[Professor 4dham]

Okay so basically, I'm getting a bit picky about my sound, and long story short I'm looking for some decent headphones plus an amp to suit. Don't know too much about amps or enough about headphones for that matter, only that my IE 80's are sweet!

I'm probably what most of you guys would call young and stupid, so I'm gonna need a fair bit of help to find what's right for my needs/price range.
My general situation is this: Listen to music all the time whether it's on the go, at school or at home. When I'm away from home I use my little iPod and my IE 80's. That does the job quite well for my needs, and I'd be hard pressed to find anything better for the money.
My issue is currently this; I don't have much of a home set up and I'm looking to get a little mid-budget rig going. I don't have much in the way of money, but if it means good quality I'm happy to do some saving so I'm happy with the end result. At the moment I either use my desktop with some cheap as chips speakers + sub, or Dad's Sennie's (HD 465's). And recently I've tried amping them by hooking them up to our home sound system. Which basically means plugging them into our Yamaha HTR-6230 AV receiver when nobody is using the TV. Problem with that is obviously that it's pretty limited and I would much rather be listening to music while on the computer. I'm thinking a way around this is buy some good headphones with nice bass of course,

 and an amp that I can hook up to either my desktop or iPod, as I don't have a computer in my bedroom so I'd like to be able to listen to it in there too. Headphones side of things, Beyer's look the bee's knees to me, but I'm open to all ideas. Aaand then I have the problem of knowing stuff all about amps..

Please share your ideas and tips, bearing in mind that I will probably buy online to save money, and that I live in Australia.
Also, I like to listen to anything from dance and electronic music (good stuff not generic crap), to all the way to Pendulum, Rise Against and Amity Affliction. And  Being a musician myself I appreciate guys like Porter Robinson, Madeon, Deadmau5 and Knife Party (Older readers may not know who/what I'm talking about there).
So please leave a recommendation or two on some good gear I can maybe pick up fairly cheap. 

 (even a used amp if it's worth it).
Thanks guys, all help is appreciated.
Rohan.

 

[bbophead]

ATM, I have DT880 600 ohm connected to the iFI iCAN.  Works great and has a low bass boost option and soundstage widener or just run it direct.  It's small and very well built and seems to be distributed in OZ  English high end design made in China.  Hope this helps.

 

[areinike]

I've heard good things about the 880's.  Perhaps the 250ohm with FiiO E11's amp for portability (maybe lower ohm 880's I'm not sure of what others say are the differences in the sound).   A desktop amp  - phew .. well, I bought the Schiit Magni amp for $100 from Schiit Audio and will get that in next week and can go from there.

 

[Stitch]

Define mid-budget?
I had the LD Mk3($200) and its very nice with the DT880/250, now i'm using the GS-1($1000+/-) for them and prefer that by a wide margin but they are in two different leagues by a long shot.
Both could be considered mid-budget depending on your frame of reference.

 

[Professor 4dham]

Thanks guys, I really do need all the help I can get. I am totally new to amps and I must admit I don't have a clue what different sorts of amps do. I'm not too fussed on portability as the furthest it would move would be one room away. My budget for an amp is up to about $400, and if I got DT880's, I would go for the manufaktur. 

 I'm not too sure about the whole impedance thing but I'm guessing bigger is better? They would only be used with the amp as I have my IE 80's for my iPod. So basically, a lower impedance isn't needed from that respect. The main thing I'm looking for in an amp is clear powerful bass, and if the iFI iCAN does that well, then that seems a reasonable option. Thanks for the help guys much appreciated!

 

[Stitch]

It might help to read this
http://www.google.nl/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.head-fi.org%2Ft%2F220770%2Fdescribing-sound-a-glossary&ei=XylNUaP9G8K80QX0qYDIAQ&usg=AFQjCNHoq8halTXaNFAtIMDNYXjXx7T2cQ though some discribtions sound downright silly it might help. Also, this might be helpfull http://www.google.nl/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDYQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.head-fi.org%2Fa%2Fglossary-of-terms&ei=oidNUayXCIPS0QW9loGwDQ&usg=AFQjCNHR_vWScYOY_ey4oITqwiCpXwQu5Q to get a basis understanding of what the he'll everyone is talking about


-Tried to tidy up the url into a more eyefriendly link but it's a fricking pain on my cellphone

 

[Professor 4dham]

Thanks for that, I am trying to get my head around it but still a bit confused on some of the technical details. Like impedance and what's best. I looked at the wiki on headphone impedance but it seemed to contradict itself more than once, and didn't help matters that much. I understand what I want out of my headphones but amps confuse me a bit, and I am not at all familiar with any of the different types or brands of amps. Thanks.

 

[Makiah S]

  Thanks for that, I am trying to get my head around it but still a bit confused on some of the technical details. Like impedance and what's best. I looked at the wiki on headphone impedance but it seemed to contradict itself more than once, and didn't help matters that much. I understand what I want out of my headphones but amps confuse me a bit, and I am not at all familiar with any of the different types or brands of amps. Thanks.

This is going to sound terrible, but I think youll get the most for you money with this system
 
Get a Berringher UAC 202 Dac, a set of RCA cables, a Schiit Vali Amp and a pair of Beyer Dynamic DT 880 600 ohms, In my opinion the Schiit vali at $120 was the nicest sounding tube I've heard under $200