The headphones thread! [Sorry about your wallet]

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#708042 28-Oct-2012 18:18

you won't use both DACs.

if you send analogue signal from your ipod it has been processed by ipod's DAC, the amp will just amplify

if you send digital signal from your ipod the DAC/AMP will process it

there is a phenomenon of double amping though, you ipod is a DAC/AMP so if you plug it to another amp you will double amp. to avoid double amp you need a DAC with a line level out

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Batman

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#708043 28-Oct-2012 18:19

by the way DAC stands for Digital to Analogue Converter ... it can only go digital to analogue ONCE by definition

jjoyce

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#708221 29-Oct-2012 09:39

Headphones:
Audio Technica - AD700, I've had these for 2.5 years wicked sound for the price bass is a little weak for some people tho
Shure - SRH1440, a recent upgrade, amazing detail, full sounding without the almost over the top treble of the above

Source: nwavguy's Objective2 amp and DAC, it's a step up from Asus xonar dx card I have in my pc.

Future purchase: i think maybe a set of Hifiman HE-400, something different with an energetic punchy sound for when I'm in more of a 'give me bass' mood.

networkn

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#708247 29-Oct-2012 10:28

So many interesting views. A lot of reviews are saying the 598 is a "fun" headphone with excellent sound quality, the 600 considered a technically better headphone.

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#708285 29-Oct-2012 11:25

mind you i crank up my bass on HD600 with hardcore EQing and it gives me skull crunching bass so it's defintitely bass capable but it's not its natural talent and you can't get it on standard EQ like an ipod ... but i must say you lose all those detail coz you head just shakes when you do that so i don't understand how you get good detail from basshead cans ???

NZtechfreak

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#708338 29-Oct-2012 12:36

joker97: mind you i crank up my bass on HD600 with hardcore EQing and it gives me skull crunching bass so it's defintitely bass capable but it's not its natural talent and you can't get it on standard EQ like an ipod ... but i must say you lose all those detail coz you head just shakes when you do that so i don't understand how you get good detail from basshead cans ???

You lose the detail because the HD600 isn't that bass capable, being able to crank the bass in an EQ isn't the same as a headphone being bass capable. No amount of EQ is going to make it handle higher levels of bass that well.

While many basshead cans might skimp on detail in the lower-midrange, that isn't necessarily true of the most accomplished cans for bass reproduction. You probably need to hear some orthos to appreciate that, particularly the HiFiMan ones, which are very good at detail retrieval.

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timmmay

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#708339 29-Oct-2012 12:37

DT770 is the biggest bass I ever heard, but treble detail was poor.

NZtechfreak

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#708907 30-Oct-2012 08:56

Just got my Ray Samuels Intruder (fully balanced USB DAC/amp) yesterday, not really had a chance to try it out yet except for a brief play to confirm it works with my Galaxy Note 2. Look forward to using it this lunch time from my transportable rig (today featuring the Edition 8, least favourite of my closed headphones but the one that quickest to grab this morning being the one already in the travel case).

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Batman

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#708935 30-Oct-2012 09:32

does the note 2 have a wolfson DAC? how does that compare with an external DAC?

NZtechfreak

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#708960 30-Oct-2012 09:45

joker97: does the note 2 have a wolfson DAC? how does that compare with an external DAC?

It does have a Wolfson, and sound output in the Note 2 is actually very nice (but volume output lacking for all but sensitive IEMs). Another AndroidNZ editor and I did a volume-matched blind A/B test Note 2 Vs iPhone 4 and actually the Note 2 came out slightly ahead in that comparison (to our surprise).

Will do a comparison at some stage between internal DAC+amplification only Vs DAC+amplification both being handled off-device at some stage, will be interesting. I expect a small difference in favour of the external DAC, since it has a better signal path, dedicated power supply, and doesn't have to co-exist with numerous other chips and radios. Because I expect that it needs to be a rigorous blind test :)

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networkn

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#709390 30-Oct-2012 19:35

Well I am quite pleased. I sold my HD555's to my father in law for $110 and my wife said she will spend upto $350USD (Incl shipping if applicable) for a headphone replacement of my choosing!

I know I don't want anything that won't sound magical without a headphone amp as right now I don't have the budget for that.

It needs to be a reasonable upgrade on what I have hopefully the budget can deliver that.

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#709402 30-Oct-2012 19:54

What is your source, dac and amp?

If source is mp3 dont buy top shelf cans

If you have a decent DAC most cans dont need separate amp (well at least my current belief coz i dont wanna spend a grand on a schiit bifrost asgard combo)

I play my senn hd600 straight off anything that has a jack

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#709405 30-Oct-2012 19:55

Oh was gonna say, if you are gonna spend 350US, you will hate yourself when you bought the budget option and six months later want something that was a hundred bucks more and tens of times the detail/soundstage/etcetc

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#709424 30-Oct-2012 20:14

At US$350 you're well into diminishing returns territory. Tell us what music you listen to, where you listen to it (home, bus, everywhere), if it's noisy there, what you drive it with (iPod, computer), etc.

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#709482 30-Oct-2012 21:15

Hi, I actually posted that information a page or so back, I was just updating the thread with my new budget more than anything, and the fact I want something that doesn't require a separate AMP. Pop/Rock, mostly artists you'd hear on mainstream radio. I'd mostly listen to these on my PC, Ipod and Yamaha Receiver. I really want something that makes the hair on the back of my neck raise when I listen to music I've heard a lot, if you know what I mean? I did vaguely consider buying some musically capable gaming headphones that were able to do 5.1 or 7.1 sound, but I can't see getting both an upgrade in music AND gaming enjoyment from a set of headphones in my budget.

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