Stepping into audiophile territory

J

JamesL

Gawd
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
657
So if anybody wants to post a short guide to answer some questions..

soundcard vs headphone amp.. what exactly do they do, and which one is more beneficial..
I've heard most of AKG cans sound best with a amp... in what areas will it lack without one?

Differences between headphones categorized as audiophile, studio, monitor, reference, DJ's, etcetera.. in terms of bass, soundstage... clarity, warmth, etc.

Does it matter where I plug the headphones into? Would I sacrifice sound by plugging it into the front i/o port on my pc, as opposed to connecting it straight to the sound-card.. connecting them through speakers?

I'm looking to start my journey with a pair of ATH a700's... or I can get AKG k601's instead for only $150, for music mostly...Rock, Classical, Alternative, Broadway, some jazz.. occasionally games & movies
 
short answer: Just get a headamp pico.

Ok lets see...

Soundcard: plays back music on your computer. Outputs to headphones, speakers, external DAC (digital audio converter), etc. A soundcard has its own onboard DAC too. Lots of cards, lots of quality levels.

Headphone amplifier: Boosts/cleans signal and sends it to headphones. Soundcards have onboard amps, but they suck. Dont let anyone tell you otherwise.

which one is more beneficial?
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Soundcard, since it has its own amp. Technically it does it all. "Jack of all trades, master of none."

Dont connect headphones through speakers.

The 2 most popular types of dynamic headphones: Closed and Open. Closed blocks off outside noise better, but sacrifices clarity, soundstage and bass quality. Open let noise in, but have more soundstage, clarity and bass quality.

I dont know what soundcard you have, but you should be able to plug it in either end of the computer in a 1/8 jack; both go to the soundcard. Obviously the back of the computer would mean shorter distance. But with internal soundcards, that is of little consequnce, since most are of poor quality.

For further info: www.headfi.org
"sorry about your wallet"
 
Thanks for the reply.

To clear things up, I'm looking for a entry-level solution to "better sound" than the ipod buds I inherited..
Now, just think that... I had a $5200 budget for all my audio-needs, and I already spent $5000 of it on my cello, that's back at home now... (without any regrets, just.. fyi :))


Now, you stated that a soundcard would be most beneficial since it does everything, whereas the amps are specific to an task. Do you mean sound-chip or sound-card? All motherboards have on-board chips.. do they have amps as well?
People say that "you need amps to run the k601" ...
Would it sound terrible without one?
Would it sound terrible if I got a cheap $20 amp, or a dedicated sondigo-inferno soundcard? A $400 amp is just beyond my price range unfortunately..
 
Headphones are an electronic device. Sometimes the power requirements are more than a little bitty solution that's designed to fit on a PCI card (or motherboard) has enough power to drive, and if this is the case they act like any other electronic device with inadequate power. Also you can get better DACs if you go with something like a receiver et cetera. Simple physics, it gives more room and more power to work with so it's not hard to beat the engineering that's done with the constraint of fitting in a computer.

You can get a nice amp for under $400 probably, but "nice" is relative anyway. There are nice $50 headphones and nice $5000 headphones. For $200, I'd be looking for headphones that sound good without needing an amplifier to drive them. There are lots of these and it depends mainly on preference. I've been looking at the Audio Technica A700s / A900s personally. Those should sound pretty damn nice even on an Ipod or computer sound card.
 
For $200 just get the A900s and run them out of the back of your x-fi. The front port of the x-fi sucks as a headphone out. If the sound does not do it for you then it will take more $$ on the source aka the pico or a totalbithead or etc.. Cross that bridge when you get there.
 
Try to listen to different headphones before going out and buying one.
 
Laxx said:
Try to listen to different headphones before going out and buying one.
Click to expand...

What would be the best way to go about doing this? I'm on the edge of chicago, finals-week, no car..
any big retailers I should keep an eye out for? Obviously, Target isn't the best place to be test-riding headphones..
 
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