[Phantom602]

Hello Everyone:
I’m a new member to the head-fi community.  I have been a fan of stereo hi-fi audio for over 15 years.  Mostly I have been into stereo equipment.  I have a baby in the house now and have been forced to switch from large home audio to headphones.  I’m a stickler for good sound so I rushed out and got the following equipment.
Desk top Head phones:  Sennheiser: HD800, HD700 and HD650
Portable head phones: Sennheiser Momentum and B&W P5
Desk top amp:  Ray Samuels Emmeline II The Raptor.
Source: Lexicon RT-10 (I had this laying around) and HAP-S1.
My goal is to learn more when it comes to headphones and to build a better mobile setup. 
 
Thanks,
 
Cherian  

 

[KG Jag]

Welcome--there is an entire sub-section of the forum devoted to Portable Source Gear.

 

[Beyakusenn]

Hello and welcome to Head-fi!
 
That is very nice equipment! A dedicated DAP (Digital Audio Player) might improve your mobile listening experience. The headphones always remain the weakest link, so you might want to upgrade the Momentums and P5 after a while as well.
 
Many things about headphones can be learnt here on the forums. There is a lot more to headphones than meets the eye.

 

[Phantom602]

So far I have been using my HTC M8 as my mobile audio source.  I have been eyeing an Astell & Kern ak100ii on ebay.  This might b a good start for my budget.

 

[Beyakusenn]

  So far I have been using my HTC M8 as my mobile audio source.  I have been eyeing an Astell & Kern ak100ii on ebay.  This might b a good start for my budget.

Wel, if you have such a budget, then I'd say go ahead. You could also have a look on the buying/selling section of Head-fi. Here is at least one of those A&K DAPs you're looking for:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/775230/astell-kern-ak100ii
This Head-fier has a lot of positive feedback, so you know the person who you are dealing with is trustworthy.
 
The price of such a player is enough to buy a very good second hand electrostatic system though and the player is relatively bulky in my opinion so I don't think I'll ever go for one of those myself.
 
If your budget for portable equipment is that high, you might want to look into the Oppo PM-3 and the Denon AH-MM400. Those are great portable headphones and upgrading to either of those will make more of a difference than by changing the player.

 

[Phantom602]

Thanks for the information.  I will check it out.  I will have to add the Oppo headphones to my list of mobile options.  I do travel a lot and do spend many hours on a plane so a good portable setup is important to me. 

 

[Beyakusenn]

You might also want to consider getting hearing protection for inside the plane. At cruising speed, the sound pressure level can easily be higher than 90 dB and that is likely to cause permanent hearing damage.

 

[Phantom602]

I do use a set of Boes QC 25 when I want to sleep and for movies.  When I listen to music I switch to the B&W P5.  I have wondered if the Sennheiser PXC 450s would be better all a rounder so I wont have to lug 2 sets of phones.