[vandaq]

Posted this in the equipment forum but got told that I should rather post this here..
 
 
Hello! First time poster, though I been lurking for a little bit.
 
I need some guidance here, real bad because I understand very little of this.
 
Currently I am using AD700s on a onboard sound device on my pc.
Looking for a huge upgrade from this. From what I understand, sound card and amp`s are necessary to get the real juice going.
 
Now, what exactly should I get? Thinking from the whole soundcard to headphones. 
I need a complete setup for what would really **** on what I currently have.
Money isn`t a issue, though 1500-2000$ should suffice enough I guess. 
So what amp,headphones,soundcard should I get?
 
I mostly listen to hip hop and electronic, so bass is a must. Though, I am gonna use it with movies and what not. 

 

[NA Blur]

First off you do not always need an amp for headphones, but it can help by doing two things.
 
1.)  Amp the signal voltage so you can get more volume without adding distortion
2.)  Increase the damping factor for the driver to give better control of its movement / resonance
 
A DAC typically makes a big difference if you are using a computer as a source.  When I fist started getting into headphones I used a pair of ATH-M50 headphones and a Total Bithead.  The ATH-M50 was a headphone I was able to do extensive direct A/B comparison with 50 other headphones that were recommended to me at Headroom back when they had a public listening area.  The Bithead is both an Amp and a DAC as well as serving as a portable Amp/DAC.  The first thing I noticed when I used it with my PC was the lack of noise from the mouse and CPU.  I call these sounds the bleep bloops.  If you have ever heard them you know what I am talking about.  The Bithead completely erased any audible noise.  This was a huge leap in sound quality to me and more appropriately signal processing.
 
The the DAC will clean up the noise and an amp will give you more juice as well as better control as long as the output impedance of the amp is about 1/10th that of your headphones.
 
The AD700 headphones you use are not bad.  They are actually quite nice and have a very flat frequency response in the mid section of the spectrum.  They tend to lack bass and you can see that in the following frequency response chart
:
http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=2661&graphID[]=1473
 
See how the blue graph rolls off sharply in the bass?  This is not necessarily a bad thing as long as you do not expect huge bass from the headphone.
 
Back to your question(s)
 
I would say you do not have to spend very much to see improvements.  Perhaps it is as simple as going to a Total Bithead and a Denon AH-D2000 both new of course.  The total investment would be something like $500 or less and probably would shock you and how awesome they sound together.  Of course if you are looking for something a little better in that it can control the drivers of the headphone better the Desktop Amp from Headroom and the AH-D2000 will be a step up again.
 
Yes the AH-D2000 is good for movies and will remain one of my top headphones period.
 
If you prefer a headphone with a little more soundstage and an open design I suggest the AKG Q701.  They have a much needed, but slight, boost in the bass over the AKG K701.
 
Try the Total Bithead and either the AKG-Q701 or Denon AH-D2000 and report back.  I can almost guarantee that you will like what you hear.

 

[vandaq]

I ended up getting Hifiman He-500 with a f7 amp/dac.
Think it was a bad solution on getting the f7 but then again blowing up 1250$ on burson 160d seemed like a waste to me.
 
Anyone can comment on this? Will this amp/dac be sufficient enough ? 
Keep in mind, I am not nearly good enough to spot cons and pros on headsets since I have very little experience with HE headphones. 
 

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

I ended up getting Hifiman He-500 with a f7 amp/dac.
Think it was a bad solution on getting the f7 but then again blowing up 1250$ on burson 160d seemed like a waste to me.
 
Anyone can comment on this? Will this amp/dac be sufficient enough ? 
Keep in mind, I am not nearly good enough to spot cons and pros on headsets since I have very little experience with HE headphones. 
 

 Yes in your case - the E7 was indeed a bad idea. You could try and turn a negative into a positive for little money
 and pick up the E9 desktop amp, this way the E7 can dock with the E9 and you'll have an entry level setup.
 

 

[vandaq]

Damn, I should have known that was coming. Will the difference be really significant?

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Damn, I should have known that was coming. Will the difference be really significant?

 Big difference thing is you've fallen into the trap by buying a top tier headphone and matched
 it with a basic entry level DAC and amp meant for $100-$200 headphones.
 
 The E7 has already been superseded by the much better E17, however the same dilemma 
 remains - the amp section is not designed to drive many of the $350+ headphones out there.
 
 If I was you - I'd keep saving for that Burson or opt for something like the Audio-gd NFB-5
 for $330USD (direct from their website) - it will deliver a good source and the amp section
 is very nice for the cash.

 

[vandaq]

I have the money for it right now, I thought I would have saved some money on it without sacrificing to much. I guess not. Is that audio-gd NFB-5 a good alternative for the he-500 though? I doubt it`s not a bad amp/dac but thinking how it`s gonna match up with this headset? I am about to pull the trigger on it right now, so I just wanna be sure I don`t end up getting another one tomorrow 

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

I have the money for it right now, I thought I would have saved some money on it without sacrificing to much. I guess not. Is that audio-gd NFB-5 a good alternative for the he-500 though? I doubt it`s not a bad amp/dac but thinking how it`s gonna match up with this headset? I am about to pull the trigger on it right now, so I just wanna be sure I don`t end up getting another one tomorrow 

 That He-500 is still fairly power hungry - the NFB-5 head amp delivers
 

 3.5W at 25ohms and 1.8W at 50ohms - the He-500 at 38ohms is in between.​

 ​

 You'll actually get to hear them for the first time!​

 
 

 

[vandaq]

Thanks Gwarmi! I am gonna get them! Tried looking at what I think was there main page(audio-gb.com) which seems to be japanese. Telling my I have to buy from their agents, so I guess ampcity would be a good place to get these then. 

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Thanks Gwarmi! I am gonna get them! Tried looking at what I think was there main page(audio-gb.com) which seems to be japanese. Telling my I have to buy from their agents, so I guess ampcity would be a good place to get these then. 

 Ahh you're in England - even better mate - I'd make the trip if I was you then and test it out yourself with your HE-500.
 
 Audio-gd is Chinese like Fiio ~ and these guys are just beginning to make waves overseas with their sensational specs for the price.

 

[vandaq]

Nah, I am from Norway There isn`t any alternatives here for extensive headphone testing really, so I just have to read up on it. I trust that these will be efficient enough for my needs. Thanks for the help you gave me, I appreciate it a lot 

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Nah, I am from Norway There isn`t any alternatives here for extensive headphone testing really, so I just have to read up on it. I trust that these will be efficient enough for my needs. Thanks for the help you gave me, I appreciate it a lot 

 You'll be happy with the neutral presentation and robust drive from this unit - make sure you post up an impressions thread so that you can pass on
 the goodness to other new HE-500 owners who might be struggling to figure out how to get them sounding great on a budget.

 

[vandaq]

I will, though I don`t feel I have enough experience within high end headphones to give a really detailed and subjective review of it. My english is pretty lacking, same goes for my audio knowledge 

 

[NA Blur]

You are going to need some more power to properly drive the HE-500.  The HE-500 are not only low sensitivity ( 89dB ), but they are also Orthodynamic drivers and the power needed to adequately drive the headphone is pretty high.  Due to their low impedance you will want a low impedance output from your amp.  This aids in properly damping the bass resonance of the driver.
 
In the end if they sound nice to you through any amp then there really is no problem.  If you start to hear distortion or weak bass then perhaps an amp with a little more power will be needed.

 

[vandaq]

You may be right, but then again I doubt my ears are as sensitive as your`s compared to my limited experience with high end. Mostly had a bunch of crappy cans over the years, so I doubt I will be dissapointed with the result. However, I will post an update or a thread about the experience and so forth