[legbone]

please don't take this wrong. it is not meant to sound presumptuous (sp?) even though by definition it may be. once someone figures out what they like in phones and what they want in the future they stopping frequenting the headphones forums and gravitate toward the amp and source forums. don't get me wrong, people may drop in to give advice, cheerlead for their favorites, or give impressions of new phones, but once you find what you like it's pretty much time to move on down the chain. i may be totally wrong (most of the time i am), and i am quite an amateur at this site but i seem to notice this trend. please correct me if i am wrong. i am pretty thick skinned. you won't hurt my feelings. i would just like some other opinions.

 

[granodemostasa]

a

 

[Thelonious Monk]

basically, imo, it goes down in order of importance of the chain.

the cans effect the sound the most, followed by the amp, and as long as your source is around the $600 dac area everything around and after that is the same. it's allll about synergy.

 

[legbone]

pardon me for being ignorant, but i don't know much about dacs. do i really need one since i don't use my computer to listen to music. plus, i am saving up for a rega apollo (will be a long, long time). my zune sounds okay, and my toshiba hd-a1 really surprises the hell out of me when set to 2 channel out. please inform me.

 

[smeggy]

Yep, pretty much. I'm now mostly in the members lounge. Took me a while but I seem to spend more time there unless something cool turns up in the headphone forum. It's the same old stuff over and over, and not terribly interesting for the most part. This is why some of us would like a high-end forum, much more fun talking about really cool gear without getting beaten off the page by reams of mundane stuff.

 

[legbone]

so what's the deal with dac's? from what i have read my toshiba has some pretty damn good ones (burr brown or something like that). it has analog out 5.1. should i even be concerned with a dac. i am thinking about looking into some serious cables at this time. or is it like the video world where a 6 dollar hdmi cable from monoprice is just as good as a 100 dollar monster cable?

 

[granodemostasa]

a

 

[smeggy]

Cables make the least amount of difference t a system. As long as they are decent quality your money is much better sent on stuff that will make an appreciable difference like 'phones, amp and DAC. You are already looking to a decent CDP so don't get sidetracked with non-issues like bits of wire.

 

[humanflyz]

A DAC converts the 0s and 1s stored on CDs and convert them into an analog signal which is then amplified by the amplifier.

Every CD-player has a DAC in it. The only difference is that some people choose to put the transport (the thing that reads the digital data stored on CDs) and the DAC (the part that converts the digital data) in separate boxes. You are going to have a DAC no matter what; what people really mean by "DAC" around these parts is a dedicated, stand-alone DAC.

 

[legbone]

granodemostasa- pardon me for being ignorant, but what does porable mean? i never use my computer to listen to music. it is either my hd-a1 or my zune. i listen to the zune when i am on the computer and the hd-a1 in the living room since it is hooked up to my tv. the micro-tube is portable enough to travel back and forth.

edit: thanks humanflyz, guess i don't need one. my wallet is happy.

 

[granodemostasa]

a

 

[feifan]

Legbone, you're right: "Once you find what you like it's pretty much time to move on down the chain." The problem, though, is that most headfiers -- including me -- are seldom satisfied with their eqipment. They are, to put it bluntly, unable to find stuff they like without reservation. After shelling out for the latest and the best, they're immediately looking for something better. Thus, never completely happy with what they have, they can't move on and find themselves becoming perpetual denizens of the same equipment forums, searching for the headphone or amp or whatever that will end, once and for all, their yearning for the holy grail of headfidom. Of course, they'll never find it.

 

[granodemostasa]

a

 

[legbone]

granodemostasa - have you heard the audio out on a toshiba hd-a1 hddvd player? it ain't too shabby. it has analog outs for the l and r stero and sounds pretty good to me. the only reason i am in the market for an apollo is because it is a hassle to get behind my entertainment center and switch cables all the time and the inputs on my audio authority switcher are all used up with my panasonic cp-72 disc changer, xbox 360, ps2, and pioneer region free player (dvd). i am using hdmi for my ps3 and hd-a1 so i have to switch when i want to listen to music with the toshiba. i am thinking about running a toslink to my pionner dolby unit (see sig) and then running a line to my amp, then to my phones but i am afraid i will lose some quality.

feifan - once i have all my amps and phones (there will be plenty), i will stop. i do this with everything. i buy all i can until i am happy and then stop. i am sure something better will come along (hd-700) but until then i will stop.

thanks for the input guys. any other input is very welcome. you guys seem very knowledgeable and that is much appreciated. glad to know i don't need a dac. my wallet thanks you!

 

[Thelonious Monk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by granodemostasa /img/forum/go_quote.gif Cables: don't spend more than 10 percent of your rig's cost on cables. otherwise they just won't be worth it.

that's my rule, too. and my other rule is to buy used; that way i can still buy some pretty damn good cables (Nordost Solar Wind is the current thing i'm scoping) and not go over budget. this is including power cables (Iron Lung Jellyfish) so it's actually a pretty tight budget if i'm not careful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by legbone /img/forum/go_quote.gif feifan - once i have all my amps and phones (there will be plenty), i will stop. i do this with everything. i buy all i can until i am happy and then stop. i am sure something better will come along (hd-700) but until then i will stop.

more power to ya. personally i plan on just stopping at a Grado RS2 and letting all of the rest of the gear be from the speaker rig (look at the Stello 100 series right now, DA100 DAC + HP100 headphone/pre-amp + S100 power amplifier) so the two can intermingle and i don't go nuts trying to keep two rigs together. if i find myself with a lot of money and i can afford the discontinued Grados (PS1 and HP2 in particular) i'll go for it and get some dedicated headphone amps. until then i think i will just be happy with that projected system.

being satisfied is good. be glad you don't feel the urge to upgrade. i think that the <$3000 system i said i'd settle on is pretty damn good lookin', and i'm not really craving anything more than it. well, that Monarchy M24 DAC looks tasty... blagh.

sorry for kinda rambling. just wanted to say that i'm with you. set a limit for yourself!