[mkmossop]

Ok, so I'm getting my first pair of decent headphones very soon. They're either going to be the AIAIAI TMA-1's or the Denon AH-D1001's.
 
My music source for the most part will be my laptop. I'm assuming I can still get good sound out of the headphones just straight through the laptop, or am I going to need an amp or something else? I know with an amp things can be better, but I just want to know if things will be decent at least without one.
 
Also, from reading around I should be using 320 kbps mp3's, or FLAC files... is this right? What's the lowest bitrate one should consider? 192 kbps?
 
Any input or other info would be great!

 

[matthewh133]

Probably the wrong forum for this. Computer audio/Dedicated source components would have been better, but whatever. Get 320kbps or FLAC (ALAC if you use a mac). A lot of people can't tell the difference between FLAC and 320kbps, depending on how trained your ears are, but below 320kbps there is noticable sound quality loss.
 
If you are using on board sound, through your soundcard you will be limiting your sound quality. Your sound can only be as good as its weakest link. For example, you could spend $3000 on the new Ultrasone Edition 10, plug them into your laptop, and they will still be limited extremely by your laptops sound card. Maybe fork out $80 or so for a uDac 2. These are a cheap way of improving your sound quality over on-board sound cards. There is much better sounding options, but for this cheap price it is a worthy investment to get more from your headphones.

 

[mkmossop]

Thanks a lot for the reply... exactly what I was looking for. Wasn't sure about which forum to go in...
 
Anyway, I'll definitely get a uDac 2 when I have a bit more money. Sound won't be complete horrible without it will it?

 

[matthewh133]

No problems. It won't be horrible like scratching your nails against a white board, but it's not "good" either compared to what you could get from a better source. You could live with it until you get yourself a better source, then appreciate the goodness that source brings you when you get it

 

[mkmossop]

Ah k cool. I assume at least I'll be able to tell the difference between my new headphones and the $40 Sony's I have now? I guess that's mostly what I'm worried about.

 

[carloslees]

AH-D1001's are said to be good unamp, anyhow, it depends on what you need.

 

[matthewh133]

Quote:

AH-D1001's are said to be good unamp, anyhow, it depends on what you need.

Yes they would be fine unamped, though with a bad source they are limited.

 

[Satellite_6]

Quote:

 
Also, from reading around I should be using 320 kbps mp3's, or FLAC files... is this right? What's the lowest bitrate one should consider? 192 kbps?
 
 

Anything down to 160 kbps sounds OK to me if you want to save memory. . . but it would be much better to use higher bit rate lossy or lossless.

 

[mkmossop]

Cool... thanks for all the help.