[mmayer167]

lol try 700 a month for a one bedroom apartment. you guys are all super cheap!   I'm in Duluth, MN.
 
M

 

[Jibbie]

We were referring to our electricity bill.  300 for our electricity bill each month.  Rent is a number of times more expensive than that 

 

[mmayer167]

I thought that sounded goofy for where you lived...  yea 300 a month for elec is nasty!

 

[DRUB]

Previously (1 month ago):
 

 
Just sold my monitors and subwoofer, plus my Senn HD25-I-II (plus a couple other headphones). Just got my B&W P5 headphones today, and am fairly impressed by their sound on-the-go (running them straight out of my HTC Desire HD). Currently unsure as to what to connect up to my computer though - have a budget around 2 grand.

 

[J.Pocalypse]

In the east bay of San Francisco, ours averages about $25/mo. for a 2 bedroom loft.
 

 

[J.Pocalypse]

Quote:

 
Just sold my monitors and subwoofer, plus my Senn HD25-I-II (plus a couple other headphones). Just got my B&W P5 headphones today, and am fairly impressed by their sound on-the-go (running them straight out of my HTC Desire HD). Currently unsure as to what to connect up to my computer though - have a budget around 2 grand.

Personally, if I had two grand to put towards a computer audio set up, I'd take a good hard look at the Benchmark DAC-1, and a pair of those sexy Swan T200B's. 

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

 
Phenom X4 955 BE 3.2-> 4.0GHz stable /w H70 closed loop water cpu cooler 10gb DDR3 1600MHz
3 x 22" monitors at 5040x1050 resolution for eyefinity
ATI HD6970s x 2 crossfireAsus Rog Crosshair IV Formula6 TB of torrenting space5.1 surround, sub under the table for theatreEarforce DSS -> Turtle Beach X11s for gamingFiio E7 USB DAC/AMP -> ATH-M50s for listening
 
My electricity bill is around 180usd a month. (two bedroom condo)

 
Nice to see that I have plenty room for upgrading in my case.. Any tips on the watercooling? and how hot do the crossfired 6970s run? I've got one 6870 in my case at the moment, no water cooling

 

[DRUB]

Quote:

Personally, if I had two grand to put towards a computer audio set up, I'd take a good hard look at the Benchmark DAC-1, and a pair of those sexy Swan T200B's. 

I'm quite a minimalist when it comes to audio these days - personally I'm more than happy with the DAC in my Asus Essence ST. I'm quite tempted to buy one full-size, high end headphone, like the Sennheiser HD800 and a headphone amp (although I'm somewhat unsure where to start). The Lehmann Rhinelander looks quite nice though, but I'm also tempted by the Schiit Lyr.

 

[johntodd]

Quote:

We pay almost 300 a month in a three bedroom apartment.  Yay for A/C in Arizona! Still hitting 95 degrees everyday 
 

The high for today where I live is 45 degrees, and it is already getting down to 34 degrees at night. Yay for heat in western New York!

 
 

 

[Tilpo]

I'm quite a minimalist when it comes to audio these days - personally I'm more than happy with the DAC in my Asus Essence ST. I'm quite tempted to buy one full-size, high end headphone, like the Sennheiser HD800 and a headphone amp (although I'm somewhat unsure where to start). The Lehmann Rhinelander looks quite nice though, but I'm also tempted by the Schiit Lyr.

I recently tried some extensive A/B between four amplifiers using two different cans and many different volumes and styles of music. The DAC was kept the same, but as far as I know DAC's don't make such a large difference in sound quality (they can slightly change signature, though)
I came to the conclusion that there are very little differences between the them, despite being of very different topologies.
One was a vintage stereo receiver, the other a discrete solid state, the third a tube and the final a portable op-amp based.
Might be caused by sighted listening bias, by volume variations, or by the DAC (very unlikely).

In any case I have stopped believing that it's worth it spending huge sums on money on source and amplification gear. My advice is to keep the Asus. As long as you don't hear any hissing at regular playback levels there is no practical reason to upgrade.
You might always upgrade just for the sake of upgrading.

 

[DRUB]

Quote:

I recently tried some extensive A/B between four amplifiers using two different cans and many different volumes and styles of music. The DAC was kept the same, but as far as I know DAC's don't make such a large difference in sound quality (they can slightly change signature, though)
I came to the conclusion that there are very little differences between the them, despite being of very different topologies.
One was a vintage stereo receiver, the other a discrete solid state, the third a tube and the final a portable op-amp based.
Might be caused by sighted listening bias, by volume variations, or by the DAC (very unlikely).
In any case I have stopped believing that it's worth it spending huge sums on money on source and amplification gear. My advice is to keep the Asus. As long as you don't hear any hissing at regular playback levels there is no practical reason to upgrade.
You might always upgrade just for the sake of upgrading.

Yeah, the most noticeable difference in the signal chain is always going to be changing out speakers/headphones or whatever is at the end - the final physical producer of sound. As such, because I'm happy with the DAC in the Asus soundcard and experience no hiss, the only thing I'm worried about if I were to buy a very high-end pair of cans would be matching its impedance to the capabilities of the HPA in the soundcard. I have a feeling that the Asus wouldn't really have that much trouble driving the HD800 (conventional heresy though that may be). The HPA in the Asus is a Texas Instruments 6120A2*1 (120dB SNR, 100dB THD+N @ Vcc±12V, RL=600?, f=1kHz). Those stats seem pretty reasonable and apparently it can drive anything up to 600 ohms respectably.
 

 

[Tilpo]

Yeah, the most noticeable difference in the signal chain is always going to be changing out speakers/headphones or whatever is at the end - the final physical producer of sound. As such, because I'm happy with the DAC in the Asus soundcard and experience no hiss, the only thing I'm worried about if I were to buy a very high-end pair of cans would be matching its impedance to the capabilities of the HPA in the soundcard. I have a feeling that the Asus wouldn't really have that much trouble driving the HD800 (conventional heresy though that may be). The HPA in the Asus is a Texas Instruments 6120A2*1 (120dB SNR, 100dB THD+N @ Vcc±12V, RL=600?, f=1kHz). Those stats seem pretty reasonable and apparently it can drive anything up to 600 ohms respectably.
 

I doubt they'll do electrostats or orthos, but dynamic loads are pretty easy to drive.
And if not you can always get a budget headphone amp from e.g. FiiO. This might be heresy to some on this forum, but there is nothing wrong with driving a $1500 can from a decent $100 solid state amp.

 

[DRUB]

Quote:

I doubt they'll do electrostats or orthos, but dynamic loads are pretty easy to drive.
And if not you can always get a budget headphone amp from e.g. FiiO. This might be heresy to some on this forum, but there is nothing wrong with driving a $1500 can from a decent $100 solid state amp.

True - I am somewhat tempted by the Audeze LCD-2 which would likely require an amp to do them justice, but the issue is I can't find anywhere in the UK that stocks them!
 

 

[daveatx]

Quote:

 
Nice to see that I have plenty room for upgrading in my case.. Any tips on the watercooling? and how hot do the crossfired 6970s run? I've got one 6870 in my case at the moment, no water cooling

You have the 932 as well huh? It's a really nice case, and I've been very happy with it. The 6970 is about 11 inches, but I have it aftermarket cooled so its about 12.5 inches now. The cards are 45C idle(25% fan at 1325 clock with eyefinity ). When you have only a single monitor it runs at a lower clock during idle to save power/run cooler. During load it gets to about 65C with afterstock and 85C reference stock. As for watercooling, I don't use a full watercooling rig. I use the H70, and my OC is pretty stable at 44C idle/69C prime95 load. I recommend the H100 though, but the H70/H80 is the enthusiast standard for closed loop water cooling (I prefer H80 as you can manually set the fan speed on the radiator).

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

You have the 932 as well huh? It's a really nice case, and I've been very happy with it. The 6970 is about 11 inches, but I have it aftermarket cooled so its about 12.5 inches now. The cards are 45C idle(25% fan at 1325 clock with eyefinity ). When you have only a single monitor it runs at a lower clock during idle to save power/run cooler. During load it gets to about 65C with afterstock and 85C reference stock. As for watercooling, I don't use a full watercooling rig. I use the H70, and my OC is pretty stable at 44C idle/69C prime95 load. I recommend the H100 though, but the H70/H80 is the enthusiast standard for closed loop water cooling (I prefer H80 as you can manually set the fan speed on the radiator).

ah.. I'm blind I actually have the 992.. I'm not sure that would all fit in the 992.