[GUINNE55]

Hi there, I'm a starving student living in the frozen north. Monday I got myself some K702's from headroom for chirstmas from me to me, got them today from fedex.

Since I bought them I've been looking for a DAC/Amp set but trying to inform myself of the choices out there through reading on forums just confused me. One thread will have a ton of new guys praising some 100 dollar amp/dac bought on ebay. Another will have an "ol' timer" badmouthing said choice and generally being really grouchy cause not everyone has 4000 dollar perfect headphone amps like them and the darn newbies don't know what hi-fi is.

So I'm looking for a middleground, but I don't know what there is out there. i.e differences between opamps and whatever else, the sound difference between solid state and tube, why people are recommending different amps for different headphones, ect. Generally looking at what people own has also been confusing, cause lots of you guys have bought and sold 20 different amps, and I don't know if its cause they were bad, or merely "different".

Think you guys could point me in the general direction? Playing wav's from my computer. After some reading, I think a Pico would be my under 500 choice, can't see myself buying above 1500 while I'm sober/in school.

Thanks guys.

 

[928GTS]

Don't worry about the old grumps complaining and such, in the end its your setup and whatever sounds good to you is what matters in the end. Everyone's ear is different and thus everyone has a different opinion.

What are you looking for in a sound signature? K702's are known to be very accurate and demanding of the recording and are generally really well recommended for Jazz and Classical recordings due to their flat nature. If you're going for a more all rounded approach I'd suggest a tube amp with a slightly warm sound signature because sometimes the 702's don't like some rock recordings and some people bemoan them saying they lack bass. Most people generally feel that the bass in the 701/702's go quite deep but isn't boom or "rounded" but rather adequate and well represented.

People go through 20,000 different headamps in their stay here because some people are just motivated by flavours of the month, some people don't like what they hear the first time and some people are just upgrading their way up until they reach their happy medium.

Give me an idea what you listen to,what format what you listen to is in and what sort of sound signature you want and I'll see if I can't figure what might work for you.

 

[GUINNE55]

Right now I'm playing Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, RHCP, Nirvana, and the Beatles to burn these 702's in.

As for musical preference I'd say I listen mostly to classic rock. From what I've read, almost everyone is listening to lossless formats, but right now most of what I have is mp3, that'll change.

 

[928GTS]

Not everybody is listening to lossless,personally I just have a small collection of albums in lossless that I feel actually benefit from being in lossless. As the old saying goes theres no use covering a dirty pig in a layer of British Racing Green....or was that a white horse covered in gold flake....I digress,what are you looking for? Do you want a tube amp? Do you feel like tube rolling?

 

[GUINNE55]

Well its hard for me to say cause I don't really know what tube rolling consists of. Or the differences between SS and tubes in the way they sound. If I had to go one way or the other, I'd choose a tube amp just to try my luck. A lot of people seem to like the sound.

 

[OutdoorXplorer]

If you are going for tubes, you may wanna try out WooAudio 3/3+ if budget below 500 or RSA Raptor should you able to stretch your budget to 1500. Pick some tubes from eBay and start rolling. Many information can be found on Head-Fi... Merry X'mas.

 

[928GTS]

Well SS amps generally a bit more transparent,flat,quicker in response and not as warm as a tube amp. There are some tube amps that sound very reference and near that of a SS amp but tubes generally tend to have that magic midrange which would work well for you as you listen to a lot of guitar based pieces.

Tube rolling is just changing around the tubes your amplifier uses to modify the sound signature of the amplifier.

You said you want to spend around $500,right? Well you can pick up a Hotaudio DAC for about $80,cables will run you another $50 at the minimum but the sky is the limit for cables however I don't really believe in spending $300 on a cable and for the choices of amps give these a look:

Darkvoice Figaro
Eddie Current Lunchbox Pro
Darkvoice 336SE
Hi-Fi RT-6P13P(Some variations of this amp use EL34's,KT88's or 6P3P's. These are generally sold through shops like on9mart or leshele on eBay)
Head Direct EF-1
Little Dot MK II/MK III/MK IV
Audiotailor Jade
Ming Da MC84-C
Xiang Sheng 708B(modder's paradise,you can do so much to these amps)
YAQIN MC-5881A

The variety is wiiiiiiiiiide,that should get you started so research a bit and see what catches your fancy.

 

[GUINNE55]

I didn't have any specific budgetary value in mind. If I saw something that looked amazing for 800 I would look long and hard at it. I just wanted a good value for money sorta setup that won't put me on foodstamps for 2 years.

Can you really get a quality DAC for just 80 bucks?

 

[928GTS]

Read the thread on the hotaudio40 amps,they sound very promising and a good step into the world of DAC's.

 

[hypoicon]

As an old grump/ex hi-fi salesman I would caution you not to listen to the bewildering array of recommendations on esoteric DAC/amp combinations (especially portable crap) coming from people with gear lists that read like chained email forwards.

Read real magazines as well as forum posts. By real magazines, I mean Stereophile, Absoulute Sound, Tone, etc. Read them like you might read forum posts, with a healthy dose of skepticism. Look for patterns in descriptions, and immediately throw out anything that praises too highly or damns too thoroughly. The truth is always somewhere in the middle.

Personally, if you aren't concerned with portability, I would consider a reputable manufacturer like CIaudio, PS Audio, etc, or even Meier or Headroom (the latter choices, though commonplace around here, are actually pretty esoteric). Change one thing at a time, and do it slowly listening to a lot of music in between. There is a big difference between $200 equipment and $1000 equipment as far as I'm concerned, and the stuff below the $500 dollar mark save rare exceptions generally are mostly hype. That's probably true above the $2000 mark as well.

A pico, as far as I can see, would be a total waste of time unless portability is an issue-- you don't seem to suggest that at all. My guess is that a Little Dot MK III would run circles around it at half the price. I thought you were looking for the "middle" not the lower end of the range.

 

[928GTS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hypoicon /img/forum/go_quote.gif As an old grump/ex hi-fi salesman I would caution you not to listen to the bewildering array of recommendations on esoteric DAC/amp combinations (especially portable crap) coming from people with gear lists that read like chained email forwards.

Am I detecting a little bit of angst here?

 

[GUINNE55]

Yes I am looking at the "middle" sort of range. Like 500-1000 for both a DAC and amp.

So whats the real world views on headroom, CIaudio, Cambridge audio, and RSA audio and the like? From my experience, there is often an undercurrent general belief in forums that you don't notice without tons of examination. Perhaps I should have mentioned that the idea of my amps traveling across 12 time zones to get to me is somewhat of a contributing factor to my purchases.

 

[928GTS]

Well RSA is mostly known for their portable work, you rarely hear much about their full size line generally due to the price point at which their line is offered at is higher than most wish to spend.

 

[hypoicon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 928GTS /img/forum/go_quote.gif Am I detecting a little bit of angst here?

No, more like disgust at such strongly defended nonsensical opinions of cult pieces.

 

[928GTS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hypoicon /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, more like disgust at such strongly defended nonsensical opinions of cult pieces.

Cult pieces? Like someone recommending a headamp just because 4058408540 others have as well? It seems to be a problem at Head-Fi,people need more variety!