Looking for a higher fidelity audio setup.

[Themegamacman]

Hey all. New to the forums, so forgive me if this has already been answered. I am looking for a higher fidelity audio setup than earbuds with my iPhone. I was doing some research and found out that the way to circumvent the shoddy sound from the iPhone's audio jack is to use a direct line out from the 30-pin dock connector, and direct that into a DAC/portable amp. I was thinking something along the lines of the Fiio E7 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003E6K1VK) paired with the ATH-M50's (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000ULAP4U). I was wondering if any of you have tried this or a similar setup and what you thought of it. Do you think it's worth it for the price? Thanks so much for all the help.

 

[offcamber]

An amp helps but if it's MP3's you are listening to then $300 may not be the best investment.

 

[takeshi74]

Do you think it's worth it for the price?

Worth is always highly subjective regardless of topic. You're probably better served on a site like HeadFi considering what seem to be the popular head/ear phone options around here.

 

[PerplexShyt]

go to headfi.org. there are a bunch of skull candy idiots on these forums

 

[Themegamacman]

An amp helps but if it's MP3's you are listening to then $300 may not be the best investment.

I am listening to MP3's but in 320 kbps. So I'd say that the file quality is enough that a good pair of headphones and amp will improve it.

 

[Themegamacman]

An amp helps but if it's MP3's you are listening to then $300 may not be the best investment.

Just bought some albums in FLAC. Love it!

 

[Catcher]

The Fiio will not bypass the iPhone's internal DAC so wouldn't suit your needs. You need something like the HRT iStreamer.

 

[SCARY GAY DAD]

go to headfi.org. there are a bunch of skull candy idiots on these forums

True, but you also have a bunch of gullible, placebo-driven idiots there too. Only way to truly know is to A/B them.

For headphones, the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 is my top recommendation. For earbuds, the Yuin PK2 is my top recommendation, followed closely by the AKG K318.

 

[Shenaniganz08]

I am listening to MP3's but in 320 kbps. So I'd say that the file quality is enough that a good pair of headphones and amp will improve it.

portable amps are overrated especially if you have inner ear canals (IEC). The ipod/iphone have plenty of power to drive them without any added distortion

The picture changes a bit if you have over the ear headphones. but then audio quality starts being the limiting factor, etc etc

Do yourself a favor and just save up for a good set of IEC, and you don't have to worry about amps or looking like a dweeb carrying a portable amp and over the ear headphones when you are in public.

 

[Ray-]

I have a Fiio E1, while it's pretty good and it does a decent job of what it's suppose to do, dont expect a night and day difference. Your ATH's aren't hard to drive at 38ohms, so I'd say try it without an amp first, see if its loud enough and if it works well enough for your liking before getting an amp.

Cause think about, $160headphone and a $90 amp, you might be better off just getting a nicer $210headphone without the hassle of carrying around an amp.

And remember if you use an amp, you're not going to be able to use a headphone with mic with your iPhone, for me, that's pretty much a deal breaker.

 

[Legios]

I have the ATH-M50's and http://www.jdslabs.com/item.php?fetchitem=cMoyBB203 amp, for listening at work. I like the setup and it is portable with amp if I need it.

 

[KatherineYH]

Looking for a higher fidelity audio setup.

Well first off studio speakers will most likely sound like garbage once you put them in your focus do to the listening environment. As far as advice I suggest you take some time searching online and reading up and find out how to do things yourself. Not only will you feel more accomplished and enjoy your system more. You will also save lots of money potentially thousands. As far as giving you suggestions for brands and such we are going to need to know your budget.

Also when it comes to sound quality it is all about the install and a little bit about the equipment you have on tap. If you take it to a shop though they are more than likely doing to do the fastest way possible to install everything and not do a quality set up.

 

[Themegamacman]

Well first off studio speakers will most likely sound like garbage once you put them in your focus do to the listening environment. As far as advice I suggest you take some time searching online and reading up and find out how to do things yourself. Not only will you feel more accomplished and enjoy your system more. You will also save lots of money potentially thousands. As far as giving you suggestions for brands and such we are going to need to know your budget.

Also when it comes to sound quality it is all about the install and a little bit about the equipment you have on tap. If you take it to a shop though they are more than likely doing to do the fastest way possible to install everything and not do a quality set up.

Thanks for the great response. That's a lot of good information. I've listened to the M-50s before and I really liked them, and I think that they would be good for some casual audio mixing as well. I've already got a decent mid-fi speaker set-up with a nice amp/receiver, and I worked to do a solid install with those, meaning proper wiring (to the best of my knowledge and in my price range), proper positioning, and tuning (to the best of my ability). I'm mainly just curious about an audio I/O or DAC/amp combo. I'm in classes right now but I'll check back at this thread tonight and thank everybody else for the help. Best wishes.