Revamping audio, what now?

[The_Engineer]

My current audio setup: Sony mdr-V600 (NOT theMDR-7509, sorry!) headphones. also have a 2.1 set of harmon kardon champagne glass looking things. dont remember the model number off my head. i can get it eventually. Onboard sound on my inspiron 9300 laptop. and onboard sound on my Nvidia Nforce3. I have an audigy 1gamer buried somewhere but am not sure if its really what i want to use for a desktop with good sound. I seem to have had driver problems with it, and crackling etc.

My question is this. with 500.00 what should i buy? amps, better desktop sound, better mobile sound? better headphones? whatcha got for ideas?

Also, the same question, without a budget, for fun because i want to know what the best i could get is :D thanks.

Edit: as i say below, i'm a n00b at buying audio, so as much info as possible is apreciated!

[GodsMadClown]

A good pair of active studio monitors.

[The_Engineer]

A good pair of active studio monitors.
sorry. I guess i forgot to mention i'm a n00b at buying audio equipment.

Examples? Thanks.

[GodsMadClown]

How about a pair of KRK Rokit RP-8 Powered Monitors for $380
($400 - 5% coupon code : "new5")
http://store.yahoo.com/djgear/krkrokit8package.html

Toss on a good two-channel sound card like the Emu 0404 for ~$100 more, and you'll have a quite decent listening experience.

http://www.thenerds.net/productpage.asp?un=212933&s=1

Emu for less than $100 shipped.

[The_Engineer]

Very Nice. Definatley will consider.

anyone else?

How about some mobile solutions to go with me with my laptop?

[GodsMadClown]

Headphones are always a good mobile solution. Spend more than $500 at DJmart and they'll throw in a pair of ($15) Senn headphones. ;-)
http://www.djmart.com/freeheadphones.html

The M-Audio 96/24 soundcard for $100 might be a good choice.
http://www.djmart.com/djgear/mau24praucaw.html

Oh, and there's another coupon code, "April10", for %10 off.

[GodsMadClown]

Mind you, I've never heard these things, but I have it on good authority from people I trust that they don't suck. Well, maybe the headphones suck...

BossNoodleKaboodle would be a good guy to solicit ideas from. You could also get a (more traditional) pair of passive speakers and an amp of some sort, but for strictly computer/nearfield listening, active monitors are a very good solution.

[Blakestr]

i'm a n00b at buying audio, so as much info as possible is apreciated!


If you are a noob then it probably means you are not an audiophile, meaning, you are fortunate in that you lack the ability to discern between a three hundred dollar system and a four hundred and so on. If you aren't going for sound engineering and you just want to have something that SOUNDS good, for games, music, movies, etc, then you don't even need to spend 500.

Example : I'm still running on a SB Live 5.1 (which is less than a hundred now) and on the Creative 5.1 Speaker package, DTT3500 Digital. I would say your best bet is to get one of those speaker packages; they come with a speaker control console that has just about every kind of input, from simple RCA connectors, to SPDIF and even optical, so they are compatible with things like Playstation 2 and many other electronic products.

In terms of sound QUALITY, I can imagine my ears being as sensitive to notice a difference between my setup. I watch a DVD like THE PATRIOT and the scene when he takes his kids on a shoot out to get his eldest son back (and kills like 20 men) is absolutely amazing. I am not completely sure but I think the reason speakers for home audio and movie theatres cost so much is that you have a much larger area of space to cover and cover in a way that the sound is still very high quality and not just plain loud.

It seems to me yoiur best bet is to save your money. That sound card you have is fine. Search for speakers at newegg, tiger, or even xoxide has some really funky looking setups (I don't know about quality)

(I just looked at your name so perhaps my entire post is moot. Eh. Headphone suggestions? Xoxide has some gaming headphones that are supposed to be 5.1 compatible, I'm not really sure. Myself, I never use headphone's as a primary source of audio unless I am in a place where it's supposed to be quiet. In my opinion headphones are a substitute to general audio OR for editing sound or in applications where extremely subtle differences are very important. That's just my opinion though, I've never had engineer quality headphones.

[Hvatum]

My current audio setup: Sony mdr7509 headphones. also have a 2.1 set of harmon kardon champagne glass looking things. dont remember the model number off my head. i can get it eventually. Onboard sound on my inspiron 9300 laptop. and onboard sound on my Nvidia Nforce3. I have an audigy 1gamer buried somewhere but am not sure if its really what i want to use for a desktop with good sound. I seem to have had driver problems with it, and crackling etc.

My question is this. with 500.00 what should i buy? amps, better desktop sound, better mobile sound? better headphones? whatcha got for ideas?

Also, the same question, without a budget, for fun because i want to know what the best i could get is :D thanks.

Edit: as i say below, i'm a n00b at buying audio, so as much info as possible is apreciated!

If you're the only one listening I'd recommend Headphones. A good Grado or Sennheiser will easily surpass any 2.1 sound system you could buy with $500.

This is a good place (http://www.goodcans.com/HeadphoneReviews/bigreview.htm) to start looking at headphones. Their site is a little old-school looking but their reviews are great.

[The_Engineer]

you are fortunate in that you lack the ability to discern between a three hundred dollar system and a four hundred and so on.
Although i am not a trained audio engineer, My wallet wishes i lacked that ability. I really do want some high quality audio equipment that my ears can dance to :D i really am tired of the mediocre quality sound that most of mine and my friends equipment provides. I also dont want to pay 500.00 + for alot more equipment that is still of 'acceptable' quality. if you know what i mean. Thanks for your concern though. right now i'm just tossing around ideas as looking at that "show us your headphones" thread has made me drool.

Hvatum: thanks for the linkage, i'll be checking it out.

[GotNoRice]

the 7509's are already pretty damn good headphones.

[GodsMadClown]

http://www.headphonereviews.org/

Headphone reviews is a site inspired by head-fi, made by a headphones nut to help the head-fi and global headphone community. The aim is to have a lot of high level information in one place, as opposed to the detailed information head-fi, which is great but sometimes hard to find. Also we hope to develop a general consensus of which headphones are generally regarded as the best outright cans, as well as the best value. In-depth reviews are much better off here on head-fi: headphonereviews.org will never have it's own discussion forums.

[The_Engineer]

the 7509's are already pretty damn good headphones.
glad to see some love for what is currently, my favorite piece of audio equipment. How about a good amp to go with those and my laptop? would a misterX made one be overkill?

[strid3r]

You'll probably see some improvement in sound with an amp. MisterX can make one to tailor your needs, so it wouldn't be "overkill." Then you'll probably also want to upgrade your sound card also (the Chaintech AV710 and E-mu 0404 recommended earlier are both good choices, but maybe you should get something in USB flavor if you want to use it for both laptop and the tower?).

[The_Engineer]

but maybe you should get something in USB flavor if you want to use it for both laptop and the tower?).
Is there really something out there in a USB flavor that will be similar or match the qualityof those PCI cards? yes I'd love it and would much rather buy (invest?) in that than something only for my desktop. That would rock.

[strid3r]

Here's a thread over at Head-Fi that has a nice big list:
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=112165

I havn't heard any of these cards, so I won't comment on them, but a search will probably get you some user opinions. Hope that helps.