Dwee
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2013
- Posts
- 9
- Likes
- 10
I'll start with my story:
I began lurking here three or four years ago, when my last pair of earphones broke and I couldn't bear anymore putting uncomfortable crackling pieces of plastic inside my ears. After a bit of reading and discovering all the wonderful things I couldn't afford, I finally bought my first headphones: a pair of Sennheiser HD 595. Well, to say that they were an improvement would be an understatement. Of course my lurking already taught me that using them with an onboard audio card would have been blasphemous, and between a DAC and an Amp I decided to start with the Amp. The talked cheap Amp of the time was the Bravo Audio tube amplifier; they were still absurdly cheap then, so why not? It wasn't much of an improvement: just a volume boost (which I didn't care for, since I usually do my listening at very low volume levels) and there was a constant low electronic noise, probably caused by the generic 3.5mm to 3.5mm unshielded plug I was using at the time, but I was kind of expecting that, given that the source was still what it was. I didn't even bother trying to change the default tube. A few months later I finally got my hands on an Asus Xonar Essence STX. That was a nice improvement instead. I tried using the Bravo with it but it didn't compare with the built-in SS Amp, so I hid it in some box and it's probably still there as I write.
Back to the present: I never stopped lurking from time to time and desiring something better, and now I've finally decided I'm ready to throw about $1000 on a better setup.
In the last years I tried a quantity of headphones, but contrary to my 595, they grew uncomfortable after only minutes of listening. I keep my 595 on for hours forgetting I'm even wearing them, so I want something similar from an ergonomic point of view. The closer I can get would probably be the Sennheiser HD 600/650, and I know they both get a lot of love here.
Then for the Amp, I see the Little Dot series recommended a lot, so I was always inclined to try one of their products. What I'm eyeing now is the Little Dot MK IV SE.
At first I was thinking of plugging it to the RCA outs of the Essence STX and use its DAC, but then I thought it would probably be better to invest on a dedicated source. What I'm leaning towards now is the Little Dot DAC I, partly because it's well talked, as it's its "brother" DacMagic, and partly because it looks sexy stacked under the MKIV.
My doubts are born mainly from the fact that they're all fairly "old" pieces of equipment, and I'm not informed on the latest competitive gear. I probably won't be disappointed either way, but if there's something better I could get for the same price, I'd like to be able to consider it.
I began lurking here three or four years ago, when my last pair of earphones broke and I couldn't bear anymore putting uncomfortable crackling pieces of plastic inside my ears. After a bit of reading and discovering all the wonderful things I couldn't afford, I finally bought my first headphones: a pair of Sennheiser HD 595. Well, to say that they were an improvement would be an understatement. Of course my lurking already taught me that using them with an onboard audio card would have been blasphemous, and between a DAC and an Amp I decided to start with the Amp. The talked cheap Amp of the time was the Bravo Audio tube amplifier; they were still absurdly cheap then, so why not? It wasn't much of an improvement: just a volume boost (which I didn't care for, since I usually do my listening at very low volume levels) and there was a constant low electronic noise, probably caused by the generic 3.5mm to 3.5mm unshielded plug I was using at the time, but I was kind of expecting that, given that the source was still what it was. I didn't even bother trying to change the default tube. A few months later I finally got my hands on an Asus Xonar Essence STX. That was a nice improvement instead. I tried using the Bravo with it but it didn't compare with the built-in SS Amp, so I hid it in some box and it's probably still there as I write.
Back to the present: I never stopped lurking from time to time and desiring something better, and now I've finally decided I'm ready to throw about $1000 on a better setup.
In the last years I tried a quantity of headphones, but contrary to my 595, they grew uncomfortable after only minutes of listening. I keep my 595 on for hours forgetting I'm even wearing them, so I want something similar from an ergonomic point of view. The closer I can get would probably be the Sennheiser HD 600/650, and I know they both get a lot of love here.
Then for the Amp, I see the Little Dot series recommended a lot, so I was always inclined to try one of their products. What I'm eyeing now is the Little Dot MK IV SE.
At first I was thinking of plugging it to the RCA outs of the Essence STX and use its DAC, but then I thought it would probably be better to invest on a dedicated source. What I'm leaning towards now is the Little Dot DAC I, partly because it's well talked, as it's its "brother" DacMagic, and partly because it looks sexy stacked under the MKIV.
My doubts are born mainly from the fact that they're all fairly "old" pieces of equipment, and I'm not informed on the latest competitive gear. I probably won't be disappointed either way, but if there's something better I could get for the same price, I'd like to be able to consider it.
