[roob]

Quote:

it's on-board audio.

Well there you have it. Crap in, crap out. Save for a DAC and visit the dedicated source components and/or headphone amp forums while you do it 'cause you probably will have a tough time deciding on that aswell

 

[olor1n]

If you're getting distortion it'll either be your source, an issue with the cans, or you're simply playing music at permanent hearing loss levels. Amped or not these headphones pump. To distort the drivers you'd have to crank your source and that'd also explain the discomfort you experience. The only time I notice distortion or clipping is when I listen to a v0 instead of flac or when my other entry level amps and dac reveal their limitations. Do you listen to compressed files?

On another note, I disagree with the sentiment these headphones don't scale well. Sure they're very good on their own to begin with, but even going from just headphone out of source to entry level gear like a Fiio E7 or RA-1 clone revealed what these headphones are capable of. I have since obtained an Audio-GD Fun and although it's still in the early stages of burn in I've found the improvement to what I had before to be significant (White Sky by Vampire Weekend was the first track I listened to and it had me grinning from ear to ear). The gear I have now makes the importance of source abundantly clear. I never thought I'd be able to tell the difference between flac and v0 or notice the difference between macbook, ipod touch or ipod video as source using various configurations but those differences are there and I was highly sceptical. The MS-1i won't give you reference level but pair it with a nice amp and dac and feed it a good source and you'll forget about audio gear and begin to love your music again instead.

 

[Kekus]

Glad to see you're enjoying the Audio-Gd Fun, Olor1n, nice read.
 
My experience has been a little different:
 
Prodigy HD2 Advance SE headphone-out -> Ms-1i
vs
Prodigy HD2 Advance SE -> Line out RCA -> M-stage -> Ms-1i
 
Out of the box, I cannot say i hear any differences. Whether the amp needs more burn-in, a better DAC, or better headphones, i do not know.
Maybe my ears are defective, in which case i can save a lot of money in the future

 
Right now i don't know if my next purchase should be an Audinst-MX1 or AKG K701...I'm leaning on the AKG's, and the DAC later...

 

[Curls]

Quote:

Well there you have it. Crap in, crap out. Save for a DAC and visit the dedicated source components and/or headphone amp forums while you do it 'cause you probably will have a tough time deciding on that aswell

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Hmm.. What DAC would you recommend? Something not too expensive yet good for the price?
 

 

[JoetheArachnid]

Quote:

Hmm.. What DAC would you recommend? Something not too expensive yet good for the price?
 

The Musiland Monitor 02 US or the NuForce uDac(2) should be fine. Both around $120 but punch well above that.

 

[JJBug]

Just got my MS1s today - had to share with other people - since this is a MS1 related thread ...  they are awesome!
 
After trying different combos I am now using them with my old Zen Touch 20GB via a PA2V2 amp (it took forever to get that old player to work with Windows 7 64bit - no drivers)  - I find its the source that sounds best for me (others being ipod touch and Zunes which will now be using my old cx300 IIs and S4s when I get the S4s back from being fixed).
 
The bass isnt as prominent as I like, but I am new, and I like my cx300 IIs so its just me.
 
I listened to Twenty Miles byDeer Tick and I though it was a different song - stuff Ive never heard before in that song.
 
I did have one scare - the left speaker lost volume and I thought Oh no ... but the earpad had come off  and its good now! What a fright - my new cx300 IIs broke first day I had them and I thought not again!
 
I find the EQ on the Zen makes the MS1 sound better, but the EQs on my Zune and especially my touch messed up the sound and sounded bad. I don't use EQs usually but I may for a while with these.