[Pennarin]

I'll be getting a 2.67Ghz-based system with a Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 2.0 for a speaker setup, and intend to buy an Aria DAC amp (or the likes) and AKG K701.

My preferences for computer games are minimal. I'll be playing Starcraft II and the likes, some shooters, no racing.

Mostly I'll be listening to music, movies, and tv series.

What sound card would you propose? If it had the ability to have 7.1 sound in case one day I buy myself a 7.1 sound system...all the better.

 

[onvn]

Use the Aria's built-on DAC.. or get yourself a standalone DAC (see my sig)..

 

[HFat]

I already told you: the Aria is the soundcard.
Sure, you can use some soundcards as DACs... but not the Aria. You can of course use the Aria as an amp but is it really the best you can do with your budget? Maybe, I don't know. You should at least ask the manufacturer about that... maybe he sells a pure amp that performs as well for a cheaper price (or better for the same price).

 

[Pennarin]

Thank you all! Btw HFat, I did understand what you said the first time, mainly that you could go with the onboard DAC or with a seperate sound card. Both were valid. At least, that's the comprehension I came out of that thread with.

Sure, I'll use whatever built-in DAC I find in whatever amp I end up buying, and if somehow it's not working so good...well, I'll see then.

This post, though, is mostly a request for people's opinions and preferences. Basically I'm searching for additional options to the setup I currently have in mind. Any ideas?

HFat, would you feel like giving a few ideas on combos that can be achieved and that you think are interesting? I would love to read your thoughts on this.

 

[HFat]

Alright.
But I still wonder if you got it right so, just in case it isn't a misunderstanding on my part: most amps do not have built-in DACs.

Now, as to your question:
I think it's hard to go wrong when it comes to sources and amps really and that just about anything is potentially interesting. I think that buying nothing would be a good idea actually... if you've made up your mind on the headphone you want, why not try it with the gear you own as well as the gear your family/friends/whatever own? You can always buy more stuff later.

I can't recommend you a product I don't have experience with... and the trouble is that we have different requirements so that's not going to help much. Here you are anyway:
You can drive a headphone like the one you want directly out of some soundcards. I've done it with UA-25 -> K501 for example. That's a nice combo for laptop users because you can carry it anywhere you carry your laptop too and you don't need to plug the stuff in a power outlet. But you don't care for that, right?
If you want an amp, I feel I can recommend you Meier Audio's Arietta because I own its predecessor. It's going to work with any regular analog source so there's not much point in worrying about what would be a good match for it, especially if you're going to use it with several different devices anyway. It's an amp that's small enough to carry around a room if your cables are long enough (you want to have a volume control close to you and a nice volume control like that beats any TV remote IMO).

The bottom line is that there's plenty of good products out there you can spend your money on if that's what you want to do.
Getting people to recommend you stuff isn't the hard part: every half-decent products has its fans. In most cases, the best way to find information that's actually relevant to your situation is to use the forum's search function.
In any case, the most difficult thing to get right is the headphone so I think that's what you should spend most of your time and energy researching. I'm mentioning this because I saw you've changed your mind as to the model you want.

 

[Pennarin]

The price tag attached to the K701 was what pushed me to instead aim myself at the more reasonable K601, but a visit to the Sales forum brough two instances of selling K701s in the first few pages, and for the same price as the K601. I'll go for that if I can. Right now I'm waiting on PayPal to validate me, bla bla, and then I'll be able to buy.

I did find the the technical profile of the Arietta adequate, and besides, it was estethically pleasing and eminently portable when checking its size on pictures. No DAC though, so one has to count the price for buying a sound card as well when buying it. Still, even if - let's say - the Aria were the exact same price as the Arietta + sound card, there would still be the portability advantage.

 

[Superpredator]

I'm a little confused here, but I'll jump in. I owned the Aria and an M-Audio Revolution 7.1 sound card. Using the Revolution with the Aria was pointless because Aria's DAC sounded better. You can certainly do better as far as DACs go, perhaps even with sound cards with an EMU for example, but I found running the Aria's DAC comparable to feeding the Aria a signal from an iMod, which means it sounds pretty nice on its own.

Best of luck.

 

[Pennarin]

Thanks man. I know I won't be running the AKGs' sound quality to it's maximum...for that I'd need some insane setup, but as long as I can run them to...let's say, three, four, five times the sound quality of cheap 60$ headphones, then I'll have what I want. No need to go further and buy 1K+ preamp/amp/DAC/whatever-other-add-on-you'd-like-to-add =)

Thanks for the luck!

 

[Sherwood]

Man, you can get some killer headphones around these parts for $60. Grado SR-60s are a favorite, and you can find them used here for that price.

My only concern is with your "three, four, five times the sound quality" comment. Unfortunately, when you start upgrading you see less and less return on your dollar. The general (though heavily contested) rule is that it's 10-2. That is to say, spending ten times as much gives you twice the audio quality. A $60 pair of Grados sounds twice as good as $6 stock buds, and a $600 pair of RS-1s sounds twice as good as the SR60s. This is all debatable, of course, but that's the ballpark. If you're truly looking for five times the sound quality of $60 headphones, you're looking at spending six million dollars. I doubt that's what you meant.

For your money, I think more research is in order. Firstly, I'd recommend strongly against the Aria, since you're also using speakers. The real benefit of the Aria is the built in DAC, which no other amp at its price contains. If using speakers, you wouldn't be using that DAC. Your money would be better spent getting a decent soundcard and a decent headphone amp, and plugging the speakers directly into the soundcard.

For decent soundcards at that price, my experience is limited. I've owned and greatly enjoyed the E-MU 0404 PCI, but it's strictly 2 channel. Were I you, I would take a look at the Dared MP-5. It's a USB dac, headphone amp, and speaker amplifier that uses vacuum tubes. Move from the Klipsch speakers to a pair of mirage nanosats, say, or any small speaker (PSB alpha, perhaps) and you have a system that's really something else for less money than you originally planned.

 

[Pennarin]

I'll look up your suggestions, Sherwood

What I'm intending to run is on one side some kind of basic 2 channel loudspeakers (they can plug-in directly into the soundcard, I don't care), and on the other headphones in the range of the K601 or something similar, and those would be plugged into their own amp (yes, I could use the soundcard's own DAC and limite myself to putting an amp between the headphone and the soundcard).
Is there a problem with this setup and which I'm not seeing?

 

[Sherwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pennarin /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'll look up your suggestions, Sherwood What I'm intending to run is on one side some kind of basic 2 channel loudspeakers (they can plug-in directly into the soundcard, I don't care), and on the other headphones in the range of the K601 or something similar, and those would be plugged into their own amp (yes, I could use the soundcard's own DAC and limite myself to putting an amp between the headphone and the soundcard). Is there a problem with this setup and which I'm not seeing?

No problem at all. That would, in fact, be the most common setup. If you get a decent sound card, you should very, very pleased with this setup.

 

[uraflit]

or u can use my setup with the E-MU 0404 USB

headphones from its integrated jack and i use the main output to a home theater receiver which i power my bookshelf speakers from.

 

[ahamric]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sherwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif My only concern is with your "three, four, five times the sound quality" comment. Unfortunately, when you start upgrading you see less and less return on your dollar. The general (though heavily contested) rule is that it's 10-2. That is to say, spending ten times as much gives you twice the audio quality. A $60 pair of Grados sounds twice as good as $6 stock buds, and a $600 pair of RS-1s sounds twice as good as the SR60s. This is all debatable, of course, but that's the ballpark. If you're truly looking for five times the sound quality of $60 headphones, you're looking at spending six million dollars. I doubt that's what you meant.

Okay, I found this thread in a search and had to comment. I think the comparison of sound quality being "twice as good" is virtually meaningless. First, we would need a common reference point on what makes one sound twice as good or half as good as another sound.

Or should we talk about enjoyment of the sound? If I enjoy one set of phones, but I really, really enjoy another set of phones, does that mean I enjoy the second set of phones twice as much as the first set?

In any event, I think the law of diminishing returns is definitely applicable. As someone who has degrees in cello performance, I can tell you that the difference between a $2,000 cello and a $6,000 cello is a lot; the difference between a $6,000 and a $20,000 cello is also a lot, but not as much. The difference between a $20,000 cello and a $40,000 cello is much less. In fact, I like my own cello much better than some costing twice as much.