[White Lotus]

Off topic, but you are close by. Look through my inv, if you need to borrow any gear, you are more than welcome to.

 

[White Lotus]

On-topic: I may try some transplants next week.

 

[hatchinsteelies]

So, I've had my Jaycar's for a few months now (my first real pair of headphones) and have been using them primarily for gaming and music (electronic and classic rock). I think they sound good but am not blown away by them. I'm running them off my laptop and am thinking of picking up this:
 
http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PHE7AB-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B004V9GPHS/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
 
To the best of my knowledge, it's essentially a FiiO E7. Anyone know how the FA-003's/Jaycar's/HM5's respond to the E7? Do you think it's worth it? Will I be able to tell a difference?

 

[cmarti]

So, I've had my Jaycar's for a few months now (my first real pair of headphones) and have been using them primarily for gaming and music (electronic and classic rock). I think they sound good but am not blown away by them. I'm running them off my laptop and am thinking of picking up this:

http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PHE7AB-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B004V9GPHS/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

To the best of my knowledge, it's essentially a FiiO E7. Anyone know how the FA-003's/Jaycar's/HM5's respond to the E7? Do you think it's worth it? Will I be able to tell a difference?

Do you play games on your laptop or you use a console?

Yes that amp will work great with the Jaycar's on the computer but if you play games on consoles you need a Turtlebeach DSS or a Astro MixAmp, they offer Dolby sorround and the Jaycar's work great with both. I also own all three setups.

 

[hatchinsteelies]

I play strictly on my computer. Glad to hear this DAC/Amp works well with the Jaycars. Do you think the difference in sound is worth the $60? Keep in mind I'm not a huge audiophile so really, really minor differences probably won't be super noticeable for me. With that said, I have definitely noticed a difference between my Jaycars and my old setup so I'm not totally oblivious.
 
Would I need anything else or is this DAC/Amp all I need?

 

[cmarti]

  I play strictly on my computer. Glad to hear this DAC/Amp works well with the Jaycars. Do you think the difference in sound is worth the $60? Keep in mind I'm not a huge audiophile so really, really minor differences probably won't be super noticeable for me. With that said, I have definitely noticed a difference between my Jaycars and my old setup so I'm not totally oblivious.
 
Would I need anything else or is this DAC/Amp all I need?

For gaming off the computer use this: http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Soundblaster-Surround-System-SB1095/dp/B0044DEDCA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347685599&sr=8-1&keywords=Sound+Blaster+X-Fi+Surround+5.1+Pro
 
For gaming you NEED Dolby Surround, at least I do.
 
As for music the E7 will do just great

 

[hatchinsteelies]

Do I lose any quality musically by going with the X-Fi? Or do the E7 and X-Fi perform similarly when it comes to music? The reason that I ask is because the main game that I'm playing right now (Heroes of Newerth) is not very dependant on positioning/surround sound. At least not like an FPS game is. I do play FPS games (i.e. CS:GO, DoD:S, etc) but have not been playing them as much as of late. So...I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I sacrifice a lot musically for surround sound, when I probably wouldn't be using surround sound that much (at least right now, I might later down the road when I get back into FPS'), I might just go with the E7 because I will be listening to a lot of music with these too. If the X-Fi and the E7 perform similarly when listening to music, I'll definitely go with the X-Fi. Sorry if that's confusing, hopefully it makes sense.

If I do go with the X-Fi, I noticed that it does not include an amp. Do you recommend one?
 
Thanks for the informative replies and all the help!

 

[Brooko]

  So, I've had my Jaycar's for a few months now (my first real pair of headphones) and have been using them primarily for gaming and music (electronic and classic rock). I think they sound good but am not blown away by them. I'm running them off my laptop and am thinking of picking up this:
 
http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PHE7AB-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B004V9GPHS/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
 
To the best of my knowledge, it's essentially a FiiO E7. Anyone know how the FA-003's/Jaycar's/HM5's respond to the E7? Do you think it's worth it? Will I be able to tell a difference?

 
Tough question to answer.  I'm a former owner of both the HM5 and E7 (among other amps).  Here's what I found with my HM5 (straight from my review):
 

Power Requirements The HM5 has 64 ohm nominal impedance - but what surprised me is how sensitive these are.  They are absolutely ridiculously easy to drive.  Straight out of my iPhone (unamped) my 32 ohm MS1is take almost exactly 50% volume for a nice listening volume.  The HM5 at 64 ohm use the same volume.  They do sound wonderful out of the NFB-12 - but I have to use low gain or they go too low on the pot.

 
From my personal experience - if you're expecting a noticeable gain in quality by adding the E7 - you're not going to get one.  Possible exceptions are:
 - weak MOBO onboard sound and not getting enough volume (doubtful)
 - EMI noise or poor SQ from MOBO onboard sound - in that case an external DAC could help
 
Again - in my experience, if you're relying on an amp to increase SQ on these - if you compare amped vs non-amped properly (blind test, volume matched) you'll see very little difference (if any) in SQ.

 

[hatchinsteelies]

Sorry if this is a stupid question but isn't the Pyle amp that I linked an Amp/DAC combo?

 

[Brooko]

Yes - it's an amp/dac combo.

 

[GaryPham]

Not to be a downer, but I don't think that the Jaycar's will ever truly "blow you away".  I've owned a pair of them and while they were nice sounding, they were very laid back cans and didn't have the impact or energy to really make music engaging.  I paired it with my NFB 11.32 (which has a very high end dac and very powerful amp portion) and while it improved the sound, it's definitely not a can that benefits too much from amping.  In addition, I've also owned an E7 in the past and while it's a decent dac, the amp portion is very weak on it.  If you want to get a cheap dac/amp to improve over your stock laptop soundcard, I highly recommend a Fiio E10 olympus instead.  You can probably get one used on the forums for around 40-50 dollars, and it totally kicks the E7's ass if you don't need it to run on batteries.  The E10 has a more powerful amp portion, and can do 24bit 96khz.
 
Again, the Jaycar's are a decent pair of headphones, but if you want something that can give you the "WOW" factor, look into a pair of Denon D2000's, they run kind ove expensive nowadays since they've been discontinued, but after going through over 40 pairs of headphones, they're probably my all time favorite closed pair and nothing else can come close to the wow factor that these babies have (monstrous quality bass when needed without drowning everything out and makes watching movies quite an experience).

 

[White Lotus]

  Again, the Jaycar's are a decent pair of headphones, but if you want something that can give you the "WOW" factor, look into a pair of Denon D2000's, 

 
Agreed. Although, the price difference between those two is literally hundreds upon hundreds of dollars - are you sure that's a fair substitute?
 
On an unrelated note, does anyone know if the FA003 cups fit on any other headphones? It's a shame to see such nice wood options limited to these!

 

[GaryPham]

   
Agreed. Although, the price difference between those two is literally hundreds upon hundreds of dollars - are you sure that's a fair substitute?
 
On an unrelated note, does anyone know if the FA003 cups fit on any other headphones? It's a shame to see such nice wood options limited to these!

 
Perhaps you are right and that it might not be a fair comparison.  If I were to compare in a similar price range, I would argue that the Creative Aurvana Live and M50 are both more engaging headphones than the FA-003.  The build quality and comfort of the HM5 might topple the 2 mentioned headphones, but the signature is definitely more laid back and won't impress as much.  Not knocking on the FA-003, as I did enjoy them when I owned them, but they definitely didn't wow me on impact.
 
I don't know about for wooden headphones, but I know that the FA-003 cups fit with no mods on the JVC SA500, Denon D2000 (so I would guess they would fit on the wooden D5k and D7k as well), as well as the ATH-M50s.

 

[White Lotus]

   
I would argue that the Creative Aurvana Live and M50 are both more engaging headphones than the FA-003.  

 
Agreed!
 

   
I know that the FA-003 cups fit with no mods on the JVC SA500, Denon D2000 (so I would guess they would fit on the wooden D5k and D7k as well), as well as the ATH-M50s.
 

 
Woah, are you sure? The D2K (D5k, D7k) all have circular cups:
 

 
Whereas the FA-003 are oval-shaped:


 
 The PADS however, are definitely compatible with both (I use FA-003 pads on my D5k, and love them).

 

[GaryPham]

   
Agreed!
 
 
 
Woah, are you sure? The D2K (D5k, D7k) all have circular cups:
 

 
Whereas the FA-003 are oval-shaped:


 
 The PADS however, are definitely compatible with both (I use FA-003 pads on my D5k, and love them).

 
Doh, sorry, I totally misread the original question.  I meant the pads were compatible, not the cups.  Sorry!