[Dipypang]

Let’s say you already own some FLAC files and a PC, then what are the most important gear to get the best audio out of the file?
Is it DAC, AMP, Pre-Amp, Headphone, Speaker, etc. of course they are all important tho but which affects the most.
If you have $5,000, how will you spend them for your first desktop hifi system?
Example maybe like 50% on headphone, 5% on DAC and so on.
Any recommendations for those gears’ model and brand.

Newbie here but I’m really interested in listening to music and hope to get the best audio to feed my ears, thanks!

 

[someguyontheinternet]

As long as the DAC and amp are of sufficient quality (can be bought for 100$ each) the biggest factor will be the headphones/speakers.

Personally I like my stuff to be without coloration and be audibly transparent. That can be achieved with a simple Schiit stack of Modi3+ and Magni Heresy (or IEMagni that comes with DC protection which is nice).

The rest I would put into headphones (because I cannot use speakers where I currently live).

 

[Dipypang]

As long as the DAC and amp are of sufficient quality (can be bought for 100$ each) the biggest factor will be the headphones/speakers.

Personally I like my stuff to be without coloration and be audibly transparent. That can be achieved with a simple Schiit stack of Modi3+ and Magni Heresy (or IEMagni that comes with DC protection which is nice).

The rest I would put into headphones (because I cannot use speakers where I currently live).

Okay so for you a decent DAC and AMP should do and more prioritize headphones. so what headphones will you recommend?

 

[someguyontheinternet]

Headphone recommendations will depend on what you're looking for. I found that the DCA Aeon RT closely matches what I would consider accurate sound reproduction. So for that purpose I would recommend it.
If you're looking for a relaxed sound and comfortable fit, the Meze Empyrean are great headphones.
The Sennheiser HD650/6XX are liked by a lot of people so they represent a safe bet.
If you're planning to buy expensive headphones like the Empyreans, I would recommend visiting an audio store where you can try them though. In the end preferences differ and you might find a different kind of tonality pleasing.

 

[Dipypang]

Headphone recommendations will depend on what you're looking for. I found that the DCA Aeon RT closely matches what I would consider accurate sound reproduction. So for that purpose I would recommend it.
If you're looking for a relaxed sound and comfortable fit, the Meze Empyrean are great headphones.
The Sennheiser HD650/6XX are liked by a lot of people so they represent a safe bet.
If you're planning to buy expensive headphones like the Empyreans, I would recommend visiting an audio store where you can try them though. In the end preferences differ and you might find a different kind of tonality pleasing.

Never heard of the Aeon and Empyreans, just looked it up and they are very interesting. Hope I can end this journey faster as I can’t wait to enjoy true music!

 

[tesarpa]

While I generally agree that the most important part of the chain is the transducer (headphones, speaker), I found that as soon as you reach certain quality level, you might be able to hear differences between amps and DACs. And suddenly, those differences might become significant for your listening pleasures. For example, I owned original Schiit Magni and while it is good value for money, it was clearly not as powerful and transparent as SMSL SH-9, which I use now.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Let’s say you already own some FLAC files and a PC, then what are the most important gear to get the best audio out of the file?
Is it DAC, AMP, Pre-Amp, Headphone, Speaker, etc. of course they are all important tho but which affects the most.
If you have $5,000, how will you spend them for your first desktop hifi system?
Example maybe like 50% on headphone, 5% on DAC and so on.
Any recommendations for those gears’ model and brand.

Newbie here but I’m really interested in listening to music and hope to get the best audio to feed my ears, thanks!

First thing I'd do is decide which one - headphone or desktop speaker - is more important to you. It's not about how much time you'll spend overall on either - decide which one you'll do focused critical listening on or do that more on. Will you be listening critically on the speakers a lot more and the headphones are just a back up when you can't have a loud system at night, or will you be listening more casually and presumably comfortably with the speakers in daytime so you don't have anything on your head nor earpads of any material contacting your skin when it's hot and then listen critically at night using the headphones? (The latter obviously can mean a couple of hours or so, but the noise floor is probably lower too)

Next, decide how far down the priority is for the secondary system, ie you might spend more time on it but of course you're not really 100% focused anyway, so you could consider not spending the same amount and spend much less on these.

After that decide on the upstream components. This is somewhat easier than if you were not using a fully desktop system ie if you've got a separate area for passive speakers. Since you're using desktop speakers, best route is to to use active speakers, so one thing you'll need is a good amplifier with a preamp or one-box DAC+HPamp+preamp. For the former, you look into what's out there that can best drive the headphones (especially if these are your primary focused listening tools), just make sure this has a preamp output for the speakers; then choose which one leaves you with enough money for a good DAC. You might want a balanced drive amp with a preamp, or one with balanced output on the preamp so you can fully utilize active speakers, so take into account that it would be best to have a DAC with a balanced output. Alternately if you go with the one-box DAC-HPamp-Preamp unit then this gets easier since as long as it can do balanced preamp you can assume the DAC's analogue stage is also balanced; then depending on the headphone amp outputs ie it may have single ended, only single ended, both single ended and balanced, or only balanced output, then decide if the headphones could use a cable upgrade for the balanced output.