Trust Your Ears...
Apr 30, 2010 at 2:18 PM Post #107 of 165
Wow Carl I consider you lucky. I may not hear huge differences but I do hear differences with desktop amps and DAC's. My loss I guess because they have cost me some money for sure. If I could not hear a difference then it would be silly to spend the money on this hobby. I am pretty happy with what I have at the moment and I hope you are too. Happy listening.
 
Apr 30, 2010 at 2:40 PM Post #108 of 165
Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy*Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I just plugged my HD580 into the ipod shuffle... only line out.

When I used the EF2 it was through its USB DAC.



I cant see how you can use an external amp or dac with the shuffle?

Headphones via the shuffle isn't via the line out, that's the headphone out.
 
Apr 30, 2010 at 4:08 PM Post #109 of 165
Quote:

Originally Posted by Feanor /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Whoa, a shuffle? What levels do you listen at?


It gets my HD580's LOUD. More than I (or I hope anyone) would ever listen.

You hear all this stuff on head-fi that makes you think when you plug in 300 ohm sennheisers into an ipod that its going sound horrendous and you need a $600 dollar amp to justify the headphone. However, I think it sounds amazing. This is a common misconception veterans give to newcomers (myself originally).
 
Apr 30, 2010 at 4:10 PM Post #110 of 165
Quote:

Originally Posted by d.g /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I cant see how you can use an external amp or dac with the shuffle?

Headphones via the shuffle isn't via the line out, that's the headphone out.



Ya, there is some confusion here.

I don't use my amp with the shuffle. I am comparing the DAC/AMP via my computer directly to my shuffle by itself.
 
Apr 30, 2010 at 10:11 PM Post #111 of 165
I sort of agree with the OP - when you take a step back and look at the sound quality from the highest end Stax O2 to the lowest end Delta Airlines over-ears, the headphones make the biggest difference - maybe 80%-90%, as someone posted.

That doesn't mean that the 10% isn't important - it's pretty important to a lot of people. That why there are $2000 Campagnolo groupsets, and $1500 inline boots, and $150,000 sports cars. It's all about how much do you care, and how much money you have. I've listened to really high-end headphone setups, and they do sound much better to me, but for me they aren't $5000 better, and that's related to how much money I make, and how I prioritize, and that's a personal thing that each of us decides.

For me, my desktop amp made a noticeable difference over my portable amp. Was it more than 10%? No. After getting the amp, I would say that getting my DAC made a bigger percentage difference. Hooked up without either I would say its about 15% worse, the biggest difference being the amount of volume necessary to hear fainter sounds is a lot less. But when I compare the difference between my 271 and my 702, the difference is obviously greater than that of the 702 amped v. 702 non-amped.
 
Apr 30, 2010 at 10:27 PM Post #112 of 165
I think people hear small differences with amps and get excited about it and say that the difference is bigger than it is. Even if i had noticed a small difference, I would have had a much different attitude. I once thought the sound was so much better simply because I had the right and left channels on backwards, and when I testing between another source I was picking up all this new music in one driver. I though this was an increase in detail, but of course it was just hooked up backwards. But until I realized it, I was convinced that it sounded better.
 
Apr 30, 2010 at 10:38 PM Post #113 of 165
Grossly exaggerating the differences is IMO the main reason why this hobby often appears to be ridiculous. But, most hobbies mean getting involved in the detail and thinking it is worth spending silly amounts of money. Modding cars and fishing spring to mind as examples of how people can obsess over details that to them seem huge but to others are non existent.
 
Apr 30, 2010 at 10:51 PM Post #114 of 165
I still don't like how listening to music is viewed as a hobby here, even if it is with good gear. Music is not a hobby. Working on cars or flying remote controls airplanes is a hobby.
 
Apr 30, 2010 at 10:53 PM Post #115 of 165
Quote:

Originally Posted by Prog Rock Man /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Grossly exaggerating the differences is IMO the main reason why this hobby often appears to be ridiculous. But, most hobbies mean getting involved in the detail and thinking it is worth spending silly amounts of money. Modding cars and fishing spring to mind as examples of how people can obsess over details that to them seem huge but to others are non existent.


I'm sure everyone here experiences this... My family and friends and especially co-workers think I'm insane for buying $500 headphones and usually laugh when they first hear about a headphone amp.

When you step back and look at it, its quite ridiculous. But it makes me happy right now, even if I am delusional about the moderate differences between amp's DAC's, and especially cables.

Life is short, do what makes you happy if you can afford it.
 
Apr 30, 2010 at 10:55 PM Post #116 of 165
Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy*Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I still don't like how listening to music is viewed as a hobby here, even if it is with good gear. Music is not a hobby. Working on cars or flying remote controls airplanes is a hobby.


So is playing video games and watching movies. But music can't be a hobby? Isn't a hobby just something someone does for fun in their free time, with a passion and an interest surpassing normal pastimes?

I don't understand this. What is it, exactly, if it's not a hobby? Barring the obvious "vibrations in the air". Don't get smart
wink.gif
 
Apr 30, 2010 at 10:57 PM Post #117 of 165
Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy*Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I still don't like how listening to music is viewed as a hobby here, even if it is with good gear. Music is not a hobby. Working on cars or flying remote controls airplanes is a hobby.


Hifi is the hobby. Music is the means to the hobby, like fish are the means to fishing.
 
Apr 30, 2010 at 11:02 PM Post #118 of 165
hob-by; noun, an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure

music sounds like a hobby to me
 
Apr 30, 2010 at 11:05 PM Post #119 of 165
Quote:

Originally Posted by Prog Rock Man /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Hifi is the hobby. Music is the means to the hobby, like fish are the means to fishing.


now that's some confucius s#!t right there!!
biggrin.gif
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top