Lots of ways to go from here. Depends a lot on your planned usage, budget, preferences etc. To give specific recommendations we'd need additional information.
If it's about the headphone vs DAC/amp I would always improve the headphones first. How about a decent open over ear headphone for quiet listening environments at home?
Lots of ways to go from here. Depends a lot on your planned usage, budget, preferences etc. To give specific recommendations we'd need additional information.
If it's about the headphone vs DAC/amp I would always improve the headphones first. How about a decent open over ear headphone for quiet listening environments at home?
Hey,
Thank you for response. Budget about $500. Over ear headphones could be problematic, because I mostly listen to music with glasses - last time I tried it was not very comfortable. So maybe on-ear.
I like the wider music scene, details, some bass (but that's not the most important thing for me). I listen to various genres of music - rock, electronic, folk, sometimes classical. Very rarely rap, hip-hop etc.
It would be ideal if the set allows for wired and wireless listening. Only headphones are possible, or my wife will deprive me of my internal organs during the first night listening
I used to think the same, but this has never been a problem with the 3 headphones I have, in fact i've all but forgotten it. Each of them have fairly thick pads, either cloth or leather, and are incredibly comfortable for me.
Always start with improving your source first, this way headphones and items that you already have can be heard at their best. After you have gotten a source, your next step depends on what type of headphones and source it is. If it's a dap or dac/Amp you might not need another amplifier(especially if you are using iems or over ears) in which case enjoy your gear and decide if better iems or headphones are even something you actually want. If you have just a dac, dac with very weak or inadequate headphone Amp, dap with very weak output(looking at you Sony), you will want to get an amplifier first before going headphones or iems. After you find a source that's really to your liking and rest of your setup as well, then and only then upgrade your iems or headphones. Otherwise you could end up having super fabulous headphones and no way to actually power anywhere close to their potential.
This is all based on my personal views and experiences in hifi.
Agreed on that. Signal made by DACs later on gets amplified, so if it's so-so at best, that will bottleneck every product that comes afterwards. Of course all this is in order if you're already quite satisfied with your headphones/IEMs. If not, then I'd first address these.
My problem is - for now I have only one DAC and IEM's so can't guess what would really add more to my listening experience. So maybe my exact question should be - better to upgrade FiiO BTR3K or FiiO FH5 first?
For wider soundstage you'll have to replace the IEM but it doesn't really get that much wider with IEMs. You'd have to go with some headphones, like the K701 or HD800. Note that this will come with some trade offs like weaker perceived bass, because despite getting larger drivers, the drivers are now much farther from your eardrums and you also get a lot less isolation, so ambient noise will be far more of a factor.
My problem is - for now I have only one DAC and IEM's so can't guess what would really add more to my listening experience. So maybe my exact question should be - better to upgrade FiiO BTR3K or FiiO FH5 first?
If you go with headphones, unless they're about 99dB/1mW sensitivity or higher, chances are you might not be getting as good performance as you could get with a desktop amplifier connected to the mains (or a really good battery-powered HPamp or DAC-HPamp). So you're likely to need to get a better HPamp and a DAC that can feed it a 2V line signal (4V if you go balanced) or DAC-HPamp t o drive them, and then from that point you can judge if you like those headphones or try some other headphone.
My problem is - for now I have only one DAC and IEM's so can't guess what would really add more to my listening experience. So maybe my exact question should be - better to upgrade FiiO BTR3K or FiiO FH5 first?
If I were you, I'd have a listen to those IEMs with and without that DAC/amp and see if it makes a difference that's to you noticeable and meaningful You could connect your IEMs to a laptop's 3.5mm headphone out for example. If that DAC/amp does a lot but you'd like to progress further, then I'd consider replacing those IEMs.
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