[ledzepberkeley]

Hello everyone!!!

This is my very first post on head-fi; I recently discovered this group of passionate, knowledgeable and helpful group of audiophiles who share my enthusiasm with music but clearly are leagues ahead in terms of technical know-how while I was searching for a headphone upgrade when I broke my Etymotic ER6i buds.

I spent hours upon hours on this site, and thanks to the advice of head-fiers, was convinced to purchase the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 Ohm headphones! Now that I have these beauties, I was looking for tips for how to get the most out of them, because they sound OK now, but I read that they need an amp and/or dac to fully realize their potential (I can't wait for that bass!).

My main audio source is going to be my laptop w/ motherboard sound (yuck I know), and my iPod. What do you recommend I purchase? My price range is < $150. It seems as if the best thing for me to get would be a USB external sound card, such as the Creative X-Fi USB (Amazon.com: Creative Labs USB Sound Blaster X-Fi 70SB109000000 Surround 5.1: Electronics)
as this is an amp/dac into one? Or should I only get a DAC and/or amp? I would really appreciate all of the advice, thanks!!!

BTW if it helps I do a mix of music/movies/gaming, mostly music

 

[billybob_jcv]

Welcome to head-fi - sorry for your wallet!

There are a couple of ways to go - will you be using your laptop for headphone listening when you are traveling away from your desk? If no, then you really don't need a portable amp with a built-in usb dac. You could buy a separate dac that you leave at your desk and just take the amp and your ipod when you go portable. That might be a tad more expensive, but it gives you much more flexibility in choosing an amp. As one option for an inexpensive standalone DAC, check out the hotaudio.com hotusb1 for $69. You could then add a portable amp - I would check out the head-fi buy/sell forum and look for an inexpensive used amp.

Or, you could pick a portable combo amp/dac. I think $150 might be a little low for a good portable amp/dac - for example, the ibasso d2 is $165 + shipping.

Does that Creative X-Fi work without your laptop? I thought it required a PC to provide power through the USB port? If so, then it won't work with your ipod.

 

[ledzepberkeley]

Thanks for the response, yeah my wallet is feeling it all right, but I figure these devices will last me years of audiophile bliss so it's worth it right?

Yeah I figure if I really need portability I'll just use my V-moda Bass Freq earbuds with the iPod; this is very portable and if my circumstances are such that I really need the music to be portable, this setup is adequate.

As for the laptop, although I don't have anything to compare it to, I feel like the onboard sound processing leaves much to be desired. Seeing as my options for cheap audiophile listening are limited to nonexistent, screw it I'll just go all out and get the ibasso d2, or if anyone has any recommendations for good amp/dac's around $150-$200 I would REALLY appreciate it. So far the ibasso's are my top choice?

Would getting a separate amp and a DAC be better than a both-in-one, like the ibasso?

Right now it's looking like the ibasso d2, to power my laptop/desktop and my iPod, it's very portable so I can bring it to friends' houses and I can even use it for walking around campus. Damn it's expensive though :/

 

[nc8000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ledzepberkeley /img/forum/go_quote.gif ..... Damn it's expensive though :/

If you think that you'd better run, run, run before this place really sucks you in

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nc8000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you think that you'd better run, run, run before this place really sucks you in

LOL... too true that!!

one ting about the ibassos they sound good, but they dont have the most power and the RF shielding leaves a lot to be desired

 

[ledzepberkeley]

I am looking for an amp/dac for under $200, so far I've narrowed it down to Nuforce Icon Mobile and the iBasso D2 Boa, does anyone have any recommendations? Will a dac/amp improve the sound that much?