those are all sweet as heck

Ishcabible wrote

r00t_b33r wrote

Ishcabible wrote To be completely honest, for $400, there really isn't anything I can think of that'd be an upgrade and more neutral than your Shures. You probably want a bit more oomph and maybe less treble? The K701 had this really nasty upper midrange peak that I abhorred for what it cost, but apparently the Q701 somewhat alleviates that. The DT880 would just be brighter, which I'm not sure you want. The HE400 looks interesting, but I don't know how those sound. Honestly, I'd save up a bit for a used HE500. They're not really neutral but by George they are a treat!

If you just want some better mids, the Audio Technica AD2000 is amazing. Sub bass will be an issue though.

For the amp, I'm going to go completely against the grain and suggest that you get a refurbed Pioneer SX-1250 or SX-1280. Maybe if you're lucky, an SX-1980. These are all old vintage receivers but even Skylab, headphone amp specialist, likes his 1250 more than a Woo Audio WA6 if I recall correctly. They're amazing bargains and look sweet.

For the DAC, you might be able to find a used Twisted Pear Buffalo. The Yulong D100 looks promising as well.

A good amp/DAC combo is the Audinst HUD-MX1. It pairs well with the HD 650 and is quite powerful. The bang for your buck seems to be very good since it's ~$180.

You could always build your own amp and DAC. NwAvGuy's (Google) Objective 2 amp and Objecitve DAC (O2 and ODAC) are unbeatable for the price. You can get them prebuilt, and they're still a deal that way, but building it yourself will save you a lot of money. The O2 is extremely powerful and competes with the likes of the RSA SR-71B. AMB labs offers PCBs and other parts as well as finished amps. The ODAC is still in the pipeline, but it will be out soon. Read up on these DIY options, they're probably the best you'll get for the money.

For headphones, I'd usually recommend the HD 650, but that's been ruled out. Were they driven with enough power? You have to remove that veil! Some other phones you could look at are the Sony SA5000 (I believe Ishcabible is a big fan of these), Beyerdynamic DT48 (these too, they're a very unique headphone though), Hifiman HE-400, and possibly the Stax SR-207.

I think it would be worth it to buy the AKG K/Q701/2s to see if you like them. They need quite a lot of power, so make sure you're hearing them to their full potential before you decide to send them back or sell them. EQing might help, as well.

The HE500's are surprisingly forgiving. They sounded A LOT better out of my own vintage receiver, but out of an iPod, they were better than they had the right to! Upgraded components are definitely important, but even out of an iPod, they smoked all but my DT48's.

The AD2000's are still in production, I think. But you'd be able to get a better deal used.

It's really mostly the 70's and 80's gear that's the good stuff. Although there are a few non-silver faced receivers that sound good, like the Yamaha R-9, whose amp circuit seems to be a simpler version of the Yamaha MX1000, a monster of an amp that routinely sells for over $600. You can get an R-9 for $100 on a good day.

Well there's usually a premade one on Head-Fi.

I would probably have recommended the SA5000 is sub bass wasn't one of the really important things you wanted. They have great bass, but it's not exactly plentiful in the lower ranges.

And the DT48 is an absolutely stellar headphone that deserves a lot of the hype it gets, but only for a very narrow band of genres. It has the most realistic mids I've ever heard, beating out the HE500, but it sounds like absolute crap with 70% of music. It doesn't really do classical great, nor does it really do rock or electronic. It's aurgasmic with jazz, piano, and Asian strings, but as good as it is, I'd really only get a pair if you have a headphone for everything else. It's really a specialist headphone in the utmost perspective. It's also amazing for monitoring vocals, so if that's your thing, definitely get a pair eventually.

I totally forgot about Stax! You'd easily be able to get a Lambda Nova Signature in your price range (the task is to find a pair being sold), but forget about taking them places.

If you need a portable headphone, you could get a Sony CD900ST to save a bit of money. I haven't personally heard a pair, but a friend likes their mids more than the DT48's, and that's enough for me to at least mention it, and think about buying my own without even hearing them first.

Yes the HD650's were properly driven, but from my quick listen, they had a tad bit too much mid-bass for my preferences. Maybe in a future meet, I'll actually listen to them more carefully for a longer period of time.

Regarding the HE-500's, I just went through some websites, and yes it does seem like they can be easily driven with a decent amp that isn't too expensive. I might wait a bit on that decision though to see what more people think of the HE-400's. I really should have taken a longer time to audition them at the last meet....*shake my head*

The Stax look like an interesting headphone, I might need to do some research before considering those.

A lot of people seem to like the Lyr amp and Bifrost DAC. Do you guys have any thoughts about those? $250 seems like a reasonable price for the Bifrost

[quote="r00t_b33r"]

Ishcabible wrote

r00t_b33r wrote
Let me get this straight. Vintage amps > New amps? Is it a matter of price for performance? Also, why is this true? I've never really heard much regarding vintage vs. new.

Also, the Marantz gear I was talking about turned out to be the 2110 and 1122DC. Both are quite rare according to a quick search, and man, they are beautiful. Any thoughts on them?

SNIP

It's both a factor of price-performance and the fact that vintage amps just sound so much more romantic than the newer amps. They have a certain warmness and unexplainable trait that's magical. But they won't be technically better than any of the high end modern amps, but since skyrim_sword was looking at tube amps, vintage receivers are a great alternative since tube amps need to have a good transformer to sound great, and that requires more than $400. A lot more.

That scope!

I've been mesmerized by the scope (which is apparently the only reason it holds value) since I was little. That really puts this thing in perspective for me, it's almost humbling.

I'm not terribly worried about technically better. I listen for enjoyment!

I've tried to make this pair mine in the past, but I think I'm going to try again. I'll look around and see if I can snag something like an R-9 as well.

It also meant it was the TOTL thing, but yeah, amazing how that little thing adds $300!

I've been looking for an R-9 as well, but I think with my upcoming builds (Balanced Bijou, EHHArev1, and balanced Beta22 for college since it can drive speakers), I'm good!

skyrim-sword wrote
Yes the HD650's were properly driven, but from my quick listen, they had a tad bit too much mid-bass for my preferences. Maybe in a future meet, I'll actually listen to them more carefully for a longer period of time.

Regarding the HE-500's, I just went through some websites, and yes it does seem like they can be easily driven with a decent amp that isn't too expensive. I might wait a bit on that decision though to see what more people think of the HE-400's. I really should have taken a longer time to audition them at the last meet....*shake my head*

The Stax look like an interesting headphone, I might need to do some research before considering those.

A lot of people seem to like the Lyr amp and Bifrost DAC. Do you guys have any thoughts about those? $250 seems like a reasonable price for the Bifrost

Oh! The HD650's had too much bass? Well the AD2000 would probably be perfect for you then, since I felt the same about them but want something with a bit more body than the SA5000, which the AD2000 pretty much is, but not really. You're trading off a bit of the treble.

Stax would probably be the ideal option for you, but do realize that 'stats do bass a different way. It's not visceral like dynamic headphones, their bass is kind of diffused and really weird.

I need to get my hands on some Schitt.

I was looking at some of the Schiit products for awhile, but it seems like they have a few problems, this being one of them.



This was one of the issues that led NwAvGuy to be banned on Head-Fi and it was part of a pretty big debate regarding the quality of expensive amps. Instead of the Schiit products, I'd actually do exactly what they don't want you to do. Get an Objective 2. The measurements are extremely impressive.

r00t_b33r wrote I was looking at some of the Schiit products for awhile, but it seems like they have a few problems, this being one of them.

This was one of the issues that led NwAvGuy to be banned on Head-Fi and it was part of a pretty big debate regarding the quality of expensive amps. Instead of the Schiit products, I'd actually do exactly what they don't want you to do. Get an Objective 2. The measurements are extremely impressive.

I actually (think) I have a board being sent to me!

[Insert quotes stacked in quotes here]

Ishcabible wrote
Oh! The HD650's had too much bass? Well the AD2000 would probably be perfect for you then, since I felt the same about them but want something with a bit more body than the SA5000, which the AD2000 pretty much is, but not really. You're trading off a bit of the treble.

Stax would probably be the ideal option for you, but do realize that 'stats do bass a different way. It's not visceral like dynamic headphones, their bass is kind of diffused and really weird.

I need to get my hands on some Schitt.

Stax supposedly makes the best headphone in the world with their SR-009 model and it's highly regarded around Head-Fi. I haven't read too much about Stax' or electrostatic headphones in general since I figured I wouldn't buy one any time soon.

That's a nice Schiit reference. XD

Regarding amps, I actually might be able to get my hands on a Bob Carver amp. I'm not sure how those are or even what model it is....it's audio gear none the less.

On a side note, this forum really needs a better text-editing system. It's rather annoying having to type: [ color = insert color name] insert words [ / color] for example

Ishcabible wrote

r00t_b33r wrote I was looking at some of the Schiit products for awhile, but it seems like they have a few problems, this being one of them.

SNIP

This was one of the issues that led NwAvGuy to be banned on Head-Fi and it was part of a pretty big debate regarding the quality of expensive amps. Instead of the Schiit products, I'd actually do exactly what they don't want you to do. Get an Objective 2. The measurements are extremely impressive.

I actually (think) I have a board being sent to me!

If you don't get a board, I have five of them! I'm using my friends O2 (he got it built by a DIYaudio user). I have no headphones that need to be amped (or even benefit from it), so I can't make any observations on it.

Haha, skyrim-sword, you don't have to type out the BB code. There are buttons. All I think is missing is multi-quoting.

skyrim-sword wrote [Insert quotes stacked in quotes here]

Ishcabible wrote
Oh! The HD650's had too much bass? Well the AD2000 would probably be perfect for you then, since I felt the same about them but want something with a bit more body than the SA5000, which the AD2000 pretty much is, but not really. You're trading off a bit of the treble.

Stax would probably be the ideal option for you, but do realize that 'stats do bass a different way. It's not visceral like dynamic headphones, their bass is kind of diffused and really weird.

I need to get my hands on some Schitt.

Stax supposedly makes the best headphone in the world with their SR-009 model and it's highly regarded around Head-Fi. I haven't read too much about Stax' or electrostatic headphones in general since I figured I wouldn't buy one any time soon.

That's a nice Schiit reference. XD

Regarding amps, I actually might be able to get my hands on a Bob Carver amp. I'm not sure how those are or even what model it is....it's audio gear none the less.

On a side note, this forum really needs a better text-editing system. It's rather annoying having to type: [ color = insert color name] insert words [ / color] for example

It's really a matter of tastes. Electrostats sound like nothing else, and it's a very strange, yet compelling sound.

Carver stuff is the stuff of legend! For as long as it works...some of his stuff is notorious for failing.

r00t_b33r wrote

Ishcabible wrote

r00t_b33r wrote I was looking at some of the Schiit products for awhile, but it seems like they have a few problems, this being one of them.

SNIP

This was one of the issues that led NwAvGuy to be banned on Head-Fi and it was part of a pretty big debate regarding the quality of expensive amps. Instead of the Schiit products, I'd actually do exactly what they don't want you to do. Get an Objective 2. The measurements are extremely impressive.

I actually (think) I have a board being sent to me!

If you don't get a board, I have five of them! I'm using my friends O2 (he got it built by a DIYaudio user). I have no headphones that need to be amped (or even benefit from it), so I can't make any observations on it.

Haha, skyrim-sword, you don't have to type out the BB code. There are buttons. All I think is missing is multi-quoting.

I'll be sure to ask you when I get the money to pay for one! I'm doubting I'm getting a board since my friend hasn't contacted me about them in a month. My DT220's are sounding mighty...bad from my EMU interface. I usually get lazy and just use that instead of my amp for short sessions.

I paid very little for mine. PM me your shipping info whenever you want it, it's on the house!

im thinking about buying my self a set of beats HD solo or studios what ones would you recommend??