[PaulC]

I just wanted to say many thanks to the many people on this board that assisted me with my recent foray into headphone nirvana.

Here’s my story……………….WARNING, WARNING, WARNING It’s LONG!

It all started a few months back when I acquired a new car. Having an 85-mile ride each way to work every day, I embarked upon setting it up with a nice sound system.

Having twice over the past 20 years been ripped off of my entire CD collection present in the car (50+ first time, 100+ second time), I decided to give into the iPOD craze.

With an 80GB iPOD I (ok my son) copied my entire CD collection (I’ll ask for more help from you on this latter

) and was amazed at the sound quality with the new car system playing the iPOD.

Having once already plugged in the supplied earphones I knew they were junk. I then set out to improve the sound by replacing these trinkets included in my purchase.

I tried a $50.00 pair of Sony’s and brought them back within an hour. Then a pair of the Bose (I know, I know, I know) in ear phones, they went back within 24 hours.

Then onto a pair of Shure SE210’s. The moment I plugged them in I was @#@&^$@!! amazed at the level of detail I was picking up from this little MP3 player.

Detail yes, bass NOOOOOOOO. So I bit it and ordered a set of Shure SE530’s off Amazon for $359.00. They did it, I was now totally impressed with this $700.00 little portable audio setup I was holding in my hand!

Detail yes, bass yes, but it was still missing something………….IMPACT. (This is getting expensive!) Now onto the net, looking for some folks who can help me out from this point. In come you guys

and I know this is going to cost me lots of time and money a week into it.

So I read every post of Skylabs reviews of portable amps. Half way through I got impatient and sick of waiting on Larry at Laracco, so I went with the company I inquired with that actually responded! Many emails to many others were never even heard from. I have cash burning a hole in my pocket and nobody wants my business! I have a new idea for a business I think.

Then enters of course Ray Samuel’s who was prompt and courteous in responding to my inquiry. Now I add a Tomahawk into the picture and I’m freaking out with what I’m hearing through this $1,000.00 portable sound system I’m holding in my hand.

Your getting the picture or you probably knew when I started this rant that this is addicting. I have already been down that road with my two-channel stereo at home throughout my entire grownup (no really) life. OK, I’ll never grow up.

I never thought this possible with an MP3 player. I’m still blown away at what I’m hearing every time I listen.

I was one of the snobs that said “Ill never listen to MP3’s!

I have a Linn Ikemi CD player, a BelCanto amp and a set of Tyler Acoustics Linbrook full system speakers. These speakers weigh 155lbs each and deliver a wonderful detailed sound, fantastic soundstage and pack a wallop with the entire system. The speakers are made by a little shop in Owensboro Kentucky by Ty Lashbrook, who is a perfect gentleman with amazing customer service skills much like Mr. Samuel’s. If your ever in the market please check out his product, he deserves your business.

I’ll say it again; I’m amazed at the sound I’m getting with the iPOD, SE530’s and the Tomahawk!

This is only with IEM’s, nice IEM’s but IEM’s none the less. So I’m thinking………. lets take this one step further. Knowing the IEM’s were giving me amazing bass but also aware of their limitations.

You guessed it………… onto the headphone forums for weeks and you guys are going to cost me more of my hard earned dollars. I have a set of DT-880’s coming tomorrow!

So that’s the long of it. Three questions for you kind folks if you don’t mind though.

1.) The DT-880’s are off Amazon and they are the 250 ohm version. What’s the difference between the 600-ohm version? In other words did I make a mistake and are you guys going to have me part ways with more clams?

2.) How much sound leakage to the outside world (my wife sitting next to me) will I get with the DT-880’s? She won’t tolerate a lot.

3.) My 15-year-old son spent days and days copying my CD collection and loading my iPOD. ( I love him to death, and will miss him in three or four years when he flies the coupe).

He ripped them at the high quality settings, 320 something…. and all that stuff he says. Hey I’m just learning this digital music stuff; I still have LP’s, OK!

Should he have done the ripping in WAV files instead? I was reading that the iTunes software converts everything into an ACC files to load into my iPOD anyway, so would this matter?

Is ripping them with the WAV format only going to give me a better quality archive on the hard drive and not really affect the sound quality with my iPOD?

If so, he’s going to KILL ME! It’s OK though, at least it doesn’t cost me money.

Anyway I have gone on all to long. Thanks again for all the help from reading your MANY posts.

By the way, how can Skylab hold a job, listen to all those amps, write reviews, post them, talk back and forth with you folks and raise a family too!? God bless you buddy!

 

[srozzman]

I tunes doesnt convert the files in aac format when copying to the ipod. Your son ripped your collection at 320 kbps mp3. most people cannot tell the difference between this and a wav file. It Just uses way less space in mp3 form.

 

[goldenratiophi]

1. The 600 ohm versions take a lot more amping and cost a lot more.

Well actually I've never listened to them...

2. Well they're open, so they're gonna leak. If it's audible to you it'll probably be audible to anyone sitting a foot on either side of you.

3. 320 should be fine really; only a very small percentage of people can hear the difference between 320 and lossless. I wouldn't bother re-ripping; it'll just lower the amount of time you get from your iPod's battery charge.

(If you do, for some reason, decide to re-rip, use Apple Lossless instead of WAV. They will both sound exactly the same. Apple Lossless, like FLAC, is sort of like a special .zip for audio. No information is lost.)

 

[EFN]

It's good to hear another father jumped off the cliff into "Porta Audiophilia" LOL! I am a father myself with four lovely kids.

Well, you would already know by now that a $1000 worth of portable rig have succeeded in making so many Audiophiles happy - me one of them. So much so that I have totally abandoned the home rig path and only keep my portables now.

As for the lossy and lossless issue, I suggest you read this thread, some good info there:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=253065

Ultimately, my idea of superb protable rig is when the IEM is customized with molds to suit the listener - Enter UE-10, Westone ES-2 & 3, Sensaphonics XS-2, Livewires etc. For me, I am an Ety junkie so my aim is to have my ER-4S custom molded. To date I believe no single driver amature could even come close to ER-4S fidelity - my only path forward is to acquire UE-10 which I plan to do in 2008.

And as a rule of thumb, the way to judge how good your rig is when you start to hear defects even in 320kbps - most rig will not be as resolving until you can hear them. But I am confident you will be there soon enuff. Me, I am even contemplating of using only PCM WAVE as my source because my ears tell me that compressed lossless like FLAC sounds brighter than WAV (someone will dedicate their life to trump me in the head for this statement

)

 

[goldenratiophi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EFN /img/forum/go_quote.gif Me, I am even contemplating of using only PCM WAVE as my source because my ears tell me that compressed lossless like FLAC sounds brighter than WAV (someone will dedicate their life to trump me in the head for this statement )

You, sir, have read one too many Patrick82 threads

 

[joneeboi]

Now all you need is to iMod your iPod and get an ALOaudio dock. That should put you even closer to $2000.

 

[PaulC]

Yes they leaked way too much, they were sent back the same day. Anyone have a tip for a good closed design headphone?

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldenratiophi /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1. The 600 ohm versions take a lot more amping and cost a lot more. Well actually I've never listened to them... 2. Well they're open, so they're gonna leak. If it's audible to you it'll probably be audible to anyone sitting a foot on either side of you. 3. 320 should be fine really; only a very small percentage of people can hear the difference between 320 and lossless. I wouldn't bother re-ripping; it'll just lower the amount of time you get from your iPod's battery charge. (If you do, for some reason, decide to re-rip, use Apple Lossless instead of WAV. They will both sound exactly the same. Apple Lossless, like FLAC, is sort of like a special .zip for audio. No information is lost.)

 

[PaulC]

Ya I'm sending it out today to Vinnie.

 

[PaulC]

Thank you very much for the advice Mr. Crabs! Hey can you tell me why I cant post in the WTB thread?

 

[EFN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulC /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thank you very much for the advice Mr. Crabs! Hey can you tell me why I cant post in the WTB thread?

LOL! prolly becuz your post is less than 5. Make some more noise around and bump it up to 10, perhaps then u can post in the marketplace

 

[ruZZ.il]

I like my Ultrasone ProLine 750's. 265$ at northern sound and lights (you'd have to call to get a quote). they've got a sound of their own

what kind of music do you listen to though?
and, you definitely need to be using an ipod dock connecter between your ipod and amp. it basically taps in to the line out of the ipod, bypassing its internal amp (and charachteristics) going straight to your far superior amp(and characteristics).. otherwise, you're mostly just making an ipod louder.
I dont think you need to go overboard with the dock.. the ones at Qables would do.. I built mine. more fun

search for ipod dock, you're sure to find plenty threads on them..

 

[PaulC]

How much leakage to you get to the outside world with the 750'?

I was just listing to Mindy Smith's "One Moment More" and then Frank Zappa "Joe's Garage". One being a Christian artist moving into the mainstream, the other a past away mad genius who’s trying to move out of hell I’m sure. My IPOD's contents ranges from AC/DC, Diana Krall, Disturbed, Eva Cassidy, to ZZ Top. I just LOVE music, any style any type. My favorite style is blues and my favorite all time band is Little Feat.

I am using the line out dock connection to the amp.


Quote:

Originally Posted by ruZZ.il /img/forum/go_quote.gif I like my Ultrasone ProLine 750's. 265$ at northern sound and lights (you'd have to call to get a quote). they've got a sound of their own what kind of music do you listen to though? and, you definitely need to be using an ipod dock connecter between your ipod and amp. it basically taps in to the line out of the ipod, bypassing its internal amp (and charachteristics) going straight to your far superior amp(and characteristics).. otherwise, you're mostly just making an ipod louder. I dont think you need to go overboard with the dock.. the ones at Qables would do.. I built mine. more fun search for ipod dock, you're sure to find plenty threads on them..

 

[PaulC]

Mr. Crabs:

Thanks for the tip, I’ll go about the task of making some noise.

How much of a difference did you notice when your iPOD was received back from Red Wine Audio?


Quote:

Originally Posted by EFN /img/forum/go_quote.gif LOL! prolly becuz your post is less than 5. Make some more noise around and bump it up to 10, perhaps then u can post in the marketplace

 

[ruZZ.il]

they've actually got really good isolation (noone complains, and if they did.. I wouldn't hear).. I cant really compare the isolation to a few other sealed cans in that price range cause I haven't used the other ones out of listening rooms, or the such.. their design is a little different from most cans though, with offset drivers and ports for different frequencies at different areas on the panel that the driver is mounted to give a much wider and natural soundstage, they call it s-logic. these cans are great for instrumental stuff, classical, rock, jazz, electronic.. hendrix, zeppelin kind of stuff, etc.. the mids are slightly recessed which may be a drawback if you listen to a lot of vocally oriented music, but this also depends how it mates with your amp. I just got some capacitors for my next amp that are supposedly a little more lush in the mids.. with recessed extreems. should match my cans well since its slightly harsh at the top end. I love the bass though, which extends really low, which may seem muddy at first.. but they're really controlled.. warmer sounding than alot of other cans. I suggest you find a place that you may be able to listen to a few different cans.. if you liked the beyers the dt770 is closed and sounds great, very analytical can.. I personally prefer my ultrasones, but to each his own. search for some posts bout them on here. there are def. mixed feelings since they're a little different.. so its up to personal preference. keep in mind that they have dynamic drivers, and like most others, need a good few hours of burn in till they sound their best (100..200..). like new leather shoes!

and.. I think you need a post count of 25 for the FS/WTB sections..

 

[EFN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulC /img/forum/go_quote.gif Mr. Crabs: Thanks for the tip, I’ll go about the task of making some noise. How much of a difference did you notice when your iPOD was received back from Red Wine Audio?

ummmm lemme see.....with lossless songs + Tomahawk that you already have + ALO Dock, well your iMod - just prepare to have your jaw dropped, no more no less (and a very sore pocket)


.....and it gets better after 200 hours