[floydman]

hi everybody,

I'm completely new to this audiophile thing, I'm still in school. Also I don't have a lot of money to splash out at the moment, although, I worked last summer for a month so I do have a bit of cash.

I have my favorite albums on cds, and listen to them at home from an old Sony walkman I found. I also have an iPod shuffle with a pair of Sony MDR-EX90LP (inner ear) headphones, I use this when I'm out of the house.

I'm just wondering if some of you could help me; where should I concentrate my money. Right now I'm looking towards something for use at home.

should I put money into:

-pre-amp
-better cd player
-headphones

I have a total budget of about 100-250 euros. (roughly 150-300 dollars U.S.)

I'm intending to buy higher quality headphones (price-quality higher than stereo), I'm thinking of Sennheisers, middle range, e.g. the hd555

Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[R04R]

Definitely headphones are priority.

What genres do you listen to?

What kinds of sounds do you want from your music? (bass/clarity)

 

[Drubbing]

Headphones. Ones that are designed for portable players.

 

[stang]

You could try the Shure SRH440 because they seem to have an AWESOME bang for buck and are closed and can be fairly easily driven from a portable player. If you want something open and want to give Grado a test, try the SR-225. What genre's do you listen to? Do you want a wide soundstage or closed in one? Lots of bass? Open or closed headphones?

 

[grokit]

You won't be satisfied with the HD555s in the long run, but many have recommended their big bro, the HD595s as a scalable headphone that will keep providing benefit to you as you grow into an audiophile. The Shures sound like a good choice as well.

If that is your goal and you have a computer, start ripping those CDs losslessly onto your hard drive, in iTunes or FLAC, and think about if you could listen off of it, or if you should get amp for your shuffle for personal/portable use.

If you don't need portable, your next step would be to try a DAC/amp for your computer, like the diminutive NuForce uDac, or the HiFiMAN EF2A, both reviewed herin.

If you do need portable, and you don't have a computer yet, then find the discman with the best DAC (no idea, sorry), but get a good pair of headphones first or you won't be able to tell the difference. If you want to spend a little less on headphones, the Grado SR60/80s are also good entry-level headphones, and their SR125/225s may be worth a look as well.

Happy trails to you!

 

[Prog Rock Man]

Hi floydman. Have you got a PC? (Which if you use a ipod the answer should be yes and you allready have music on your computer) If so that could act as your source. Then you could get a portable headphone amp and connect it to the PC via its headphone out to drive the headphones. The portable amp could then also be used with your ipod suffle, so you have the best of both worlds and the best sound out of your headphones. I will not suggest products, it is just the idea of a setup and if you like it.

 

[loopfreak]

Senn hd 25 1 is one hell of a 'phone ! Very fun to listen , very punchy bass yet balanced, dont need an amp can go very loud effortless with unbelievable isolation.

 

[tvrboy]

I will also say check out the Grado line. None of their headphones need to be amplified, so that's easy. Grado also makes headphones for Alessandro Music. They have the MS-1 which is a great value. Many many head-fiers love the MS-1 for its price/performance ratio. The price is in dollars and they will ship overseas too! Check out Alessandro High-End Products: Music Series Headphones

I would say get the headphone first, then after that you can decide if you want to upgrade your CD player. Personally I think that's a waste of money - how do you know which personal discman has the best DAC? It's not like they publish super detailed specs for these things. The way to go on that is play your CD on your computer, and use an external DAC (digital to analouge converter). You can find a bunch of those like the Nuforce uDac or Headroom Total Bithead. But...to be honest, you may not notice the difference between your discman/computer soundcard and one of these cheap DACs. So I would just go with the headphones for now, then upgrade source later if you're not satisfied.

 

[baka1969]

There were still a few details you've left out. That said, however, if sound isolation and leakage isn't an issue, the MS1 headphone and Nuforce Icon Mobile dac/amp is a very nice starter package and fall within your budget. Plus it's so versatile and portable. And it's not a setup that you have to outgrow and can be lived as your only combo.

Peace

Ross

 

[floydman]

Thanks for all the feedback

I just want to clarify that I'm not really looking to improve my portable set-up at the moment. I mostly just put new albums from artists I don't know about on my shuffle, and as I'm moving about perfect sound quality isn't a necessity.

The computer as a music source isn't really an option as I don't have a computer in my room, but I'm fine just listening to cds. (I feel like I'm the only person still buying them) :sad:

Regarding the amp, I'm just a bit confused... is there really a major difference between a $100 amp against a $300 one. Is it really worth putting that much money into it.

Also which headphones actually require headphones?

Thanks again

 

[stang]

People usually put hundreds, if not thousands into amplifiers. A $100 amp will most likely be a little portable thing that barely makes a difference. A $300 amp would be a good desktop amp like from Little Dot or the alikes. Yes it is definately worth putting that much money into it. IMO, don't get an amp unless it's like $200 minimum.

"Also which headphones actually require headphones? "

What lol??

 

[jyle_t]

Most if not all the people here buy their CDs, so you're not alone.

You can look at the Shure SRH-840, about $200, provided you don't get too put off by the looks. They're pretty good sounding IMO. Just run them unamped via your CD player, i tried it via my iPhone 3G and it sounds good enough. I suggest you don't bother with amps yet.

Also, is isolation and sound leakage a factor? Sennheiser and Grado headphones are all open type, so they don't isolate and leak sound. Shure cans are closed type, so they can isolate and minimize sound leakage. Denon cans are semi closed, "semi" because they're actually closed cans, but they still leak sound and don't really isolate well. They're the most comfortable tho.

 

[stang]

Yes, buying CDs is a must with decent equipment. Lossless is important, even just for peace of mind. 320kbps MP3's are fine but I would rather support the bands I love by buying their CDs over downloading it illegally.

 

[fatman]

My suggestion is to look for a suitable second handed earphones and earphone amp to upgrade your music apprication experiences. There are a lot of audiophiles trade their rigs which don't fit their taste but it have good quality.

 

[grokit]

You need an expensive amp to drive the better headphones to their maximum potential. Some headphones will sound better than others without extra amplification, but will still sound even better with it. Others it's like night and day. The Shure SRH840, the Senn 595s or HD-25s, and the Grado SR-80/PX125 are examples of the better-known headphones that sound good without extra amplification, but better with it in the $100-200 range. There are many other options that you may consider as well, including more from Sennheiser, Beyer-Dynamic, AKG, Audio-Technica, Denon, Phiaton, and Sony, among others; enough to make your head spin for sure so if you don't want to get too overwhelmed stick to the few models I named above that we seem to have some kind of a consensus on, or you takes your chances!