[akwok]

Forward and Row A means exactly what it's supposed to mean.. sitting in Row A of a concert (right in front of the band).

If you listen to trance and electronica, the Sony SA5000 would be one of the best. Pair it with a Pocket Amp V2 using the line out of your Rio Karma (if there is one) and you're in headphone bliss.. until upgraditis kicks in again.

Trance and electronica needs to be fast. The Gilmore Lite tends to work well and synergizes with many headphones.

 

[Jazper]

hehe if Row A describes the sonys then Row 0 describes grados (you feel as if you're right in the middle of the stage)

 

[terrymx]

First off, i enjoy Last Blade a lot, but if i have to pick, i prefer Samurai Shodown.

I highly agree with what apostate. Exactly what I want to say, about the source. The Karma kinda sound rawish from what i remember. I wish it was smoother at time. Anyway thats just my opinion. But one alternatve to not getting a new source is buying a portable amp for the Karma. The Go-vibe for example, and use a mini-rca cable to connect it to the karma line out. Then it could be capable of driving the higher impedance phone. It makes more sense that way because they are both portables, now you can carry them around.

But I think a better source will yield more value into the path of better sound. You buy a new headphone and you get different sound, but you buy a better source and all headphones you buy next will sound better in it. Don't take it literally for every situation, but thats how I see it. Getting an Emu sound card really pays off. It seem more logical because the music you listen to is mp3 and cant be get on cd. SACD and techno music, hahaha. SACD are for 50 years old who listen to classicals. The problem with getting any standalone source is you will need an amp. But I dont place too much importance in amp really, you dont have to spend too much on it. It makes no sense to spend more money on an amp than a source, atleast not at this price range.

I thought people who like electronica like grados? I heard the sr60 long ago. I cant remember clearly anymore, small sound stage it have, but I remember something unique about it with rock music. I heard the drums coming outside of my head, it actaully had great instrument seperation. No other headphone gave me that sense where the drum is actaully coming outside of my head. Probably the opposite of what everyone else think though.

So I propose the path to better sound the same thing just about every other peolpe on headfi just did. And the cheapest method. Emu0404 -> cable -> amp -> your A500. I imagine bigger soundstage and more details.

 

[JWFokker]

If I were you, I'd pick up a pair of nearly new SR225's for cheap:

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=126424

If I had $160 to throw around, I'd drop it on those.

 

[Azure]

terrymx - Why should I have to switch to listening on the computer with a sound card just because they are mp3s? Can't I just listen to them on my mp3 player? Remember that I have $200 to spend to get better sound, so that'd be ~$110 for the 0404, and I imagine with my ears/cans I wouldn't notice a difference between Karma > A500 and 0404 > A500. So, what to do with the other $100? The problem with listening on the pc is that I'd have to set the EQ again (I'm only used to setting my Karma's 5 band EQ) and that I only have access to the computer 3 days of the week.

 

[apostate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure terrymx - Why should I have to switch to listening on the computer with a sound card just because they are mp3s? Can't I just listen to them on my mp3 player?

I don't think he is saying you have to. The point here is that with your Karma as your primary source and the bitrate of the mp3 files you are using (not really within your control) there are some limitations to how much you are going to get out of upgrades.

Would an amp help? It might. New headphones might give you a different sound which you may or may not like better. That sound may or may not be superior to what you currently have depending on your reaction to the signature of the headphones, whether they need an amp, etc.

A significant improvement in headphones may be very disappointing. You may find that a much better headphone will be too revealing of your source and may reduce your enjoyment of the music (I've had to replace several CDs already due to poor quality).

For $200 why not get an inexpensive amp (cmoy, mint, etc.) and a set of Grados SR-60 (or maybe 80s or 225s used).

The amp will give you the ability to explore a wider variety of headphones and use the line out of your Karma which, even if the A500s don't get much out of an amp, will perhaps make for a little cleaner source. The Grados will help give you something to compare to your A500 to help you decide what you are looking for in a set of headphones.

Just my $0.02

Ant

 

[hentai]

azure , sometimes higher quality phone may not provide better enjoyment of music. Its how the headphone presents the music that matters

 

[Azure]

The problem with getting a cheaper amp is that I already have my eyes set on getting something like the DT880s or maybe HD600s and I'll need a beefy amp to get a decent amount out of them. So, if I get a cheap amp now, I'll have to get another amp later. I thought that I might as well get a lambda now so that I won't have to worry about amping for a LONG time. I'd also hate to disappoint Zemo after showing so much interest in the lambda by getting a cmoy from someplace else. Just to clarify, my exact budget will be ~$275 since I was already going to spend $57 on Maha 9Vs for the amp. And if I were to get the SR-60s, I'd most likely just get a pair of MS-1s instead.

EDIT: I know it is how it presents the music, but I just figured that if I take the A500 sound signature and get something that is around the same but better it'd present music better. I mean, isn't it safe to say that DT880s or A900s would present music better than the A500s, as long as the sound signature is similar?

 

[apostate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure I mean, isn't it safe to say that DT880s or A900s would present music better than the A500s, as long as the sound signature is similar?

Not if a lack of resolution in the A500s is masking deficiencies in your source material.

The 595s opened my eyes to a few bad recordings I had and how bad 128kbps and even some 192kbps mp3s were. I had to re-rip everything I had on my iPod to 320kpbs AAC to enjoy them again. The same holds true for the SR-225s. High end headphones can be brutally honest sometimes.

Ant

 

[Azure]

The situation is that I really want an amp but I don't know how to get the best out of it with my current situation. Maybe I should just get it anyways and get that minimal improvement in sound and just know that I have my amp ready for when I get the DT880s next summer? Are there any mods I can have done to get better sound for the A500s? Would crossfeed help with the A500s to get a more noticeable sound quality difference?

 

[Azure]

Eh, bump? You guys say that upgrading my headphones would be the best thing to do at this moment, but would DT880s unamped be better than A500s unamped? How about DT880s unamped versus A500s amped?

 

[apostate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure Eh, bump? You guys say that upgrading my headphones would be the best thing to do at this moment, but would DT880s unamped be better than A500s unamped? How about DT880s unamped versus A500s amped?

I haven't heard either (amped or unamped). I will say that my Grado 225s sound a lot better unamped from my iPod than my Senn 595s do. Amped I find them to be comparable with each having different strengths/weaknesses. My old Kenwood receiver has a horrible headphone jack and the Grados even sound pretty decent out of it whereas the Senns are almost unlistenable from it.

Ant

 

[Loftprojection]

To me your problem starts even before the source, any kind of "compressed" material will give you, well, compressed output!!! When I'm at home I personally never listen to anything but real CDs or non compressed copies of the CD on my computer. Yes it's uge but it's the original material in no way modified.

You should ear the sound I'm getting out of my old Beyer DT511. I mean those are at least 8-10 years old. When I push a CD in my Arcam CD23T player with high end interconnect into my Jasmine tube amp those old Beyers really sing. However, you would not believe either how "%?%%$ bad &?$%?%$" the old Beyers can sound when plugged directly into my Sony Minidisk player with a slightly compressed CD...

So, in my experience, it could very well be that you can get much more than what you think out of those A500 and you have them already. If you say your music is only available compressed then OK, I guess your source (the Karma) is as valid as any other compressed source player and you could get yourself new cans. However, if your music is available uncompressed (try allofmp3.com), then I would suggest putting your money in uncompressed files with something like a used CD player (not DVD or SACD) or even a big I-Pod.

Hope this helps.

 

[SDA]

My opinion: try a new pair of headphones. Grados, maybe. If you can afford it, toss in a cheap amp (Go-Vibe, CMoy, etc.) too. Headphones will deliver the most immediate and biggest upgrade, regardless of what else is in the chain. You'll probably hear flaws in your music with revealing headphones, but if you enjoy the headphones to begin with then it'll still be a significant upgrade. (Basically, you'll probably be too busy listening to the music to pick it apart.)

The DT880 still sounds pretty good unamped. Definitely not as good as an amped DT880, but better than an amped A500, and certainly better than an unamped A500. They're pretty different-sounding headphones, though, and you might not like the DT880's sound signature. Why not try before you buy?

A new source (piece of hardware, I mean) would be nice and all, but you said you don't have regular access to your computer, and the Karma is a fine DAP. Besides, you also said you might have trouble finding higher-quality mp3s. If it's out of your hands, don't worry about it, and concentrate on what you can upgrade.

Also, Loftprojection, I can't hear the difference between 320kbps LAME mp3s / 256kbps Ogg Vorbis and Redbook CDs, and I have a pretty darned revealing setup (including an E-MU 0404 and a K501) and good ears. Perhaps your DT511 sounds bad plugged into your Minidisc player because:

1. the player's DAC is much worse than your Arcam's
2. the player's headphone out is not powerful enough to drive your headphones properly
and/or 3. something's wrong with the encoding.

 

[Azure]

Some of my music IS available uncompressed, as I mentioned earlier in this thread, and I WILL be buying soundtracks and ripping them in FLAC. But, as you said, the problem is that not all of my music is available in an uncompressed format. I REALLY wish that I was interested in the music that you guys listen to , then I wouldn't have a problem everytime someone says to just upgrade my source. But that's not the case, unfortunately. Even further, I listened to a 128kbps song and then the 320 version and I didn't notice that much of a difference, if any (Most of the time they sounded identical). And there's only like 2-3 songs out of all my "low-quality" mp3s that don't sound the best on my A500s.

I'm searching on that allofmp3 website and I'm not finding any of my songs on there. I've decided that my final set up will consist of the DT880s with a ~$200 amp. I won't have both the headphones and amp until at least sometime next year, but I WILL be able to buy one of the two within the next few months. Which one should I get -- The amp (Use with my A500s) or DT880s (Use unamped through my Karma). Which will be the best bang for my buck?