Erik]

You can get a line out cable at Headroom for about $20. If you're using ALAC files, that'll get them off in good shape without passing through the iPod's amp.

What I think is holding your system back is your amp. Between the SR-225 and the DT-770, I think you'd benefit from a desktop amp. Keep the Go-Vibe for when you're on the go, but look into a tube amp for those headphones. Grados love tubes and I much prefer the DT880 on them.

You didn't say what you're looking to spend, but please consider the ones in the For Sale Forum. You can save a lot of money and Head-Fi'ers seem to take care of their amps.

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mizou /img/forum/go_quote.gif Forgive my ignorance.. But I was under the impression that a DAC was only needed if you were running off of an Optical Out or something similar? How would I incorporate something like the E-MU into my rig? CDP-> Lineout-> E-MU-> Cans?

I think you're right to dismiss those dac recommendations, they simply don't apply if you're happy with the digital capabilities of your cdp. (though what one are you using exactly? This may play into the equation.)

As a fellow Erik, I fully agree with Uncle Erik's recommendation. $200 or slightly more should suffice to make a big jump up on the amp front. However, beware the slippery slope, as once you've moved up there, then your DT-770 and SR-225 are the new weak links.

 

[Mizou]

Okay, so I have two agreements that my amp is the weak link. Any specific suggestions to keep a look out for? I'm not very knowledgeable about amps (especially non-portable ones), so I'm not sure what I should be looking for. Any specific brands and models that would have a good synergy with my cans?

Edit: Also, facelvega; I'm using an old Koss CDP3000 that I've had for years. No clue about its DAC abilities, but it's served me well thus far.