Headphones

I really feel like my DT 770 Pros are lacking bass at the moment, so i want an amplifier which will help in this area. Also, as much as i'd like the Corda Move, i don't really want to spend much more than £80. Would it be worth getting an amplifier with an integrated DAC with my X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty when using it with my desktop; will i still get EAX and stuff? Sorry, but i'm very new to this. What other options are available, that can be delivered to the UK, and can preferrably be powered either via USB or plugged into the mains (although, this isn't absolutely essential)? Finally, how important will a DAC be?
Thank you for your help, and sorry for thread-jacking.
 
Although the DAC's in dedicated amps will be higher quality than what's on the X-Fi its definitely not worth replacing it at present, because the X-Fi DAC certainly isn't bad.....certainly better than most laptop/onboard soundcards. If you were to get a USB DAC you would lose all features of the X-Fi as it would be completely bypassed, a USB DAC is really just a USB soundcard with a single high quality lineout and some obviously have an amp built in.

Standalone/desktop amps are probably out of the question with a £80 budget, but quite a lot of decent portables fall inside it, and pretty much all of them will take a DC adaptor to run from mains. Your probably looking at some of the following at that price point:
V2^2
Xenos 1HA
Go-vibe6
mSeed
But there will be more, your best bet is to start researching the headphone amp section on head.fi for the comparative reviews, see which has the signiture you like and a decent synergy for the DT770's :)

Recommendation wise thats about all I can say having only actually heard my Corda Move and the go-vibe I ordered for a m8 who wanted a cheap amp.
 
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I definitely want to keep the X-Fi effects and what have you, so i guess i can rule out getting a USB DAC. I emailed Norm over at Go-Vibe, and he said it would cost about $73 to get the Go-Vibe V6, with built in battery charging circuit, shipped to the UK, and $85 if i want the 9.6v NiMH battery with it. If i get this, i'd have to get a 12v DC power supply; however, if i get the amplifier without the built in battery charging circuit i'd have to get a 24v DC power supply (both around £10-20). I assume these power supplies have to be regulated, yes? Also, do you know if i need to have a battery in the unit if i want to run the amplifier from the mains?

What ever amplifier i get, i want it to really bring out the bass on these cans since i think this'll make them a lot better for gaming. What are my options, in this regard (because i'm sure it rules out a few amplifiers which don't do much for low frequencies)? Also, how much better is your Corda Move than the Go-Vibe V6; does the difference it makes bass make it a justifiable purchase over the Go-Vibe amp?

If i were to get the $85 Go-Vibe V6 package and a £20 power supply, it would cost around £75. I will go over to head-fi, but what else would you recommend?
 
Bigsy, sorry to have to revisit this topic again but i have some more questions. As well as needing an amplifier for my headphones, the soundcard on my laptop desperately needs replacing. Because i need to purchase both of these items, i thought it might be better to get an amp & DAC combo. What are my options if i go this route? I'd quite like to get the Corda Move from Germany for £150 w/DC charger, since i won't have to pay any import charges; however, if i am willing to buy from the US it opens up many more options.

I can either do this, or get an amplifier and a seperate sound card for my laptop. If i were to go this route, what soundcards are there which would be suitable for music listening? The Audigy PCMCIA card would be nice, since it would allow me to connect my 5.1 setup to my laptop, but it's quite a lot at £70- eating away at my amplifier budget. Whereas, if i could something like an XMod for £40, i could get a better amplifier. Although, if i do do this, the idea would be to spend less that i would if i get the Corda Move, or something similar, since i only really planned on spending a little on an amplifier in the first place. Therefore, the Go-Vibe 6, at £55 w/DC charger, or Total Airhead, would be nice, cheap options. Any advice?

Also, if i get the Corda Move and plug it into my desktop using a DC power supply (not the USB cable) the DAC wouldn't be active and it'd run through my X-Fi sound card, right? One more thing, how would i connect the amplifier to my sound card in this case, bearing in mind i also have the front i/o bay?
 
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One thing to remember with the Corda Move is that even if you take the DAC on it out of the equation, the amp quality is still up there with far more expensive units such as the ray samual line etc.

The only thing I would be considering other than the Move would be the (released in 2 days!) iBasso D1 http://www.ibasso.com/ShowNews.aspx?ID=60

Looks like its going to be ~$230 so less than the Move (maybe the same if you factor import duty) however; on paper it has potential to have better SQ (but we all know implementation is key to this), also onboard lithium batts, coax and optical-in are a real bonus....but we'll have to wait for the reviews.

As for soundcards I really don't know beyond the EMU-0404 USB is the cream of the crop when it comes SQ on a lappy but it sounds like this wouldn't suit you due to price or being usb, your better off posting something up on headfi for this as its something that I have never really considered doing so not researched it.

As for the soundcard to Move; the Move has an amp-in (analogue) jack so you just run a cable (which comes with it) from either lineout or headphone jack from the soundcard or io bay.
 
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Personally I would just buy one of the Cmoy based headphones amps, it should be more than capable of driving something in the 100-250 Ohm range to decent levels. They can be picked up for around £25.
 
Thank you for your advice, both of you. Yeah, i was reading about the iBasso D1 the other day; it's really gotten me interested. However, import duty, as well as 17.5% VAT, will push the price up beyond that of the Move.

I mean, the Move costs £136 delivered to the UK, plus £15 for a power supply brings it to about £151.

The D1 will be about £120 delivered to the UK, plus 17.5% VAT and, say, 5% import duty; this brings it to around £147, so £162 with a power supply (the one that comes with it can't be used in the UK, right?)

So it will probably work out a little more than the Move, with the chance of import duty being more than 5% which i used in the example above.

I suppose, instead of having to buy a soundcard or DAC, i could just listen to music on my desktop. This way all i'd have to do is buy an amplifier; in which case i'd probably get the Porta Corda MkIII for £100 delivered to the UK with power supply or something like the Total Airhead, although i have no idea how much it will cost for this to be delivered to the UK.

Basically, my decision rests on whether i need a sound card for my laptop or not, since i can simply use my desktop to listen to music instead; because, if i don't get a soundcard or DAC, i could spend a lot less on even the Go-Vibe 6 and still be getting a descent amplifier.
 
Mansize_tissue said:
This way all i'd have to do is buy an amplifier; in which case i'd probably get the Porta Corda MkIII for £100 delivered to the UK with power supply or something like the Total Airhead, although i have no idea how much it will cost for this to be delivered to the UK.
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Meier-Audio are based on Germany so it shouldn't be that much to get one shipped here.

I'm also looking into buy an MkIII.
 
H2F Scott said:
Meier-Audio are based on Germany so it shouldn't be that much to get one shipped here.

I'm also looking into buy an MkIII.
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It's 125 Euros i think delivered here, which is about £85. Plus i'll need to spend about £15 on a power supply; well , probably more because i'd want to get a 24v one. What headphones are you thinking of coupling it with?
 
Mansize_tissue said:
It's 125 Euros i think delivered here, which is about £85. Plus i'll need to spend about £15 on a power supply; well , probably more because i'd want to get a 24v one. What headphones are you thinking of coupling it with?
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I got my Audio Technica AD700's today actually. :)

They're very nice. Awesome sound and extremely comfortable. Absolutely huge though. :eek: Definitely for home use only. :p
 
Bigsy, if you don't mind me asking, how did you pay for the Corda Move? I have the money for one now, but it will take 7-9 working days to put the funds into my PayPal account and, even then, i don't know how much to put in because the exchange rate is changing all the time.
 
I used my debit card I have associated with my paypal account as its free for Jan to recieve the money that way.

Although he does have a paypal account for credit cards but he prefers if you avoid using it has it costs him 4%.
 
Bigsy said:
I used my debit card I have associated with my paypal account as its free for Jan to recieve the money that way.

Although he does have a paypal account for credit cards but he prefers if you avoid using it has it costs him 4%.
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Thank you. I didn't know if i had to add funds into my account or not.

I didn't bother adding funds, i just went through the normal procedure and it seems to have worked; well, it's debited my debit card for the amount. I hope it did it correctly. :confused:

Oooh, i can't wait. :D
 
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