After getting my Seinnheiser HD600, what's next?

[ablaze 0]

guyferd: yeah got 3x80gbs. lots to spare

 

 

[Blues 0]

woah... no wonder lah.

lol...if it's in wav.. then you should have no problem.

[evil-zen 0]

guyferd, try out foobar2k + mpc. MPC is supposedly the best lossy codec. much better than lame's alt preset standard and slightly smaller too.

[Blues 0]

ok. will try and get that

[suannan 0]

OPA637-- K214/J77

[jasonhanjk 0]

After sleepless night playing around with my PC to test it's sound system, finally I got some results!

 

Sound card: Creative Audigy Platinum (not the cheap S$100 one)

Driver: Latest driver from creative Audigy AUDDRVPACK_L11.EXE

Test software: RMAA 5.0 from http://audio.rightmark.org/download.html

Source and record frequency: 48kHz 16bit

 

Test 1:

To test the internal PC for noise and respond.

Play control unmute Wave/MP3

Recording control select "What you hear"

Record level set to -1dB in RMAA software

 

Results 1:

Frequency response (from 20 Hz to 20 kHz), dB: +0.00, -0.00 (Upper and lower range must be below 0.5dB to be consider good)

Noise level, dB (A): -101.7 (-95dB is consider good for professional)

Dynamic range, dB (A): 96.3 (Biger better?)

THD, %: 0.0014 (Total harmonic disturbance 0 is good)

IMD, %: 0.0069 (0 is good, % increase means loss of data during record)

Stereo crosstalk, dB: -102.9 (Lower better)

 

Conclusion 1:

Internally, the PC does not generate any noise that interfere with music capability. If you like MP3, ripping at 192kHz would be pretty safe.

Note: I had all the motor appliance off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test 2:

To test the Audigy card amplification capability.

Play control unmute Wave/MP3 and Line in

Recording control select Analog mix

Select do not play Line in source

Connect 'CHEAP' cable between Line in and Headphone output jack

Record level set to -1dB in RMAA software

 

Results 2:

Frequency response (from 20 Hz to 20 kHz), dB: +0.02, -0.2 (Upper and lower range must be below 0.5dB to be consider good)

Noise level, dB (A): -82.3 (-95dB is consider good for professional, -90dB is for normal listener)

Dynamic range, dB (A): 82.5 (Biger better?)

THD, %: 0.0027 (Total harmonic disturbance 0 is good)

IMD, %: 0.465 (0 is good, % increase means loss of data during record)

Stereo crosstalk, dB: -77.8 (Lower better)

 

Conclusion 2:

I had detected noise at the Line in input and the headphone output. When I turn the headphone volume control knob more than 50%, all goes haywire; distortion. Same goes to Line in.

I definately need an extra amp for better amplification, cannot use the cards amplifier capability.

As the results are based on both Line in and headphone output, will need to check for stray noise at the output to know how much is it emmiting. If I can use only 20% of amplification (instead of more than 50%) without much intereference.

 

I will definately stick to this combination for awhile:

 

PC>meta42>HD600

 

 

[Mackie 0]

Thus if going by his analogy, one would reasonably spend S$120 on headphones, $200 on amp and $680 on source. But i doubt it would sound better if compared with a $300 headphones, $200 amp and and $500 on source.

evil-zen: your second posting explains your stance on this issue much better, so does your budget allocation in your example.

 

Quoting on the extract, I do support higher priority given to the source and then onwards. However, the essence is balance which U've raised and this I concur and my mistake to leave it out in my previous post. Nevertheless, your allocation of $300 on cans, $200 on amp and $500 on source also concurs with my opinion that source is of utmost importance. If the order of allocation were to be $500-cans, $300-amp and $200 source., the less ideal source will be exposed as a weakness by the higher resolution of this cans. Agree?

 

This would become a reality if Oak were to retain his disman/X-PUS/X-cans and upgrade his cans to DT880. It will not sound as good as his current setup being driven my CD17MKIII and K501.

[Mackie 0]

yeap. That;s what I was trying to say also.

For me, I get beyer dt770 coz I love the bass impact. Then I was looking to improve its sound. I purchased obh-11se. the soundstage is extended, warmer sounding. Now that I am looking for the best sound, I am gonna move on to cd player..

This is the typical upgrade path for audio noobs like us who grow up on mp3s...

you can't force us to buy cd player in the first place, because all we will answer you ," My mp3(128) kbps sounds fine out of my altec lansing. Why should I get $600 dollars cd player? To me, they are not different."

=This is the type of people who wear streetstyle, and all those junk also=(very typical of audio noobs)

But when a newbie purchase v6 and he was impressed by the bass.. he will say to himself "man.. I want to hear more of these things.. I love my cans". Then he will go to get a budget amp, that's when the meta42 , cmoy, cha47 comes in. Ok.. and their next response is " wow! I am impressed.. now my v6 is clearer.. more soundstage."

After a few months, they are stuck because all their mp3s are in 128 kbps bitrates.. then they say, ok.. no matter what, I want to experience pure audio bliss. They begin their search for budget cd player components, this is when the marantz cd4000, 6000, etc come in.

 

My point is, for audio noobs like myself, the most sensible choice is to go and get the cans that have the desirable sonic qualities ( eg: bassy, open, closed, laid back, forward, smooth and warm, etc) . Then next, if we're satisfied, then we go for the amp, cd and so.

In this case, headpones make the first, biggest impact. Because, it carries the final sonic signature. No matter how good your source is (eg: good bass, warm, suitable for rock), but if you give it AKG k501, which is shy on bass and not suitable for rock, it will never sound like rock headphones. Not even if you put in creek obh-11se which is warm sounding.

I'm trying to look at your perspective and I found that U've arrived at your chosen basis of setup due to budget constraints. With due respect, U're not wrong either. However, what lies in question is the rule of thumb for someone who does not have this constraint.

 

Say if U have a friend who has the funds and in your capacity as a sound enginner/audio consultant/audiophile, would U still recommend the course of undertaking from back to front? If your answer is still yes, then our views are entirely different. If no, then we have reached an understanding. My favoured "garbage in, garbage out" theory and basis of system setup is used as a rule of thumb and may not be possible to follow in the real world.

 

As a case study, let's take your system comprising of a Toshiba source (is it a dvdp?), OBH-11SE and DT770 pro. If U were to ask me for an upgrade tip, I will not ask U to buy a DT880 but instead, suggest a dac like MF X-24K or a proper cdp. DVD players may have high sampling rates/resolution but the audio circuit is less than desired...often bright, course and edgy even in very high end dvdps. But if U were to be using a pair of lesser cans or ear buds, DT880 will be my suggestion for this upgrade route. I hope I've clarified my stance...phew.....

[Blues 0]

yeap!

I agree with you mackie. It's all due to budget constraints.

if someone has the cash, he/she should go by the normal route, cd player-> amp-> headphones-> IC

lol.. the toshiba is the laptop actually

 

[Mackie 0]

Guyferd, pls check pm.

[Blues 0]

ok, replied

[evil-zen 0]

jasonhanjk, try muting all playback and recording except for wave and main. then experimenting with the 2 to get no distortions. my old soundcard has distortions when wave is more than 50% volume.

[jasonhanjk 0]

jasonhanjk, try muting all playback and recording except for wave and main. then experimenting with the 2 to get no distortions. my old soundcard has distortions when wave is more than 50% volume.

Had done that. I may try another experiment after I complete my first meta42

[Northern Oak 0]

How many buffers are you using for the META42?

[tee 0]

Sharing a lesson I've learnt for the past month:

 

Components of Importance on Sonic Features (Descending Order):

1. Quality of CD recordings

2. Source, be it CD player or Sound Card

3. Dedicated Headphone Amps (Tube Amps give you more room as you can tube-roll)

4. Headphones

5. Interconnects

6. Cone tweaks (Dampen Resonance)

 

The ideas behind these:

 

If you give trash to your hi-end headphones, don't expect it to turn trash to gold (except in some limited situations).

 

Quality of CD recordings have always been overlooked and under-estimated. I suggest trying Huang Hong Ying XRCD2 Digital K2 Recordings "The first taste of loneliness" and you will "FEEL" the difference.

 

Sidenote:

IMHO, regarding Sound Cards, since it is slotted in the motherboard, you may be subjecting the source to a wider exposure to Electro-Magnetic Radiation and Interference.

I agree with Northern Oak on his ranking of importance for sonic features.

 

The recording is the most important factor to consider, just like in any concert live performance, the most critical factor in determing your enjoyment is the sonic quality of the performers you choose to listen attentively to.

 

In that mode, the compression processing should be minimal with greatest sonic purity, unless there is a substantial use of microphones, amplification and mixing stages that may introduce some distortions.

 

In all recording formats, compression is a necessary evil, hence the lesser it is being introduced, the better it would sound when being played back. So, i always benchmark my music listening from headphones or speaker systems against actual concert hall experience. And you will know the differences, without using any word to describe....

 

In my humble opinions, every audiophile should attend the concert of their choice and listen to the real, non-compressed sound in concert halls, esp at the S$600 million Esplanade which has its acoustic system specially designed and tuned by the famous

 

Artec Consultants

( http://www.artec-usa.com/projects/index_si...singapore.html)

 

Try it and you'll know what i mean....