[DScience]

Hello there...

First I just want to say that I love music and high quality listening. But I am second guessing myself.

A few years ago I started collecting FLAC files for all my music. I don't have the money for super high-end gear, and invested in a sound card because I do all my listening via my PC. Here is the set up I've been using:

ASUS Xonar STX
Audio Technica ATH-AD900x

Well just recently I found this link i'm sure most are aware of: http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2015/06/02/411473508/how-well-can-you-hear-audio-quality

I did the quiz using these headphones, and I failed. I wasn't able to distinguish between FLAC files compared to even 128 kbps mp3 files. I was a little surprised.

I then found that the HIFIman HE400i headphones had dropped to $250 on Amazon, so I picked these up.

When I received them I was excited, and thought they were good. However after doing some tests I am unable to tell a huge difference between these and my ATH-AD900x. I mean I THINK thy HE400i's are better, but not a huge improvement.

My question for you all is this: is my ASUS xonar sound car just not 'good' enough to provide the high quality experience to tell the difference? Or am I just not quite there as an audiophile?

I'm debating returning the HE400i, but I would love your opinions.

If you think it's my system, can you recommend a good budget DAC/AMP to replace my current set up?

THanks

 

[minhmap859]

Audiophile, not audiophile..what's the difference as long as you like what you hear? Coming from a producer/recording background a well-mastered-for-lossy 192kbps piece of music will still sound better than a badly-mastered dsd one. Still, each person hears differently, and subjective biases can and will color our judgment whether we know it or not, so...just enjoy music, eh.
Granted, gears do matter and while your xonar sound card would be hard-pressed to drive the current-hungry beast that is the HE400I, it would cost you at least 200$ to buy a decent enough solid-state stack to drive he400I properly, so...it is up to you in the end, I guess.

 

[vlenbo]

Hello there...

First I just want to say that I love music and high quality listening. But I am second guessing myself.

A few years ago I started collecting FLAC files for all my music. I don't have the money for super high-end gear, and invested in a sound card because I do all my listening via my PC. Here is the set up I've been using:

ASUS Xonar STX
Audio Technica ATH-AD900x

Well just recently I found this link i'm sure most are aware of: http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2015/06/02/411473508/how-well-can-you-hear-audio-quality

I did the quiz using these headphones, and I failed. I wasn't able to distinguish between FLAC files compared to even 128 kbps mp3 files. I was a little surprised.

I then found that the HIFIman HE400i headphones had dropped to $250 on Amazon, so I picked these up.

When I received them I was excited, and thought they were good. However after doing some tests I am unable to tell a huge difference between these and my ATH-AD900x. I mean I THINK thy HE400i's are better, but not a huge improvement.

My question for you all is this: is my ASUS xonar sound car just not 'good' enough to provide the high quality experience to tell the difference? Or am I just not quite there as an audiophile?

I'm debating returning the HE400i, but I would love your opinions.

If you think it's my system, can you recommend a good budget DAC/AMP to replace my current set up?

THanks

Let me ask you an imperative question. Do you find yourself longing for a specific frequency? Do you expect more clarity? Because your ad900x are pretty dang clear, as are the ad700x and ad500x. This series is usually about details and clarity over bass. The Hifiman HE400 sounds like it's about a balance, but not exactly neutral. Meaning, neutral headphones may lack the bass quantity and even high sparkles. Of course, neutral headphones do not always lack bass or treble, but a balanced headphone normally can have quantity and quality of the lower and higher frequencies.


While the hinderance can be your sound card, it depends on the recency of your computer. Was it purchased or built a year ago? Then the sound is definitely not the hinderance since it would have to be a 5 year old pc for it to hinder your sound.

Also, about the subject regarding being an audiophile, that one is hard to answer. Do not associate the term "audiophile" with experience. An audiophile is essentially an individual who wishes to inform themselves of the sonic characteristics present in various headphones. Being able to compare them or analyze each headphone down to its core sound signature is what an experienced audiophile can do. Essentially, music lovers can be audiophiles because they both want to acquire the same thing, great music. If you want to hear specific instruments or beautiful melody of sounds in certain music, finding the right headphone for you is what an audiophile tries to do. The music lover would most likely just want to hear music in good quality. So no worries, just invest in a headphone that fits your preferences, and do not spend money on a sound card if your computer is pretty recent. I'd advise you to buy a player instead, especially since they are portable and lightweight. You'd want to invest in a good $100 player to go with those headphones you purchased, especially if its amped.

 

[DScience]

Let me ask you an imperative question. Do you find yourself longing for a specific frequency? Do you expect more clarity? Because your ad900x are pretty dang clear, as are the ad700x and ad500x. This series is usually about details and clarity over bass. The Hifiman HE400 sounds like it's about a balance, but not exactly neutral. Meaning, neutral headphones may lack the bass quantity and even high sparkles. Of course, neutral headphones do not always lack bass or treble, but a balanced headphone normally can have quantity and quality of the lower and higher frequencies.


While the hinderance can be your sound card, it depends on the recency of your computer. Was it purchased or built a year ago? Then the sound is definitely not the hinderance since it would have to be a 5 year old pc for it to hinder your sound.

Also, about the subject regarding being an audiophile, that one is hard to answer. Do not associate the term "audiophile" with experience. An audiophile is essentially an individual who wishes to inform themselves of the sonic characteristics present in various headphones. Being able to compare them or analyze each headphone down to its core sound signature is what an experienced audiophile can do. Essentially, music lovers can be audiophiles because they both want to acquire the same thing, great music. If you want to hear specific instruments or beautiful melody of sounds in certain music, finding the right headphone for you is what an audiophile tries to do. The music lover would most likely just want to hear music in good quality. So no worries, just invest in a headphone that fits your preferences, and do not spend money on a sound card if your headphone is pretty recent. I'd advise you to buy a player instead, especially since they are portable and lightweight. You'd want to invest in a good $100 player to go with those headphones you purchased, especially if its amped.

Thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate it.

To your first question, yea I think clarity is what i'm looking for most. I am not so much into bass. Based off that, maybe that is why I can't tell a huge difference between these two headphones. I also own the AT MD50's and I do prefer the AD900x headphones over those.

My computer is an i7 4790K with a Z87 motherboard. Under 5 years old. But I am failing to understand how an older computer could be a hindrance?

Lastly, I appreciate this about an audiophile. I suppose I don't care so much about being able to technically assess the differences between headphones as much as I simply want the best quality listening experience I can afford.

I've been seriously considering a portable device. My thoughts are between these three: The Fiio X3-ii, X5-ii, or the Cowan Plenue D. Which of those would be best suited for the three headphones I have?

Thank you so much!

 

[alwass89]

Hello there...

First I just want to say that I love music and high quality listening. But I am second guessing myself.

A few years ago I started collecting FLAC files for all my music. I don't have the money for super high-end gear, and invested in a sound card because I do all my listening via my PC. Here is the set up I've been using:

ASUS Xonar STX
Audio Technica ATH-AD900x

Well just recently I found this link i'm sure most are aware of: http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2015/06/02/411473508/how-well-can-you-hear-audio-quality

I did the quiz using these headphones, and I failed. I wasn't able to distinguish between FLAC files compared to even 128 kbps mp3 files. I was a little surprised.

I then found that the HIFIman HE400i headphones had dropped to $250 on Amazon, so I picked these up.

When I received them I was excited, and thought they were good. However after doing some tests I am unable to tell a huge difference between these and my ATH-AD900x. I mean I THINK thy HE400i's are better, but not a huge improvement.

My question for you all is this: is my ASUS xonar sound car just not 'good' enough to provide the high quality experience to tell the difference? Or am I just not quite there as an audiophile?

I'm debating returning the HE400i, but I would love your opinions.

If you think it's my system, can you recommend a good budget DAC/AMP to replace my current set up?

THanks

Very interesting test NPR has there. I just tried it with my Meze 99 Classic's out of the basic DAC/sound card that is built into my work lenovo thinkpad laptop, I chose either 320kbps mp3 or Uncompressed Wav for every song.

So to me that's pretty clear that I can differentiate between 128 mp3s vs 320 mp3s but not as easily 320 to uncompressed wav's with the basic built in sound equipment in the laptop. I would have to assume that it would be easier to differentiate with a higher end external dac and higher end headphones than the Meze's.

 

[vlenbo]

Thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate it.

To your first question, yea I think clarity is what i'm looking for most. I am not so much into bass. Based off that, maybe that is why I can't tell a huge difference between these two headphones. I also own the AT MD50's and I do prefer the AD900x headphones over those.

My computer is an i7 4790K with a Z87 motherboard. Under 5 years old. But I am failing to understand how an older computer could be a hindrance?

Lastly, I appreciate this about an audiophile. I suppose I don't care so much about being able to technically assess the differences between headphones as much as I simply want the best quality listening experience I can afford.

I've been seriously considering a portable device. My thoughts are between these three: The Fiio X3-ii, X5-ii, or the Cowan Plenue D. Which of those would be best suited for the three headphones I have?

Thank you so much!

The older computers actually required sound cards to sound their best. Now that the latest intel motherboards have the latest realtek drivers and sound chips, there's no NEED for a sound card. Now, if you want to improve the sound quality, you could get a sound card, but I think it's a better investment to get a player instead.

Also, since you enjoy having clarity and details in your music,either of the three works, but I would want to suggest the x5-ii just so you can feel pretty happy with the details it contains compared to the 3. I remember reading that the x3 is a bit warmer, which is a good thing imo. It just smoothens the sound a bit, but it's easier to listen to while still staying detailed.

 

[god-bluff]

Why would you expect a pair of hifimand to be necessarily better than your Audio Technicas (other than the extreme hype for them found on here)

The full size ATs have been highly regarded headphones for many many years.

 

[DScience]

Why would you expect a pair of hifimand to be necessarily better than your Audio Technicas (other than the extreme hype for them found on here)

The full size ATs have been highly regarded headphones for many many years.

I guess I thought the Planar Magnetic technology was supposed to be revolutionary.

 

[xeriminox]

While the NPR test is very interesting, I am surprised to say that even though I can typically distinguish the difference in these recordings, I can't say that the "right" answer was always my favorite snippet. For example in the Coldplay clip, the 128K was the only snippet in which I do not hear recording artifacts that actually were a little distracting in the 320K and even more present in the uncompressed.

Anyhow, interesting to say the least...





Btw, for the test, I used my work Thinkpad Yoga 260 i7-6500 ->Opus #2 -> beyerdynamic T1 gen 1.

 

[Audioholic123]

@DScience If clarity/detail is important to you then i'd suggest a good DAP or better still, a separates system. There are some really good network receivers available at very good prices too.

 

[DScience]

Oh geez....Well I started browsing the thread of people here posting their HiFi home systems. And i've realized I know nothing. I feel embarrassed even making this thread.

I want to learn more. When I see all these pictures it just doesn't even make sense to me. Where do I start?

 

[DScience]

@DScience If clarity/detail is important to you then i'd suggest a good DAP or better still, a separates system. There are some really good network receivers available at very good prices too.

Can you give me an idea of what you mean by 'separate system'? Like a DAC + AMP that connects to my computer?

 

[Audioholic123]

A separates system is when more than one hifi component (amp, dac) is used to listen to music, from a computer or cd player or whatever the source may be.

 

[Whazzzup]

credit cards my friends, load em up let the music flow. you need to get off the grid, transformers, regenerators...forget your mac go for a server running roon core, high res baby. just forget about bathing, buying a home or start a family. my 2 cents

 

[voxie]

Oh geez....Well I started browsing the thread of people here posting their HiFi home systems. And i've realized I know nothing. I feel embarrassed even making this thread.

I want to learn more. When I see all these pictures it just doesn't even make sense to me. Where do I start?[/QUOT

Oh geez....Well I started browsing the thread of people here posting their HiFi home systems. And i've realized I know nothing. I feel embarrassed even making this thread.

I want to learn more. When I see all these pictures it just doesn't even make sense to me. Where do I start?

To answer your question.. start from your budget. I have lots of so called "high end" stuff but you know what.. I still love my latest release Ipod Classic teamed up with a Fiio amp playing through a pair of RHA'S 500's. Small steps will get you there.