New spec please - £200-250 budget >:)

Aedus

Aedus

Aedus

Soldato
Joined
16 Aug 2009
Posts
8,577
Location
Luton, England
I'm looking at getting a new set-up for my sound now with a bigger budget. Before when I asked on here it was just for some headphones which I got a few really good suggestions from fellow members, but I thought I'd re-make my thread just incase there's different suggestions now with a higher budget and other things to take into consideration.

On the list:
Headphones
Headphone amp
Sound card

Currently I have:
Goldring NS1000's
Fiio E5
Asus Xonar DG 5.1 PCI Sound Card with built in Headphone Amp


I prefer closed cans, but I will consider open or semi-open cans too.
Main uses are: Bassy music and gaming. I LOVE bass on my music, the more the better I say, but a semi-decent sound stage would be great for gaming too. Also if the sound card or amp is "Good enough" for the headphones you suggest, then I can stick with them, it doesn't need to be all 3, it could be just the Headphones and Sound card, or the Headphones and the amp.


Thanks for the help.
 
sHo0sH said:
Auraomega I believe has one and swears by it.
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:eek: I'm getting predictable!

If I were you I'd go for the Zero (review in sig) which will cover both the soundcard and amp aspect beautifully. For the headphones I'd be inclined to recommend something open rather than closed because I've found it great to be able to swap between my open and closed at will, you'll also likely find the Zero will give your NS1000s more of a punch in the bass department anyway so something with a different sound signature might satisfy you when you want a change of sound; just something to bare in mind.

If you pick up the Zero it's around £120, leaving you with £130 for headphones. I'd suggest demoing the DT770/880/990s as well as some Grado and Sennheisers within that price range and then go for what you feel is the best sound for you.
 
Keep the DG and use your full budget on a nice pair of Denon D2000s.

Closed? check

Bassy? check

Good with DH for gaming? check

Can be driven by the Xonar DG? check

Personally, I think its worth spending more on the headphones.
 
Amp looks good, but is there none which are kinda, well, more "known".
Not that I don't doubt the quality, but if something does go wrong, then there will be no RMA I'd imagine, and it'd be a lot of wasted money.

Those Beyerdynamic's came up last time I asked as well, looks like they will be a top pick for me. Where would i demo them exactly though? Any shops in particular which COULD stock them? Same with the Denon D2000s.
 
There is a distinct lack of places to audition good headphones in the UK.

You either have purple shirt stores where they have BOSE and consumer-orientated headphones on display or some hifi shops that only have low-end Sennheiser or Grado models on display.

There are some online stores that have a returns policy which allows you to send them back simply for not liking them providing you don't destroy the packaging.
 
Aedus said:
Amp looks good, but is there none which are kinda, well, more "known".
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Yes, for significantly more. You buy an amp marketed by a well known brand you pay for the brand, the company importing them, the middle man, the shop and the rip-off Britian markup. Buying the Zero direct from China saves you on almost all fronts except the importing costs.

Shamrock said:
There are some online stores that have a returns policy which allows you to send them back simply for not liking them providing you don't destroy the packaging.
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All stores must do this; read the Distance Selling Regulations. I've heard mixed stories about foreign companies such as Play seeing as they don't reside in the UK, for that you'll have to do your own research ;)
 
Sorry I should have been clearer. Some stores allow you to open the headphones, listen to them and then return the simply because you dislike the sound.

Obviously this only applies to full-size and not IEMs.
 
Yeah, some high street shops will let you but they're normally the type who'll also let you demo in store. Online you can open stuff and try it out and still return it, you don't even need to give a reason as long as it's in as new condition when returned.
 
Yeah it's a bit of a shame there's no real specialist stores around here to sample cans, would music shops do them? I did try HMV, they had a few, no decent ones, though.


I do realise with bigger brands you're paying for the brand and all the other crap which comes with it, but it's a lot more reassuring when you have a product and know it will keep for a certain amount of time, and if it needs to be returned it won't cost 1/4th of the products price to return it and get a replacement. That's why I'm very skeptical about buying things from other places.

If they did them in the UK, believe me I would probably get it in a heart beat, even if it turned out to be £30 more, but it's always going to be a risk buying imported. Importing and exporting fee's to get a replacement will be extortionate. I will keep it in mind but to reduce risk I'd prefer a different amp if something for a good price can get a bit lesser performance.

Is there any other amps you could suggest Aura?
 
You can get the FiiO E9 + E7 combo for about £150 from UK sources.

I still think spending as much as you can on the headphones and building in the amp/source later is a better approach.
 
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Oh I do agree of course, the denon's look great and I'm sure they sound great too. What's the cheapest price on them? So far I've seen play.com as the only source sub £200.
 
I see you're in Luton, if you find yourself in London I would happily demo the DT990s for you
Are the Denon's really £100 better than the Beyer's? I highly doubt it. Remember the law of diminishing returns...
 
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£200 is probably the best price you can find for the D2000.

I'm not trying to attract the flames of the ocuk Beyer crew, but I'm more of a Denon/Ultrasone guy and I feel they are under-represented in these parts. :D

I also have a DT770 Premium 32ohm and they aren't bad, but the price difference isn't £100 unless you strictly mean the Beyer "Pro" models. The DT770 "Premiums" are only maybe £40 cheaper, while the DT880 and DT990 Premiums are in the same price range as the Denon.

Either way, I think it's good to have a wider range of options to consider/research.
 
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Aedus said:
If they did them in the UK, believe me I would probably get it in a heart beat, even if it turned out to be £30 more

...

Is there any other amps you could suggest Aura?
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£30 is about what it'd cost to return it, so taking the risk you may actually end up saving money ;) Nah at the end of the day I can see where you are coming from but to get the same sort of quality you could be spending around £250, the components are of high quality and the assembly is better than even some of the best brands not to mention the ability to swap the op-amps at will. As far as I'm concerned the only disappointing part of the Zero is the lack of analogue input can be limiting as you can't just plug your MP3 or record player into it.

Other amps that are worth checking are...

Shamrock said:
You can get the FiiO E9 + E7 combo for about £150 from UK sources.
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:) Portable and from what I've heard good sound quality too, the E9 (or the E7, I can never remember) is a USB DAC too. My concern is the amount of E5's which failed or are DOA, both of mine included. Putting down £150 to buy kit from a company with regular failures is worrying, but obviously I'm bias due to it affecting me. You could also try your hand at a CMoy amp if you can source the parts and have the soldering skills (if you go down this route let me know).

Shamrock said:
I'm not trying to attract the flames of the ocuk Beyer crew, but I'm more of a Denon/Ultrasone guy and I feel they are under-represented in these parts. :D
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Can't comment on Ultrasone but Denon makes quality kit and it appears Beyer are the new OcUK Goldring ;) I do prefer the Beyers but it's personal opinion and I'm inclined to say their build quality is better but they are definitely worth checking out.
 
sHo0sH said:
I see you're in Luton, if you find yourself in London I would happily demo the DT990s for you
Are the Denon's really £100 better than the Beyer's? I highly doubt it. Remember the law of diminishing returns...
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The only place I really go in London is Ilford, which is where my gf lives. Are you near there at all?


Also I agree, Shamrock, it's always better to have a wide range of headphones to select between. Those Fiio Amps look great, so I may pick them up in the future. :)



I also had a look on head-fi and 2 headphones which seem to get great reviews but I haven't seen mentioned here are the: Shure SRH840's and the Audio Technica ATH-A700's.

Anyone had any experience with these at all?
 
I don't know about the A700s, but the SRH840s may not be bassy enough for you.

They are definitely more balanced sounding than the DT770, DT990 or D2000. These 3 have a more V-shaped signature with boosted bass and treble.
 
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