Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

wooha said:
@debianlinux I've never heard the Elacs so I can't give a direct comparison.

The LSiMs are a whole different league better than the Monitor Audio Bronze bookshelves that I had before the upgrade. Maybe two or three leagues better. So I'd expect very significant improvement over the Elacs at the least.
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The Elacs are consistently touted on this forum. They tend to go to 50% a few times a year. I was holding out for one of those times but it seems this may be the better alternative while the deal exists.
 
debianlinux said:
The Elacs are consistently touted on this forum. They tend to go to 50% a few times a year. I was holding out for one of those times but it seems this may be the better alternative while the deal exists.
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Think about it this way: if you can swing the extra cost and don't have lofty audiophile goals (like $20k+ total system cost or something), the 707s can easily be your end-game speakers. The Elacs may certainly be end-game for some, but in the entire spectrum of audio equipment the 707s *should* be very close to that highly asymptotic level of audio quality vs. money spent.
 
So should I get a DAC? I think my m50s are dying (that or I can't hear half of human frequencies and should go see a doctor ASAP) so I might be getting new ones of those (or maybe some open back headphones depending on how bad sound leak is). But I didn't feel with my audioquest dragonfly that I really got a noticeable difference in sound and my laptop's headphone jack is fine
 
duke86fan said:
So should I get a DAC? I think my m50s are dying (that or I can't hear half of human frequencies and should go see a doctor ASAP) so I might be getting new ones of those (or maybe some open back headphones depending on how bad sound leak is). But I didn't feel with my audioquest dragonfly that I really got a noticeable difference in sound and my laptop's headphone jack is fine
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I would say get the best headphones you can first. Then focus on a DAC if you're still interested. Are you looking for desktop stuff only, or do you need something portable?
 
displayname said:
I would say get the best headphones you can first. Then focus on a DAC if you're still interested. Are you looking for desktop stuff only, or do you need something portable?
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1. yeah i just need good headphones... i dunno what to get.. especially under 300 bucks
2. semi portable.. because its a laptop.... i dunno if i need one for my phone since im either getting wireless headphones to listen to FLACs and be able to listen to music and mowing the lawn while having the tiny woman jean pocket™.. or will just be streaming spotify (i am thinking about tidal but i dunno if i could hear the difference) and playing V0 MP3s. so no need for a DAC for my phone (since that also has a quadcore dac)

also now im scared im going deaf from having headphones on all the time
 
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duke86fan said:
1. yeah i just need good headphones... i dunno what to get.. especially under 300 bucks
2. semi portable.. because its a laptop.... i dunno if i need one for my phone since im either getting wireless headphones to listen to FLACs and be able to listen to music and mowing the lawn while having the tiny woman jean pocket™.. or will just be streaming spotify (i am thinking about tidal but i dunno if i could hear the difference) and playing V0 MP3s. so no need for a DAC for my phone (since that also has a quadcore dac)
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So on the idea of open backs... not too many are under $300, and the majority of them really benefit from a decent headphone amp. So having said that, I think closed back would be the way to go. As for the DAC, I think it's a worthwhile investment but I'd focus on the headphones first. I'd shoot for something that's step up. You'll likely be able to appreciate the difference a DAC more if you have headphones that can draw out the details the DAC is delivering.

I think we kicked around a similar conversation and price point a few pages back. My input was to look at Drop.com and maybe consider good IEMs.
 
displayname said:
So on the idea of open backs... not too many are under $300, and the majority of them really benefit from a decent headphone amp. So having said that, I think closed back would be the way to go. As for the DAC, I think it's a worthwhile investment but I'd focus on the headphones first. I'd shoot for something that's step up. You'll likely be able to appreciate the difference a DAC more if you have headphones that can draw out the details the DAC is delivering.

I think we kicked around a similar conversation and price point a few pages back. My input was to look at Drop.com and maybe consider good IEMs.
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i only say under 300 because no job and that would be over a week on a part time job (i just want stuff that will make the music really pop and feel amazing)
 
duke86fan said:
1. yeah i just need good headphones... i dunno what to get.. especially under 300 bucks
2. semi portable.. because its a laptop.... i dunno if i need one for my phone since im either getting wireless headphones to listen to FLACs and be able to listen to music and mowing the lawn while having the tiny woman jean pocket™.. or will just be streaming spotify (i am thinking about tidal but i dunno if i could hear the difference) and playing V0 MP3s. so no need for a DAC for my phone (since that also has a quadcore dac)

also now im scared im going deaf from having headphones on all the time
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I'd personally recommend these


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Being the owner of 2 sets of open-back headphones, they are surprisingly loud to someone sitting next to you—they'll hear your music almost as well as you! They make up for that by sounding amazing to the person wearing them. Of course, close-backs sound fine too. I have one of those for commuting, and they do just fine.
If you're worried that some component isn't performing as it should, I would recommend running whatever tests you can to isolate the problem component (even if it does turn out to be your ears). Ask to plug your headphones into a friend's computer, or try plugging another pair of headphones into yours. Even a set of earbuds might prove useful for a test.
Definitely don't just buy stuff at random and hope it will fix a problem.
If you're looking just to step up your performance, then I agree with @displayname about going for headphones first. New headphones will make an obvious difference, but dacs tend to be a lot more subtle under normal circumstances.
As for driving quality headphones, your sound card just might surprise you. One of my coworkers bought a set to HD600s and a dac a while back. After a week, he returned the dac because he couldn't hear the difference.
 
apholden said:
Being the owner of 2 sets of open-back headphones, they are surprisingly loud to someone sitting next to you—they'll hear your music almost as well as you! They make up for that by sounding amazing to the person wearing them. Of course, close-backs sound fine too. I have one of those for commuting, and they do just fine.
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i mostly ask because i have family in the other room.. and i really dont want them hearing my music
apholden said:
If you're worried that some component isn't performing as it should, I would recommend running whatever tests you can to isolate the problem component (even if it does turn out to be your ears). Ask to plug your headphones into a friend's computer, or try plugging another pair of headphones into yours. Even a set of earbuds might prove useful for a test.
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tested it by using 3 .flac files on these and 20 dollar skullcandys i use with my phone.. and it was kinda intersting, in a way the 20 dollar earbuds had a kind of better bass (i didn't notice a highs difference between them, though it did kinda feel richer). despite the other having more bass.. it wasn't as intense a bass... more muddy.. maybe too flat? i actually kinda liked the brighter (i think i using the right term) sound of the skullcandies in some ways more

also that the headphones actually have a higher impedance (there was a volume difference) so maybe an amp could be useful
apholden said:
Definitely don't just buy stuff at random and hope it will fix a problem.
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#FACTS (even if depression makes me think otherwise)
apholden said:
If you're looking just to step up your performance, then I agree with @displayname about going for headphones first. New headphones will make an obvious difference, but dacs tend to be a lot more subtle under normal circumstances.
As for driving quality headphones, your sound card just might surprise you. One of my coworkers bought a set to HD600s and a dac a while back. After a week, he returned the dac because he couldn't hear the difference.
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my soundcard definitely seemed to tell the difference between the 2 headphones.... i just wonder if im not getting the best.. like there is greatness very close but i dunno.... especially since im using a laptop soundcard and am moving to another laptop in the future (as in like a few months).. i'll test that out tomorrow and see.. just put 3 FLAC files onto that laptop and test that sound card
 
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duke86fan said:
tested it by using 3 .flac files on these and 20 dollar skullcandys i use with my phone.. and it was kinda intersting, in a way the 20 dollar earbuds had a kind of better bass (i didn't notice a highs difference between them, though it did kinda feel richer). despite the other having more bass.. it wasn't as intense a bass... more muddy.. maybe too flat? i actually kinda liked the brighter (i think i using the right term) sound of the skullcandies in some ways more
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That definitely point to the headphones. A "brighter" sound generally means more treble/high frequency, which I remember was your concern before. Also, swapping the headphones fixed the sound, which is definitely the kind of result I was hoping for with the mix-and-match test.

I'm pretty confident suggesting new headphones after learning that. Maybe find out if the local store would let you try the headphones with your laptop? Or find a store with no-questions-asked returns (just in case). Or share the skullcandys between the phone and laptop if they're good enough.

duke86fan said:
also that the headphones actually have a higher impedance (there was a volume difference) so maybe an amp could be useful
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You didn't specify, but I'm guessing the earbuds were louder? Since they only need to fill your ear canal with sound, they can blow you away with very little power!
 
apholden said:
You didn't specify, but I'm guessing the earbuds were louder? Since they only need to fill your ear canal with sound, they can blow you away with very little power!
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yeah.. but i like having bigger headphones usually... i might need some good IEMs for my phone in the future if i go with tidal for students then put FLACs on my phone. but for now i just need the bigger headphones
apholden said:
I'm pretty confident suggesting new headphones after learning that. Maybe find out if the local store would let you try the headphones with your laptop? Or find a store with no-questions-asked returns (just in case). Or share the skullcandys between the phone and laptop if they're good enough.
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not going to just do the skullcandies because im not a plebian.. and dont have any stores nearby...

so probably just have a savings goal in mind for my future to buy new headphones in the future (i also tested out with sine waves in audacity... 15khz is enough to sound exactly like my tinnitus, as neither headphones can hear it and to a point at like 14khz the skull candies couldn't hear, so more like the mid treble than anything)

i mostly want headphones that can work on a big amount of music, aren't tiring, and have a crisp, maybe a bit bright sound (its not like these are muddy but its just the bass isn't... as good sounding)

also this wasn't a completely objective test because of how the skullcandy were accidentally like a db louder
 
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also note that the skullcandys were not as good at the bass.. they did to an extent feel kinda tinny.... i would like it if there was the mids of the skullcandys but the bass of the M50s but less muddy (as in not feeling like its more focused on that bass)


Tbh I know very little about this stuff and just want higher quality because spending money means less sad sad
 
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apholden said:
Does anyone have experience with Grado Prestige headphones? I love my Grados, but they're way outside @duke86fan's stated budget! The Prestige series should be doable as long as they still sound good.
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I have a pair of the entry-level Grado SR60e headphones, and I love them. The copy, "you'll actually hear notes you never knew were there," is true, and that revelation kindled my interest in affordable hifi. For more bass consider the SR80e phones for only $20 more. They are open back though, and my wife noted leakage.
 
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