[SneakyPelican]

Hey everyone, I'm using Beyerdynamic DT 770's and a Bithead amp that uses AA's. I was looking for ways to upgrade my sound quality (I already use high quality file formats), and Im wondering would getting a DAC be the best SQ upgrade? I listen off of a computer with no sound card and an iPod classic 80GB which has the wolfson DAC in it. I was looking at the FiiO e10 but considering I already have an amp it might be in my best interest to get a higher quality DAC. All these are just my thoughts, you guys are the experts! In a sentence, what would get me the best sound considering what I already have?

 

[Mad Max]

Get a higher quality desktop amp and DAC. 

There's all sorts of stuff out there depending on your budget.

 

[SneakyPelican]

I've got limited funds otherwise I would . Would I benefit more from getting a FiiO e11, or using my existing Headroom Total airhead and spending more on a DAC?
 

 

[proton007]

Question 1: Can you hear a difference between your iPod and the computer, when both are routed via your amp?
Question 2: Do you use your iPod's line out functionality?
 
Try to answer them as honestly as possible, if you haven't made up your mind, that is.

 

[SneakyPelican]

I haven't A/B'd them as I don't have the same music on my iPod as I do my PC (I know weird, it's a long story), I'll get WAV files on both my iPod and PC that are the same and let you know.
 
I figure because everyone uses an external DAC with the iPod anyways why exactly would it matter whether I heard a difference? (Just wondering.)

 

[proton007]

Quote:

I figure because everyone uses an external DAC with the iPod anyways why exactly would it matter whether I heard a difference? (Just wondering.)

 
Not everyone uses an external dac with the iPod, infact the iPod dac is pretty good by itself.
 
My main purpose is to find out the bottleneck in your system. If you can't distinguish between the iPod's dac and your pc's dac, then maybe you need to improve some other part of your chain first.

 

[SneakyPelican]

Yeah, I will compare the sound quality ASAP and let you know.
 

 

[p a t r i c k]

Quote:

I haven't A/B'd them as I don't have the same music on my iPod as I do my PC (I know weird, it's a long story), I'll get WAV files on both my iPod and PC that are the same and let you know.
 
I figure because everyone uses an external DAC with the iPod anyways why exactly would it matter whether I heard a difference? (Just wondering.)

 
I don't use an external DAC with my iPod Touch (1st Generation) and to be honest I don't think I ever would.
 
I think the DACs built into these mobile devices are really amazingly good. You need some very high quality headphones and amplifier to spot the difference between those built in DACs and after-market ones, and even then I would suspect that personally I might not be able to spot the difference in a blind ABX test.
 
I see you have a Bithead amp I've just googled to see what that is For portable use I have a tiny Meier-Audio amplifier which is the same kind of thing and I find the sound quality to be really rather excellent.
 
I am thinking that maybe you could get a better amp which would bring an incremental improvement, but then later with that better amp you might get some better headphones.