[Prog Rock Man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by floydman /img/forum/go_quote.gif 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

Ok, so combining portable with home and using the PC as a source is out. But you are going to use CDs as a source. So are you wanting to integrate your Walkman into a set up with an amp and headphones? Or are you looking to get a CD player and an headphone amp, or a CD player with a stereo amp (for speakers) that has a headphone socket?

Rating a $100 amp against a $300 amp is pretty meaningless without knowing what amps they are. But as a rule of thumb, the more you spend the better you should get.

If you amp a headphone you add extra detail, dynamic, drive, soundstage, life and overall you make the listening experience more pleasurable. I find that any headphone, including very sensitive headphones such as the in ear Senn mx500 and portable PX200s sound better overall with a FiiO amp than straight out of an ipod.

 

[floydman]

oops, I meant "which headphones actually require amplifiers"

 

[Prog Rock Man]

In my experience, see my signature and also from auditioning I have done, all headpones benefit from amplification.

So what kind of setup are you thinking of?

 

[baka1969]

While I agree that amps scale up nicely depending on how much money you spend, I'm not sure I agree that spending less than $200 is useless or not worth the outlay. I think there is good value in the $100-$200 range. That money can be well spent and make a significant improvement to the sound your headphones depending on the headphones you have.

I think the Grado 80/ Alessandro MS1 with an amp like the Headroom Total Airhead is an excellent setup to start with and one you can live with for a while. It comes in at under $200. For under $400 something like the Grado 225 and the iBasso D2+/ D4 are big upgrades.

Ross

 

[stang]

I believe in spending money on a decent setup 1st then splurging on headphones to find which one I absolutely love. From there, I will upgrade my source, DAC then amplifier and finally cables. I think that if you have something like Grado SR60, an amp isn't the best way to go. You're better off getting something like the SR-225i and then amping them. I guess I will never fully unserstand and/or see the differences between a $300 and $400 amplifier because I will most likely always stick to Grado's and Ultrasones. Phones like the AKG K701 and HD650 improve dramatically with amplification but I do not listen to the genre's they excel with, hence I do not want to spend my money on them. I think if i were older than 15, I would prefer different genre's of music, but I grew up with listening to mainly rock and now metal. Listening to classical just bugs me and I cannot find it interesting or fun at all, sadly enough

Jazz and some blues seem to be pretty good though...

 

[Palpatine]

Absolutely...dont apologize for buying Cds. Tonnes of us do! There are some good headphone suggestions here already. Hopefully you can go to a shop and try some out. If not do dome searches here for reviews of some of the ones mentioned. You'll be happy.

 

[plaidplatypus]

My audio-technica sounds great out of anything. Grados are easy to drive but most prefer them with a good tube amp. The HD555 should work well out of most any device. The Denon D1001k is good without an amp but will sound even better with the added control an amp will give.

 

[InFn-0]

I'm sure by this time, you are somewhat overwhelmed by all the spending frenzy that people are talking about. In the headphone thing, either you spend $150, or you spend $500. This is because most headphones that cost over $150 sound pretty bad unamplified, and require additional amplification ; with additional amplification, they do sound great. Added with amplification is the need for DAC. The job of the DAC(Digital to Analog Converter) is to purify the cd signal. If you are familiar with computer soundcards, soundcards are internal DAC's for the computer.

There are headphones that are relatively easier to drive, and ones that are harder to drive, drive meaning they require better amplification and better DAC's, but the general idea is the same, higher end headphones are dependent on good amplification and dac to sound good.

Do not make the mistake of believing that a hard to drive unamped expensive headphone will sound at least as good a $100 dollar headphone when unamped, because that is not true. The Shure SRH440 completely destroys my AKG K601 when unamped.

So, you have to make a decision now, either you go for the long run and plan to invest more money and get an expensive headphone now, save up a bit, get an expensive amp, and then save up a bit, get a good DAC later. Or, you just get a $100 headphone and witness a stunning improvement in sound quality, guessing you are not using good headphones now.

I hope that helped.

 

[pedxing]

Wow - this thread is confusing - DACs, Amps, source, ipods, computers....

If your resources are limited and you know you won't be upgrading for awhile, the most flexible headphones to buy are the Grados. Even their mid-tier versions can sound reasonable without proper amplification and may benefit from some amping if you do decide to buy an amp later.

Just as a recommendation - you need to figure out your long term storage of media and source chain. CDs are cool, but many people archive them to FLAC/ALAC and store them on multiple hard drive. Then they make a mp3 version of them and play them back on iPod. Its a lot of work. If you don't want to deal with iPods and computers, I suggest investigating in a separate CD/DVD/Blu-Ray player as a new source to playback your CD collection.

 

[floydman]

after a couple hours of reading and research, I've decided to make a list of some headphones:

- Shure SRH-840
- Grado SR-225
- Denon AH-D1001k
- Sennheiser HD 595
- AKG K 601/701 (amazon has a deal with the 701's for under $300)

I listen mostly to prog, jazz (modal), fusion, indie, electronic rock (Notwist), and some metal

but generally I'd prefer clarity (but not too much treble), strong mids, and a 'punchy' bass (not wide and overwhelming)

that would put the Grado's high on the list. but I'm not sure about the supra-aural design, and if thats comfortable (the AKGs and Sennheisers look more comfortable)

 

[stang]

Well don't even think about getting the K601/K701 if not using an amp, it's a waste of time. The HD 595 isn't really a good headphone, many people will agree with me. Out of all those, I would recommend the SRH840 or SRH440. Shure's are all about mids

But what makes them good is they have punchy bass and good high's as well. If you do not use an amp, get the SRH440, it's more 'intimate' and will sound better than the 840 unamped and is closer to the sound sig of a Grado, the 840 closer to a Sennheiser.

 

[David58117]

The K701 excels at classical and acoustic type music, which is perfect for me since that's mainly what I listen to. Also if you're on a serious budget and need a cheap amp (just as I was), check out the Fiio amps. I ended up going with the Fiio E3 (although I wish I got E5 for a little more), and it's a perfect hold over until I can get the money to upgrade further.

 

[stang]

Yes it does excel with classical but it also extremely hard to drive and most $300 desktop amps wont power it enough. A Fiio will barely get another 5% out of it

You are probably getting 40% of it's overall sound right now, if not closer to 30%

 

[baka1969]

Yes the 701 needs proper amplification. My iBasso D2+ Boa actually does a respectable job. And since the D4 is an improvement over the D2+, I'll guess it will too. I'd say more than respectable.

That said, my Headroom Micro Amp is better overall at the job even though the Boa pics up more micro detail than the Micro.

I wouldn't tell you that you'll get the full potential of the AKG with the iBasso, but you get more than good enough that lesser headphones won't trump it because the 701 is under amped. To me, anything less than the D2+ would not work with it and would be a waste of funds. That includes the Headroom Total Airhead which was too wimpy.

Also, the Grados work well with many amps. From the Fiio on up. No-one will convince me though that a Grado shouldn't be amped. The improvement is significant from even a modest amp.

Peace,

Ross

 

[Elvis87]

I highly recommend the Shure SRH440's, you wont regret it.