forbigger Posted June 28, 2009 Report Posted June 28, 2009 Folks, nubie here.......Been browsing the whole 20 over pages of portable amps in search of desktop amps for my future desktop rig. Have ordered HF-2 and looking to pair it with desktop amps. I listened mainly to pop (air supply, kylie, air supply, any stock, aitken, waterman arrangement), jazz (shakatak), adult contemporary(george benson, gloria estefan, everything but the girl, etc), smooth jazz (acoustic alchemy, peter white, jim brickman, etc), easy listening, slow rock (toto, journey), rock (poison). My collection is some 30% 320kbps, 25% lossless WMA and the rest 192 to 128 kbps (slowly will upgrade to lossless WMA by re-ripping my CD collection). I plan to listen from my notebook. I have seen some of my shortlisted amps got "shot down" in this forum like Cantate ,Gilmore Lite. My other shortlist are as follows: Luxman P-200, Headroom Desktop Amp w/DAC or Donald North Sonett. For non-DAC amps, I plan to use Devilsound DAC as this got lots of rave reviews outside and affordable. One of my problems with these amps is that it will cost at least $600-800 more from my original budget. My buget is 1k incl the can (HF-2 already cost me $400) and I seems to overstretch already by not factoring DAC on my original budget....... Should I bite the bullet and stretch the budget or anyone here can give me a sensible solution ? Thanking all of you in advance for any input/feedback........
crappyjones123 Posted June 28, 2009 Report Posted June 28, 2009 hf2 + pico dac = $750? doesnt leave a lot of room for the amp. i guess my suggestion would be get the phones and a decent amp now and save up for a nice dac.
screaming oranges Posted June 28, 2009 Report Posted June 28, 2009 Listen to the HF-2 first before trying to find out what amp to get for it. Just a thought. If you will mostly be using a netbook, I would go for a pico amp/dac and stick with that rig for a while, given your budget. While I don't have one myself, I auditioned it quite a bit on a meet with my MS2 and RS1 and liked what I heard. EDIT: beat to the punch
forbigger Posted June 28, 2009 Author Report Posted June 28, 2009 Thanks for all the reply...... @jbl : no, dont have mac @crappyjones: hf2+devilsound dac+either luxman P200 or sonett or hf-2+headroom desktop amp w/DAC built in. And dont you think DAC is necessary if my source is from computer (USB)? @oranges: I might......but my problem is where I come from, there are not that many good headphone amp available. I may be able to audience Luxman P-200 in one of the store in HK in which I visited quite frequently (like once in 5-6 weeks) but I need to have the HF-2 ready first.......but this upgradeitis virus is getting pretty advanced and my hand is already itchy......the wait is killing.......u know
Quadrangulum Posted June 28, 2009 Report Posted June 28, 2009 Pico. And all the colors are in stock right now. I didn't get to use it with the HF-2 but I heard both on separate occasions and went away impressed. I suspect that this will keep you under your budget without giving budget sound; it'll probably take significantly more money to go further than this configuration.
Asr Posted June 28, 2009 Report Posted June 28, 2009 Get the Pico USB DAC and pair it with your amp of choice. I suspect either the Gilmore Lite or EC/SS might be good amps for the HF2 - just a guess though, haven't heard the pairing, it's just that both of those amps were designed for Grados. A Millett Hybrid MiniMax might also work.
forbigger Posted June 28, 2009 Author Report Posted June 28, 2009 Pico. And all the colors are in stock right now. I didn't get to use it with the HF-2 but I heard both on separate occasions and went away impressed. I suspect that this will keep you under your budget without giving budget sound; it'll probably take significantly more money to go further than this configuration. You mean the portable PICO with USB DAC ?
Quadrangulum Posted June 28, 2009 Report Posted June 28, 2009 Yeah. If you're intent on staying below $1000 ($500-$600 after the HF-2?) and you need a DAC and an amplifier, that's about as solid a configuration as you're going to be able to get.
forbigger Posted June 28, 2009 Author Report Posted June 28, 2009 Thanks for the input so far......Say if I wanted to have a better config than all thats been suggested before, how much more I have to stretch? And what would be the preferable configuration ? Sorry for being an ass but I just want to weigh my option. Should I be contended for the time being and save money for what supposedly to be a better setup ?? But I absolutely not going to spend more than 2k for whatever setup it might be......
crappyjones123 Posted June 28, 2009 Report Posted June 28, 2009 hf2 + pico dac + gilmore lite = win. not sure where you saw the gilmore lite getting slammed on these boards. seems to be a well loved amp around these parts. and others for that matter.
crappyjones123 Posted June 28, 2009 Report Posted June 28, 2009 Thanks for the input so far......Say if I wanted to have a better config than all thats been suggested before, how much more I have to stretch? And what would be the preferable configuration ? Sorry for being an ass but I just want to weigh my option. Should I be contended for the time being and save money for what supposedly to be a better setup ?? But I absolutely not going to spend more than 2k for whatever setup it might be...... rarely do you see people who are happy with what they have the very first time they buy something. not trying to say you wont find happiness with your gear but from the little experience i have and from the reading i have done, there will always be a juicier piece of meat. up until the time where you have all the best meats. and then you just start wanting more. get what you want now. enjoy it. if you are happy with it, excellent. if not, think about upgrading when the time comes.
forbigger Posted June 28, 2009 Author Report Posted June 28, 2009 rarely do you see people who are happy with what they have the very first time they buy something. not trying to say you wont find happiness with your gear but from the little experience i have and from the reading i have done, there will always be a juicier piece of meat. up until the time where you have all the best meats. and then you just start wanting more. get what you want now. enjoy it. if you are happy with it, excellent. if not, think about upgrading when the time comes. LOL, this is what I'm trying very very hard to avoid. Satisfaction in audio is like taking drugs......never enough.
forbigger Posted June 28, 2009 Author Report Posted June 28, 2009 hf2 + pico dac + gilmore lite = win. not sure where you saw the gilmore lite getting slammed on these boards. seems to be a well loved amp around these parts. and others for that matter. The 110V version is 50 less than 220V. Current where I live is 220. But to get a step up cost me around 20-30 only. Will using a step up transformer affect the SQ ? Thanks
grawk Posted June 28, 2009 Report Posted June 28, 2009 I wouldn't compromise to a stepup to save $20-30, personally.
forbigger Posted June 28, 2009 Author Report Posted June 28, 2009 Just found this amps CEC HD53R and cost only like 500 in HK. Since I will be in HK on Tuesday next week, might want to pop in and audience it and Luxman P200 (round 1000)......Will bring my only one and ole but reliable MS1, doubt it'll do any justice, a beginner can VS high end amps......but what a heck...... But the whole set up for Gilmore + Pico DAC only exceeds my budget about 200......very tempting indeed......too bad I cant audience it. If I didn't pull any trigger on my audience in HK, then most likely it'll be the headamp combo......In the meantime, appreciate some more input......It's a relatively big investment for me and not to mention a few brawls with my wife as soon as she found out about this........
crappyjones123 Posted June 28, 2009 Report Posted June 28, 2009 back in india and england we used a lot of appliances with voltage transformers. perhaps the transformers were of poor quality but we always had problems. if the price differential is that small, then my suggestion mirrors grawks as long as it doesnt break the bank. your previous posts indicate your bank will be fine.
forbigger Posted June 28, 2009 Author Report Posted June 28, 2009 back in india and england we used a lot of appliances with voltage transformers. perhaps the transformers were of poor quality but we always had problems. if the price differential is that small, then my suggestion mirrors grawks as long as it doesnt break the bank. your previous posts indicate your bank will be fine. Gotcha Jones.......enjoy the rest of your weekends;)
digger945 Posted June 28, 2009 Report Posted June 28, 2009 In light of your budget deficit you could substitute a Gamma 1 full config for the time being.
forbigger Posted June 29, 2009 Author Report Posted June 29, 2009 How good is a Devilsound, really? No idea really.....but from all that i can dig from the net, all says that its a killer for the price. No nonsense DAC that does exactly what it supposed to do and does it pretty well
atothex Posted June 29, 2009 Report Posted June 29, 2009 No idea really.....but from all that i can dig from the net, all says that its a killer for the price. No nonsense DAC that does exactly what it supposed to do and does it pretty well Yeah, but the net is full of BS and inexperienced folks. Chris Connaker likes it, but I'm not sure I trust his opinion. Anyways, at a commercial $250, I'd be shocked if it were similar performance to the Gamma1 or Pico.
forbigger Posted July 7, 2009 Author Report Posted July 7, 2009 Ok folks......just got back from HK. Didnt get a chance to audience the Luxman since the sellers wont allow besides its a 110V current version so not interested. Tried out Lavry DA11 tough and I dont like it. Sounded very neutral and bright to my opinion. Not to mention some audible hiss too on some recording. Ended up buying a 701 Initial impression is I love love love it......Even though at the moment I drive it using a Headsix but the sound signature closer to my taste than my MS-1. I was told that if I dont mind playing the song from my Zune, then just buy a stand alone headphone amp and connect it using RCA --> mini plug. I actually have no problems since I rarely listen to music when I'm out everyday. I only listen to music when I'm at home or traveling out of town. My question now is would RCA --> mini plug degrade the sound quality ? If not, that would be quite a significant savings for me by skipping the DAC part. Thank you all in advance for all the input so far. Looking forward for the guidance again......
Fungi Posted July 7, 2009 Report Posted July 7, 2009 Same deal, Pico is very respectable as a DAC and even as an amp, but if you can swing it try for a GLite or M^3 or something. Zunes are great and all, but for home listening I would get a standalone DAC. Good choice on the K701 by the way, even though many here will tell you otherwise. If it's a better choice than the HF-2 for you... that is unknown. HF-2 isn't very "Grado" sounding
forbigger Posted July 7, 2009 Author Report Posted July 7, 2009 . Zunes are great and all, but for home listening I would get a standalone DAC. May I know for what reason ? I still have my queue order on HF-2 Another thing I forgot to mention is that I also auditioned DAC1 with 702 and the vocal was outta this world. The reason I didnt buy it is because the sellers dont want to reduce his price. He is quoting 10.380 HKD and its not I'm going to haggle to 8k. I gave him 10k as offer and he flat out rejected it. I got pissed and left. So much for a good DAC + Amp. And this is the one event who encourage me to try out the Kxx series and ended up buying 701.
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