chrisjsmith11
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2009
- Posts
- 22
- Likes
- 0
Hi All,
My first post
hello !
2 things before I start, just to fill in some background.
1) I am an out and out audio-nut (hate the word audiophile), but to date - not a headphone kind of guy. That is beginning to change. I mention this, to put the perspective that I have heard Grados, Sennheisser 600s, Beyerdynamic (owned a pair of those with a creek headphone amp once), Jays and Sure IEMs, Senheisser in-ear headphones, oh yes and at a high-end audio show, I heard the full range of Stax headphones too.
2) I don't like 'in-ear' headphones. I find them painful and uncomfortable for longer than 1/2 an hour. I'm a ''big pair of cans'' kind of guy. Sorry, no ear-canal type stuff for me.
So, on with the thread.
My current 'headphone type' listening equipment.
1 x pair of Senheisser cx300 (for when I'm too embarrased to walk down the street with big phones on, hardly ever use these for reason (2) above.
1 x pair of Senheisser green things for the gym with a volume control and a crocodile clip. These sound really awful.
1 x pair of Koss KSC75 - on order to arrive any day. To replace 'green things' for the gym. Looking forward to this. I might use them to 'walk down the street' aswell. Lets see.
1 x pair Bose On-Ear - bought because 1) they're not too big to feel like a d**k. They sound nearly as good as full size audiophile cans. They have decent passive noise isolation with their memory foam pads.
1 x Senheisser PXC350 - on order to arrive any day. I fly a lot, because I love travelling. Needed some over-the head cans with noise cancelling. I wonder how hard they are to drive and what they sound like passively? Hopefully good.
Sources:
1 x Ipod Classic 80gb. I actually hate Itunes. Hate it. Hate it for it's stupid idiosyncracies and what it does to your files on the PC, not for sound quality...But, I've done everything required to make it work, and now for 'hastle factor' I'm sticking with the Ipod in it's stock guise with Itunes (no rockbox thanks).
With the Classic I have a 'line out' gadget on the bottom, and a cable to run it into an external amp.
1 x Cheap 2gig solid state player for the gym.
Amps:
1 x Cmoy thing. It takes a 9v battery and is in a 'penguin mint' type box. I bought it from Ebay.
Impressions/thoughts/ problems/ what's going on?
Well now.
AREAS OF HAPPINESS...
1) Ipod. It has 877 albums on it. What's to complain about?
2) My bose phones. I know it's like saying a rival football club to some, but I love them so nerr !
AREAS OF UNCERTAINTY
1) The Senheisser PXC350. I read around a LOT.. thanks headfi for the articles on this. I have been lurking and reading them. I hope they are good cans, and the noise cancelling works for me. Either way, I bet they will be the best phones for the plane out of my tiny arsenal.
AREAS OF GENERAL DISSATISFACTION.
Amps.
The creek amp I had a couple of years ago - frankly sounded no better than my PC's sound card/headphone 'out' - and it wasn't even a seperate sound-card, just on the mother board!...
My Cmoy amp - has more gain than the Ipod - necessary for the Bose, which run at near full volume on the Ipod, but 4/10 on the Cmoy/line out/Ipod... but apart from the extra gain, sounds near- identical at similar volumes.
In essence, my general dissatisfaction with amps is that the could I've heard really didn't make a big enough 'sonic' difference to justify their existance.
I'd readilly blow - lets say $150 (£75 ish) on a better head-amp (DIY or finished), but I don't want to bother for 'marginal' sound quality differences. It's got to be ''in another league'' or not at all.
As such, I'm wondering the following....
CONCLUSION...
1) best portable amp for PXC350/On-ears, Ipod and line-out
2) do they do ''money back'' in the UK if I find the difference marginal?
3) The ipod has always been a bit ''thin and tinny sounding'' to my ears. It's not bad, but it's 'not good' either. What amp would compliment this best?
I think that's about it.
I am interested in thoughts !
Cheers
My first post
2 things before I start, just to fill in some background.
1) I am an out and out audio-nut (hate the word audiophile), but to date - not a headphone kind of guy. That is beginning to change. I mention this, to put the perspective that I have heard Grados, Sennheisser 600s, Beyerdynamic (owned a pair of those with a creek headphone amp once), Jays and Sure IEMs, Senheisser in-ear headphones, oh yes and at a high-end audio show, I heard the full range of Stax headphones too.
2) I don't like 'in-ear' headphones. I find them painful and uncomfortable for longer than 1/2 an hour. I'm a ''big pair of cans'' kind of guy. Sorry, no ear-canal type stuff for me.
So, on with the thread.
My current 'headphone type' listening equipment.
1 x pair of Senheisser cx300 (for when I'm too embarrased to walk down the street with big phones on, hardly ever use these for reason (2) above.
1 x pair of Senheisser green things for the gym with a volume control and a crocodile clip. These sound really awful.
1 x pair of Koss KSC75 - on order to arrive any day. To replace 'green things' for the gym. Looking forward to this. I might use them to 'walk down the street' aswell. Lets see.
1 x pair Bose On-Ear - bought because 1) they're not too big to feel like a d**k. They sound nearly as good as full size audiophile cans. They have decent passive noise isolation with their memory foam pads.
1 x Senheisser PXC350 - on order to arrive any day. I fly a lot, because I love travelling. Needed some over-the head cans with noise cancelling. I wonder how hard they are to drive and what they sound like passively? Hopefully good.
Sources:
1 x Ipod Classic 80gb. I actually hate Itunes. Hate it. Hate it for it's stupid idiosyncracies and what it does to your files on the PC, not for sound quality...But, I've done everything required to make it work, and now for 'hastle factor' I'm sticking with the Ipod in it's stock guise with Itunes (no rockbox thanks).
With the Classic I have a 'line out' gadget on the bottom, and a cable to run it into an external amp.
1 x Cheap 2gig solid state player for the gym.
Amps:
1 x Cmoy thing. It takes a 9v battery and is in a 'penguin mint' type box. I bought it from Ebay.
Impressions/thoughts/ problems/ what's going on?
Well now.
AREAS OF HAPPINESS...
1) Ipod. It has 877 albums on it. What's to complain about?
2) My bose phones. I know it's like saying a rival football club to some, but I love them so nerr !
AREAS OF UNCERTAINTY
1) The Senheisser PXC350. I read around a LOT.. thanks headfi for the articles on this. I have been lurking and reading them. I hope they are good cans, and the noise cancelling works for me. Either way, I bet they will be the best phones for the plane out of my tiny arsenal.
AREAS OF GENERAL DISSATISFACTION.
Amps.
The creek amp I had a couple of years ago - frankly sounded no better than my PC's sound card/headphone 'out' - and it wasn't even a seperate sound-card, just on the mother board!...
My Cmoy amp - has more gain than the Ipod - necessary for the Bose, which run at near full volume on the Ipod, but 4/10 on the Cmoy/line out/Ipod... but apart from the extra gain, sounds near- identical at similar volumes.
In essence, my general dissatisfaction with amps is that the could I've heard really didn't make a big enough 'sonic' difference to justify their existance.
I'd readilly blow - lets say $150 (£75 ish) on a better head-amp (DIY or finished), but I don't want to bother for 'marginal' sound quality differences. It's got to be ''in another league'' or not at all.
As such, I'm wondering the following....
CONCLUSION...
1) best portable amp for PXC350/On-ears, Ipod and line-out
2) do they do ''money back'' in the UK if I find the difference marginal?
3) The ipod has always been a bit ''thin and tinny sounding'' to my ears. It's not bad, but it's 'not good' either. What amp would compliment this best?
I think that's about it.
I am interested in thoughts !
Cheers
