'Personal' Hifi....

BoomAM · 23 Feb 2006 at 02:24

Hi.
Ive been reading around another forum (shoot me, im a traitor!

).
And i cant help but think of the pointlessness of things like this:

The is one members 'Pocket Rig':

I take this rig with me when im out playing basketball or heading to the gym

How in the heck is that portable enough to
A) play basketball/go the gym
&
B) do anything with it?

Theres an entire thread of them here.

I can understand that some people wanting better sound quality, or more 'umph' from their sound, but come on, the increase in quality will be marginal, if not non-existant, and for an external amp like that, you could power a concert hall, never mind a set of headphones!

If they need a bit of extra juice, why not get a micro-amp, that runs inline with the headphone cable? So your not carrying around a player, and one or more items that are as big, if not bigger than the player?

Opinions?

rG-tom · 23 Feb 2006 at 04:35

from the looks of it, there is a dac there and a pocket amp? and i'd hazard it all goes in their backpack. It's not that big, but the leads look a bit excessive lol. Also, the sound quality will be FAR better than using the headphone out / onboard dac.

Tom.

The IPB · 23 Feb 2006 at 08:53

I suppose it's all about how much sound quality means to you. I assume this person wants it to be top notch whether he is at home, or out and about.

Codmate · 23 Feb 2006 at 12:22

Worth doing if you regularly listen on long train journeys, in hotel rooms etc etc.

Not worth it in traffic

tom_nieto · 23 Feb 2006 at 12:58

I would imagine he listens to that at home a lot. It probably sounds damned nice compared to a lot of speakers.

BoomAM · 23 Feb 2006 at 14:21

rG-tom said:
...i'd hazard it all goes in their backpack

When he's playing basketball/at the gym as well? :confused:

Stellios · 23 Feb 2006 at 15:44

I know where you have been looking, and yes they are mental. To be honest i dont understand the point when its only a pair of headphones at the other end, if it was a proper setup then i could understand the point.

Its just willy waving. I mean check out this spoons setup.

How on earth do you class that as portable, and how much of a gimp would you look like wearing that in town.

Caged · 23 Feb 2006 at 16:00

I'm still laughing at the cables he's used.

rG-tom · 23 Feb 2006 at 16:59

BoomAM said:
When he's playing basketball/at the gym as well?

yea, small sports backpack would hold that? By basketball i guess he means shootin a few hoops down the park, not playin international level

Tom.

BoomAM · 23 Feb 2006 at 17:10

Either way, thats just not practical to do Gym or Sport in.
It'd get in the way of everything.

rG-tom · 23 Feb 2006 at 18:34

:s i disagree, a tight fitting camelback type backpack with just the headphone lead coming out of it would be perfectly fine for gym / sports, as long as you didnt have to lye on your back (ie bench pressing, where you could just take the bag off and put it under the bench)

Tom.

Caged · 23 Feb 2006 at 18:36

It doesn't make it any less retarded though.

BoomAM · 23 Feb 2006 at 18:51

rG-tom said:
:s i disagree, a tight fitting camelback type backpack with just the headphone lead coming out of it would be perfectly fine for gym / sports, as long as you didnt have to lye on your back (ie bench pressing, where you could just take the bag off and put it under the bench)

Tom.

Im sorry, but doing any form of phyiscal activity, with any type of backpack on is not in any way practical.

By any chance are you one of these people with these 'personal rigs'?

fish99 · 23 Feb 2006 at 19:32

Stellios said:
I know where you have been looking, and yes they are mental. To be honest i dont understand the point when its only a pair of headphones at the other end, if it was a proper setup then i could understand the point.

Only headphones? :eek:

Top end headphones will blow away hi-fi gear worth probably ten times as much. And top-end headphones like Sennheiser HD650 need a headphone amp to perform at their best.

...but..... I also wouldn't carry that lot round with me, or indeed use 'cans' on the go

... or on the can for that matter

tom_nieto · 23 Feb 2006 at 23:43

At the end of the day, any sensible person won't use that sort of fidelity at the gym or whatever. If they've spent that much cash (unless they have more money than sense) they'll realise that using it outside or for sports is silly.

Stellios · 24 Feb 2006 at 01:28

fish99 said:
Only headphones? Top end headphones will blow away hi-fi gear worth probably ten times as much. And top-end headphones like Sennheiser HD650 need a headphone amp to perform at their best.

...but..... I also wouldn't carry that lot round with me, or indeed use 'cans' on the go

... or on the can for that matter

Fair point, but id feel like such a spoon walking round wearing a pair of those. Around the house etc then fair enough, but not for portable audio.

Alex_L · 24 Feb 2006 at 02:02

its quite interesting looking around head-fi, i'm sorely tempted to go with a pair of custom monitors they seem to rave about, as i love the isolation of my shures, and from what i've read the custom ones are even better.

rigs like that suggest to me, people who are in hotels a lot, or travel away from home, or simply listen to music all day at work. I can't imagine they actually walk down the street with them, no matter what they might say.

some of the rigs there with ipods and portable amps, do look very portable though, and if i upgraded my headphones, i'd seriously consider a small amp

rG-tom · 24 Feb 2006 at 03:06

BoomAM said:
Im sorry, but doing any form of phyiscal activity, with any type of backpack on is not in any way practical.

By any chance are you one of these people with these 'personal rigs'?

no i'm not, but i would if i could afford it

although i'd go with in ear monitors rather than cans.

A proper tight fitting backpack, with the contents securely fastened inside, so that nothing moves around seperate from your body, isnt really noticeable when doing physical activity, otherwise people wouldnt use camelbacks

and they have water sloshing around as well, still doesnt make it a problem.

Tom.

BoomAM · 24 Feb 2006 at 16:33

Running maybe. Cycling, probably.
Things that use the lower set of limbs only, yes.
But things like basketball, unless your just standing there, it'd get in the way. All the movement, no matter how tight fitting the bag is, it would get in the way.
Same with Gym work.

How many people who play basketball or at the Gym do you see with a 'tight' backpack? I'll tell you how many, none.