doesn't sound too bad of a worst possible scenario to me

me either

Was reading through this thread because I'm considering buying a DAC with multiple outputs, so I can at some point in the future have two amps running off one source. I currently have the Stello DA100 which I like, any suggestions for a DAC that is a side-grade or upgrade (in your opinion) with the mentioned multiple outputs would be appreciated.

So far as the difference between hard drive and CDP transport: I have both my computer connected to my DA100 and my (admittedly cheap) SCD-CE595 connected to it, so I can switch between the two with a flick of the dial. Several times I have started the same song at the same time, or even better, one a few seconds behind the other, and switched back and forth between the CDP and hard drive (flac for the record). I remember one night in particular when I almost maniacally spent way to much time trying to compare the CDP and hard drive listening to Morrissey do "How Soon Is Now" on "Live At Earl's Court".

My stunning conclusion was that they sounded different, but I could not pick one that was better then the other. I love the convenience of the foobar library, and EAC makes ripping super easy and fast once it gets setup correctly. But some nights I just don't feel like messing with software, so I throw a few CDs in the sony and listen that way.

I like my da53, and it fits the bill

worst that happens, I drink good beer and eat at the bar

I'd say the imod isn't a ripoff, if you have an amp already that you really like. But don't get the imod before you love your amp. Personally, I think spending your ipod related headphone budget on the headphones is the way to go. If you have a $250 budget, get the um2s, $350, um3s, $750, ES2s, etc.

I thought we had. Friday AND Saturday at 6pm.

PM me or aim for my phone number if you're coming. I'll wear a red fairbanks ice dogs windbreaker tomorrow, so I should be easy to spot.

Friday's better than Saturday for me.

I'm up for both

bump

Ok, final candidates:

friday at 6pm at Dogfishhead in Gaithersburg.

friday at 7pm at my apartment in Reston

saturday at 6pm at Dogfishhead in Gaithersburg

Other options?

and ipod sounds better than a dac 1...so that's not saying much

As far as I am aware, HeadRoom fat pipe is Cardas Headphone Cable without (or with a thinner) shield and with thinner black outer jacket. I had a pair of 880's (old style) rewired with it for a while and it was very nice cable, physically and in terms of microphonics. Can't comment sonically as I never owned a stock 880.

four-conductor with braided shield cable featuring Golden Ratio

I think it's not the cable you remember.

When jude encourages it, what do you expect?

But seriously, portable amps today are better than anything available just a couple years ago. It's not surprising people are thrilled with the performance of their portable setup.

http://hhfjava.sytes.net

I'd be up for Wed, Fri, or Sat.

I'm up for weds, fri and saturday...

eww

So who's up for dc bar meet weds at dogfish in gaithersburg?

No, go ahead and derail the thread, it's fine. This isn't that other place, we're not nazis.

Thanks for the pointer, I sent him an offer...

I love the RS1s. They'd also never be my only cans, but aside from the PS3000s, which I couldn't justify keeping, I haven't heard any phones that could be. The VTGs come closest.

well there is that...

but I don't support Grado anymore.

John raped your sister? Or he turned 18 and you no longer owe child support?

i think the headroom micro dac (a three hundred dollar dac) is significantly better than the airport express, though i do think the airport express is pretty decent for what it is.

Yes reks, but would you rather have a headroom micro dac + a $300 amp, or an airport express + a $700 amp?

thanks for the input philodox

grawk, remember I am new to this and not trying to give you a hard time. how does this airport express replace the processing of the sound that a DAC supposedly does? do I understand that its a wireless gizmo? or it connect to pc via coax or toslink or usb as a DAC would. the reason I ask is it sounds intesting and I'd like to know more.

You stream music to it via wifi or ethernet. You listen via analog out. It's comparable to any $300 dac.

Just don't mention the transformers or 909 will flip out here too...

dang that friggin' edit time got me AGAIN >

I found a page that had some info, but I didn't see anything that pertained to its use in a audiophile setup. can you speak to its qualities in such a setup ? provide links to info speaking to its quality use in hifi?

I ask this as what I seen it seemed like a wireless access point to stream music to a home audio receiver. does it only work with itues? being apple thats what I expect. I use foobar atm for music from the pc, kernal streaming.

does any of that stupid DRM crap come into play?

There is some software that will let you stream anything to it, but it works mainly with itunes, and with itunes is bit perfect. And nothing about itunes or the airport express stops you from playing any mp3, aac, alac, wav, etc file. The drm is only on songs you buy from apple.

I'm a bit flexible , but was thinking along the lines of 300$ us tops on a dac and 500 or so tops on an amp.

to me as far as budget goes, as I said I can give a little more IF the gain in sound quality is substantial.

I am though, trying to stay away from broadening my price range much, as that'll just lead to more options and more research and headaches :'(

as I can clearly see, not sure what those here would call it, what I call "upgrade-itis" , gets many that are into this hifi headphone world. As that happens people keep up-ing the dollar amount they will spend.

so.... lol after all my silly rambling on, lets say 800$ us max

If you're going separate dac and amp, you're throwing money away if you buy a $300 dac. Spend $700 on your amp, and get an airport express as your way to get the music off your computer.

the gilmore lite is probably the best out of the bunch.

or you can save up the money and get an all-in-one solution such as the benchmark/apogee/lavry/aqvox/headroom desktop. probably gonna run a tad expensive even when you can find one used, but IMHO its the best-of-both-worlds solution.

Aqvox isn't an all in one solution. It's a dac, with a shitty headphone amp if you're using usb. I'd say the M3 is a good choice from that list , and if you're considering the hornet, you should also consider amps like the supermicro and the pint, etc.