[Soriano]

HI everyone! I'm so excited about finding this forum its a great wealth of knowledge!

I've been slowly getting more and more interested in getting a better listening experience out of my computer and have been piecing together what I find on this forum to come up with some ideas.

What I am trying to do is plan a road map to guide me over the next few years of building my audio system. The main things I am working on is this:

-Computer (I am a computer junkie and that will be built this summer)
-Good Software
-Headphones (I have HD 555's but want to pick out my next pair now for later purchase)
-DAC (I am currently thinking about the y1 as my first one)
-Amplifier
-Good Wires

That is my current goal. I one day want a nice speaker system but for now my focus is on those 5 things.

So the PC will be first thing built. I will then get the DAC followed by software (I currently use WMP but want to know what other options I have) then new headphones and then the amplifier. I've read that the HD 555's don't really need and AMP so I am going to put off the amp until I get new cans.


I am hoping you guys could help guide me. I am currently in college so I need the DAC and AMP to be about $250 max (Until the day I have more money and more listening appreciation). I don't mind DIY at all. I want to get the best sound possible out of each piece. I listen to a very wide range from Rock to Classical. I am definitely more into instrument intensive listening than vocals (if that makes sense).

I am looking for external components as I want to be able to use either a Laptop or a Desktop. I am also new to this and am trying to learn as much as I can so bear with me if I'm not quite sure what your talking about!

 

[Soriano]

As a note for software I was looking at Foobar2000 and from what I can see is what many on this Forum use. I was also curious what people use to rip to FLAC format from CD's. I've been living in WMA and currently have all my music in variable bit rate (~350kbps) wma format.

 

[Soriano]

I'm sorry to waste everyone's time I found a page just now that I really should have read first:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/be...primer-410022/

I'll go see what I find int here as it will most likely answer most of my questions!

 

[EnOYiN]

Welcome to Head-fi! Sorry 'bout your wallet.

Another thread which is worth it is this one:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/al...pt-2-a-325941/

The most common music players for windows are: Winamp, Foobar, Mediamonkey & iTunes. If you want to use linux the common suspects are: Amarok, Exaile, Quad Libet, Rhythmbox, GMPC & XMMS.

Songbird is a new (and promising) cross platform player. Worth checking out as well.

Edit: Most people who are using Windows as their OS use EAC (exact audio copy) Here is a guide to set it up properly. Another good ripper is CDex.

 

[clasam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soriano /img/forum/go_quote.gif HI everyone! I'm so excited about finding this forum its a great wealth of knowledge! -snip- -Good Software -Headphones (I have HD 555's but want to pick out my next pair now for later purchase) -DAC (I am currently thinking about the y1 as my first one) -Amplifier -Good Wires That is my current goal. I one day want a nice speaker system but for now my focus is on those 5 things. So the PC will be first thing built. I will then get the DAC followed by software (I currently use WMP but want to know what other options I have) then new headphones and then the amplifier. I've read that the HD 555's don't really need and AMP so I am going to put off the amp until I get new cans. I am hoping you guys could help guide me. I am currently in college so I need the DAC and AMP to be about $250 max (Until the day I have more money and more listening appreciation). I don't mind DIY at all. I want to get the best sound possible out of each piece. I listen to a very wide range from Rock to Classical. I am definitely more into instrument intensive listening than vocals (if that makes sense). I am looking for external components as I want to be able to use either a Laptop or a Desktop. I am also new to this and am trying to learn as much as I can so bear with me if I'm not quite sure what your talking about!

Winamp & Fubar are popular...just choose one based on ease of use
Izotope's Ozone MP has gotten good reviews in terms of making a digital sound much more analog ($29)

If you have space, I'd go for the Audio-gd Compass. It has a DAC&Amp, with an option to use just the DAC or just the Amp...it may be a slight bit more than your price limit, but the Compass is at introductory prices right now and you will get an immense value & kicka** quality, based on the first reviews.

If space is more of an issue/you want portability, I'd look Ibasso...the D3 is $220, an has DAC&Amp, again with the flexibility to use just DAC or just amp.
Plus it's portable to use with laptop needs.

If you are able to round up a bit more money, I'd look for the D10...including shipping, it costs $298, but you get optical/coax inputs as well (higher quality through optical than USB), USB charging, ability to swap opamps to tailor the sound (it comes with 7 different opamps & two bypass buffers). Although sound quality is very subjective, it seems that the general consensus is that the sound quality is better than any of the other portable DAC+Amps (iQube, Predator, Pico, 3Move, etc). And it costs $50-$200 less than the others, with the exception of the 3Move.

As far as cables, I'm in the camp of "cables are the least important component in sound and you don't need to go crazy with them"

Phones...If you like the Senn sound, I'd go for the HD650
AT-AD700/900 seem to be good in all genres.

Trust me, I know what it's like to be a starving student...with that said, I think these recommendations are the best bang for the buck, and you will not regret buying quality.

 

[Soriano]

First off thanks for the replies both of you!

I think I've decided to go with Foobar2000 after seeing it for myself. I like how light it appears to be compared to others.

Thanks for the note of how to rip into FLAC. That will be one of my big project this summer.

I really like the Ibasso D10. I think it will be worth saving for an extra couple of weeks. What sound card do you suggest I look at for my new PC so I can use optical out? I was looking at X-FI Titanium Pro for use with my 5.1 Surround and then i can use optical out to the D10?

I mean if we are going to put the amp and DAC in one box I'm willing to go a bit higher on the one box. I will do more research but as of now the D10 tops my list (Thanks for showing me that!)

That's good to know about cables. I didn't think they made much of a difference as long as they weren't absolute garbage cords.

My uncle has HD 650's so right now that's what I'm looking at. i want to try and find someone with some different phones though as I have really only had the privilege of listening to Senn's.

 

[insyte]

1. Software is easy, if you want free, then use linux. Id recommend ubuntu

2. Depends on what sound you like, you can sell your 555 to get a HD600 or HD650

3. Good choice. It's cheap.
4. x2 on the compass recommendation, though get it before May so you could avail the introductory price
5. Cables should be the last thing you should improve and I personally think it can wait

 

[Alydon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soriano /img/forum/go_quote.gif First off thanks for the replies both of you! I think I've decided to go with Foobar2000 after seeing it for myself. I like how light it appears to be compared to others. Thanks for the note of how to rip into FLAC. That will be one of my big project this summer. I really like the Ibasso D10. I think it will be worth saving for an extra couple of weeks. What sound card do you suggest I look at for my new PC so I can use optical out? I was looking at X-FI Titanium Pro for use with my 5.1 Surround and then i can use optical out to the D10? I mean if we are going to put the amp and DAC in one box I'm willing to go a bit higher on the one box. I will do more research but as of now the D10 tops my list (Thanks for showing me that!) That's good to know about cables. I didn't think they made much of a difference as long as they weren't absolute garbage cords. My uncle has HD 650's so right now that's what I'm looking at. i want to try and find someone with some different phones though as I have really only had the privilege of listening to Senn's.

I just wanted to offer a dissenting opinion here about cabling. Cables do matter, and using crap cables (like those that come bundled w/ most consumer sounds cards or low- to mid-fi audio gear) will degrade the sound if you use them. However, you don't have to spend half your life savings to get good cables, and although important, of the items on your list they will probably still have the least impact on the quality of the sound your setup will produce.

That said, an excellent cable choice at a bargain price (well, "bargain" as many audiophiles would describe it

) would be Blue Jeans Cable LC-1's. IF your search the forums here you'll find that they are quite popular and often recommended for it's bang-for-the-buck qualities.

You can get a set of 4ft RCA cables from them for around $40 shipped. When I bought a set I found that they made an easily noticeable improvement to my setup (see my sig below) over any generic or Radioshack cables I've used in the past.

Also, a good sound card w/ an optical out would be an AUDIOTRAK MAYA 5.1 MK-II. They can be hard to find, but you can generally get a new one shipped to you worldwide for about $50 off eBay. Unless you're also a gamer there's no reason to spend the big bucks on an x-Fi card. Alternately you could buy a Xonar D1 or DX for around $80 that'll give you optical out via the included adapter.

 

[Soriano]

Thanks a lot for the response Alydon.

I don't play all that many games anymore and when I do I'm not good enough for sound to matter all that much

.

I will take a look at some of the cards you suggested and see what else is out there.

Also thanks for your input on cables. I would imagine that you want your cables to be somewhat of a higher quality but as you said I see no reason to spend hundreds on cables either. Thanks for the link I'm bookmarking it now!