[bowei006]

Just get an HFI 580 if you like bassy, pop music, and dubstep but still want great mids and highs that are in studio headphones and can be used for a various amount of genres. add this in with an E6 or E11...and if you have an ipod. an FiiO L9 LOD. and your set

 

[venalitious]

Alright I believe I am going to buy the 580's.
 
But before I do, if I were to bump my price up one or two hundred more dollars (300-400), what headphones would be suited for what I am looking for?

 

[bowei006]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/547239-REG/Ultrasone_HFI_580_HFI_580_Closed_Back_Stereo_Headphones.html
Quick!!!! to BH!!!! I just bought mine last night. also due to loliwin and DVDRey's help
 
and...idk. im not into/too knowledgable of headphones in that price range
 
the ultrasone Pro900 have been reviewed to be good in that price range.
Sennheiser HD650 is also known to be good
 
why they are? idk, they just have a lot of "OMG these are fan fricking tastic" reviews all over the web
 
and in case you are wondering. YES I am proud to get my 100+ Head-FI'ER badge today

 

[B-Dawk20]

This is actually the first time I've heard of needing to replace tubes lol. I just assumed they lasted for years and years. How often should you replace them? I can't imagine it'd be more than once every year or two....

 

[bowei006]

Well...i guess the only answer for that...is to replace them once the vintage tube in your maverick tubemagic goes

 

[venalitious]

How much are tube replacements for them? And where can you buy them?

I really like the style of them, and if it's only a minor inconvenience I wouldn't mind investing some money into a nice one.
 
And what exactly are they called? Are they just retro desktop headphone amps? Or do they have a specific name?
 
(Sorry for all the questions everyone.)

 

[B-Dawk20]

Quote:

Well...i guess the only answer for that...is to replace them once the vintage tube in your maverick tubemagic goes

Its a tube preamp, and I don't use it lol

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

How much are tube replacements for them? And where can you buy them?

I really like the style of them, and if it's only a minor inconvenience I wouldn't mind investing some money into a nice one.
 
And what exactly are they called? Are they just retro desktop headphone amps? Or do they have a specific name?
 
(Sorry for all the questions everyone.)

 
The maverick Tubemagic D1 is a very popular one..that has 1 tube in it


Quote:

Its a tube preamp, and I don't use it lol

What! $300 to waste. what do you use then!

 

[B-Dawk20]

It's a solid state amp and DAC, and it's $200, not $300. You can use it as a preamp if you choose but it's not like I have a better amp laying around somewhere so I stick to the D1 with post stock opamps.
 
 
So yeah, the Maverick D1 is NOT a tube amp so if you want a tube amp, look elsewhere.

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

It's a solid state amp and DAC, and it's $200, not $300. You can use it as a preamp if you choose but it's not like I have a better amp laying around somewhere so I stick to the D1 with post stock opamps.
 
 
So yeah, the Maverick D1 is NOT a tube amp so if you want a tube amp, look elsewhere.

Are pre-amps worth it? i have an VIA® VT1708S in my computer. sometimes the volume isn't enough and i use itunes equalizers built in pre-amp.

 

[B-Dawk20]

I'm not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to equipment but I'm sure preamps are just there to contort the sound in some way to help get a specific tone. Like if you like bass and you wanted your music to be bassier you'd add in a bassy sounding equipment in between your DAC and amp so you can get a bassy sound. Or in my case, if I wanted a tubey sound and my second amp was a solid state, I'd go from my computer to my D1 and then use the Tube-out RCA connectors to plug into my main amp. So the setup would look something like this
 
 
PC -> USB -> D1(tube out) -> main amp
 
 
The "preamp" in itunes is just some software thingy they put in to change up your sound a bit. You shouldn't need a preamp if your main amp does everything you want it to, just get a DAC and run that to your main amplifier.
 
 
For you, you should just get a DAC and an amp to run to your headphones, that'll give you so much sound improvement with the better DAC and amp. Volume will no longer be an issue as well and you wont have to distort the sound with itunes equalizer preamp thingy.

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

I'm not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to equipment but I'm sure preamps are just there to contort the sound in some way to help get a specific tone. Like if you like bass and you wanted your music to be bassier you'd add in a bassy sounding equipment in between your DAC and amp so you can get a bassy sound. Or in my case, if I wanted a tubey sound and my second amp was a solid state, I'd go from my computer to my D1 and then use the Tube-out RCA connectors to plug into my main amp. So the setup would look something like this
 
 
PC -> USB -> D1(tube out) -> main amp
 
 
The "preamp" in itunes is just some software thingy they put in to change up your sound a bit. You shouldn't need a preamp if your main amp does everything you want it to, just get a DAC and run that to your main amplifier.

I was thinking of the FiiO E10. affordable, and has an amp and DAC. A Wolfson DAC at that
 
 

 

[B-Dawk20]

Quote:

I was thinking of the FiiO E10. affordable, and has an amp and DAC. A Wolfson DAC at that
 
 

What headphones do you have?

 

[bowei006]

Shure SRH 440- Studio Use
HFI 580-Fun lively ones. Most would consider these an upgrade to the ATH-M50's

 

[B-Dawk20]

I am no longer in the market for sub $300 headphones unfortunately. Or else I would try out some of the others like the Ultrasone. It sounds like it would of fit what I was going for with the M50's more to be honest but I think the M50s were better for me as far as insight is concerned. My next headphone will probably be the HD650 though it seems like and I'll finally get use out of my amp for real. I mostly bought if for future purposes though. But yeah, the FiiO will definitely be a great upgrade for you since you are going from built in sound. Enjoy it bro.
 
 
 
@Tubes There are so many places to buy them but look to the headfiers here to direct you to places with the best prices. They themselves are relatively cheap. Like maybe 30 dollars for a set of good ones?