[Koolpep]

One more option: Buysonic sells the Fiio X3 currently for $149 - the X3 can be used as DAC/Amp on your Mac/PC and also acts as a very good mobile player. Could be something to consider too.
 
Cheers,
K

 

[myemaildw]

  Hi!
 
It's better by...
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

... by exactly 11.34 AEP   
 
AEP is: Audiophile Enjoyment Points  
A measurement I made up. And since there is no reference to anything, it's also completely meaningless.

 
Fun aside. Hard to say, 5% better, maybe 10% is it worth the difference, well, that depends. some people might hear it, some don't, depends also on your source files, etc.  The E10k might be all the amp you ever need (sorry Jason, I stole this line from Schiit).
 
Anyhow, you should be totally happy with the Amperior and the E10K - there is ALWAYS something better in the audiophile world. So don't get bothered too much by that.
 
Cheers,
K

ye i agree with you that i will be totally happy with e10k cause i already listened to it, the difference between new mac and e10k is amasing. and c5d is probably better. 11.34 points it's how much, may be you are joking but from what scale. i mean is it 2x better? cause between new mac and e10k it's 2x better and that's a lot cause i have an older macbook and new macbook sound is 4 times better, at least that's what i thought on initial impression. and also my amperiors have opened up i can now hear bass and vocals at good volume before they sounded thin with little bass and vocals were quiet now they sound very good. and ofcourse they sound very good as it is now. i haven't had headphones this clear. and thanks for your suggestions, really helpful. thanks

 

[RERO]

I'm really curious where you people get those 5%, 10%, 2x difference figures...

 

[myemaildw]

  I'm really curious where you people get those 5%, 10%, 2x difference figures...

really initial impression of overall sound quality. i think it's just for my personal description to make it simple for people to understand. ofcourse there are some nuances in sounds but overall kind of description so that it would be easy for people to understand. other than that i think macs have a more bodied sound, and on fiio e10k it sounded more refined more like studio kind of sound. my amperior sound good with iphone but that's because headphones are good sounding, further it's the dac in the iphone that can't resolve full sound quality on these headphones, same with my macbook late 2009 it's better than iphone dac in it i would say also two to three times better than iphone, again just so that people understand what is better.
 
the other thing is also that i am not a professional and really relatively new to audio so i don't have the vocabulary to describe the sound the way professional or people who know more about sound than me. i don't really know much audio vocabulary and if i know i can't apply it really.
 
the bass on e10k souned clean and it felt that it only elevated the low frequencies and it felt like a well designed bass but it isn't a large bass, i would call it bass 1 between two bass dacs with amp that have two bass volumes. but overall i prefered the sound without the bass, with bass switched off.
 
and so that i don't have to go into describing the details about the sound i simply say sound on fiio e10k is twice better and it really is so, it is a lot better sound with an external dac. macs don't have a good dac in them, but i give that to apple that the new latest macs have a better dac than my macbook 2009 with imac 5k having the best sound and it's the latest mac, even mac pro probably has slightly less dac than imac 5k, and fiio e10k is ofcourse much better than imac 5k, fiio e10k is really like a studio quality sound in comparison to latest macs. basically really happy that dacs sound better than latest macs cause i thought they found really good in comparison to my macbook 2009, and if dacs sound better than latest macs i am really pleased with the sound quality. it's really not scientific just really overall satisfaction with the sound i think for simplification but also true, so ye macs don't have the best dac, and you can definitelly get better audio with external dac and amp. thanks

 

[myemaildw]

thanks

 

[Koolpep]

  I'm really curious where you people get those 5%, 10%, 2x difference figures...

I was being sarcastic for exactly that reason that's why I invented the AEP (Audiophile Enjoyment Points) above and mentioned: there is no reference to anything, it's also completely meaningless. 

 
I think it's much better to describe the differences. But in this case the OP asked for a measure of how much better the C5D is - hence the IMHO meaningless responses. 
 
It's the rule of diminishing returns as well, for someone paying 10 times the price for something that has a 2% better sound is totally worth it, while others don't hear the difference. Too subjective.
 
Cheers,
K
 
Back to topic: Both drive the AMPerior (<- joke) just fine. 

 

[Malfunkt]

I have a MacBook retina and an iPhone 6 - for the Amperior I would stress again that a DAC isn't going to give you a huge hit of improvement. The Amperiors are designed especially for mobile and can be driven easily.

If you do get a DAC, one may want to do some ABX testing to see if they can hear any difference.

 

[myemaildw]

I have a MacBook retina and an iPhone 6 - for the Amperior I would stress again that a DAC isn't going to give you a huge hit of improvement. The Amperiors are designed especially for mobile and can be driven easily.

If you do get a DAC, one may want to do some ABX testing to see if they can hear any difference.

ye i already know how e10k sounds i got to listen to it in an audio store and i know how it sounds aka much better. and i already bought it. also you have like the latest macbook and it does have a better dac, my macbook 2009 dac sounds a lot worse than latest macbooks. and i find e10k sound better than latest macs. i got to listen to it on their mac mini and directly compare them. i've heard e10k and i know for a fact that it's much more better than any macbook dac. it sounded with more detail and clarity with passages in music that are quiet when i listen on iphone or my macbook sound with nice melody with e10k. i don't know how to describe all the details in music, i don't know if i'm qualified for that with only having amperiors as a quality sounding headphones.
 
lets try to describe the sound for you. in comparison to mac mini i listened on and compared directly. e10k more detail, more resolution, itital impression really good, bass was fully there, the lyrics are fully heard, clean sound you can tell they spent some time making sure it sounds good. the only issue is when you move it enough it might stop playing and needs a few seconds to recconect and continute playing. the bass also felt like a nead feature, it was really clean bass, but not much bass though but it's definitelly detailed sound with bass but i thought it was less detailed with simply dac sound without hardware eq. felt like listening to music in a recording studio where musicians would record their music.
 
but i actually can't tell you for sure because i really liked sound on mac mini in apple store but i came to listen to music on it next day i was not as impressed as the first time. but i guess that's how it goes with audio you've got to go a bit with your initial impression and compare two headphones or dacs directly. listen to one listen to another only then you can tell. but i would say that the signatures in sound were definitelly different between macbook and e10k but i still liked the audio sound on e10k more than on macbook. because again as i said when i listened to audio on latest macbook with amperior the next day and the third day i was not as impressed by the sound and prefered e10k sound to latest macbooks as it sounded much better and more detailed.
 
also it's listening to amperior headphones in apple store on latest macs that i realised that dac, sound card does matter cause it sounded better than on my macbook. my plan was ititially to buy that darn mac mini to listen to music but then i thought may be external dac amp might sound just as good or better, and i went to the only store in our city that sells hifi equipment and i had to take a tram out of city center and then like walk there like for 15-20 minutes just to get there, it was like an area with large business offices are, like of companies that i don't even know much, may be it's like their european offices, like and when i got there there was like not a single customer, then one was there wile i was testing the audio of e10k, they had mac mini there so i could compare mac mini to e10k sound and listened to e10k with mac mini. i really left happy cause i realised dac on macs isn't as good as external fiio e10k dac with amp. the sound i described already as best as i can i think.
 
anyway i got one today so i already bought e10k will be a christmas present for me. i would surely buy c5d but i can get like four fiio e10k for the same price as c5d. so it's not worth the money for me at the moment, just like i do like 35mm digital sensor dslr but it's too expensive. so i have apsc sensor dslr even though i do want 35mm digital dslr like 5dm2 or 3, and i want an iphone 6 but i won't be paying 700 euro for it right now. there are many other things i need to buy and i don't feel like spending all my money on christmas even thought i do know it's better.
 
i do read on this forum that mac dac is pretty good and there were suggestions that amperior will not benefit from a dac which is why i did not buy it. but you need to also know that not all macs are made the same, my macbook 2009 is not the latest mac, neither it is 2012 mac. the dac on mac after 2012 is pretty good but even that is not as good as fiio e10k. i've described why, none the less i already bought it and i will get to listen to it more and let you guys know if amperiors benefit from external dac cause using it for a while might change my opinion buy i don't think so. my opinion was solid that it's a lot better, and also considering i've got older mac with worse sound card than latest macs it's going to be really good and wound on amperiors will be very good. i just have to tell you that macbook 2009 dac is really bad in comparison to fiio e10k. for those who believe that mac dacs is very good it's not true external e10k is much better. i'm not a professional so don't take my word for it neither did i compare many dacs so i can't tell you which is my favorite dac. but between my macbook 2009 and fiio e10k, fiio e10k is my favourite dac. there are not may people who review dacs, there is one guy on youtube and all seem to find c5d their favorite dac. i'm just not spending that much on a dac right now considering i can get e10k for 1/4 the price. considering that i already like sound of amperior with e10k. it is really my opinion, but surely i would buy c5d if it was 100 euro. i will keep that dac as the one to get if i decide to upgrade. etc
today i went to shop to buy some food and i decided to take apple earbuds to listen to music and when i heard music with it i laughed, it did not sound good. i can't even believe that i was listening to it. and i came up with new rating names or scale, apple earbuds are **** fi, beats headphones are muffle fi. and amperiors i don't have anything to compare them to cause i do not have better sounding headphones so buy may be clear fi or studio fi, but i can't be without listening to better headphones.
 
but overall i liked e10k than inbuilt mac dac, especially for my macbook 2009 it's really worth upgrade. thanks

 

[myemaildw]

To get better sound quality, you could improve your DAC, and amplifier, but we are talking minimal amount of improvements, especially for what you might be spending on amp/DAC.

The Amperiors are excellent headphones, enjoy their crisp highend and textured bass.

Don't bother setting your computer to 96000hz and 32 bit. That will not improve audibly improve the sound from your headphones, source files, or computers DAC. Visit Sound Science forums to learn why.

If you like what you hear from the Amperiors, and want to move up its going to really cost you. take a lowly Sennheiser HD600 or Hd650, they will be better than the Amperior in that their presentation of frequencies is much more natural. Instrument separation is really good to. Still, they won't have that high end you get from the Amperiors.

The Amperiors, aside from their boosted bass, had a near audiophile grade sound. They weren't reference in tuning like the 650s, but they are darn brilliant. I have a pair of HD25s which preceded the Ampeior by a couple decades. Many similiarities but they are completely different sounding. I actually preferred e tuning of the old HD25 but recognize the Amperior as technically superior, especially it's high end.

You'd probably love the HD800 and would get a modest DAC and amp to power them to start out. Again huge amounts of money. But still a fraction of what a good stereo setup costs. So depends how you look at it.

I'd keep the Amperiors, as they are excellent as portables and are still enjoyable even at home.

Compliment them with a second headphone. Take a look at the new Philips Fidelio X2 - by some estimations able to at least nudge the HD600 off of its throne within the price bracket, and it doesn't require a dedicated amp. So easy to drive audiophile sound. It will have better bass, soundstage than your Amperior

thanks i don't know if i've said it earliers but thans for suggesting, good to know that there are better headphones than amperior ones, 
 
still wating for fiio e10k amp to get better audio from them cause my macbook 2009 sound card is not as good as on new computers. even neibour's new pc for 400 euro sounds better than my macbook 2009 cause i defo need a new dac cause i'm not going to buy a new computer at the moment.
 
any other suggestions for these headphones? thanks

 

[bigjim]

I tried out my Amperiors for the first time last night. At first I used my rPAC, I thought a blast of HDTracks Nirvana would loosen them up slightly, so I put the album on and sat them next to me, promising myself I would give them two hours before I put them on. 
 
Lithium came on and my hand started tapping the sofa like I was Michael J Fox, I couldn't resist putting them on. I was seriously speechless, mesmerized almost, my goodness these headphones can put some fantastic sounds out. I intend to put up a proper review later on, as these really are worthy of me drilling into my findings, but I cannot stress enough just how fantastic they are.
 
I have currently Vent & Quarter Modded SR-80i's, Hifiman RE-400's, MH1C's, PX100's & HD661's and none of them even come close to the level of detail, space and realism that the Amperiors can produce. There is so much space and air around the instruments I could drive a dump truck between them.
 
It really was just like the first time I heard the Grado's and just sat grinning from ear to ear.
 
No issues with harshness, sibilance or  lack of soundstage, they simply make you feel like your watching a live performance, to use and old saying regarding the positioning and instruments "There is a place for everything and everything is in its place".
 
Oh and in response to the last few posts, Playing 24/192 from my Note 3 -> Ibasso D Zero MK2 -> Amperiors = The most amazing and synergistic sound I have ever heard in my life.
 
Ill pop a review up over the next two days, but my portable rig is now much better than my desktop one and the only one I will listen to, well until next Christmas when I want some Alphadogs haha.
 
Jim.

 

[myemaildw]

  I tried out my Amperiors for the first time last night. At first I used my rPAC, I thought a blast of HDTracks Nirvana would loosen them up slightly, so I put the album on and sat them next to me, promising myself I would give them two hours before I put them on. 
 
Lithium came on and my hand started tapping the sofa like I was Michael J Fox, I couldn't resist putting them on. I was seriously speechless, mesmerized almost, my goodness these headphones can put some fantastic sounds out. I intend to put up a proper review later on, as these really are worthy of me drilling into my findings, but I cannot stress enough just how fantastic they are.
 
I have currently Vent & Quarter Modded SR-80i's, Hifiman RE-400's, MH1C's, PX100's & HD661's and none of them even come close to the level of detail, space and realism that the Amperiors can produce. There is so much space and air around the instruments I could drive a dump truck between them.
 
It really was just like the first time I heard the Grado's and just sat grinning from ear to ear.
 
No issues with harshness, sibilance or  lack of soundstage, they simply make you feel like your watching a live performance, to use and old saying regarding the positioning and instruments "There is a place for everything and everything is in its place".
 
Oh and in response to the last few posts, Playing 24/192 from my Note 3 -> Ibasso D Zero MK2 -> Amperiors = The most amazing and synergistic sound I have ever heard in my life.
 
Ill pop a review up over the next two days, but my portable rig is now much better than my desktop one and the only one I will listen to, well until next Christmas when I want some Alphadogs haha.
 
Jim.

 
now you know what i heard when listening to them on a new mac and external dac. but my old macbook 2009 doesn't play them that well, the dac in it is not as good as external or as on new computers.
 
say ibasso d zero mk2 is quite affortable is it like the same as c5d one from jds labs in terms of sound? thanks
 
but i'm not using them now cause my right ear hurts apparently according to people on head fi it's because i am sensitive to trebel. and i am resting my ears from headphones and my external dac hasn't arrive yet so no point listening to them without a good dac. cheers

 

[montanari]

Hey guys Hello!
I gave to my gf a pair of Amperior and she likes them very much
unfortunately she found them very uncomfortable, even after i stretched for a while..
I have a pair of momentum over ear but she prefers the amperior sound signature over them
I have a pair of earsonics sm3 v2, but they have the body too big for her ears..
I m looking for a pair of in ear with the same sound signature of the Amperior, and not with balanced armature
maybe a pair of Dunu?
do you have some ideas?
thanks
Dani

 

[Townyj]

I like my GR07s, they have a similar sound to the amperior.

 

[Koolpep]

M

Hey guys Hello!
I gave to my gf a pair of Amperior and she likes them very much
unfortunately she found them very uncomfortable, even after i stretched for a while..
I have a pair of momentum over ear but she prefers the amperior sound signature over them
I have a pair of earsonics sm3 v2, but they have the body too big for her ears..
I m looking for a pair of in ear with the same sound signature of the Amperior, and not with balanced armature
maybe a pair of Dunu?
do you have some ideas?
thanks
Dani

Momentum in-ears
JVC HA-FX850

 

[montanari]

Thank guys
I thought the momentum in ear sound similar to the momentum over/on..
Jvc are a pair of in ear that I would like to buy even for me!
What about the use in the office
Are not noisy?