[ozyx]

Assuming I start with nothing (e.g. just the earphones that came with my smartphone), If I had $100 to spend on audio equipment should I spend them all on headphones? Or should I spend $50 on the headphones and $50 for an amp/dac? (or some other combination). What if I was willing to spend $200 or $400?
 
Also, what about diminishing returns? At what point of keep doubling your budget your go from "WOW... I can tell right away that this is vastly better than what I had before under all circumstances" to "After A/B testing for some hours I can tell that the new equipment is better for most of the music I usually listen to"?

 

[serman005]

  Assuming I start with nothing (e.g. just the earphones that came with my smartphone), If I had $100 to spend on audio equipment should I spend them all on headphones? Or should I spend $50 on the headphones and $50 for an amp/dac? (or some other combination). What if I was willing to spend $200 or $400?
 
Also, what about diminishing returns? At what point of keep doubling your budget your go from "WOW... I can tell right away that this is vastly better than what I had before under all circumstances" to "After A/B testing for some hours I can tell that the new equipment is better for most of the music I usually listen to"?

With $100, you should spend the entirety on headphones, since that is the single component most likely to improve the sound of your overall system. From $200-$400, you can start looking at dacs and amps, along with an upgraded headphone. As for diminishing returns, I would say for headphones they begin to kick in at somewhere between $400 and $500. Here the cost of incremental improvements starts to soar. In my opinion, FWIW. YMMV, of course.

 

[alynx]

Even with 100 bucks u want at least a passable source. No need for serious cans when lets say your laptop soundcare is utter *****. With100$ Id personally go with something like a m20x or maybe something from superlux, depending on what type of can and sound sig I want. Maybe a Senn HD 202 or PX 100-2 or those new AKG 52/72/92 (Havent heard those yet). That would be the realm I would look around. Then Id hunt for a cheap but agreeable dac/amp combo. Maybe something like the topping nx2. Well If you have a good source, then spend all you money on headphones as serman suggested.

 

[serman005]

  Even with 100 bucks u want at least a passable source. No need for serious cans when lets say your laptop soundcare is utter *****. With100$ Id personally go with something like a m20x or maybe something from superlux, depending on what type of can and sound sig I want. Maybe a Senn HD 202 or PX 100-2 or those new AKG 52/72/92 (Havent heard those yet). That would be the realm I would look around. Then Id hunt for a cheap but agreeable dac/amp combo. Maybe something like the topping nx2. Well If you have a good source, then spend all you money on headphones as serman suggested.

I should have stated that my comments assumed an at least passable source.

 

[alynx]

If thats the case you can spend all your money on headphones.

 

[ozyx]

  Maybe something like the topping nx2.

Is that the best amp/dac for under $50?

 

[serman005]

  Is that the best amp/dac for under $50?

You can also get into the very good FiiO Q1 for $69.99 plus free shipping on amazon. It's also a good one.

 

[dudlew]

You are not new to head-fi, but sorry about your wallet... lol.

On a more serious note though. i will just give my opinion here. The law of diminishing returns for me is personal. It is based on you. Some people just never hear the differences all that well. They are not accustomed to. You might love the AKG K181dj but hate the HD800. While you might hear the difference, you may not appreciate it based on your tastes and your listening habits. So who knows... someone accustomed to lets say the aforementioned AKG might not like for instance the Beyer DT880 because of the difference in preference, or you just may not think the difference in sound is worth the difference in price.

So the only suggestion I can give is to tr as many cans as you can and see what you like and if there is any appreciable difference to you.

As per your request, I would agree that the source can be a factor, but not to trash all soundcards that come with computers. Some actually sound decent. If you can figure out that your source is relatively decent, then spend the cash on the headphones. If you realize that your source is crappy, then consider getting a DAC/Amp combo like the aforementioned Fiio and a good headphone with the remaining funds.

I would however like to ask some questions that will help others guide you in your decision. Besides your budget, what are your other criteria... IEMS.... on ears.... over ears.... open.... closed.... portable or desktop use use... genres of music listened to... can you expand your budget a bit? would you be willing to?

 

[Music Alchemist]

The first portion of this post will be about headphone systems under $100.
 
Best I've heard was this system:
 
Lepai LP-2020A+ speaker amp ️ STAX SRD-4 electret converter ️ STAX SR-30 electret headphones
 
...But it's only available used, if you can find it...and it's pretty uncomfortable and inconvenient. The sound was very transparent (blowing away anything near this price range in that respect), but the headphones distorted in the bass at high volume sometimes, so I had to reduce the bass and/or volume.
 
My second favorite is the semi-open Koss KTXPRO1. Unlike the on-ear SR-30, these on-ears are one of the most comfortable headphones I've worn, and the sound, for me, beats plenty in the three-figure range despite it only costing ten or twenty bucks. (Heck, even with four-figure headphones on my desk, I still often reach for the KTX.)
 
In the circumaural open-back category, the Philips SHP9500 would be my pick.
 
Moving on to the $200-400 range...
 
Again, used STAX is the best I've heard, and you can find full-fledged electrostatic systems if you get lucky.
 
If you can find a used one, the discontinued HIFIMAN HE500 is probably my favorite non-electrostat in this price range. You'll want a good amp for it, though, as it has low sensitivity.
 
Assuming you can't find such good deals, the Sennheiser HD 650 is an excellent all-rounder that has less weaknesses than plenty of far more expensive headphones.
 
For closed-backs, I like the Yamaha HPH-MT220 and JVC HA-SZ2000, for audiophile and basshead purposes respectively. Both of those can be had for under $200.
 
There are all sorts of decent DACs, amps, and DAC/amps that don't cost much, especially if you get them used. Just research which ones have the features you're looking for. To get by, you don't have to buy expensive electronics. You can start with a cheap DAC/amp, then upgrade later. It's generally a good idea to focus your budget on finding your ideal headphones, then you can enhance their sound with the right gear.
 
As for diminishing returns...don't worry about it. Finding the sound signature you seek is far more important than how much "better" one headphone is than another. Technically speaking, diminishing returns kicks in very early. That Koss I mentioned isn't that far behind any headphone. You have to pay a premium for improvements in sound quality, and there's no guarantee whether you will even like a more expensive headphone more than a more affordable one, or that a more expensive one will even be better in the first place. Whether the improvements of better headphones are worthwhile is up to the individual. Once you get enough experience, you will (hopefully) find your sweet spot of how much you're willing to pay.

 

[obobskivich]

At $100 I'd say "all on headphones" unless your source is a Fisher Price casette deck . Most modern portable devices (be it mp3 players, smartphones, whatever) should be suitable, especially when running from battery power. As you get into the world of spending more, it will ultimately depend if that extra outlay moves you to a desktop/at-home solution or if you're still solely interested in mobile (ab)use. For at-home there's some argument to be made for a fancier amplifier or source component, but still the majority of your budget should always be going into the cans or speakers (diminishing returns for amplifiers starts very quickly, and even moreso for digital source components, unfortunately there is no "hard and fast" bar in terms of price, because different manufacturers have wildly different ideas of what constitutes "value"). If you're looking for mobile-only, you're likely going to want to stick with IEMs and may only need to consider an amplifier if you get into something thats hard to drive for whatever reason (e.g. the Bose ANC IEMs or the Shure or STAX electrostatic IEMs need their proprietary amp boxes), but IEMs in general are pretty easy to drive by design, so unless your existing mobile device is wretched, I can't see why you should need to invest significantly in some add-on. I'd be more apt to buy a dedicated mp3/mp4/whatever-the-kids-call-them-these-days player over adding "stuff" to a smartphone as well, but that's me.

Something else to consider is what you're actually listening to - if you're primarily listening to garbage quality streaming, voice-only material (like podcasts or phone calls), or (gods forbid it) satellite radio, there's not a lot of point in spending even $100 on headphones. Just get some cheap in-ears (or use the pack-ins) and call it a day. If you've got higher quality material on hand (I mean something in the realm of CD quality, not insanity-grade bitrates), then there's more argument to be made for higher quality playback equipment.

 

[WNBC]

Starting out in this hobby can be a lot of fun and overwhelming.  So much to hear and everything new is exciting.  
 
If I had a just $100 to spend and not concerned about isolation, my first purchase would be a Grado SR-80e.  Quite good even out of a phone.  For my tastes, the Grados are an excellent budget to performance headphone.     
 
$200-400 to spend.  Used iDSD Micro or used FiiO X5.  Then a good used full size can like a Senn HD600/650.  Might have to stretch an extra $50 to get all of this on the used market.
 
Those early rigs are some of my favorites.  Not so much from a technical standpoint, but just aural senses triggering some type of rush.  I can still recall hearing Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert for the first time with a pair of HD650s + Schiit Valhalla + PS Audio Digital Link III.  Pretty cool.  Enjoy the journey.  Spending more does get you better gear, but the "wows" don't necessarily come with each purchase.  

 

[JBHemlock]

I totally agree that if you've only got $100 to spend, you should spend it all on headphones. There are some pretty good ones in that range that will get you started. If your source is a phone, the one thing you want to keep in mind is that some headphones are hard for a phone to drive, so they'll sound noticeably worse than they would if you plug them into a regular stereo. Koss Porta Pro (on-ear foldable headphones, about $40) sound good run straight from a phone, but I noticed that my phone had problems driving the Etymotic MC5s (IEMs, about $60) I replaced them with, which gave those already analytic earphones even more anemic bass. Adding a cheap amp (I bought one of the CMoy-in-an-Altoids-can amps, but there are a lot of really good portable amps now) made a huge difference. You don't need a DAC, or even a particularly *good* amp, at this point. You're mainly looking to just add a little oomph to your phone's audio out, and only if your headphones need it.
 
One thing I've heard a lot around here is that you should spend more than half of your audio budget on your headphones. That's definitely the way I've gone with my non-portable setup. I listen to a pair of Denon AH-D5000s (~$500, when they were still being made) through a Schiit Modi 2 Uber (DAC) and Vali (amp). The amp and DAC together were about $250, and I'm very happy with that setup.
 
I don't know if you've seen Massdrop, by the way, but they've got some interesting audio deals from time to time. The Fostex TH-X00 headphones are very similar to my Denons at around $500, and you can find some reissues of some very interesting entry level audiophile headphones there that would definitely be in your budget.