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A common problem, is turning into a major dilemma

Started by leshphilen, February 27, 2010, 12:39:43 AM

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leshphilen

I have fallen into the trap of voraciously collecting shows, but rarely have I been listening to want I have been pulling down ( I'm pushing 2Tb, of shn's/FLAC's last year alone.) The worst part about it is I can't say that I have listened to a whole show in one sitting in months. So I started trying to figure out why it has been so long since I have listed to a complete show.

Bottom line: I'm not able to at work (too many interruptions and just too busy to really listen to what's playing, and at home I had to wait until the wife and kids were asleep. This made it impossible to listen to shows at the appropriate volume level without wearing IEM's or cans. On top of that most of my music is still trapped in my computer, not burned to disk. And At the end of the day sitting at the computer with IEM's or cans just wasn't that much fun.

I have a portable FLAC player (iAudio x with 60 gigs), and when partnered with my Shure E4c's it sounds great! But over time the IEM' start to get a little fatiguing/uncomfortable.

So my solution was to get a pair of mid-level cans:

I picked the Denon AHD2000's for a couple of reasons: 1) I didn't spend a dime on them 2) On paper the bench test look great!, 3). It's a closed can, with a relatively low Impedance (1kHz: 25) which makes it easier to drive.

Now here's where the dilemma starts to kick in
, most audiophiles say you still need a good amp to get the most out of headphones. After a ton of research I start to get bogged down it which amp, portable, desktop, shelf system, solid state or Tube's, a hybrid of both. Then I start to get scope creep and considered adding a DAC, by this time I'm need deep in a audiophile quagmire and I'm live music junkie, not an audiophile.

I'm currently breaking the headphones by listening on my Yamaha RX-V1900. I'm playing live Phish DVD's like Clifford Ball, Walnut Creek, etc... And fresh out of the box, without significant burn in, I'm noticing detail that could not hear before. I can't help but to think what these will/could sound like in the future. But I still haven't solved the biggest issue, how can I tap into 3Tb of live shows easily on a budget around $500 and get the most improvement in sound quality?  Any suggestions?
In my pursuit for improved sound I discovered that the Yamaha has a Burr-Brown 192 kHz/24-bit DACs for all channels and claims to have "Low Jitter PLL circuitry for optical and coaxial input". I'm tempted to try going low budget and use the S/ PDIF (Toslink or Coax) from my computer. This would be dirt cheap, but not sure how it will sound... compared to just a good head phone amp, but then do is till need to consider a DAC (After all I'm only running a Sound Blaster Fx-Fatality) or I could use the s/PDIF outputs off my EVGA X58 SLI motherboard. (Any thoughts )

Finally, I'm curious if a reference quality DAC like a Benchmark DAC (not in current budget, but maybe someday) would be overkill and too analytical on live music recording. After all were a solid state /Tube or any other equipment still can't solve for the off time clappers, whistler's, and all around A hole talkers.

Any suggest would be greatly appreciated. In the meantime, I'm going to break in the cans and drive myself nuts reading conflicting reviews about potential solutions written by audiophiles instead of Live Music lovers...
I read the book, saw the movie, but the show was better than both of them...

mbw

Quote from: viola_jam on February 27, 2010, 12:39:43 AM
-I have fallen into the trap of voraciously collecting shows, but rarely have I been listening to want I have been pulling down...

-Bottom line:  most of my music is still trapped in my computer, not burned to disk. And At the end of the day sitting at the computer with IEM's or cans just wasn't that much fun.

-I have a portable FLAC player (iAudio x with 60 gigs), and when partnered with my Shure E4c's it sounds great! But over time the IEM' start to get a little fatiguing/uncomfortable.

-I'm live music junkie, not an audiophile.

-how can I tap into 3Tb of live shows easily on a budget around $500 and get the most improvement in sound quality? 

http://www.aperionaudio.com/product/Aperion-Home-Audio-Linktrade-System,242,84,771.aspx

16bit coming out soon.

leshphilen

#2
Thanks for the link,  It looks like this will solve a lot of logistical problems for a lot of folks.  This may sound a little audiophilish, after all i have been reading too many AMP and DAC reviews lately. But how does it sound? Would it sound better than just running a 10 foot headphone extender from my computer and skipping the AV Receiver all together?
I read the book, saw the movie, but the show was better than both of them...

twatts

Oh! That! No, no, no, you're not ready to step into The Court of the Crimson King. At this stage in your training an album like that could turn you into an evil scientist.

----------------------

I want super-human will
I want better than average skill
I want a million dollar bill
And I want it all in a Pill

postjack

I love my squeezebox, but it can be a little cumbersome to use with non tagged files. I think you should definitely do your computers coax out into your yamaha before you try anything else. cheap and you might be pleased with the results.

while I bet the D2000 would sound better with a dedicated headphone amp, I wouldn't stress too much about it. iirc that denon line is low impedance (33ohms I think) so any standard headphone out is at least sufficient. this as opposed to a 300ohm can like a senn hd650 which, IMO, absolutely requires a dedicated headphone amp.

if you do want a headphone amp on the cheap, I can always recommend a used diy m^3, or a millet hybrid minimax. both are appropriate for low impedance cans and will run you $300ish. I personally use a Minimax. one of my friends tweaked the original Millett topology to come up with the now popular design. :)

best headphone site in the world: www.head-case.org
Quote from: phil on July 06, 2011, 07:09:31 PMI hate every band except phish.
Quote from: sophist on April 29, 2011, 04:31:54 PM::cancels summer Phish show plans to achieve psychedelic warrior status::

Marmar

ummmm.....there's just so much going on here I'll post my input when I get home from the studio later tonight.....

to make a long story short....if your computer has a coax-s/pdif output, run that to the Yamaha and call it a day.....as for an ouboard DAC, unless you're willing to dump a few grand on a Apogee (or better) unit put the thought out of your mind.....Are you doing reel to reel txfers? Cassettes? Changing sample rates on digital sources?.....if you answer "no" to any of those, then there's no need for an external DAC....The DAC's in that Yamaha are MORE than enough for faithful reproduction....

When I'm not jammin out the McIntosh, I have a Yamaha I enjoy my 24/192 DVD-A's on.....and honestly, unless I've got a scope hooked up, I can barely hear any difference between a $9000 unit vs a $500 one....
Who's the Marmar? I'm the Marmar!!!

Phish doesn't write beautiful music...the beautiful music happens after the written parts.

<gainesvillegreen> now, if they could get their sound to be as good as the lights, we'd have a band hee-yah!!

Music is what feelings sound like.

leshphilen

Marmar thanks for the input.

My computer has S/ PDIF (Toslink and Coax). I think I'll start there while burn in the Headphones. I am definitely not doing any reel to reel or any other type of conversion. Just want to try to get the most out of the new headphones as I can. You know you start reading stereophile to much and the next thing you know your need deep into a wish list a mile long. There are thousands of tweeks that i could do to get improved sound (cleaner PowerSupply, better cables, better dampeners, and the list goes on and on...)

At some point I wouldn't mind trying out a mini-tube amp for just the computer, but then I lose any potential benefits of the Burr-Brown 192 kHz/24-bit DAC. At this point it might just be a side ways trade off different but not a improvement, and at this point would rather save the budget.

Thanks Again.
I read the book, saw the movie, but the show was better than both of them...

Marmar

a headphone tube pre-amp would be the best thing ever......you'd be surprised at how much one of those takes the sting out of digital sources.....if anything, go for that over an external DAC



http://www.decware.com/newsite/zbox.htm
Who's the Marmar? I'm the Marmar!!!

Phish doesn't write beautiful music...the beautiful music happens after the written parts.

<gainesvillegreen> now, if they could get their sound to be as good as the lights, we'd have a band hee-yah!!

Music is what feelings sound like.

twatts

Oh! That! No, no, no, you're not ready to step into The Court of the Crimson King. At this stage in your training an album like that could turn you into an evil scientist.

----------------------

I want super-human will
I want better than average skill
I want a million dollar bill
And I want it all in a Pill

leshphilen

Hey Thanks everyone for the feedback. I really appreciate it.

Marmar - The Zen amp looks impressive, especially the lifetime warranty. I'm curious where it would fit in the setup? It looks like it only has analog input, wouldn't I be limited to the SB X-FI soundcard if it sits between the computer and AV Receiver?

I'm curious if any one has any experience with the Pico usb dac/headphone amp

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f38/headamp-pico-portable-amp-w-optional-upsampling-24-96-usb-dac-pre-order-thread-258967/

This looks like just what the doctor order, but is a little pricey

http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconhdp/index.php


I read the book, saw the movie, but the show was better than both of them...

postjack

Quote from: viola_jam on March 01, 2010, 03:43:15 AM
Hey Thanks everyone for the feedback. I really appreciate it.

Marmar - The Zen amp looks impressive, especially the lifetime warranty. I'm curious where it would fit in the setup? It looks like it only has analog input, wouldn't I be limited to the SB X-FI soundcard if it sits between the computer and AV Receiver?

I'm curious if any one has any experience with the Pico usb dac/headphone amp

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f38/headamp-pico-portable-amp-w-optional-upsampling-24-96-usb-dac-pre-order-thread-258967/

the Pico is freaking awesome.  I've listened to it on a variety of occasions and it just sounds fantastic.  Justin at Headamp is a smart dude and all around awesome guy.  In my opinion the Pico is the best amp/dac desktop value out there today.
Quote from: phil on July 06, 2011, 07:09:31 PMI hate every band except phish.
Quote from: sophist on April 29, 2011, 04:31:54 PM::cancels summer Phish show plans to achieve psychedelic warrior status::

mattstick


postjack

Quote from: phil on July 06, 2011, 07:09:31 PMI hate every band except phish.
Quote from: sophist on April 29, 2011, 04:31:54 PM::cancels summer Phish show plans to achieve psychedelic warrior status::

Hicks

Quote from: Trey Anastasio
But, I don't think our fans do happily lap it up, I think they go online and talk about how it was a bad show.

Superfreakie

Quote from: Marmar on February 27, 2010, 04:48:28 PM
a headphone tube pre-amp would be the best thing ever......you'd be surprised at how much one of those takes the sting out of digital sources.....if anything, go for that over an external DAC



http://www.decware.com/newsite/zbox.htm

I swear by Decware. The guy REALLY knows his shit. Read the articles on his site that he has written over the years. Honest guy and won't try to sell you stuff you don't need. My system is powered by his dual tubes and I have never looked back. Family business too.
Que te vaya bien, que te vaya bien, Te quiero más que las palabras pueden decir.