Digital Audio Unleash Your Headphones' True Potential

[Bob Dylan]

Papa in a way not all headphones need a good amp. Basically, it's the same idea as listening to your stereo system, plugged into the amp. Some headphones need a lot of juice, others not. In-ear almost never need an amp. Audiotechnica. Entry level Grados can be plugged into a headphone jack of any MP3 player or laptop and it won't change if you have an amp or not (they will kick ass as much).

 

There's a lot of psychoacoustic involved in that indeed. A good pair of headphones or speakers and you are at 95% of the sound quality potential anyway.

 

 

This is what you need to replace your cheap PC speakers :

 

[Guest nene multiple assgasms]

But seriously... The Sennheiser Orpheus headphones...

 

 

Only $40,000 USD >:)

 

http://www.stereophi...ones/index.html

 

 

 

Why are the cables out of both sides. Shouldn't all headphones have a single lead by now. So when you take them on and off all day, you don't get them caught on fking everything. Where the cables insert into the headphone looks flimsy too. $40,000 really? Sennheiser really are a rip these days. Senn(their.reputation)lower.

 

The cables on the HD600s or HD650s look like this:

 

 

Those inserts aren't flimsy. They're pretty solid, but they're also detachable. Unlike a single entry cable, they do not have to run from one ear cup up through the headband to the other ear cup. These aren't "DJ" headphones where you're flinging them off every 30 seconds. It seems like a pretty reasonable, and in some ways preferable, design decision to me. Note that this way also allows for easy cable replacement if the cable fails.

 

Anyway, after about 5 years of heavy use, I've had no problems with the cables or the connection on my HD650s.

 

I used to listen on hd 580s until one side started cutting out; I assumed it was the cable connection socket in one of the phones. long after getting hd 600s (which come with the same cable) out of curiosity I switched the old cable in the 580s with the cable from the 600s, and lo and behold, they worked with no cut outs at all. I'm not sure if it's down to the proprietary two-prong design, but the cable connectors do seem prone to wearing out. I later ordered the heavier duty cables as seen on the 650s in the pic above and used the working cable from 600s in the old 580s.

 

I should add I got a lot of use out of the 580s before the cable started failing. most comfortable headphone ever.

[goffer]

i've been using this combo for the last 2 years and wow just about everyone I have shared them with:

 

Pico USB DAC/Amp

 

Ultrason Pro 900

[eugene]

this looks like the ultimate usb soundcard dac+amp all-in-1 nowdays: http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/Xonar_Essence_One/

[eugene]

I use a Xonar Essence STX which has a great built-in headphone amp. I'd say it's certainly a noticable difference from the onboard output (using HD650s.)

it's not really great but it's definitely much better than anything onboard, some fiio device uses the same amp chip. you can further improve the sound by getting different opamps, i'd bet you aren't too happy with how aggressive the highs often sound.

[oscillik]

this looks like the ultimate usb soundcard dac+amp all-in-1 nowdays: http://www.asus.com/...ar_Essence_One/

 

is it just me, or is all this talk of 'upsampling' audio and video just complete bollocks?

[Goiter Sanchez]

this looks like the ultimate usb soundcard dac+amp all-in-1 nowdays: http://www.asus.com/...ar_Essence_One/

 

is it just me, or is all this talk of 'upsampling' audio and video just complete bollocks?

 

I'm honestly not sure, but Linn Audio would have you spend over $30,000 USD on their 'Klimax DS' digital stream player just to find out. It is touted to do just that somehow...

 

http://www.linn.co.uk/systems/products/linn-ds/klimax-ds

 

I'd assume the principal is similar to when one watches a standard DVD using a high quality Blu-Ray player; the more powerful player improves the presentation (which I have personally witnessed beyond a shadow of a doubt).

[baph]

This is what you need to replace your cheap PC speakers :

 

 

I'll happily vouch for Audioengine A5's. I've loved mine for years.

 

Looks like they pulled the outlet for plugging in an airport express on the newest iteration, though? I use the shit out of that. Obviously you can just run a longer cable to the minijack input, no big deal, but it was a nice space saver.

[baph]

The Orpheus headphones were never a main production headphone. There was also a cheaper "Baby Orpheus" model, IIRC, for a couple grand. Both were limited. It was really just R/D that Sennheiser decided to sell to the batshit insane audiophile enthusiast upper crust. Why not? There were serious reviews claiming the Orpheus to be the best headphone ever made at the time of release (a long time ago, by the way), which earned some extra mindshare for Sennheiser and allowed them to compete with Stax's electrostatic headphones (the Orpheus is an electrostatic, too), which were regarded as the "best" in 1991, when these came out. Again, 1991.\

 

The Orpheus headphones came out in 1991? So what would be the uncompromising audiophile wank headphone these days then?

 

Actually, aside from your die hard electrostatic fans, you can get the in-production top of the line from just about any major audiophile headphone manufacturer for under 2k. Which is obviously far from reasonable, but still not completely outragous.

 

The Sennheiser HD-800s look ridiculous to me

 

 

Beyerdynamic T1s

 

 

Both of those are souped up dynamic driver designs.

 

AKG seems to be asleep at the wheel.

 

The Grado PS-1000s are even more expensive than those:

 

 

But I sort of don't know if modern Grados are really worth that kind of price. I love them, but they're not terribly accurate.

 

There's a lot of big money in custom-fit multi armature in ear monitors. You can spend a ton on that shit.

 

There's also a lot of talk about planar magnetic driver headphones (orthodynamics) being pretty fucking good, like these Audeze LCD-2s for about a grand:

 

 

I'm not even tempted to upgrade to any of these, please understand.

[eugene]

Actually, aside from your die hard electrostatic fans, you can get the in-production top of the line from just about any major audiophile headphone manufacturer for under 2k. Which is obviously far from reasonable, but still not completely outragous.

that's the coolest thing about headphone audio to me, you can build yourself a very good system for about $1k, something that's impossible with speakers.

[oscillik]

this looks like the ultimate usb soundcard dac+amp all-in-1 nowdays: http://www.asus.com/...ar_Essence_One/

 

is it just me, or is all this talk of 'upsampling' audio and video just complete bollocks?

 

I'm honestly not sure, but Linn Audio would have you spend over $30,000 USD on their 'Klimax DS' digital stream player just to find out. It is touted to do just that somehow...

 

http://www.linn.co.u...nn-ds/klimax-ds

 

I'd assume the principal is similar to when one watches a standard DVD using a high quality Blu-Ray player; the more powerful player improves the presentation (which I have personally witnessed beyond a shadow of a doubt).

 

That's the thing though - upsampling a DVD will not make details appear that weren't already there.

 

So all this 'upsampling' really does with DVDs is just sharpen edges and shit.

 

I think anyone who thinks they know anything about quality audio and video should know not to touch these snake oil products with a fucking bargepole, because unless your source material is of good quality, you are not going to magically make that sub-par quality source become magically equivalent to the same thing in proper high definition / high fidelity audio

[chenGOD]

yo osc man, keep that talk on the dl. I have these $5,000 wood volume knobs I need to get rid of....

[oscillik]

yo osc man, keep that talk on the dl. I have these $5,000 wood volume knobs I need to get rid of....

 

have you got any wooden birch oak bark knobs for the 303?

[chenGOD]

I can get you some but I highly recommend the platinum line ash blonde oak/cherry blend. reduces capactive interference and prevents nulls.

I'll give you a discount - $4,500/knob.

[baph]

yo osc man, keep that talk on the dl. I have these $5,000 wood volume knobs I need to get rid of....

 

have you got any wooden birch oak bark knobs for the 303?

 

make sure to also install birch lenticular feet under the 303 for maximum transparency

 

I assume also you'll be correctly positioning two or three LessLoss Blackbody units around the 303

 

Electro smog? I won't do your homework for you. If you don't believe in the existence of electro smog, geopathic stress zones or invisible interactions between electromagnetically radiated fields, you simply needn't worry about micro waves, Bluetooth and their effects on your health either. Neither must you fret over transformer and power cord radiations. Nor how a computer's Wifi module in your hifi might negatively impact other components. Nor why your system's performance keeps fluctuating despite no apparent changes. Nor why things in proximity to your gear impact it beyond acoustic reflection or absorption effects. And so forth. I applaud anyone investigative enough to pursue these matters in the hopes of coming up with something that makes a dent.... If you've never heard of the electro smog concept but are curious to learn more, do some reading. Or, head right over to the LessLoss site, dive into the deep end and digest the Blackbody pages on proximity interactions.

 

Christ, I wish I could get paid to be an idiot

[oscillik]

LessLoss

 

and here was me thinking that was an ingenious comedy name created by our very own baph (yes, it's plausible).

 

extra lols for finding out it's real.

 

I can get you some but I highly recommend the platinum line ash blonde oak/cherry blend. reduces capactive interference and prevents nulls.

I'll give you a discount - $4,500/knob.

 

but how many nulls can it prevent? and by what magnitude? Also, if you can procure the oscillation descent matrix of the elusive4, i'd be very appreciative of the information.

[chenGOD]

osc - I'll have to get back to you with the chart. Do you have a preferred format? bar graph? pie chart?

 

baph - that site is amazon:

During CD rips, I turned on the wireless function of my Internet router to have the iMac online. I couldn't stand the microwave attacks on my brain.

[oscillik]

osc - I'll have to get back to you with the chart. Do you have a preferred format? bar graph? pie chart?

 

could you please plot the points by drawing sticks with fox heads on top?

[baph]

I wish 6moons were a joke, because that review is one of the funniest things on the interwebs. It's pretty standard upper-tier audiophile analysis, though-- OH shit, hold on a sec guys, I'm sensing a slight decline in orgone levels in my office. I'll be back in a few.

 

Edit: ok, back. Fucking HAARP!

 

Anyway, you absolutely must get some Brilliant Pebbles if you're serious about diffracting interference:

 

[Beholdapalehorse]

I've got some akg 240s and I love them.

[chenGOD]

osc - I'll have to get back to you with the chart. Do you have a preferred format? bar graph? pie chart?

 

could you please plot the points by drawing sticks with fox heads on top?

 

Sorry i didn't have time to do that, i was fending off radiation attacks by using crystals with specific ions to cleanse the air.

 

Anyways, you can see the results of the cherry/ash blonde hybrid knobs here:

[beerwolf]

I'm confused.....

[Guest murphythecat8]

you people have got to be carefull with all this audiophile business.

 

Audio is now a business. what you pay for is not what its worth.

 

In the audio business then profit margin are aroun 1/10.

something you pay 1000$ is worth around 100$.

 

Aside that.

 

If you pay 1 k for headphones you have to have your whole system at the level of the headphones.

 

headphones are the most important but the source is almost as important and then the amp.

the order is

speaker

source

amp

 

those three elements needs to be at the same level.

 

Then well imo nobody should buy anything with a brand. you just dont get what you pay for or you do but get raped in between..

 

Im a diy audiophile which means that I build from schematics all around the net my components. when you go the diy road you get to choose every component. I pay 25$ for a single caps if I need to.

 

People dont realize how simple and stupid it is to make a good preamp for example. Be careful with all that bullocks.

 

If you guys want a good diy kit. I highly recommend anything from diyhifisupply. those guy take about 15% of your money the rest all goes in your equipment.

I can be sure even if I never heard their headphones amps that you pay 500$ and to have that quality you need to pay minimum 2 to 3 k.

 

for a good diy community go to diyaudio.com

 

cheers and be careful.

 

the only thing you cant diy is your headphones.

[Redruth]

There's also a lot of talk about planar magnetic driver headphones (orthodynamics) being pretty fucking good, like these Audeze LCD-2s for about a grand:

 

 

I'm not even tempted to upgrade to any of these, please understand.

 

fap

[Guest Ron Manager]

Just got a Fiio E17. It's amazing, and absolutely perfect for what I need (plug into various computers & iPod)

 

I have an old pair of HD 280 pros and they sound great with the E17. Got a pair of AKG K550s on the way though, so very much looking forward to trying them out!