I need some help on my choices

[Petyot]

I am pretty new to all this headphone/Hi-Fi/audiophile stuff. Having said that, I must say that I have spend more in the last month on that kind of stuff that in the last 10 years… Before that I was listening to music directly from my not-so-good audio card on my computer and on a crappy mini system bought for less than 100$. The only "good" elements that I had was some old Yamaha headphone (YHD-1) and a pair of Sennheiser HD414.

Now, like almost everybody on this site, I already want to upgrade (or improve) what I have just recently acquired (Zen Vision:M, Xenos 1HA-EPC and Grado SR-60).

Here is my list of “I want…”

1) I want a DAC to get a better sound out of my computer
2) I want a tubes amp to see how that will change the sound of my SR-60
3) I want new headphones to… well, do I need a reason for that ???

Here is what I am planning to get :

Dac : Musiland MD-10
Tube amp : Little Dot mark III
Headphone : DT990 (new version)

I listen to all kind of music (except Jazz and heavy metal) and I do like the sound of my Grado (but I don't really know anything else) with the Xenos amp...

Any thought or recommendations on those particular choices ??

Thanks

Pierre

 

[M0T0XGUY]

I agree that it's fun to branch out if you're stuck with one pair of headphones for too long, so the DT-990's are an excellent choice. The only genre they didn't perform well with, to me, was rock, but if you keep your SR-60's then you should be covered in that regard. Good luck.

 

[ericj]

Ahh, the YHD-1. So much potential, so little damping.

I forget if there's a mod that successfully improves the bass and transient response on those. You might stop by the orthodynamic roundup thread and ask wualta.

 

[feh1325]

make sure your files are at a high bitrate

if you like the grado, perhaps get alessandro, specifically the ms2

 

[Petyot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ahh, the YHD-1. So much potential, so little damping. I forget if there's a mod that successfully improves the bass and transient response on those. You might stop by the orthodynamic roundup thread and ask wualta.

I have read that specific thread and I think that someone (Wualta ?) mentioned that he did something with them and a Koss UR-20 (??). Apparently, the result was not so bad... I might try something one day.

 

[Petyot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by M0T0XGUY /img/forum/go_quote.gif I agree that it's fun to branch out if you're stuck with one pair of headphones for too long, so the DT-990's are an excellent choice. The only genre they didn't perform well with, to me, was rock, but if you keep your SR-60's then you should be covered in that regard. Good luck.

Thanks !

 

[Petyot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by feh1325 /img/forum/go_quote.gif make sure your files are at a high bitrate

Not sure to understand why ? Is it specific to the set-up I am looking for ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by feh1325 /img/forum/go_quote.gif if you like the grado, perhaps get alessandro, specifically the ms2

Will the ms2 be VERY different from the SR-60 ? Or asked differently : if I had only two pairs, would it be a good choice to add the ms2 to the SR-60 ?

Thanks!

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petyot I have read that someone (Wualta ?) mentioned that he did something with them and a Koss UR-20 (??). Apparently, the result was not so bad... I might try something one day.

The YHD-1 and 2 drivers will fit into a Koss UR40, but then you lose this little masterpiece of modern design which I think we all admire and would like to keep as a working headphone. The YHDs might get away with a simple felt disc behind the driver. Give it a try.

.