[koven]

x2 DAC and Amp

What's your budget for an upgrade?

 

[beez]

yeah, my question is mainly what's the next price point at which i'll notice a difference enough to justify the upgrade. in my head i'm kind of thinking around $1000 would be a pretty noticeable upgrade for a new DAC or amp. i'm just still not sure which i should upgrade first for the most noticeable improvement and maybe if anyone had recommendations because it might be a while before my next upgrade after that.

 

[FallenAngel]

Buy a good DAC.

 

[atothex]

$1000 will get you a great DAC AND amp, if you know what to look for.

 

[kelvinz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by beez /img/forum/go_quote.gif um, right. thank you for the excellent advice. i'm a recent unemployed college grad and i put my rig together last year from a night of poker winnings. i'm well aware that there's a lot of room for improvement, so maybe i didn't quite phrase what i'm asking correctly. what should be the next thing to upgrade? would i get much more bang for buck improvement from upgrading to a better dac or an amp? what price range should i be looking to spend before i'll notice a substantial improvement? $1k+? for the record i can't really tell much of a difference between 320 kbps and flac. whether my ears or my equipment are at fault (or if there really isn't a difference) i'm not sure.

and what I'm saying is all your equipment is at about the same level so it doesn't really matter which component you upgrade (first)

 

[Zuglufttier]

If I were in your place, I'd just sell both headphones and get a really good one. I never heard the RS1 but I liked the HD650 quite a bit.

Another DAC, amp or whatever won't get you a really better sound. Well, yes, a little bit maybe but the headphones will always make the greatest change in sound.

Go and audition the HD800, D7000, Stax, whatever. They might suit your taste and then get those phones and enjoy the music!

After a while you could think about your electronics again but I don't think it's really worth it once you've reached a certain level. You should even consider custom inears like the JH13 Pro which really don't need a lot of amplification and I guess, they'll sound miles ahead of the HD650 and the RS1 just out of your iphone or clip...

 

[Uncle Erik]

Get a turntable.

 

[beez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zuglufttier /img/forum/go_quote.gif If I were in your place, I'd just sell both headphones and get a really good one. I never heard the RS1 but I liked the HD650 quite a bit. Another DAC, amp or whatever won't get you a really better sound. Well, yes, a little bit maybe but the headphones will always make the greatest change in sound. Go and audition the HD800, D7000, Stax, whatever. They might suit your taste and then get those phones and enjoy the music! After a while you could think about your electronics again but I don't think it's really worth it once you've reached a certain level. You should even consider custom inears like the JH13 Pro which really don't need a lot of amplification and I guess, they'll sound miles ahead of the HD650 and the RS1 just out of your iphone or clip...

wow do custom in ears really sound that much better? i had no idea, i never thought they'd hold up that well against full size cans with a desktop rig.

 

[chesterqw]

the DAC and to some extent the amp

hard to say...
hd650.
maybe upgrade your amp first?

 

[carledwards]

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter /img/forum/go_quote.gif From your kit, that may well be the case. For the majority of us, I maintain that 320K VBR is perfectly adequate, although FLAC (or Apple Lossless : I cant tell them apart) is preferable for archiving/home listening where you can take advantage of your terabyte HDD. The gap in SQ just isnt anywhere near as profound as some would have you believe - 320K is streets ahead of most of the MP3 downloads available atm.

Interesting observations, estreeter. But I still think properly done SACD, for instance, is considerably superior to 320K mp3. And I do still hear a difference between 320K mp3 (which I use on the iPod) and red book CD. Good phones just make it that much more noticeable, IMO.

 

[oldson]

MF v-dac is a good reasonably priced dac (imo)
will probably be selling mine soon (not soon enough for you though) as i plan an upgrade.
but it was significantly better than my 1st dac , a zero. (which i liked, btw)

 

[hifidk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by beez /img/forum/go_quote.gif wow do custom in ears really sound that much better? i had no idea, i never thought they'd hold up that well against full size cans with a desktop rig.

I wouldn't sell all your gears to buy JH13 Pro. But yes I have owned HD650/RS1 with EF1 (not the keces dac), and I would say JH13 Pro out of my iPhone sound better. Yes, they all have different sound signature, but in terms of tonal balance, speed and detail, JH13 out of my system (or even iphone) is superior.

 

[oldson]

start at the beginning.
rip using eac, to lossless(of some sort) , play with winamp or foobar (aiso4all), then change dac, then amp.
keep phones you have, because you can get more out of them !

 

[sfmatt]

Considering your budget

I would advise:
1) Lossless (and yes it's better than 320kbps mp3, not by a mile but noticeable)
2) Go to a meet to get an idea of what is possible with the best gear. Look in the subforum "Meets, Get-Togethers, Factory Tours -> Local / Regional Head-Fi Meets, Parties, Get-Togethers Local / Regional Head-Fi Meets, Parties, Get-Togethers" to find something happening near where you live.
I'd say anyone wanting to invest more seriously should go at least once. Gives you a lot of perspective one way or another.

 

[cwoo]

I agree with the lossless idea. Even if you can't tell the difference right now, you may in the future and it is potentially a free upgrade (just time consuming). Hard Drive space is so cheap anymore that I don't see the need for mp3 especially if you are using your laptop and other stationary equipment.

At least this way, you will be able to eliminate the mp3 as a weak link as you upgrade other components.