[AgainstTheGrain]

what about the headamp pico? i believe its DAC is superior to the ibasso from what i have read but don't quote me on that.

 

[freedomflyer]

It might be a little better, but the cost is a lot more. Reading reviews of the iBasso show it does a great job, anyway. Of course, I'm sure there are much better portable DAC/AMPs out there $160 is probably already way over my budget for the iBasso.
Thanks for the input, though! Let me know if you have any other advice!

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freedomflyer /img/forum/go_quote.gif So the iBasso sounds like a good option that I can drag it around to different locations. So just to be clear if I use it with my laptop or work comp I'll use the USB in on the iBasso and when I use a generic mp3 player I'll use the 3.5mm in. And if I DONT use USB then the iBasso will only use it's ampifier and not dac?

Correct!
Seems like you get the hang of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgainstTheGrain /img/forum/go_quote.gif what about the headamp pico? i believe its DAC is superior to the ibasso from what i have read but don't quote me on that.

Sure, there are other alternatives than the iBasso D2.
They cost way more though, like HeadAmp Pico -> $499, and RSA The Predator -> $475. While the iBasso is $165...

 

[freedomflyer]

Well, krmathis and gang - I think I've gleaned all the knowledge possible and that I'm quitting Head-Fi because I'm now a certified professional

Your help is greatly appreciated! I have ordered my (soon to be coveted, hopefully) Super.Fi Pro 5's and I'm hoping they sound at least okay, and next paycheck I'll get the iBasso. Hopefully this combo will please me for a while until the deeper audiophile bug bites again. But if I am right, the iBasso + Super.Fi combo should produce quite a nice sounding experience.
Hmm, my friend was also talking about "matching" or "pairing" of a dac/amp to IEMs. It sounds like there are certain combinations of these components that produce superior results due to their characteristics and how they interact with eachother. Could you give a brief explanation on that and explain how it might affect my particular soon-to-be config?

 

[moonboy403]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freedomflyer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, krmathis and gang - I think I've gleaned all the knowledge possible and that I'm quitting Head-Fi because I'm now a certified professional Your help is greatly appreciated! I have ordered my (soon to be coveted, hopefully) Super.Fi Pro 5's and I'm hoping they sound at least okay, and next paycheck I'll get the iBasso. Hopefully this combo will please me for a while until the deeper audiophile bug bites again. But if I am right, the iBasso + Super.Fi combo should produce quite a nice sounding experience. Hmm, my friend was also talking about "matching" or "pairing" of a dac/amp to IEMs. It sounds like there are certain combinations of these components that produce superior results due to their characteristics and how they interact with eachother. Could you give a brief explanation on that and explain how it might affect my particular soon-to-be config?

The right "synergy" as head-fiers call it is highly subjective. It all depends on the sound YOU'RE looking for. You just have to try things out yourself and find out what you like.

As for satisfaction with the SF Pro 5, I'm sure you'll be satisfied if that's your first pair of "real" headphone, but I would like to kindly remind you that there are much better headphones out there and you'll be missing out if you don't try them out!

 

[freedomflyer]

Well, I've seen lots of IEM's and it doesn't seem like there are that many that are by far and away nicer than these without a significantly higher price tag. I mean, i'm sure at a similar price range their are worse and better IEM's but what is the ceiling for most Head-Fi'ers expenses for a good pair of IEM's?

 

[Maxvla]

I've tried several IEMs. I've never found any that worked nearly as well as I'd hoped and I've had some up to $200 so I didn't just try the cheap ones.

 

[freedomflyer]

Well, i mean, the UE's are $250 retail, and I'm not saying that price reflects quality, but with a respected company that puts a price like that on some IEM's, they must be pretty good.

 

[slwiser]

Since you mentioned using someone else's computer think about getting an external USB hard drive like a Passport 320 gig like I have so you can put all your file on it. You can also load a media player on the hard drive such as Foobar and run it completely without having anything loaded on your friends computer. Of course it would run in memory on his computer. You can even get the Nuforce Icon Mobile for 99$ which is equally as good as the iBasso Boa. I have both. Check out some of my components in my sig. I use these computers with my Dell Mini 9.

 

[freedomflyer]

How much will you sell your BOA for?

Help a starving new audiophile out?

That is a very good idea, btw, to use a portable hard drive and use portable apps on it like foobar. This stuff I'm better at - it's my profession

I already use an 8GB usb drive to boot Ubuntu linux, and firefox portable, etc...and it is GREAT. So, that is an absolutely great idea.The best thing about that is the fact that I don't actually have to install anything, that was my greatest fear, was having good to nice audio equipment but not being able to use it.
Anyway, I will look into that Boa if you don't want to sell yours to me, thanks!

 

[freedomflyer]

So UPDATE TIME! I got my Super.Fi 5 Pro's today. I plugged them into my laptop, and fired away. After 5 minutes, I was simling. They are sweet! I actually thought I was going to sacrifice on comfortability due to their size, but they are...well...they melted into my ears. Awesome.
Also, they really do sound great. I wouldn't say they blew my other pair of earphones away (my other pair were $70, so they weren't "crap"...) but most of the details just seem, well, better...more full. But the only problem I have is it's almost like I have to really listen for it more or less. But I think once I become more used to the difference and the quality, I will appreciate it more. I think I just need a little more...fullnes. Right now I'm using 320kbps mp3's and I can actually tell the difference between 128 and 320

So...about that Nuforce Icon Mobile...is that going to noticebaly make things pop?! I'm falling in love with music all over again....!

 

[Maxvla]

Soon enough you'll be able to tell 320k/s from lossless/wav.

Enjoy your new cans!

 

[krmathis]

Congratulations! Enjoy those Super.Fi 5 Pro's.

...soon you will probably find out the benefit of lossless audio files, and move on..

 

[freedomflyer]

Another update! The wallet has been struck again - but for the last time in a while as all I really ever will use is a set of IEM's and a portable amp. At the moment I can't find a place/use for full size cans because I'm simply here and there too much. Anyway -
I got a Nuforce Icon Mobile DAC/Amp - and (I think...) it's sounding quite a bit better. One of the main things I enjoy about it is the ability to plug it into my comp's usb and have all that nasty background fizzle go away and just listen to quiet music without it. Very nice. I'm still burning it in, so we'll have to see, but yeah - cool stuff.
And now I have 400 FLAC music files that I'm listening to. Very nice. But now my Super.fi cord is busted, they break so easily...so I've taped the cord up and am waiting