It all depends when and where most of your listening times are.
I listen to most of my music while commuting, so it makes sense for me to just go all for portable setup.
All in all, everyone have different requirements, so stereotyping and dismissing the whole business is just silly.
Originally Posted by jung /img/forum/go_quote.gif If with phones like KSC75, iGrado, ES7, etc., DAP sound at 4/10, and home amp at 9/10, where is portable amp? 5/10, or 8/10, or else?
It is also depend on the power of the portable amp. AMP3 can sound at 8/10. for AMP3 is the only portable amp applying class A amp circuit design.
BY the way, AMP3 is a DAP/DAC hybrid gear. for more information, please refer to this page on it's comments.
Originally Posted by jung /img/forum/go_quote.gif If with phones like KSC75, iGrado, ES7, etc., DAP sound at 4/10, and home amp at 9/10, where is portable amp? 5/10, or 8/10, or else?
Quote:
Originally Posted by fatman /img/forum/go_quote.gif
It is also depend on the power of the portable amp. AMP3 can sound at 8/10. for AMP3 is the only portable amp applying class A amp circuit design.
BY the way, AMP3 is a DAP/DAC hybrid gear. for more information, please refer to this page on it's comments.
No, I am now hating rankings on a scale 0-10, but I would say a mid-level desktop amp is a 7/10, a maxed Woo WA6 with the best tubes is an 8/10, a Woo WA22 or Eddie Current ZDT is a 9/10, an Eddie Current Balancing Act or Headamp Blue Hawaii SE might be a 10/10. (examples only using amps I have heard)
I consider many portables to be as good as a mid-level desktop amp, so anything 7/10 and above is decent to good hi-fi quality. A 6/10 is not necessarily a "poor" rating but should be the minimum to consider using, while a 5 is true low end "failing" and not for serious listening.
Well, I've been reading this thread for the past three days, and I'm said it's tailed off. So I'm stirring the pot, see?
I've just taken delivery of a pair of Grado 325i's, and they make string quintet through my iMod and Hornet sound amaaazing. However, I have to admit I'm not so blown away by my more usual suspects of rock/pop music.
Soooo... Come on people - give me opinions. I love portable, but I'm also chasing that rainbow of true audiophile ecstasy that ends with me pulling a funny face and calling for a Kleenex. You know what I mean.
Lisa III? UEM11's? AMB mini3? Or just plump for a decent home rig and discover what I'm missing? Money is relatively little object, so I'm attracted to a Solo SRG, XCan V3, whatever it takes to blow my mind.
Because I neeeeeed to be carried away by sonic gold pouring through my ears and into my sad old mind.
True audiophile enjoyment should only be enjoyed with a home rig, where the world around you is quiet and the only thing you're doing is concentrating and enjoying the music. Not when you're on the go or somewhere where work needs to be done. IMO of course.
So binkobonko. My say is get a home rig and leave all the heavy audiophile-ing at home. Just enjoy the portable-fi (PMP with IEMs/whateveryouplantouse) as;
(In priority)
1. A portable rig
2. A source of enjoyment
3. Audiophile-ing without sacrificing the first two, especially the first one.
Originally Posted by binkobonko /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I've been reading this thread for the past three days, and I'm said it's tailed off. So I'm stirring the pot, see?
I've just taken delivery of a pair of Grado 325i's, and they make string quintet through my iMod and Hornet sound amaaazing. However, I have to admit I'm not so blown away by my more usual suspects of rock/pop music.
Soooo... Come on people - give me opinions. I love portable, but I'm also chasing that rainbow of true audiophile ecstasy that ends with me pulling a funny face and calling for a Kleenex. You know what I mean.
Lisa III? UEM11's? AMB mini3? Or just plump for a decent home rig and discover what I'm missing? Money is relatively little object, so I'm attracted to a Solo SRG, XCan V3, whatever it takes to blow my mind.
Because I neeeeeed to be carried away by sonic gold pouring through my ears and into my sad old mind.
Don't we all?
A TTVJ Millett Portable Hybrid would be a nice match for those SR325i, and sound about as good as other desktop tube hybrid amps with the Grados. That is the only portable I could recommend for them in good faith.
If you go desktop, the Cavalli CTH amp and EF2 are great budget amps for Grados and IEM, or the EF1 and Millett SSH if you don't need to use it with IEM (poor volume control). At a higher budget the SR-325i sounded great with my Woo WA6 and Single Power Square Wave XL (balanced) but don't buy an SP amp new (you'll never get it).
Solo SRG will not be as good of a match with the SR-325i as with the RS-1 due to a very slight treble tilt to the sound, but was great with HD600 (but not HD00). The new SRG design should have better bass, but I haven't heard it.
Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... The new SRG design should have better bass, but I haven't heard it.
Larry, I received the new Solo SRGII on Wednesday (9/9/09) and it is burning in as I write this. I hope to log 500 hours and send it out to the same group of testers. I will include both Solo versions so a side by side could be performed, chances are I will include two identical IC's as well.
Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif A TTVJ Millett Portable Hybrid would be a nice match for those SR325i, and sound about as good as other desktop tube hybrid amps with the Grados. That is the only portable I could recommend for them in good faith.
If you go desktop, the Cavalli CTH amp and EF2 are great budget amps for Grados and IEM, or the EF1 and Millett SSH if you don't need to use it with IEM (poor volume control). At a higher budget the SR-325i sounded great with my Woo WA6 and Single Power Square Wave XL (balanced) but don't buy an SP amp new (you'll never get it).
Solo SRG will not be as good of a match with the SR-325i as with the RS-1 due to a very slight treble tilt to the sound, but was great with HD600 (but not HD00). The new SRG design should have better bass, but I haven't heard it.
I really love my TTVJ tube portable. Last night I was listening to Jerry Garcia using the junkman amp with a portable sony dej885 cd player and Sunns 650 w/zu mobis and ALO cable and the awareness level of my listening was well above 90%. This amp is also just wonderful on my 3251 woody by JMoney with ALO recable. The amp needs several hundred hours of burn in and will allow you to hear to the deepest levels of your boundary of awareness. The Zenhead is another wonderful amp. I do find that my iQube does not allow me to dive deeper into music appreciation. My Xin SM4 maxed with upgraded opamps and maxed buffers is great but 12 month wait and about $650 in cost makes it a amp for those that can play that game. If you can not hear the improvement of a amp it is only that you have not traveled far enough on the path of awareness. It is like meditation. Just because you meditate doesn't mean you reach cosmic awareness.
Thanks for all comments. Todd has kindly offered to loan me a hybrid, which is amazingly nice, so I guess I'll get to hear that. The Woo looks like a serious piece of kit - there's a meet coming up in England soon, perhaps someone will bring one.
In the meantime, I'll persevere with the Hornet - it does sound great with the SR60's
I use a Headsix with my ES3X running from my 6th Gen iPod Classic via LOD.
Although there are differences between the headphone out vs the lod/amp sound, it is subtle and not as big as most people may think. I have listened to a variety of portable amps including the Mustang. They are nice, but a lot nicer or just a little?, IMHO, "just a little".
Originally Posted by yukihiro /img/forum/go_quote.gif it may just be a bass boost, but i feel like it helps tame the highs from my 325i's. maybe the fiio just gives me a sound signature that i like, because i like how it sounds.
i feel like my sansa fuze is sufficient as a dap... i guess it's time to get a pair of iem's. i probably won't be spending more than $100 on iem's since i'm probably going to abuse them as they'll be tossed in my backpack, unlike my full-sized headphones...
ugh, i guess i do need iem's if i plan to listen to music in the library
the E5 always enhances my listening experience. i even run it with my lisa III. its also a midrange boost if u slide the bassboost to center. which is important for me because my D7000s need that at times. if anything is a bargain its the E5. all that said, UE11s and FiiO E5 is prolly good enough for a portable rig. and i cant tell the difference between my cryo LOD and my $5.00 LOD i found on a rack in Yodobashi Camera.
Originally Posted by proteuskim /img/forum/go_quote.gif the E5 always enhances my listening experience. i even run it with my lisa III. its also a midrange boost if u slide the bassboost to center. which is important for me because my D7000s need that at times. if anything is a bargain its the E5. all that said, UE11s and FiiO E5 is prolly good enough for a portable rig. and i cant tell the difference between my cryo LOD and my $5.00 LOD i found on a rack in Yodobashi Camera.
You have committed a sin by allowing the E5 to contaminate the sound of the Lisa and UE11Pro. As penance you must send me your Lisa III and learn to live without it.
I have a very nice home rig that sounds magical.
The problem for me is that I live in a apartment building, with my wife and soon to be daughter.
So it´s not often I have the possibility to really enjoy my home rig.
With my Iphone 3G-LOD-3Move-K272 I can enjoy wonderful sound by just putting my K272 on, anytime, anywhere.
The home rig is better, but to have the possibility to have this high SQ for so little money is nothing short of amazing.
I too tried the portable rig thing, and in the end I realized how much more I can get from a desktop/home rig, sound quality wise, over portable stuff for a similar price point.
But now that I have a job and am looking towards an iPod Touch and Pico Slim, I may just try this portable rig thing one last time.
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