[chakib]

I admit! iam a newb. i used to be one of the people that thought sound straight of of an MP3 player was satisfactory! upon hearing what a set of Bose headphones once i thought sound could get no better! yet i realised my error after i delved into the (frankly INSANE) world of high grade audio!

new to the forum too by the way. so forgive me if I'm posting in the wrong area. yes i have done a 'search' on multiple occasions but that's just blown me away even more!

i seek YOUR help!
i'm sick of what i dare say call sub standard sound. and i seek something more mind blowing.

ok ok. ill get to the point. im not in the position to buy super high grade equipment.....yet!, im still very new to all these names and terms!

i love my music! portable and at home.
my main output would be a computer. i wish i could go better but alas currently no! (i only use FLAC as i like the full quality) but what i want is to further the experience. i realise you can get better amps or sound cards? (can you see my ignorance?) headphones and speakers.

my second output is an audio player. i have a creative zen:vision m, and (i frankly prefer) a Sony NW HD5 and HD1.

i ALSO (to my utter disbelief) realised you can get amps for these too!

what i seek are names, information and how i should go on about expanding my knowledge and experience. or if you could guide my somewhere that would show me that, i would be thankful.

i live in the U.K. yet i don't know of any place i could go to experience these first hand.

amps. headphones. ear phones. cd players. anything a beginner should look into to get accustomed to the world of an audiophile's.

think.....Grado sr-60 budget and go on from there.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/be...please-328473/

first image there is INSANE! amazing setup..i have NO idea where all the cables are heading!!!

 

[breakfastchef]

I recommend buying the best headphones you can afford, They are, after all, what you will actually hear.

Headphone amps may or may not increase your listening pleasure. Low impedance headphones are easy to drive. High impedance headphones generally benefit from amplification. You may be totally pleased with the sound of a low impedance heaphone from your HP out jack on your computer. In which case, I would say buy nothing else until you have heard something that you perceive to be a significant improvement.

When using a computer as a primary souce, you will need to consider a device to convert the digital output of the PC to an analog signal that can be fed into a headphone amplifier. In the short term, you could use the headphone jack of your PC. In the longer term, you may want to purchase a DAC to convert your digital PC signal to analog.

 

[CSMR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chakib /img/forum/go_quote.gif what i seek are names, information and how i should go on about expanding my knowledge and experience. or if you could guide my somewhere that would show me that, i would be thankful.

Computer audio is in some ways ideal because you can do everything properly but otoh everything needs a bit of research.
The steps:
-ripping: you need the right drive plus EAC/plextools/dbpoweramp secure ripper
-playback software: pre-vista, it is especially important to use a player that supports ASIO e.g. foobar with asio plugin
-dsp: once you have got going you can try out dsp in software, e.g. crossfeed
-sound card: starting out I would definitely get one with integrated headphone amp, e.g. E-MU 0202USB, headroom total bithead. Once your budget exceeds $500 you might consider separating sound card and amp in order to get a better amp.
-headphones: this is the most important thing by a long way. It's much more useful to spend time and money trying out headphones than getting the other parts just right.

 

[chakib]

Quote:

Originally Posted by breakfastchef /img/forum/go_quote.gif I recommend buying the best headphones you can afford, They are, after all, what you will actually hear. Headphone amps may or may not increase your listening pleasure. Low impedance headphones are easy to drive. High impedance headphones generally benefit from amplification. You may be totally pleased with the sound of a low impedance heaphone from your HP out jack on your computer. In which case, I would say buy nothing else until you have heard something that you perceive to be a significant improvement. When using a computer as a primary souce, you will need to consider a device to convert the digital output of the PC to an analog signal that can be fed into a headphone amplifier. In the short term, you could use the headphone jack of your PC. In the longer term, you may want to purchase a DAC to convert your digital PC signal to analog.

im not entirely sure where i can test out headphones at this stage. i HAVE done my research and im keen on experimenting and investing in a couple of headphones at the moment. (still looking into this as it seems to be very important) i want a relativity portable set (grado sr-60/80 size) with slightly higher then average bass. for home use i want to use both speakers and truly high quality headphones. at the moment my computer is driving straight through headphone jack to a set of acoustic energy aego m. im quite pleased with them to be frank (correct me if im mistaken)



Quote:

Originally Posted by CSMR /img/forum/go_quote.gif Computer audio is in some ways ideal because you can do everything properly but otoh everything needs a bit of research. The steps: -ripping: you need the right drive plus EAC/plextools/dbpoweramp secure ripper -playback software: pre-vista, it is especially important to use a player that supports ASIO e.g. foobar with asio plugin -dsp: once you have got going you can try out dsp in software, e.g. crossfeed -sound card: starting out I would definitely get one with integrated headphone amp, e.g. E-MU 0202USB, headroom total bithead. Once your budget exceeds $500 you might consider separating sound card and amp in order to get a better amp. -headphones: this is the most important thing by a long way. It's much more useful to spend time and money trying out headphones than getting the other parts just right.

now THIS is where i want to head towards.
is ripping the audio really that much of a concern. i rip all my audio as LOSLESS. although not using any specific program. as i tend to flit between programs i test out. should i just stick to one?

ok..ive read on what ASIO is and i now understand the importance of it. however ive used foobar before and it tends to crash far too many times on my computer. ive tried everything yet there seems to be a conflict between that and another program. and im afraid i cant really sacrifice the other program. winamp seems to be the only other choice.

as for DAC. i think im starting to grasp the concept. i once saw a friend use an..(excuse me if im mistaken) ibasso. or is that just an amp? i think it was just an amp. oh. and should i have the output set to headphone out or SPDIF? as i have both on this computer.

headphone wise..iam still in the researching process...i want a medium sized pair.
should i try an amp/DAC?!?! to add to the mp3 to further enhance the sound or will i not notice the difference?

cheers.

 

[bigshot]

One sideline comment about Bose... Their products don't sound bad. They're actually pretty good. The problem is that they are very expensive. There are usually options made by other manufacturers that sound just as good for considerably less money.

Don't fall into the "audio ego trap".

See ya
Steve

 

[slowfreight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chakib /img/forum/go_quote.gif think.....Grado sr-60 budget and go on from there.

First post for me bro, so my knowledge in this field is extremely limited; however, I can tell you my experiences with Grado headphones.

I purchased a set of Grado sr-60's and ofcourse I was hooked, much to my wife's chagrin. The sr-60's sounded amazing, but after extended use I started getting these weird headaches. Having been smitten with upGrado fever, I purchased a set of sr-225's because I read that they were less bright with better bass. I figured the 225's would alleviate the fatigue I was experiencing. Nevertheless, the 225's also gave me headaches, so I upgraded my source.....

Now I'm well on my path to chosing the sound I dig based the suggestions and experiences of those in this forum.

Bottom line, try the sr-60's and see what you think. I found that they did not have enough bass for my taste. The sr-225's, although more refined, also lacked bass. So I purchased a set of Denon AH-D2000 which I'm going to keep. Plenty of bass, not very portable though.

Big time gamer and music lover.

Hope this helps.

 

[CSMR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chakib /img/forum/go_quote.gif is ripping the audio really that much of a concern. i rip all my audio as LOSLESS. although not using any specific program. as i tend to flit between programs i test out. should i just stick to one?

If you don't notice glitches, I would say it's not a significant problem. A good drive plus good software will rip more cds sucessfully and will detect any problems to guarantee an exact rip. If ripping is not successful then cleaning the cd can help.
Quote:

ok..ive read on what ASIO is and i now understand the importance of it. however ive used foobar before and it tends to crash far too many times on my computer.

The implementation depends on what sound card you choose. Once you have a sound card you like you can set up asio if necessary. On vista it is less useful since audio resolution is much higher than xp.
Quote:

as for DAC. i think im starting to grasp the concept. i once saw a friend use an..(excuse me if im mistaken) ibasso. or is that just an amp? i think it was just an amp. oh. and should i have the output set to headphone out or SPDIF? as i have both on this computer.

What you need is a sound card, something that connects to your computer software. I recommended two soundcards.
Quote:

headphone wise..iam still in the researching process...i want a medium sized pair. should i try an amp/DAC?!?! to add to the mp3 to further enhance the sound or will i not notice the difference?

With either sound card I mentioned you will get very good audio quality. They are not very expensive. You can then think about headphones which are most important.

 

[hatethatgiraffe]

How much of a budget are you talking overall??(double it !! the rest of us have)
ibasso is indeed an amp with integrated DAC and by all accounts is a decent sounding combo!
My predator does the same thing but is lil more expensive!
The ibasso can be bought direct for 104 euros plus P&P!!
Hooks up to either portable source(ipod via LOD works well) or to computer (via USB)
Headphone wise i listened to both the 60 & 80's and loved the sound so bought the grado 325 after reading online reviews and getting a decent price for them direct from UK supplier!
Best bet is to read reviews and posts online and as far as i can tell you've came to the right place right here!!
Welcome to head-fi sorry about your wallet lol!!

P.s the dollar is week so buying from the states is a bargain right now just watch out for shipping!! only problem with grados is that they have dealers tied in to only selling to continental america.
Try ebay!!

 

[koshui]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slowfreight /img/forum/go_quote.gif I purchased a set of Grado sr-60's and ofcourse I was hooked, much to my wife's chagrin. The sr-60's sounded amazing, but after extended use I started getting these weird headaches. Having been smitten with upGrado fever, I purchased a set of sr-225's because I read that they were less bright with better bass. I figured the 225's would alleviate the fatigue I was experiencing. Nevertheless, the 225's also gave me headaches, so I upgraded my source.....

Migraine perhaps?
Listening to headphones could trigger it easily due to loss of surroundings.
Try crossfeed filter to see if it helps if the source change didn't.
Another reason can be that you get additional noise into signal (AMP/grounding etc).
In my personal experience constant low frequencies causes nausea and high frequencies headaches.

To OP:
Integrated sound cards are pretty good nowdays, go for headphones and worry about AMPs/DACs later.
If you are looking for single pair of headphones to use at home and on go then Sennheiser HD25-1 is what you want.

 

[hatethatgiraffe]

Koshui
the need to upgrade s wha was making his head hurt!!
As in "HE'S JOKING"
Sorry buddy
(least i hope was jokin or joke on me lol)

 

[slowfreight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by koshui /img/forum/go_quote.gif Migraine perhaps? Listening to headphones could trigger it easily due to loss of surroundings. Try crossfeed filter to see if it helps if the source change didn't.

After switching my source, all was well. The audigy 2 was fine with my cheap panasonics, but with decent headphones it just could'nt hang. I appreciate the advice. I'm still looking for a nice amp with crossfeed capability.