[MicLive]

Hello!

First post. Looking forward to your recommendations.

I've just added an Audioquest Dragonfly Black to my digital system for headphone listening (iPhone 7 and Macbook Pro) and have signed up for a trial account with Tidal as I was keen to hear the Master quality stream with their HiFi subscription.

I've been listening mainly through my AKG K240s and Beyerdynamic DT770s but wonder if I should stick with my Spotify subscription rather than spending more on the Tidal HiFi option and instead invest in an upgrade to my headphones?

My gut tells me put my money into headphones and worry about the quality of the source material later. What would you do?

 

[tomb]

Nope. Keep the Tidal HiFi. Then upgrade the rest as time goes on and your finances permit. You've already got great quality headphones. While they may not be considered top-of-the-line headphones these days, they're only just right below it. The Tidal will probably make it eventually apparent that you need a quality headphone amplifier, instead. The better your equipment, the more you will realize the Tidal high-res quality sounds better. The reverse is also true. So, you could use the Spotify to keep you from spending money on better equipment.

 

[Scrum92]

There is no doubt that upgrading headphones would bring about a more significant change (not necessarily improvement) than Spotify versus Tidal HiFi, Qobuz or other higher fidelity platforms. However, upgrading your DT770s may be more difficult than you think. Identify what you want from a headphone and do your homework on the different options.

But consider this: once you start moving up the headphone food chain, the source equipment and material starts to become more important. This means it's probably best to upgrade the entire setup and I think you need to be prepared to do that. You don't need to do it all at once necessarily, but if you're going to spend, say, four figures on a headphone then pairing it with a Dragonfly Black is probably not going to offer you the best experience from your new and expensive headphone.

So, in summary, think about what you want and how much you're prepared to spend to get that. Your DF Black and DT770 pairing via Spotify or Tidal HiFi is still a really, really good setup and diminishing returns really kicks in as you begin spending thousands. If you are happy with how that pairing sounds, sure, improve the source material for what is a relatively small cost. Why not.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hello!
First post. Looking forward to your recommendations. I've just added an Audioquest Dragonfly Black to my digital system for headphone listening (iPhone 7 and Macbook Pro)
and have signed up for a trial account with Tidal as I was keen to hear the Master quality stream with their HiFi subscription.
I've been listening mainly through my AKG K240s and Beyerdynamic DT770s but wonder if I should stick with my Spotify subscription rather than spending more on the Tidal HiFi option and instead invest in an upgrade to my headphones? My gut tells me put my money into headphones and worry about the quality of the source material later. What would you do?

I say upgrade the headphones, your current headphones are decent, but there is better.
How much would you budget for headphones?

 

[hamison]

headphones 100% , a source can only do so much

 

[MicLive]

I say upgrade the headphones, your current headphones are decent, but there is better.
How much would you budget for headphones?

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Budget, not huge, circa £350.

 

[SonyFan121]

I've been using Spotify Premium (320kbps Flac) for over 4 years now and love it. I did try Tidal for a few months back in 2014 (in the days before it was bought by Jay Z) but I wasn't impressed by it at all I must say. Spotify has a significant number of music available compared to Tidal, also I found the Tidal software a bit of a hassle to navigate and not very helpful. And I didn't think I was getting anything extra for the extra £20.00 a month it was costing me compared to the £10.00 a month of Spotify. Now whenever I wan't MQA files I just go to Onkyomusic.com and I get to buy them and keep them, i'm not sure you can do that with Tidal.

 

[SonyFan121]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Budget, not huge, circa £350.

For that price there are some great headphones available that would be an upgrade. The best open-back headphones on the market within your budget (in fact, one of the best regardless of price) in my opinion, are the AKG K712 Pro's. You can get them for £199 on amazon and at that price they are an absolute steal. Very detailed, neutral sound with big soundstage and easy to drive with Audio Quest Dragonfly. I also recommend the Sony MDR7510 (£110) for a closed-back headphone. Very revealing and accurate, neutral bordering bright sound signature that works well with my Audio Quest Dragonfly Red. If those are the kind of sound signatures that you like, then you're in for a treat, if not then there are plenty of other good headphones available within your budget that would be an upgrade.