[ok computer]

Hey guys, I have 300$ to play with and I need to know what I can get in terms of heaphones, dacs, and amps that will give me the best sq. this will be a home setup out of a computer w/stock sound card and I will be playing standard bitrate mp3, and wma files. I listen to mainly alt/indie type bands. I have done plenty of research but I don't actually have any experience with this stuff, so any help is appreciated.

 

[facelvega]

how about an e-mu 0202 usb and a Grado SR-225? Clean, simple, cheap, and should fit your music well. Alternatively, if you have a decent stereo amp already, how about some vintage normal-bias Stax (SR-3, SR-5, etc., with an SRD box) plus the best soundcard or dac you can get for the remainder of the cash? Relatively cumbersome, but would crush the Grado IMO.

 

[ok computer]

no I don't have a stereo amp....but I was thinking of getting the emu 0202...

 

[facelvega]

Then try the Grado and e-mu, maybe. Go for a used one on the FS forums here, and it'll be pretty low risk, as resale values are high.

 

[ok computer]

There is a pair of stax sr-x mk3's on the fs forum. Would that be a better alternative to grados or sennheisers and an emu 0202.

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ok computer /img/forum/go_quote.gif There is a pair of stax sr-x mk3's on the fs forum. Would that be a better alternative to grados or sennheisers and an emu 0202.

Yes, but you'd need a stereo amp to put behind them. You can get a passably good one for under $100 if you follow the gospel of team cheapskate, though other electrostat people will scoff at such gear. I swear, I've heard an SR-5 sound quite good out of a mere T-amp. Maybe not its full potential, but not bad for nearly no money.

ps, for your music, I'd stay away from Senns. Beyers would be fine, and some AKG, but the Senns, not so much. And electrostats, oh yes.

 

[ok computer]

The guy selling the stax system says they don't need another amp, and that it just plugs directly into your source. And then theirs the stax sr-001 mk3. Opinions?

 

[crappyjones123]

sennheisers are painfully transparent. amped properly, they will make your ears bleed at the amount of distortion lower bitrate files have. and then you will be forced to get flac or 320+kbps music which is making the process more cumbersome. "garbage in, garbage out" holds extremely true for them.

i have no experience with cheap stax (hell i didnt even know they existed o.O) stax in my mind represents something worth 5k...or well it did

at any rate, i was going to say grado for the kind of music you like but facelvega knows a lot more than i do about electrostatic crap. so if he says go for a lower end stax, go for a lower end stax.

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crappyjones123 /img/forum/go_quote.gif sennheisers are painfully transparent.

Is that why most people say they sound veiled?

Quote:

Originally Posted by crappyjones123 /img/forum/go_quote.gif i have no experience with cheap stax (hell i didnt even know they existed o.O) stax in my mind represents something worth 5k...or well it did

chea stax used to be more available than it is now, by a wide margin.

I don't know which SR-X the OP is referring to, but if it comes with a stax amp, that saves the need for a power amp to drive a stax transformer box.

 

[ok computer]

So I geuss the qustion is now do I go for the grado+emu, or do I buy the the cheaper stax and play it straight out of my pc.

 

[ericj]

Well, here's the thing about the SR-X III.

It's a mercilessly revealing and detailed headphone, a little rolled off in the bass, a little hot in the high treble. And other than that, the frequency response is pretty much flat. Ruler flat. Bonneville flat.

With a little EQ, you can perk up the bass a little and iron out the ultrasonics a bit and it can be a good listen.

 

[ok computer]

How Is the sr-001 in comparison to the sr-x mk3?

 

[ok computer]

anyone with electrostatic experience?

 

[crappyjones123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is that why most people say they sound veiled? chea stax used to be more available than it is now, by a wide margin. I don't know which SR-X the OP is referring to, but if it comes with a stax amp, that saves the need for a power amp to drive a stax transformer box.

my mistake. the word i was looking for was revealing. my experience with the 595 and 650 has been of great annoyance at times. i have a few really old hindi songs that cant be found in good quality and while i could listen to them on other headphones with a mild level of discomfort caused by the slight distortion, with the 650s and the 595s (to some extent) it was just plain painful to my ears. not in a metaphorical sense but in a literate sense. the sound was so distorted it was actually excruciating to listen to it.

i am sure the same would happen with any "good" headphone but it wasnt as noticable with my sansa mp3 player and the 595s (no amp in the middle).

i guess what i was really trying to say was that the senns are typically rather revealing of the source being fed into them.

ps. the sr 60s werent as sensitive to the same distortion as the 595s or the 650s but then again that isnt a fair comparison. *im sure some people might still disagree with me but these were just my observations

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