[Toby M]

If you get a Cute Amp, then I'd get the Fubar II to go with it. It's USB and is well regarded here. I bought both of these and noticed a big ugprade both times.

The Fubar III should be good since its a Cute Beyond and Fubar II combined into a single unit, and it's a fair bit cheaper too.

But with a $500 budget you've got lots of other options too obviously, and the Firestone options would only be about $250-$300 all up. You could put the extra into some other stuff like a HD650 cable (which is supposedly a nice upgrade for the 580s) or some nice interconnect cables or something.

 

[Nikos]

To be honest I would rather spend 200-300 dollars as long as it can give me a huge upgrade in sound quality.

Fubar III seems like a good choice no? How much would the cables cost in addition to that? I am not familiar with interconnect cables or anything like that to be honest.

I'd be willing to spend up to 400-500 as long as it would be a large difference given my headphones, and the fact I use my computer as my source for playing my music.

I guess Fubar III looks like the best bet for now, is it a simple plug and play type of device?

 

[GAD]

Get a micro stack from headroom. They pop up used from time to time.

I use modded HD-580s at work plugged into an RSA XP-7 straight from ipod line out and it sounds outstanding. If your source is a computer then I would definitely recommend a DAC. Just loosing all the HD access sound interference alone is worth the price for a DAC.

Knowing what I know now, for a quick hit I'd look for one of the better amp/dac combos, or an amp with built-in dac.

GAD

 

[Nikos]

Yes, I am likely going to get the Fubar III this week.

And maybe in months to come I will get the HD650 cable.

Would that be an additional and worthy upgrade if I get the FUBAR III?