Newbie(Yawn) where next?

[superpiper]

Hello People,
Looking for advice.

Brief introduction to me:

I've always loved the involvement and detail you get when listening to music through ear-phones. I used to have a Technics sl 300? portable CD player
(which i wore out) i then bought a Aiwa hxpx 727 (beautifull piece of mechanical engineering, something i miss about the new mp3 players) wore that out too

I used to have a COWON X5L but i returned it because i found the overly warm sound tiring over long periods (plus it was somewhat tempermental)
I now have a 30gb 5.5 Ipod.
I have ditched the ibuds and have a set of Senn's CX300.

I love the IPOD sound(no EQ of course) and the senns match it wonderfully.
Truly a great value for money earphone.


Now then i want to go up to the next (sonic) level,
I like my music to be neutral honest and revealing yet musical with good rythm. Nightclub bass levels or ultra high treble is not my cup of tea.

I normally rip at 192KBS VBR using AAC and have difficulty distinguishing from Lossless in my current set up.

So my dilema is what do i do next?

Do i:

*Upgrade earphones
*Add a portable amp
*Change the Ipod

I do like the idea of new earphones, Im sold on the IEM'S and a pair of shure E4's look tempting

I'm also a gadget freek and love the look of the portable amps, (especially the home made cmoy types on e-bay) the Total Airhead amp looks like a good starting point.


But i can only do one thing at a time, I suspect the majority view will be to upgrade the phones, although i suspect the Cx300's are beginning to reveal the limitations of the internal Ipod amp

Any how, advice needed.

Budget?= $100 for a start, and i'd like to upgrade in single stages really.
100$ would get me the Shure E4's (ebay) or a new amp (Web)

Tim

 

[J.D.N]

From on newbie to another...

What is your budget for each upgrade? What would you change the iPod to?

At first it might be worth going with the headphones, and then deciding how badly you want better SQ. Have you looked at other headphones as well?

Of course you will want to get a line out dock connector from someone like ALO in order to make the most of a portable amp.

Once you have an idea of budget, then people can start to recommend amps.