[planetluvver]

I hope I am posting in the correct forum. I have found the head-fi community helpful in the past when I was shopping for earbuds.

I am looking for a crash course on a pretty basic level for learning about my options regarding selecting audio equipment from scratch. I have absolutely no idea if I should be looking into home theater, a personal computer, audio components, or some combination of these.

What follows is some background that will influence my choices.

I went through a major downsizing about eight months ago.Until then, I was using a home audio system bought in the early 90's. A lot has changed since then. DVDs and home theater did not exist then. Now, there is a bewildering variety of ways to listen to music, and right now, the only equipment I own is my smart phone and a Playstation 2.

I have collected about 600 CDs (a very rough guess). I also own somewhere between 30 to 50 opera DVDs. (I am not enough of an opera buff to just listen to an opera, I need a translation and staging because I want to follow the story. I listen to a wide variety of music,but my main genres are classical and folk. Classical I tend to sit and listen, focused on the music and folk and other genres I listen to more casually. I also have about 200 movie DVDs.

Another hobby of mine is studying music. I currently am taking voice and ukulele lessons. So I think it will be important for me to learn to really listen to nuances in singing, since I consider my voice to be my main instrument. I expect to perform mostly folk music.

I will be living in basically a large studio area in a house with other people, so I may be listening mostly through headphones. Though I may want some kind of speakers to sing or play along with instructional materials from the Internet.

I am value concious, but considering I used my last system for about 25 years, and also, l now have the additional goal of studying music, I am willing to invest money to meet my needs.

Thanks for any suggestions and advice!

 

[PurpleAngel]

It Would be helpful if you listed a budget?
Do you own any type of (TV or computer) screen?
Have any type or Internet access or cable TV or Direct TV, Dish network box?
Do you have any need or future plans on a computer?

 

[planetluvver]

I do not currently own either a tv or a computer. I will have access to wi-fi. I would like to have a computer, especially to participate in MOOC's. My budget might be somewhere around $1000, possibly $2000.

Honestly, the last half dozen PCs I have owned were Linux systems and rebuilt from discarded PCs, but I no longer have the Linux tech support that I used to have. I am clueless about the costs of PC software, along with everything else. I think the last Windows version I ran on a machine I owned was Windows 95.

I'm pretty sure I could get my son to assemble a computer for me, but if I go with a Linux system, I will be on my own with software support. I am sure I can figure things out, I just prefer to spend my time in other ways. Likewise, i don't think i would play around a lot with something like speaker placement to get the absolute best sound out of an audio system. On the other hand, I don't know if i have much skill in listening.

 

[uhhmike]

Do you have any Audio gear yet? IE headphones Amp etc.

 

[FumblingFoo]

Just to start somewhere, for a variety of genres of music, I recommend neutral-sounding headphones like the HD600's @ $300, or the warmer HD650's @ $375. To power these high impedance headphones I recommend the Schiit modi 2 / magni 2 stack @ $198.
 
Edit: The HD600/650's have a narrow sound stage, so if you want what I believe are similar headphones with a wider soundstage I'd recommend the Hifiman HE-400i / s

 

[uhhmike]

I agree. I don't have an HD600 but have heard them through my tube amp (mapletree audio ear+ hd that i picked up used on ebay for $500 - but that amp is kind of hard to find used from what ive seen as they are a smaller company based in Canada) and it was really good especially considering price. i dont think the HD600 are top of the line anymore, but for the price, im not sure if theres anything much better. you can find them used under $300 all over the place. search through HeadFi or ebay for a used DAC too. i wouldnt spend too much at first, since alot of audio gear can get insanely expensive, and truth be told - from my experience at least, spending more doesn't always mean its equal value. speaking from experience, when i first got into this hobby, i read one or two reviews of gear online and bought stuff, and ended up selling/returning it shortly after - partly b/c i didnt know enough about headphones/amps/personal preferences/etc -
 
i.e. an amp that costs 4x as much as another amp might not be 4x as better. so its a price/value thing to me. if you're just starting out, start out small, and then research new stuff as you find out what you like. plus, if you buy used, you wont lose as much money if/when you sell - it's only inevitable to me that people end up selling/trading alot of their gear as times goes on.
 
one last thing - a good way to test out new gear is through audio meets. theyre organized by headfi members on a somewhat regular basis - you can search for them on the forums page. i went to one recently, it was alot of fun, and had a lot of gear that ive never seen in stores before. 
 
good luck.