Confused in choosing a Amp/DAC

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Metalspree

Metalspree

Galvanizer
Confused in choosing a portable Amp/DAC

I am confused in choosing Amp/DAC.I have a laptop and a creative X-fi USB sound card .I have a Philips SHP9000 which is been lying unused from the day i got ( purchased it in India for a steal deal) .I tried using it with the sound card but feel that the sound card is not doing justice so looking for an Amp/DAC.I want it to be portable so that i can use it with my Cowon D2 as well.I have RE1 which i pair with cMoy as of now but i am not liking the sound signature that much .

I tired pairing the sound card -->cMoy-->RE 1 it sounds brilliant.I want same kind of sound on the GO and same out of the SHP 9000,spoke to BF1983 and cornered to get the D4 Mamba as it has DAC and AMP .I am confused here again because the D4 can last only upto a 9hours usage on a 9V battery,purchasing a 9V every time is going to be expensive here in New Zealand and looking at the images i feel its big to carry around,so i thought of the below setup.

Get a uDAC and a T3 or T4 .I wanna know which is a better setup and which sounds good enough( I am a bass head) .I might upgrade to the Triple Fi's in some time and get a decent headphone as well.I will be using the headphones with the laptop only and not on the GO.

Can some one post images of comparing it with any player like the cowon or ipod .I wanna make a good investment and my total budget is limited to $250 USD (Including shipping to NZ,might stretch $10 or 20 MAX ).

Please help me out in choosing the right product .
 
Yeah getting it.Will order on Friday or Saturday .I am going on it for your words.If i don't like it will sell it to u :P.I PMed TechHead waiting for his reply
 
yeah i forgot to add the word portable .

After reading ClieOS review of E7 i am disappointed .Its is not that great,it will become another portable amp under $100USD.
 
Well the E9 has a good DAC. (Compared to even udac). However the amp section is the same as the E5 so its not too good.

The D4 has a great amp AND a great DAC. So win win situation. :)

And in the rarest of rare cased where you dont like it, I will be more than happy to buy it from you for 250 Rs. :D
 
Metalspree said:
After reading ClieOS review of E7 i am disappointed .Its is not that great,it will become another portable amp under $100USD.
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Ok, your budget says a max of $250, so can we understand that you expect a product that is 2.5 times better than one costing $100.

How much should a product that was 2.5 times better in terms of sound than the E7 cost ?
 
blr_p said:
Ok, your budget says a max of $250, so can we understand that you expect a product that is 2.5 times better than one costing $100.

How much should a product that was 2.5 times better in terms of sound than the E7 cost ?
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You got it all wrong mate.When it comes to audio products i do not believe your theory,some product which costs more doesn't mean it sounds good.I am spending $250 to make a worthwhile investment.

The reason i am not looking for E7 is that i already have the JDS Labs CMoy which is better than the E7 in terms of sound quality ( this is according to me).I did love the cMoy initially when paired with D2 but if i pair the cMoy with Xfi i am blow away with the sound signature.The cMOy tends to produce too much of artificial bass which i am hating now a days.This is the precise reason i am upgrading and there is the Philips SHP 9000 which is lying unused.

I know i can sell of the SHP 9000 and continue using the present setup or get a E7 or a T3 or T4 but the story starts again of upgrading something and craving for better amp.I am expecting TF10 as a gift from my bro or a good closed can :D

BF1983 said:
And in the rarest of rare cased where you dont like it, I will be more than happy to buy it from you for 250 Rs. :D
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God Dammit :@:@
 
@blr_p - Unfortunately in audio, one product will not be '2x' the performance of another. Faheem never liked my $500 HD650 headphones and he prefers his $50 headphones to my Sennheisers.

That does not mean that the Sennheisers were bad. Technically they are very good but their sound may not appeal to everyone.

In computer hardware, everything can be quantified into performance. A CPU x can zip a file in 2 minutes. CPU y which costs half the price of x may do the same in 4 minutes.

So we can safetly say that CPU x gives twice the performance of CPU y and also cost double.

In audio terms there is nothing to quantify the differences. One person may love a speaker pumping out earth shattering levels of bass. Another may hate this sound and prefer something with lots of treble without any bass.

@Metalspree - Thats the main reason I always recommend to people on head-fi to get OPAMP rollable amps. If you don't like the sound signature of the amp, change the OPAMP and get different sound signature while keeping the same amp ! :)
 
BF1983 said:
@blr_p - Unfortunately in audio, one product will not be '2x' the performance of another. Faheem never liked my $500 HD650 headphones and he prefers his $50 headphones to my Sennheisers.
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Then Faheem is one lucky guy !! -- wonder if its same as saying Rs.5 dakshini coffee beats Rs.100 starbucks ..hmmm

I appreciate that in audio things dont tend to be linear, but we're talking $100 & $200 not $1000, $5000, $10,000.

Even at these relatively lower prices you still say its all up in the air ?

OK, i'm fine with that :)

I'm just scratching the surface of this subject as i'm looking to get a DAC but not the portable variety like OP here. Part of me wonders whether this audio stuff is just a fast track to insanity as things do not appear as they may seem :(

OP says he wants to make an investment, something presumably he can hold on to for a number of years. Price is not indicative of whether you get what you want. If there is no way to audition these critters how will he make his decison ?

oN idea i had was to ask ppl how long they held on to their DAC, the one which elicits the longest period is the one to get ?
 
blr_p said:
Then Faheem is one lucky guy !! -- wonder if its same as saying Rs.5 dakshini coffee beats Rs.100 starbucks ..hmmm

I appreciate that in audio things dont tend to be linear, but we're talking $100 & $200 not $1000, $5000, $10,000.

Even at these relatively lower prices you still say its all up in the air ?

OK, i'm fine with that :)

I'm just scratching the surface of this subject as i'm looking to get a DAC but not the portable variety like OP here. Part of me wonders whether this audio stuff is just a fast track to insanity as things do not appear as they may seem :(

OP says he wants to make an investment, something presumably he can hold on to for a number of years. Price is not indicative of whether you get what you want. If there is no way to audition these critters how will he make his decison ?

oN idea i had was to ask ppl how long they held on to their DAC, the one which elicits the longest period is the one to get ?
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Alright let me make clear why i said i want to make a worthwhile investment in AMP/DAC i am gonna get.I have saved quite a few dollars over the last 6 months to upgrade my present setup.I am student as of now and for the next 2 years .I cannot afford to upgrade to anything else after this investmentand after 6 months i will be having some one stopping me from spending money over such upgrades :(

How do u make decision getting the AMP/DAC, head to Head-fi read the number of reviews people have posted regarding an product .One might go wrong not 1000's of reviews and impressions regarding an product.You can go ahead and PM any elite member there and ask them to help u in picking up stuff.The main reason i am kind of liking the D4 Mamba is for its design it has dual Wolfson DAC ( read Wolfson are supposed to be the DAC available till date).

I had PMed Skylab in head-fi and got all my doubts cleared.I do know that i am going a bit fast towards audiophile grade stuff but it was my dream to own such a setup can not wait further.I cannot trash my Cowon D2 ,amp and my IEM's just like that .Each and every IEM or audio product i purchase has a lot of home work from my side .I sit and read 100's of pages of impressions ,comparisons talk to different people around the world .I had even got a call from a Aussie head-fier to explain me about amplifiers.What else you need??.You can never go by how long people have help their DAC's.If they have the moolah to spend yes certainly they will upgrade else not.

Its rather difficult to audition these Amp's before getting them.No one will have a demo piece but i am trying to audition a D2 over the weekend from a local head-fier.

I had picked up the cMoy after speaking to Brendon .I owe him a beer :cheers:.He told me to go ahead with cMoy coz its my first portable amp and its not expensive and its has awards all over the world for its design .I am sure Brendon was supposed to pick the D4 Mamba but he changed his mind and got the P3+ Heron.

One word do your home work before purchasing amp's or DAC :).Try to bug as many people as you can over PM's or mail .People at Head-fi are really really helpfull when suggesting something:hap2::hap2:.

@Brendon i totally forgot that my cMoy has a bridge :ashamed:.I got a few op amps from TI.Can i change opamps in the D4 the same i change in the cMoy.
 
Metalspree said:
After reading ClieOS review of E7 i am disappointed .Its is not that great,it will become another portable amp under $100USD.
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Same here. The E7 doesn't feel that interesting after reading the reviews.

BF1983 said:
Faheem never liked my $500 HD650 headphones and he prefers his $50 headphones to my Sennheisers.
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I didn't like your HD650 nor Faheem's SHP9000. :P

I've been itching to make myself a cmoy, but the sad part is, I don't have a decent earphone to pair it with. :( Poor me, someone please gift me the RE0.
 
viralbug said:
I don't have a decent earphone to pair it with. :( Poor me, someone please gift me the RE0.
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I will git you what ever lock pick you want and i guess u know how to source an RE0:P
 
Finally ordered the D4 Mamba just cant wait to get it to my hands wish i had the money to fly to Hong kong and pick it up :P

This is my first step in to the audhiophile world :ohyeah:

captureap.jpg
 
Congrats ! I will wait for your return to Mumbai so that I can check out your D4 and also take that beer you owe me ! :)
 
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