[VictorHalgaard]

So just to test it, I nicked my dads old ipod 5th gen, and its true, it does actually sound noticeably better than the 6th gen, when AB testing them with my T1....Thats kinda cool...And kinda makes me want to yell at apple at the same time ^^
 

 

[purrin]

Consider: too much crap in the way between the data and your ears.
 
I believe the Macbook resamples everything to 48kHz on the optical out (not a good thing.) Computer audio, especially optical out generally doesn't sound that good. The DACMagic isn't all that great and what's cracked up to be. And the SR-71b is no better than a well implemented CMOY. In cases where your headphones are efficient enough, direct out from portables can actually sound better or just as good.
 
The 6th gen classic is a little cleaner sounding and more powerful. The 5th gen is better in every other way.

 

[Omega17TheTrue]

I find that the T1 is such a good allrounder, because it has incredibly good resolution and clarity, and very natural - but with a warm tint that makes it more pleasant to listen to than the DT series, which when I compared them just seemed cold, clinical and boring to listen to. ..., I found that for a fraction of the T1's price i could get a headphone with roughly the same amount of detail, and which (maybe?) stayed much more true to the original sound of the music, however the T1 had the resolution and the musicality. In the sense that with the DT880 i felt like I was mixing the original tape of the record, but with the T1 I felt more like I was listening to the finished product after the mix and editing.

I have the same impressions wih my LCD-2, it sound like a smooth high-end hifi tower speakers while my K271 sounded like a bookshelf very precise monitoring speakers (with treble emphasis).

Try to do another test later because so many things can influence your sound perception, like for example when your ears are "tired" every things tend to sound the same. If you still can't hear differences because it is too small and can be placebo or your system is not revealing enough, than its good for you, and you should sell your gear to buy something else that is more useful... or you can try to buy again some audiophile stuff to search for the holy grail, but it can be a utterly expensive never ending journey full of illusions.

 

[VictorHalgaard]

I think the "too much crap in between" might be viable explaination for the computer setub being bad. And the fact that i easily could hear the difference between the two iPods also tells me that the T1 itself is not the reason why i couldn't spot the difference, because the deifference between the ipods shouldn't have been as obvious if that was the case - at least that make sense to me...
 
Now the grand question is, if fx. the SR-71b is indeed as "simple" as you suggest being the reason why I couldn't hear a notable difference, then would fx. a Triad Audio L3 of the AHA-120 be much different or the same story?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I've always said it: headphones are 98% what you hear, the rest is the amp and dac. Out of everything I've tried, differences were so negligible, it proved to me that money is better spent on the actual headphones.

That is unless you get an obviously colored dac/amp.

I'd fail blind A/B tests with SS amps and DACs pretty much everytime. Only with some really strict listening would I be able to say when one is better than another. But then, we aren't listening to MUSIC, we're listening to equipment.


Long story short, if you value performance over exhorbitant costs, get an amp/dac that properly gives enough juice to your headphone and doesn't hamper it with their own sound, and be happy.

If you can afford the extra 2% costing as much as your headphones, then by all means go ahead. Prioritize...

 

[purrin]

Quote:

Now the grand question is, if fx. the SR-71b is indeed as "simple" as you suggest being the reason why I couldn't hear a notable difference, then would fx. a Triad Audio L3 of the AHA-120 be much different or the same story?

Probably pretty much the same story. If you are into the portable form-factor amps, you should ask the folks in the Portable Headphone Amps forum for some good recommendations. I'm sure there are some that are better than others.
 

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

Now the grand question is, if fx. the SR-71b is indeed as "simple" as you suggest being the reason why I couldn't hear a notable difference, then would fx. a Triad Audio L3 of the AHA-120 be much different or the same story?

So you're looking for a portable amp to intentionally color the sound or am I not understanding properly?

 

[t-crisis]

Quote:

So just to test it, I nicked my dads old ipod 5th gen, and its true, it does actually sound noticeably better than the 6th gen, when AB testing them with my T1....Thats kinda cool...And kinda makes me want to yell at apple at the same time ^^
 

I did this with my friend's brand new nano (I own a black 5th gen iPod) and the difference was so noticeable I actually thought I was listening to a different version of the same song... I used Settling It Off by Peter Wolf Crier as my test track and the organ at the beginning of the song was literally gone when I listened on the nano. I was happy and confused at the same time - why would Apple do something like that? Besides saving money

 

[VictorHalgaard]

So you're looking for a portable amp to intentionally color the sound or am I not understanding properly?

 
 


No, I am looking for an amp that has a vastly increased clarity, soundstage, resolution etc. over just an iPod. Because the majority of the amps I've heard only had minute improvements. Going balanced will ofcourse do some of it - but even so. I've not experienced an amp the such an impact on the sound quality that I couldt fail at spotting it in a blind test.

As said I can obviously spot the difference if i chose a balanced amp, because it is simply a different topology than the SE amp in fx an iPod. And I do prefer balanced amps because of this, but I want an amp that I used because it actually did something significance sound wise, and not jus placebo wise. Because rigt now I'm not sure such part is most significant in my experience: placebo or actual improvements in sq.

 

[purrin]

Your iPod could be the factor. The 6G's already have a good internal amp section in them, the DAC section not so good. The 5G is the other way around. No external amp is going to over increased goodness over what you already have, unless it's a power issue for driving certain headphones.

 

[VictorHalgaard]

Quote:

Your iPod could be the factor. The 6G's already have a good internal amp section in them, the DAC section not so good. The 5G is the other way around. No external amp is going to over increased goodness over what you already have, unless it's a power issue for driving certain headphones.

Well, then we start to arrive at the point where any sensible person would ask: why then, say, spend 600$ on a portable amp, and lug that extra weight around anyway? I mean I'm probably going to keep doing it anyway, but still...
 

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

No, I am looking for an amp that has a vastly increased clarity, soundstage, resolution etc. over just an iPod.

Well, to a first approximation, amps don't really do any of those things so that's why you aren't finding what you're looking for.

 

[VictorHalgaard]

Well, apparantly not - I'm just beginning to fail to see the point of the amp if it doesn't do any of those things. I mean if you dont need extra power and i doesn't improve the SQ, then why have one? I mean, it sorta has to do something (And i know it does) otherwise it would be pointless to use one.
 
Quote:

Well, to a first approximation, amps don't really do any of those things so that's why you aren't finding what you're looking for.

 

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

Well, apparantly not - I'm just beginning to fail to see the point of the amp if it doesn't do any of those things. I mean if you dont need extra power and i doesn't improve the SQ, then why have one? I mean, it sorta has to do something (And i know it does) otherwise it would be pointless to use one.

IMO, amps are good for more volume if you need it, as a buffer to lower the output impedance and raise the SNR of your source if necessary, or for extra features like the crossfeed on the Leckerton UHA-4 I'm using right now.
 
If you don't need any of those things then I'd just skip the amp.

 

[t-crisis]

Quote:

Well, apparantly not - I'm just beginning to fail to see the point of the amp if it doesn't do any of those things. I mean if you dont need extra power and i doesn't improve the SQ, then why have one? I mean, it sorta has to do something (And i know it does) otherwise it would be pointless to use one.
 


 

If you're looking for an amp to improve the SQ, you're looking in the wrong place. If you want higher SQ, you might want consider improving your music files