[midoo1990]

thanks boomana,you are absolutly right.

 

[TStewart422]

Quote:

Originally Posted by midoo1990 /img/forum/go_quote.gif interesting so you usually dont recommend anything and just enjoy your rig?

Depends on the question.

 

[boomana]

Quote:

Originally Posted by midoo1990 /img/forum/go_quote.gif interesting so you usually dont recommend anything and just enjoy your rig?

I only recommend what I've actually heard and have had enough experience with to know what I'm talking about. On rare occasions, I'll point someone towards a thread that has answers the op might find valuable, stating my inexperience, but I would never recommend or trash something I know nothing about, and try to qualify my experience whenever posting my opinion about gear: I only heard it in meet conditions, or I owned it, or borrowed it for a few weeks, and/or with what amps, what sources, etc. if we're talking about a headphone. There are enough people who have experience with every type of gear on this forum. I let the people who know do the talking. I really really hate it when people post recommendations for gear they've never heard, but chat on like they're authorities because they've read about it twenty times. Want to talk about misleading the community! That's complete, utter b.s.

 

[aimlink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prog Rock Man /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have been on forums too long to know that sometimes typing out words without seeing peoples facial expressions is probably the cause of a lot of arguments and accidental slights. I also have the skin of a rhino.

You have the skin of a what??? Then why do you so easily take offense with what's written?

 

[midoo1990]

yes thats the way it should be done boomana.

 

[aimlink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boomana /img/forum/go_quote.gif I only recommend what I've actually heard and have had enough experience with to know what I'm talking about. On rare occasions, I'll point someone towards a thread that has answers the op might find valuable, stating my inexperience, but I would never recommend or trash something I know nothing about, and try to qualify my experience whenever posting my opinion about gear: I only heard it in meet conditions, or I owned it, or borrowed it for a few weeks, and/or with what amps, what sources, etc. if we're talking about a headphone. There are enough people who have experience with every type of gear on this forum. I let the people who know do the talking. I really really hate it when people post recommendations for gear they've never heard, but chat on like they're authorities because they've read about it twenty times. Want to talk about misleading the community! That's complete, utter b.s.

Without even recommending a particular product, there are some generalisations that are even more concerning to make and requires a LOT of experience to be genuinely useful to anyone. Two very common ones are the issue of HP burn-in (real or imagined) and a notable claim I was once involved with discussing, i.e., that the value of an amp is way overrated. There was another made here just now 'with absolute certainty.'

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TStewart422 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I usually just roll my eyes at the people who recommend the expensive stuff and enjoy my "low-fi" setup that I know with ABSOLUTE certainty is just as good as you guys with your Beta 22s and whatever the current FotM SS DAC is...

I have a similar set up to yours and I know for ABSOLUTE certainty some systems blow mine away. I've heard them. That said, I'm totally satisfied with my set up.

 

[The Monkey]

There's a lot to be said for the joy of finding a great bang-for-the-buck setup. I'm still blown away by the SQ that can be had from a pair of used Lambda Pros and an SRM1/MK2. To me, that shows that just about anyone can get into this hobby and experience very high quality sound without spending a fortune.

 

[mrarroyo]

There are a lot of great sounding cans that sound great for the money. Some have a great bang for the buck, for example: Koss KSC35/75, Grado SR60/80, Alessandro MS1, Sennheiser PX100, and many more. You can get a great sounding rig if you do your research and buy used items. Good luck.

 

[subtle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oqvist /img/forum/go_quote.gif The original poster asked about using the HD 800 on an Essence ST. It has one of the top three DAC chips out there so that is exactly how horrible and unserious it´s as a source. I have no idea what experience level he is on of course but that is not the point is it?. I sold it but mainly because I liked the synergy with my Elite Pro and Keces Dac better rather then it being inferior by any way. I am sure you can get better if you are ready to pay for it. But they are at the level it´s mostly about synergy with your headphone and amp. As for amp output certainly impressed with an K701. Known to be quite inefficient and demanding on amplification. A lot of the complaints here seems to be from an elitistic approach. Or from old audiophiles not keeping up on soundcard technology? Soundcards is soundcards whereas DACs is labelled as DAC1, Lavry DA11, Keces, Valab etc etc. Soundcards are so inferior they can just be soundcards or??? Many would probably get blisters on their fingers just touching a soundcard compared to their fancy standalone DACs. I agree it´s nice to have that box but I have zero background noise from my soundcards as well and yes they are very detailed. Elite Pro and Essence ST both have very short signal paths in high fidelity mode but you have the option for extra functionality that may seem unserious for some. I have a question. Take the HD 650 balanced. What is that 500$ for some nice expensive balanced cables with 1000$ tube amp and source with balanced outputs. Idea the total price should be identical. does it outperform an Hd 800 on a say 350$ DAC (external DACs are immensely overpriced so it´s a fair comparison with my experiences with DACs at that price level) and say a 250$ dedicated headphone amplifier on top of that? Or will they still be different headphones. HD 800 still having superior soundstaging etc even on lesser sources. I mean HD 650/K701/Pro 900 all scale really well too. Get one of those you have more money to burn on the rest of the chain. Though I doubt by perfect matching I can make either of these to sound exactly like a Hd 800 and vice versa.

I couldn't agree more.

Those that dismiss the Essence STX simply because it is a soundcard, apparently assuming it puts out something along the lines of a Soundblaster 16, are absolute fools and clearly ignorant. You can tell from reading this thread, and the other one specifically related to the HD800/STX, who has actual experience with the card and who does not. I love reading people trying to tell me that what I'm hearing with my own ears "isn't good" and that a $200 Grado would outperform the combo because my HD800 is supposedly not being driven to its maximum potential. Yes I am clearly aware of the fact that there is better out there, but to try and imply that I'm doing myself an injustice by listening through the STX is just absurd and laughable.

 

[chinesekiwi]

The HD800 won't nearly be driven to it's potential with the STX and I have plenty of experience with the STX (opamp upgrades etc...). It will be a complete waste of money to do that.

On the other note, I'll state it again:

Many audiophiles (not just on here) just simply don't know basic electrical engineering, psychology and psychoacoustics.

It is in your very much best interest to do this:

Here, educate yourself via scientific means:

AV University — Reviews and News from Audioholics

Fantastic website.

To educate yourself on the computer science side of audio, e.g. audio formats etc, hydrogenaudio.org's forums are great.

Thing is, even with headphones, you can make a great amount of profit on them. I have little doubt that mid-fi headphones cost less than $100 to make.

 

[Samius]

Hi, I'm a bit new to this myself, and would just like to ask, seeing as good headphones being run on poor amps are the subject here would the NAD C135BEE amp be suitable to drive some HD600's. I've been offered them in a package with a turntable (Pro-Ject Debut III) and phono stage (Pro-Ject Phono stage II) by one of my local audio stores, and they say they should make a good match, however, this is my first relatively expensive set up, and I want to get as many opinions as possible before going through with the purchase. Thanks.

 

[MomijiTMO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by subtle /img/forum/go_quote.gif Those that dismiss the Essence STX simply because it is a soundcard, apparently assuming it puts out something along the lines of a Soundblaster 16, are absolute fools and clearly ignorant. You can tell from reading this thread, and the other one specifically related to the HD800/STX, who has actual experience with the card and who does not. I love reading people trying to tell me that what I'm hearing with my own ears "isn't good" and that a $200 Grado would outperform the combo because my HD800 is supposedly not being driven to its maximum potential. Yes I am clearly aware of the fact that there is better out there, but to try and imply that I'm doing myself an injustice by listening through the STX is just absurd and laughable.

Who does this? Who? I had a STX, Chinesekiwi has a STX. I think the v-dac [low-fi] is better than the STX. I'm pretty sure more expensive dacs will turd over both of them. The point is that the STX is damn good for the coin but it's not the best low-fi dac. As for the amp part .. . . . anyone who wants to say it's good is plain nuts. The STX may be a 'decent' dac but it ain't a 'decent' amp.

As for you last sentence I sort of see what you mean. You can listen to whatever you want to listen to and people shouldn't challenge that. There is no apparent 'sin' committed by listening to the HD800+STX combo but most were saying you are wasting your money. That is what we find to be absurd and laughable.

 

[Menisk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by subtle /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes I am clearly aware of the fact that there is better out there, but to try and imply that I'm doing myself an injustice by listening through the STX is just absurd and laughable.

*facepalm*

 

[roker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samius /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi, I'm a bit new to this myself, and would just like to ask, seeing as good headphones being run on poor amps are the subject here would the NAD C135BEE amp be suitable to drive some HD600's. I've been offered them in a package with a turntable (Pro-Ject Debut III) and phono stage (Pro-Ject Phono stage II) by one of my local audio stores, and they say they should make a good match, however, this is my first relatively expensive set up, and I want to get as many opinions as possible before going through with the purchase. Thanks.

wrong thread, if you want this answered you might want to start a new one.

There's a war brewing on in here, run for cover.