Pharmaboy
Headphoneus Supremus
Yes, I meant headphone amps. Want to respond to this: "I mean, in my experience, as wonderful as all these HP amps are, they can't compare to a big ***** receiver/amp like my Sony DH55, but that is probably obvious." Actually, not much is obvious about the design of receivers. I tried to find real specifications for the Sony & failed. It's obviously a big, capable, multi-channel receiver w/a lot of functionality. But what actual power can it output to headphones? No idea. Receivers vary widely in the power & quality of their headphone circuits. Since you have the FiiO 10K (which is probably a better headphone amp than >80% of the receivers' headphone circuits out there), you can actually compare it to the Sony and make your own conclusions. Write a post about it--I'd be very curious to read your conclusions.
"I feel like I'm an audiophile, but when I come to this forum, I usually feel like a moron." (funny!) The line between moron & audiophile constantly shifts. And it may be a dotted line anyway (!). Seriously, years ago I was an official audiophile--the living room system kind, w/huge speakers, tube preamplifier, tube amplifiers, solid state amp for the subwoofer section of the speakers, excellent turntable & cartridge, blah-blah. It sounded amazing, the best I ever heard in a home, but so what? Many people had far more money than me & bigger, newer systems than mine (most of my equipment was purchased used). Were they "better" audiophiles than me? Maybe...
Back to the present. All that equipment is still stored away (no place for it in this house). I began messing around w/desktop audio ~10 years ago w/big upgrades w/in the last year, including a major dive into headphone listening, which I absolutely love. So now I have some very good, relatively affordable headphones and may buy a really good one soon; plus some mid-level or better headphone amps. Am I still an audiophile? Am I a moron? (my wife often calls me a moron--she should know!).
I think in the long run, what matters is not the label given to you by others (or yourself)--it's whether you really get any joy out of MUSIC (#1) and all this equipment we obsess over (#2). If the answers to those questions are "yes" and "yes," then the rest are just details IMO...
"I feel like I'm an audiophile, but when I come to this forum, I usually feel like a moron." (funny!) The line between moron & audiophile constantly shifts. And it may be a dotted line anyway (!). Seriously, years ago I was an official audiophile--the living room system kind, w/huge speakers, tube preamplifier, tube amplifiers, solid state amp for the subwoofer section of the speakers, excellent turntable & cartridge, blah-blah. It sounded amazing, the best I ever heard in a home, but so what? Many people had far more money than me & bigger, newer systems than mine (most of my equipment was purchased used). Were they "better" audiophiles than me? Maybe...
Back to the present. All that equipment is still stored away (no place for it in this house). I began messing around w/desktop audio ~10 years ago w/big upgrades w/in the last year, including a major dive into headphone listening, which I absolutely love. So now I have some very good, relatively affordable headphones and may buy a really good one soon; plus some mid-level or better headphone amps. Am I still an audiophile? Am I a moron? (my wife often calls me a moron--she should know!).
I think in the long run, what matters is not the label given to you by others (or yourself)--it's whether you really get any joy out of MUSIC (#1) and all this equipment we obsess over (#2). If the answers to those questions are "yes" and "yes," then the rest are just details IMO...