Total newbie advice please

[Denis99]

Hi
 
I am after some advice on what to purchase for a new headphone system. I'm a total newbie, but did once own some desirable hi fi about ten years ago.
 
 
I have an Ipod Touch and would like to use this as my source (or my IMac).
 
I have a budget of around £600 to £700 for a DAC, Amp and headphones.
 
Please could you recommend what I should buy, I've looked at alot of reviews but can't make a shortlist from the reviews etc
 
 
 
Regards
 
 
Denis

 

[Loquah]

Hi Denis,

Can you tell us a bit about what types of music you like and what sound signature you like (e.g. bassy, warm, analytical, neutral, etc.)?

 

[Denis99]

Cheers, thanks for the response.
 
I like a mixture of music from say World Music, Ry Cooder, Joni Mitchell, jazz etc
 
Don't want a bass heavy sound, but do like a warm, lush presentation on vocals in particular.

 

[Loquah]

Cheers, thanks for the response.

I like a mixture of music from say World Music, Ry Cooder, Joni Mitchell, jazz etc

Don't want a bass heavy sound, but do like a warm, lush presentation on vocals in particular.

Good start. For home listening I assume? I.e. are open style headphones suitable?

 

[Denis99]

Yep, home listening - open 'phones are fine -

 

[Loquah]

From what you've described, something like the HD650s would be perfect, but would have to be 2nd hand to fit your budget (with amp & DAC). Check out the classifieds thread for some.

There might also be some other Sennheisers that sound similar (HD598 perhaps), but I'm not sure. The Shure SRH840s have beautiful mids for vocals too, but they're closed and not in the HD650 class (more likely comparable to HD598, but I haven't spent much time with 598s and it was ages ago). Shure do have some open models and are known for their midrange quality, but I haven't heard the open models so best to read up on them and audition if possible.

General advice is to get headphones first and then decide on appropriate amp. There are plenty of great DAC options so I'd worry about that last.

 

[CJG888]

The headphones are the easiest part. Given your musical preferences, I would recommend the HD600s (approx. GBP 250-300). That part is a no-brainer!

As for the amp, the Senns really come to life on the end of a good OTL valve amp. Try a Little Dot. MK III, but budget for some Mullard driver tubes (these are CV4010s, readily and cheaply available from Langrex et al.). When it comes to the DAC, there are many options. LD's DAC_1 is good, or you could consider a Teradak D3.1 if you prefer the NOS sound (more transparent, smoother midrange, but less extension at the frequency extremes).

 

[CJG888]

Sorry, forgot to mention: you should budget for a Pure i20 too, to extract a bit-perfect digital signal from your iPod.