barber107
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2010
- Posts
- 3
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- 0
I've been lurking around the forum for a month or so and I am ready to put together my first “Head-fi.org Approved” system. I guess I am starting to understand the concepts well enough to open up my wallet, but I’d love to get some input from other folks.
It all started back in 2002 with a set Sennheiser headphones (sorry I can’t remember the model). They were ~$100 closed headphones that I used for digital music and PC gaming (mostly FPS). I was so impressed with the sound they output that I found excuses to use them all of the time. Eventually, they broke and I never bothered to replace them because I stopped using the MP3 player and playing games.
I’ve recently gotten back into gaming, but this time on the consoles, and I remembered the advantage the headphones provided so I purchased a set of Turtle Beach X4s. I didn’t realize that my Panasonic plasma would make them unusable. As a side note, the TB X4s are for sale for anybody with a reasonable offer. Once I realized the TB X4s wouldn’t work (damned impulse buy) I wanted to figure out something else that would work, but would also extend beyond the Xbox 360 usage into a “surround sound replacement” to use with U-verse HDTV and my PS3 (games and blu-ray). I’d also probably use them with my computer for listening to music and movies and with my iPhone 3G, so an all-around performer would be nice!
Of course, I don’t want to spend a ton of money (especially having lost money on the TB X4s), but ~$150 for the headphones and amp seems reasonable. That being said, I am thinking about making my first system a set of Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 paired with a Pocket Amp 2 - Version 2 (PA2V2). My only concern is that I’ve never owned open headphones so I am a little worried about their isolation and the noise they put off to other people in the vicinity. Other than that they seem like a perfect choice.
Right now I don’t have an AV receiver so all of my sources plug into the TV which has an RCA line-out output. From that I would use RCA to stereo adapter to feed the amp and then the headphones. Eventually I want to get a decent receiver with Dolby Headphone or Yamaha’s Silent Cinema, but that will have to wait for a while until I have the money to do it right.
So what do you all think? Is this a good choice for a first setup, or should I keep researching? Any and all input would be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Barber
It all started back in 2002 with a set Sennheiser headphones (sorry I can’t remember the model). They were ~$100 closed headphones that I used for digital music and PC gaming (mostly FPS). I was so impressed with the sound they output that I found excuses to use them all of the time. Eventually, they broke and I never bothered to replace them because I stopped using the MP3 player and playing games.
I’ve recently gotten back into gaming, but this time on the consoles, and I remembered the advantage the headphones provided so I purchased a set of Turtle Beach X4s. I didn’t realize that my Panasonic plasma would make them unusable. As a side note, the TB X4s are for sale for anybody with a reasonable offer. Once I realized the TB X4s wouldn’t work (damned impulse buy) I wanted to figure out something else that would work, but would also extend beyond the Xbox 360 usage into a “surround sound replacement” to use with U-verse HDTV and my PS3 (games and blu-ray). I’d also probably use them with my computer for listening to music and movies and with my iPhone 3G, so an all-around performer would be nice!
Of course, I don’t want to spend a ton of money (especially having lost money on the TB X4s), but ~$150 for the headphones and amp seems reasonable. That being said, I am thinking about making my first system a set of Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 paired with a Pocket Amp 2 - Version 2 (PA2V2). My only concern is that I’ve never owned open headphones so I am a little worried about their isolation and the noise they put off to other people in the vicinity. Other than that they seem like a perfect choice.
Right now I don’t have an AV receiver so all of my sources plug into the TV which has an RCA line-out output. From that I would use RCA to stereo adapter to feed the amp and then the headphones. Eventually I want to get a decent receiver with Dolby Headphone or Yamaha’s Silent Cinema, but that will have to wait for a while until I have the money to do it right.
So what do you all think? Is this a good choice for a first setup, or should I keep researching? Any and all input would be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Barber
