[wrecked_porsche]

Hi fellow Head-Fiers.

I've been on here for quite sometime and the poison has seeped into my blood slowly but surely... I started with a Philips SHE9500, then an ES7. Was happy, well until now that is.

You see, I've been drooling all over the Darth Thread for awhile now, and I think I'm gonna pull the trigger in the next day or so and get myself a closed Darth V3.

Ok here is my problem, I've got the ES7 now and 10 weeks from now, the Darths. I don't have any amps at all and have never listed to one before. I was thinking about getting the Cantate maybe at the end of the year(because I'll be broke after the Darths order). But then I read that the Arieta has similar sound quality and is a better deal. The sub-par DAC(some people say so) on the Cantate was also bugging me... So I thought to myself, save up an get an opera instead end of next year when I graduate from Uni and get a job.
To make things worse I came across the RSA Hornet... Now I want one.... LOL

So then here is a list of options that I came up with:

1)Let my funds recover and get the Cantate at the end of this year
2)Save up for the Opera, probably take me the whole of next year if I'm lucky
3)Get an RSA Hornet now and run away from here for good

I listen to Progressive House, Trance and Dance music a lot. I also like New Age stuff, Budda Bar series is the ultimate...

The Cantate and Opera is good for my needs because they synergize well with my future Darths plus they have a USB DAC. I have lotsa music on my Laptop. Right now I listen to music from my Creative player (which has no Line out BTW).
Even using the headphone out from my Creative MuVo2 FM as a source would still benefit alot from an amp right?

When I get either the Opera or Cantate, I'd like to use my Laptop's usb as a source as well as a Samsung Z-98G CDP for the analog inputs. That way, I can play CDs from the Samsung and MP3s from the laptop with just a flick of the switch.

I also the saw the RSA Hornet and I was thinking if I should just buy that, use it with my Creative and Darths, forget about my Meier Amp dreams and just never return to this evil place again?

I'm seriously considering that option though...

To summarize:
OPTION 1:
Recover from my broke@$$ ness and get the Cantate. I'd have to save up a little, but I think I can manage by December or February at most ...

OPTION 2:
Save up like a nut until the end of next year, graduate, get a job and buy the Opera with my first paycheck and become oh sooo happy...

OPTION 3:
Get a RSA Hornet now, forget about USB DACS, Meiers, and what not, just listen to the RSA with Creative headphone out as source and run far, far away from here and pretend it was just a bad(or good

) dream.....

So, what should I do? I'd appreciate some ideas or suggestions. Its driving me mad. Its my semester break now and I'm supposed to be studying for my coming exams but I just can't stop thinking about Darths and Amps.. Please help shake some sense into me... PLEASE?

 

[filipelli]

get the hornet now, and then save so when you graduate you can get the opera haha

 

[wrecked_porsche]

I might as well hold off on the hornet purchase so I can get the Opera sooner right?

 

[stevenkelby]

I have looked at your other 3 options for myself at one time and decided against them all for various reasons.

Seems to me you should nothing now, save $500, then wait until the Headamp Pico is released and gets some more reviews (by me for example!).

 

[mrarroyo]

Or you could start saving now and to tie you over get the iBasso D1 amp/dac for $229 plus $23 S&H. Later you can swap op-amps which IMO bring the unit to the level of the LaRocco PRII MkII, and better than the SR71, The Hornet, and Move.

 

[wrecked_porsche]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevenkelby /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have looked at your other 3 options for myself at one time and decided against them all for various reasons.

Care to tell me what were those reasons? I'd really like to know if you don't mind?

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevenkelby /img/forum/go_quote.gif Seems to me you should nothing now, save $500, then wait until the Headamp Pico is released and gets some more reviews (by me for example!).

Yeah, that sound like a good option.

Truth be told, I'm leaning towards collecting some $$$ and living witout an amp for the time being...

Any links to info about the Pico amp m8?
Thanks

 

[wrecked_porsche]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Or you could start saving now and to tie you over get the iBasso D1 amp/dac for $229 plus $23 S&H. Later you can swap op-amps which IMO bring the unit to the level of the LaRocco PRII MkII, and better than the SR71, The Hornet, and Move.

Hmmm... I completely forgot about the iBasso D1 ... sounds tempting.

Oh No!

*My brain is about to explode form all the thinking I've been doing over the last few days...

 

[krmathis]

Take the Hornet and run....

 

[OverlordXenu]

Amps? Who needs amps! I just plug my AKG K1000's into my Nano's headphone out, and they sound great!

Bah, who needs a stinkin' amp!

 

[sbulack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrecked_porsche /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...*My brain is about to explode form all the thinking I've been doing over the last few days...

First of all, ANY option which includes running away from Head-Fi deserves a heavy weighting in its favor. ("Run Forrest, Run!!!")

Then again, "You can check out any time you like ..."

Second, when the brain is about to explode from thinking about something more than the brain's limit, there are two approaches:
a) Wrap head in duct tape to control the damage
b) Stop thinking about that item for awhile, and give the brain time to recover.

Third, a helpful technique for weighing different options is to actually write down a list of the Pro's and Con's of each option in each of a set of parallel columns - with related reasons in each column aligned in the same row. Then prioritize the reasons based on (relatively) how important each is to your happiness with the outcome. Doing this accomplishes three brain-saving things:
a) it gets all of this stuff out of the brain and onto paper - so your brain can stop cycling over it all.
b) it helps to list out, sort out and prioritize all the stuff in your brain - at this point, the answer being sought often just becomes really plain, and the decision becomes, pretty much, a no-brainer.
c) The listing and prioritization step is especially helpful in that it makes the factors explicitly visible, and yields the ranking of the different factors involved in the decision, and helps to put into focus what are the most important factors to YOU.
This approach also makes it straightforward to add another suggestion: add a column for it, gather the information which allows the filling in of the rows for how it fulfills the factors most important to YOU, and readily allows the ranking of this option relative to the others. Not effortlessly, of course, but explicitly and in a (brain-saving) written-down form. Or if you decide that a factor is more or less important to you than was first thought, it makes it almost mechanical to re-rank the options based on this newly-ranked factor.

"A brain is a terrible thing to explode."

 

[wrecked_porsche]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OverlordXenu /img/forum/go_quote.gif Amps? Who needs amps! I just plug my AKG K1000's into my Nano's headphone out, and they sound great! Bah, who needs a stinkin' amp!

LOL, I can smell the sarcasm from waaaaay over here... LOL

 

[wrecked_porsche]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbulack /img/forum/go_quote.gif First of all, ANY option which includes running away from Head-Fi deserves a heavy weighting in its favor. ("Run Forrest, Run!!!") Then again, "You can check out any time you like ..." Second, when the brain is about to explode from thinking about something more than the brain's limit, there are two approaches: a) Wrap head in duct tape to control the damage b) Stop thinking about that item for awhile, and give the brain time to recover.

LOL, you really made me laugh out loud there !

Three times none the less!

"You can check out any time you like ..." BUT you can NEVER leave!

I think even if I could run as fast as Forrest gump, I wouldn't be able to outrun Head-Fi...

I'm gonna use some duct tape for now and go to sleep. I can't think anymore, its waaay past my bedtime over here.

HOWEVER, now the iBasso D1 idea is starting to take root in my brain...

Oh crap...

 

[wrecked_porsche]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbulack /img/forum/go_quote.gif Third, a helpful technique for weighing different options is to actually write down a list of the Pro's and Con's of each option in each of a set of parallel columns - with related reasons in each column aligned in the same row. Then prioritize the reasons based on (relatively) how important each is to your happiness with the outcome. Doing this accomplishes three brain-saving things: a) it gets all of this stuff out of the brain and onto paper - so your brain can stop cycling over it all. b) it helps to list out, sort out and prioritize all the stuff in your brain - at this point, the answer being sought often just becomes really plain, and the decision becomes, pretty much, a no-brainer. c) The listing and prioritization step is especially helpful in that it makes the factors explicitly visible, and yields the ranking of the different factors involved in the decision, and helps to put into focus what are the most important factors to YOU. This approach also makes it straightforward to add another suggestion: add a column for it, gather the information which allows the filling in of the rows for how it fulfills the factors most important to YOU, and readily allows the ranking of this option relative to the others. Not effortlessly, of course, but explicitly and in a (brain-saving) written-down form. Or if you decide that a factor is more or less important to you than was first thought, it makes it almost mechanical to re-rank the options based on this newly-ranked factor. "A brain is a terrible thing to explode."

Hmmmmmmm..... Interesting, I'll give that advice some thought...

*KABOOM! Brain explodes*


LOL, seriously though, I'll look through it tomorrow. Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it.

 

[wrecked_porsche]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Take the Hornet and run....

I tried to, but I'm not fast enough! I'll hit the gym tomorrow and do some cardio training. I'll need to train hard in order to outrun Head-Fi though!

 

[sbulack]

In your thinking process, the Cantate in the future is prominent. If you read Skylab's assessment of the entire Meier Audio line, you'll see that he ranks the Arietta ($240) as delivering a substantial portion of what the Cantate delivers in terms of their amp performance. Maybe this is one of those fortunate times when you CAN have something that is essentially what you REALLY want now. With the Arietta, you'll be relying on your current source, the Creative player with no line out. Seems on the surface like that combination would be missing out on source-amp synergy (particularly without a line out), admittedly, without my knowing anything personally about that particular source.

The strength of the iBasso D1 is that, for its price point, it provides both a source (DAC) and amp in the one unit, with a nice synergy between the two, according to Skylab's assessment of the D1 relative to the Meier Move. This synergy offers a very good listening experience, from Skylab's (and others') description of it.