[cheapskate]

So I recently was infected by Head-Fi and bought myself an ipod, a portable dac/amp, and some headphones.  I have a very long train commute to work, so I figured I might as well get in some quality listening time.  I recently put all the pieces together for a couple trial runs and it turns out to be a little more complicated than I had envisioned.
 
The steps to audiophile commuting are:
1) Find a seat with an empty chair next to it
2) Take out laptop and plug it in
3) Unfold my Ultrasone carrying case (with only the cans inside at this time)
4) Pull out my ibasso D4 and plug into my laptop (I'm being cheap on batteries)
5) Pull out my ipod and plug into LOD into D4
6) Plug headphones into amp and start listening
7**) Constantly adjust Ultrasones for comfort and positioning (not used to them yet) while avoiding the stares from people around me 

 
With all this gear, I have to pack up my system long before I arrive at my station stop so I don't miss it.  At this point I'm questioning whether it's worth the trouble for a little extra bump in sound quality.
 
Maybe I can somehow fit all of this gear into the carrying case and just have one USB wire sticking out (and the headphone cable, of course), but it would be a tight fit and would require some modification I think.
 
Does anyone have an elegant solution for a portable traveling rig involving full-sized cans (or larger portable ones)?  Since you Head-Fi'ers are responsible for getting me into this mess, I hope you can help me out.  Any thoughts (or pics) would be appreciated.

 

[james0195]

you dont need an ipod really?
Why cant you play from your laptop?
 
Surely you can get a laptop case with a pouch for the ibasso and strap it in.
 
Or just get rid of the laptop and look into a hippocase or something, even a thick rubber band so the ipod and ibasso are together, then you just take it out and plug your headphones in

 

[cheapskate]

Music from the laptop would be ideal, but the laptop is from work and I guess they might not be thrilled if I filled it up with music. 

 
That hippocase looks tempting, but quite expensive.  The rubber band sounds like a good idea, though.

 

[james0195]

id cut out the laptop  
im not 100% sure on this but you could look into it, i think you can get special rechargeable batteries for the ibasso d4. Which would save you time & money. 
Also when i had ipod + ibasso d4 i used a think rubber band and just an old camera case i had:
something like this:

So im sure if you can get the battery issue solved, you could find a suitable case somewhere
because obviously if the ibasso is joined to the ipod with the lod and stored safely all you need to do is plug in your phones + less funny looks

 

[cheapskate]

I may yet decide to modify my ultrasone case to have specific slots for ipod and amp so that just one cord sticks out, but I think I'll try the cheaper rubber band route first.
 
Or maybe I'll have to get some phones that sound better straight out of the ipod. 

 

[Maxvla]

DAP to headphones... done! If the quality isn't good enough I'd look at different headphones. These mongo sized portable rigs are totally ridiculous, imo.
 
Do you really think you get quality listening time or is it just a distraction/time killer?

 

[cheapskate]

Yeah, I understand what you mean.  Probably not the best environment for quality listening.
 
But with a newborn at home, the train ride is actually my best window for enjoying my headphones 

 (not that I'm complaining about being a new parent

).  So my new toys may be collecting dust for the next 18yrs...
 
Any suggestions on the best commuter headphones (not IEMs) that isolate fairly well and can do justice to lossless files straight out of an ipod?  (I've been eyeing the ATH ESW9s.  Mmm...wood.)

 

[Maxvla]

Any idea of budget? Edition 8s were made specifically for portable use, but they are also a couple grand.

 

[Jalo]

I find laptop is really not the best solution for portable/on-the go use for music listening.  For one, especially if this is your work computer, too much bumping could potentially cause damage/hard drive crash to your computer.  The power up and down is another hassle in using computer.  It's true that one benefit of using a computer is that you can take digital out of your computer and feed it through your D4 for better Dac performance, but the risk of crashing your work computer or any other personal materials on a hard drive for that matter is not worth the benefit.
 
Since you have an Ipod, I would just use an ipod to an amp to a headphone.  I don't know what is your objection to iem, but JH13 is an excellent iem with good sound separation.  I used it all the time on airplane.  But if budget is not a problem, ED 8 is an excellent choice for top of the line full size music time.  My portable set up is Ipod classic 6 >>alo-lod>>RSA Protector>>TWAG cable>>JH13/ESW10jpn.  I am hoping and waiting for the Cyher Labs AlgoRhymt Sole to come out then I can take the music from the Ipod and digitally feed it to a DAC and I'll have the same level of performance as a laptop set up.     

 

[Br777]

my only question is why full size cans.. buy a ipod nano or sansa clip+(they cost like $50) or even an ipod touch  get some good IEM's that dont require an amp. and be done with it...
 
I use to torture myself trying to save up for some bad mofo portable buds or iems, then i broke down, bought a clip+ and some $80 klipsch s4's  and another pair of ultra cheap sony ear buds which i eq with the clip + and i tell ya what.. i havent enjoyed my portable listening experience this much in a long time
not only does it sound good enough (even though i convinced myself forever that it wouldnt.. i even went without rather than "listen to crappy sound quality")  then i gave in and used the "crappy" rig and was in heaven.
but i dont worry about losing it or breaking it or damaging it.  and youll be amazed how fast you adapt to what you called sub par listening... i have $750 orthos at my desk, but when im out, and all i have is my s4's and clip+  im amazed at how good they sound compared to....nothing...
 
 
looks like i ranted a bit there... oops... this happens... anyway thats my advice... and im sticking to it

 

[eucariote]

You could use good iems for portable use- they don't require amplification and they are very inconspicuous.  They also block ambient noise and so have a huge sound quality advantage over full-sized headphones in loud environments.  I use an ipod touch 3g (which has much better sound than my previous ipods, you could also get a clip, or sony, etc) with SE530 which is a combination I find nearly as blissful as my home rig.
 
Old iriver h140/h120 have optical line-outs that could provide bit perfect input to a portable D10, a combination that could fit in your pocket, but even that would be too much of a bother for me.
 
edit: just read your 'no iems' post.  I find that SRH840 sound very good out a D10 and even an ipod (best of all my 5 closed headphones with portable sources and decent isolation), but still prefer my SE530s 

 

[Maxvla]

There are people (like me) who can't stand IEMs, The fit combined with very lackluster performance (haven't heard the JH series)... makes me wonder why anyone uses IEMs unless they require very good isolation.

 

[cheapskate]

Wow, lot of suggestions for IEMs.  I guess they really are the best for my scenario.
 
I never found plain earbuds very comfortable, so I don't know if IEMs will do any better.  But I can't really knock it until I've tried I guess.
 
Ed 8s...  I wish...  Even the ESW9s would be around my upper budget limit at this point.

 

[zappp]

I use a Headstage Arrow HE (up to 30h lithium battery, rechargeable by USB, $265 from Germany) glued to the back of an iPod Classic (double-sided tape). Under 2cm thick and under 200g. Fits in my jacket or in a small belt pouch. Good to drive almost any headphone. Drives Hifiman RE0 IEMs very nicely ($85 from China, Head Direct). Good synergy with AKG K271, too. Bulky, but very good value for money (incl. cheap spare ear pads or cables).
 
If you can't bear IEMs, so it be. In my opinion comfort rules over sound quality.
 
 
 

 

[james0195]

Ipod > sennheiser hd25-1 ii
 
sorted