[Awk.Pine]

I'm new to the quality headphone thing, and I'm really digging it, but I can't see myself cutting the cable. As I write this, I'm sitting in my home and grumbling to myself about the normal ambient noises: HVAC, neighbors, wind, whatnot. Then I thought: what if I were trying to listen outside?--so many more distractions. But not only do you folks do this, you carry around DACs and amps in addition to your player and headphones so that you can do this. I think that takes awesome dedication to sound quality, which I admire, but I don't see how it works.

Where do you listen that ambient noise doesn't overcome the gains of an external amp? Are the gains significant even with ambient noise? Do you use IEMs? Do you transport your rig to somewhere, say work, and use it there? I'm sure there's lots of variation, so tell me: how do you go portable?

 

[dura]

Simple; I take my Sony NW-HD1 or A3000, plug in the Shure e4s and get good isolation and very satisfying sound for on the go.
Lugging an amp along with extra cables and batteries and so is neither convenient nor necessary, as the E4s do not sound better amped to my ears (unlike all Senss, including even the PX100).
At home if I listen to headphones (only on the bedsite system) I connect the player to a XcanV3 and a HD485 (soon to be replaced by a HD650).

 

[krmathis]

Pretty simple:
1. Insert the Westone UM2's in my ears.
2. Turn on the iPod nano and make sure the volume is turned down.
3. Plug the Westone's into the iPod.
4. Press play and turn the volume up.

 

[facelvega]

First, I think one must accept that portable music cannot achieve the kind of sound quality possible in a more controlled environment with heavier, better-powered equipment. However, once you accept that some compromises will have to be made to make portable music even possible, many of us find that we can achieve a reasonably good sound quality under these circumstances-- though the upper ranges of quality become increasingly more costly than their non-portable counterparts. I think a lot of us save our deeper, analytical listening for home, and just shoot for pleasurable listening on the road. For the office, I think a lot of people just have a dedicated work rig. I do.

As you mentioned, isolation can be one of the most important aspects of a portable rig, especially for use outdoors or in loud environments like airplanes. Of course, isolation will not completely overcome ambient noise, but it does bring it down to a less-disturbing level.

Beyond this, there are many portable amps on the market that can bring a signal up to a level approaching a decent home amp. Weaknesses in the base output of something like an MP3 player are another obstacle, but one the technology seems to be to a degree overcoming.

Since you ask for the personal solution, I should say that I'm simple: though I have a portable amp, I usually just use some EP-630 or KSC-75 (depending on ambient noise levels) directly out of my iAudio U2. Comparable to my A250's at home? No. But still a pleasure for a long stroll, and for some music the strolling adds more than the equipment ever could.

 

[averydonovan]

I don't bother with a portable amp most of the time, and right now don't even own one, since it is not worth the extra bulk and isn't very convenient a good portion of the time for me. Plugging my Shure E2c's into my Creative Zen Vision:M gets pretty good results for me and allows me to ignore most of what's going on around me. If I need to be able to hear what's going on around me, or need to be able to take the earphones off frequently, I use my Sony MDR-E829V earbuds or Koss KSC-75 clip-on earphones.

 

[lumanogin]

When I'm going portable I just bring my dap and my earbuds. I only bother with the amps, better source, better headphones, if I'm traveling (plane) or if i'm sitting for extended periods (library). Otherwise it's a hassle with the added weight and wires.

 

[kugino]

i used to do the ipod+turbodock->hornet->IEMs thing, but it was a hassle and i wanted to spend my money on better home stuff...

now, i'm getting back to portable and computer listening so i did the imod on my ipod and got a supermini. not having the turbodock, though only a small piece, is much more convenient. i lieu of a dedicated home setup, i've gone to a laptop/computer setup with a portable DAC/PINT solution. not high-end, but works for me.

 

[KevC]

I used to lug my 3G iPod, PA2V2, and ER6s around. I even considered buying a pocketdock or something of the sort.

Then I decided that I didn't like IEMs so I left my PA2V2 at home... it became my "home" and "transportable" setup (library). I sold my ER6. iPod with Panasonic pseudo IEMs (much more comfortable). Now I'm kinda tired of the crummy battery life (~5hrs) and size/weight of carrying it... so I switched to my cell phone =)

 

[pheonix991]

Zen Xtra, and a900's. Yeah, I carry these things around! You think I'm crazy.... This is where backpacks are great. The nice thing about the A900's is they are closed, so, turn the volume to a listening level, and it totally drowns out most of the ambient noise.

 

[Laptopia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino i used to do the ipod+turbodock->hornet->IEMs thing, but it was a hassle and i wanted to spend my money on better home stuff... now, i'm getting back to portable and computer listening so i did the imod on my ipod and got a supermini. not having the turbodock, though only a small piece, is much more convenient. i lieu of a dedicated home setup, i've gone to a laptop/computer setup with a portable DAC/PINT solution. not high-end, but works for me.

Very interesting--will do a search on the "imod" you mentioned. What inspired you to get an "imod" on your iPod?

 

[Laptopia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Awk.Pine I'm new to the quality headphone thing, and I'm really digging it, but I can't see myself cutting the cable. As I write this, I'm sitting in my home and grumbling to myself about the normal ambient noises: HVAC, neighbors, wind, whatnot. Then I thought: what if I were trying to listen outside?--so many more distractions. But not only do you folks do this, you carry around DACs and amps in addition to your player and headphones so that you can do this. I think that takes awesome dedication to sound quality, which I admire, but I don't see how it works. Where do you listen that ambient noise doesn't overcome the gains of an external amp? Are the gains significant even with ambient noise? Do you use IEMs? Do you transport your rig to somewhere, say work, and use it there? I'm sure there's lots of variation, so tell me: how do you go portable?

I have ended up with a couple of different setups, depending on the activity. For motorcycle/bicycyle I use a lightweight rig (not much sense in going for perfect SQ with all the extraneous noise, even with good, isolating IEMs); for long sits, a DAP and an amp with IEMs; for home listening, a computer and an amp.

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob ♫ Very interesting--will do a search on the "imod" you mentioned. What inspired you to get an "imod" on your iPod?

hey bob, there are a bunch of threads on the imod, but here's a recent one: http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...highlight=imod

i chose to go with the imod b/c i wanted to miniaturize my setup. since i already had a 4G ipod, $200 bucks seemed like a great deal to get a source that many said was comparable to a $500 CD player...plus portability, ability to hold hundreds of songs, etc. no-brainer for me. now i'm getting rid of my CD player (see signature - shameless plug

). i'm waiting for some portable amps to really get a good listen to the imod...it sounded fantastic connected to my mad ear+ purist HD (see sig. shameless plug) and hf-1s, but i'll use it primarily for portable listening, so i need my supermini or PINT to get a good reading on the imod.

contact vinnie at redwine audio...he's friendly, very helpful, and nice to work with.

 

[SiBurning]

You should probably start by doing two things. First, ask yourself where you want to listen. Second, get some small but decent rig that meets the basic goal. You'll probably find new places to listen, and might decide to get more gear or different gear to satisfy your portable listening desires.

For a DAP, grab something simple that people here recommend and you like. Maybe a 1GB thing for $100 or maybe up to $300 for a hard drive dap. I'm hesitant to recommend the iRiver 120 because I'm very biased, but you can find them on ebay new (but probably sitting around for years) for about $160, they sounds decent if not great, and gives you the option to go with an external DAC later on.

As for headphones, well... Welcome to head-fi. Plenty of advice here.

My rig is pretty heavy, and most people would call it transportable, but I lug it to and from work every day and only put it down when I'm at my desk. It's an iRiver 140, HeadRoom microstack (amp & dac), powered by 16 AA batteries in external packs, and I usually only use IEMs--Etymotic ER4P with a p2s adapter. Sometimes I also slap a CD player on the strap if I haven't had time to burn a new CD I want to hear. Maybe it's too much for some people, but it's worth it to me to get good sound. That just brings up the point I started with. This is all a personal matter, and your best bet is to think about what you want and need. But sinec you have nothing now, get something and explore. And most of all, enjoy the ride.

[edit]Your question is mainly about noise and where we listen. IEMs are very good on a noisy subway car or in the street, as long as you're careful to watch what you can't hear. They're not the best for the office, but I'm still working on that--maybe some closed full sized cans. It might sound odd, but even with background noise, you can still hear most of the music, and notice the sound quality. I've gone to using foam tips on the subway, but often carry triflanges for the rest of the day. They flanges sound better, but the subway requires foam tips to block the extra (mostly bass) noise. Before this, I was turning the volume up when I got downstairs. Again, whether this is all worth doing is up to you, your ears, what you're willing to carry, etc.

 

[Filburt]

I use a Panasonic SL-NP11 that I've modified for a certain sort of tonal response that I find really brings in a full low end along with the mids and highs. It also carries rhythm really well compared to a lot of portable devices I've heard. This is really beneficial outside as I find I can listen at a lower volume while still hearing the music well. Currently I use a pair of earbuds from around 1988-1989. However, I may switch to K81DJ or something of that sort. The headphone out will have about 200mA on tap when I'm done with it w/ ~+/- 2,5v voltage swing, which should be plenty to drive them.

A more easily accessible solution, I imagine, is to use IEMs w/ a DAP of some sort that can drive them reliably, which the better quality ones seem all capable of doing.

 

[wanderman]

source and iem. I do all of my portable music listening on my h320 and shure e3s. rockbox makes listening to music on the go so enjoyable, and my iem's make it so presonal.