[chrislangley4253]

You are a college student on a tight budget, but your will is strong and you can save up any amount of money, eventually. You have a laptop, a 24gb sansa clip+, a pair of Koss Portapros and a pair of maximo iM-590's that you no longer use because you fell in love with the portapro's. You plan to play around with some mods on the pro's. What do you buy next? Source? Headphones? Amp/DAC? I just wanna know what you guys think the next step into audio bliss should be. Perhaps a decent pair of Grado's or Senn's?
 
P.S. I listen to v0 right now, but getting FLAC is no issue.

 

[chrislangley4253]

Bump? Lol. I'm thinking the next thing i'm doing is a recable on my modded portapros and a Cmoy amp of some sort. Then i'll save up for a good pair of truly audiophile headphones and then look into getting a desktop dac and or amp or maybe even a combo unit.

 

[tvrboy]

Start with headphones. In the $100-200 range there are many great options which don't require an amp. The SRH-840, SR-60, 80, 125, and 225, and AD-700 are all good and don't need an amp. If you want to get better sound quality, use your computer sound card, as that will have more power than the Clip. Better still, buy a CMoy on Ebay for $50. Buying a DAC and amp with this level of headphones is a bit pointless, as you will be spending about twice as much as you will on the actual headphones! The amps and DACs you can get for $100 are not great. I seriously doubt any of the $100 amps out there are better than a CMoy. I know it's anathema around here, but just listen to lossless music with SR-225s or something like that. And buy used in the FS forums here.

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

Start with headphones. In the $100-200 range there are many great options which don't require an amp. The SRH-840, SR-60, 80, 125, and 225, and AD-700 are all good and don't need an amp. If you want to get better sound quality, use your computer sound card, as that will have more power than the Clip. Better still, buy a CMoy on Ebay for $50. Buying a DAC and amp with this level of headphones is a bit pointless, as you will be spending about twice as much as you will on the actual headphones! The amps and DACs you can get for $100 are not great. I seriously doubt any of the $100 amps out there are better than a CMoy. I know it's anathema around here, but just listen to lossless music with SR-225s or something like that. And buy used in the FS forums here.

I was actually looking around the FS forums. I'm thinking a pair of HD650's as soon as I save up enough money and get a chance to try out a pair of Senn's. Then I'll move on to getting a good amp and dac. thats simply what i'm thinking. who knows, I've to pay off a ridiculously high speeding ticket before i can do anything

 

[ZARIM]

I think if you upgrade sansa clip with S:Flo 2, it will increased the sound quality and also it has line out to connect with external AMPs for even better sound quality over stock HP jack.

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

I think if you upgrade sansa clip with S:Flo 2, it will increased the sound quality and also it has line out to connect with external AMPs for even better sound quality over stock HP jack.

I just got my Sansa! I see no point in having anything above v0 on my Rockboxed sansa clip+ for mobile use. I'm looking more into getting an at-home rig going. My Sansa clip+ and modified portapros sound fantastic for how portable it all is. I have NO complaints. I just want to get a pair of headphones that are a good leap into audiophile territories with a sound sig similar to my modified portapros. I would describe the sound sig as neutral but leaning towards bright with bass that is there, but not dominant. I really, really like the sound I get from my PortaPro's.

 

[winma]

If you are thinking on getting the 600's/650 you'll need a decent source. Fiio E7/E9 combo its ok. 

 

[chrislangley4253]

One thing at a time. I'd prolly get a Dac as well as a desktop amp. They would be next on my to buy list after I bought the hd650's
Quote:

If you are thinking on getting the 600's/650 you'll need a decent source. Fiio E7/E9 combo its ok.